Promotion in Motion: Joseph Max Lewis, The Diaries of Pontius Pilate

Welcome Joseph Max Lewis to talk about his debut novel, The Diaries of Pontius Pilate

About the Author

Joseph Max Lewis served as a member of an Operational Detachment in the U.S. Army’s Seventh Special Forces Group, the storied Green Berets. During his service Lewis received antiterrorist training and his detachment was tasked to “Special Projects.” Afterward, he served as an instructor at the Special Forces Qualification Course. Lewis attended the Pennsylvania State University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the University of Tel Aviv in Israel, and the University of Pittsburgh, receiving degrees in International Politics and Law while being certified in Middle East Studies.

After living and studying abroad, first in the Middle East and then Southeast Asia, Lewis returned home to practice law. He’s a columnist in the New Bethlehem Leader-Vindicator and currently lives, writes, and practices law in and around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Diaries of Pontius Pilate, from Trestle Press, is his first novel in what will be a three of four book series.

About the book:

• Publisher: Trestle Press (August 3, 2012)
• Language: English
• $4.99

The Diaries of Pontius Pilate opens when a member of an archeological team is murdered along the shores of the Dead Sea. We learn that the murderer and victim are both spies, observing the expedition and grappling with the fact that the team has just discovered some controversial artifacts.

In fact, Archeologist Kevin Elliot and his Deputy, Jill Gates have unearthed  twenty copper scrolls etched with the results of Pontius Pilate’s year long criminal investigation into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They manage to open one scroll far enough to take a series of digital photographs of the writings and email them to a Professor of Ancient Latin for translation.  Unaware of the scrolls content, Kevin and Jill are unprepared when they’re caught between an ancient conspiracy of global power that’s determined to destroy the scrolls along with everyone connected to them, and a small, fledgling volunteer group, the only force on earth that stands between Kevin, Jill and certain death.

Buy the e-book on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Max, tell us what you love about your book.

That it comes right at you and keeps going. This is a thriller. Whatever message(s) the novel tells is interwoven into the story: a part of the action, a part of the dialogue or a part of the plot itself.  You can admire the good guys – maybe even try to be a little more like them. They have problems, we all do, but there’re no agonized, self-doubting, introspective characters. Look, I’m all in favor of “round” characters, but somehow, maybe in reaction to overly idealized characters, “round” has come to mean whining, afraid to make a move lest it be the wrong one wimps. I think that represents a great opportunity for Christian fiction.

What’s the main thing you learned during the process of writing and publishing this book?

While working on Diaries, I learned that I still experience the same joy learning new things now that I did when I was in college. With Diaries I learned about commercial satellite phones, conserving archeological artifacts, some of the uses of silicon, how carbon dating works and how the tests are run, and more. During the process of publishing the book, I learned that hours seem like days, days seem like hours, weeks – years . . . you get the idea.

Yes, patience is a virtue. Max, what should your readers discover and want to share with their family and friends after reading this book?

Christians are obligated to act as salt and light in a fallen world. If you’re a Christian, no matter how hopeless things seem, there’s always a chance. Make sure you’re right, and then never give up, no matter what, no matter how long it takes.

 Thank you for joining us today, Max, and best wishes with your work.

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