Andrew Huff Interview

Q: Let me start with asking you to tell us a little bit about yourself.
A. I was homeschooled from 1st Grade through my Senior year of High School, then spent three and a half years earning an undergraduate degree in Religion from Liberty University. I met my wife at Liberty, and just two weeks after our wedding we moved to Dallas, Texas so I could attend Dallas Theological Seminary.

I was fortunate enough to spend the next decade in full time local church ministry, most of which was in Central Virginia, as both a Youth and Creative Arts Pastor (sometimes concurrently!). God called us back to Texas for Round Two when I got the opportunity to join the team at Igniter Media as the Product/Creative Director in 2016.

My wife and I are the proud parents of two boys and a dog. Our favorite family activities include board games, Mario Kart tournaments, and coffee dates.

Q: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
A. I’ve dabbled in writing since I was child. Though I didn’t realize it at the time, my interest in writing started out as long storylines my younger brother and I would first create with our toys and then I would immortalize in drawings. As I grew older, our interest shifted from telling stories through play to creating silly videos for our church youth group. I was writing, but not aware I was a writer.

It wasn’t until after I graduated from Liberty University and got married that I started to wonder what it would be like to sit down and try my hand at writing a story I’d try to sell. Although I was drawn to the world of film, I decided it would be too hard and expensive to make my own movie. At the time, I erroneously but also hilariously thought it would be much easier and cheaper to write a novel instead.

Q: Could you give us the highlights of your professional writing career including how you got your first writing break?
A. I labored for years working on the craft of writing fiction feeling like I had nothing to show for it but looking back I realize that what I was learning about character and story was influencing my work in ministry. I was blessed to be able to write and produce an impressive collection of interview, narrative, and informational videos, develop curriculum for audiences of all ages, and even write both online and print articles for a variety of publishers.

All the while, I struggled to elicit any interest from a publisher for my fiction proposals even after signing with a literary agent and reaching the finals of the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Genesis Content two different times with two different titles. It seemed evident God did not want me to write fiction but pursue filmmaking instead after winning a writing award with the 48 Hour Film Festival.

I pressed pause on publishing a book as I made the career transition to Texas where I would be able to try my hand at creating short narrative films with Igniter Media. But God has a sense of humor and, when I least expected it, orchestrated an opportunity to publish my debut novel with Kregel Publications.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release, A Cross to Kill?
A: A Cross to Kill is an action thriller featuring a former CIA assassin turned evangelical pastor named John Cross who is faced with questions of his past after a vengeful terrorist visits his church. Caught in the crossfire are the congregants of the small country church in Central Virginia that John serves as well as a foreign correspondent named Christine Lewis who is rescued from execution by John on his last mission with the CIA as the story begins.

I wrote A Cross to Kill to appeal to fans of novels, films, and TV series such as The Bourne Identity, Mission Impossible, and 24 that feature non-stop action and suspenseful twists and turns. At the same time, I wanted the moments between the action to be rich in theology and Christian values. There’s violence in the book, but not of a gruesome nature. There’s romance, but without obscenity. Anger, but nothing profane.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for A Cross to Kill?
A: I was inspired to write the novel on one of the frequent visits I would make to local hospitals as a pastoral member of the staff of a church. I was already in the habit of dreaming up characters, situations, and storylines, and on one particular trip to a hospital I imagined what it would be like for a pastor’s secret, dark past to surface in the middle of him trying to care for his flock. One of my favorite scenes in the novel then came to life in my imagination, and from there I really wanted to see how this story would unfold.

I was also inspired by real life, high profile events such as the rescue of American diplomats by the CIA from Iran in 1979 (fictionalized in the movie Argo) as well as the abduction and execution of journalist James Foley by Syrian terrorists in 2012. While many elements of my story are “heightened reality” (the action often takes a sensationalized turn), I also wanted to ground the plot in situations that aren’t that far from what has or might generate news headlines.

Q: What is the main thing you hope readers remember from this story?
A: Can I have two main things? First, I hope readers identify with John’s struggle to forgive himself for past sins, but along with him realize that when a person turns their life over to Jesus Christ, God’s forgiveness covers all. Past, present, future, doesn’t matter. So we don’t have to live under the constant fear of retribution for those sins when Christ’s sacrifice on the cross has paid the debt in full.

The second thing I would like them to remember is that all human life is valuable, even the lives of our enemies. There is still a lot to unpack when it comes to the use of lethal action in wartime, as well as capital punishment for violent offenders, that I don’t address in this story, but my primary goal was to remind us that even the bad guys are made in the image of God and we should reserve ultimate judgment for all people to the One who created them.

Q: What inspires you to write?
A. Novels, movies, and television shows all play a part in inspiring my writing, but when I sit down to actually put words to page I’m almost always find the most inspiration in music. And not just any music, but movie soundtracks. I have whole scenes in my stories that were birthed by a track here or there from both well-known movie scores as well as more random selections.

Of course, I would be remiss to not acknowledge the role coffee plays in stirring my imagination. And when I say coffee, I really mean coffee and not the more palatable espresso and milk creations that most people refer to. For me, the darker and bolder the better.

Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now?
A. Kregel has been so generous to allow me to continue John and Christine’s stories in two sequels to A Cross to Kill, what we have titled the Shepherd Suspense series (read A Cross to Kill to find out why we called it that!). Book Two, Cross Shadow, is scheduled for release at the end of May. Currently, I am in the middle of writing Book Three, Right Cross, which will be released at the end of the year.

Q: When you’re not writing what do you like to do?
A. I love spending time with my family playing games, watching movies, and engaging in the occasional Nerf gun fight. We are big into sports in our house, with football as our primary sport. For the past couple of years, I’ve even coached my youngest son’s flag football team.

Our family is also heavily involved in the ministry of our local church family. My wife and I, and even our oldest son, volunteer every weekend to lead small groups of elementary age kids in Bible study. We also host and lead a small group of adults every weekend for discussion and prayer and have a particular love for service with international families whether blessing refugees with needed supplies or hosting Chinese high school students for the summer.