Interview with Vince McCann, Author, Freed from Satan's Grasp

Thank you! Getting the book published is a great feeling. I still have to pinch myself to believe that it has actually happened.

 

 

I believe that everyone has an interesting story to tell. Everyone’s life could be turned into a book. I think that one of the reasons why I may have been successful in getting published was through asking an already established author to write the foreword for the book. If you can get someone who is already an author on your side, it adds weight to a work when it comes before a publisher. It is well worth writing to authors asking them if they would consider doing this. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. But in addition to this, I do believe that Freed from Satan’s Grasp is a gripping story and you need to be able to have something to tell that will grab a publisher’s attention.

 

 

I knew that because the story is quite fantastic and unusual I would have to take the risk of some people not believing it. This is one of the reasons why I have tried to retain as many of the actual names of the people who appear in it as I possibly could. The names I have had to change are those who I felt either would not like to be mentioned or were difficult to track down to get permission from. Many of the individuals mentioned are sound and reliable witnesses who are still very much able to verify a number of the events that occurred. I also wanted to try and give as much verifiable detail of places and of events that were happening at the time.

 

 

I felt that it was a story that needed to be told, especially in this day and age where the subject of demon possession seems to have been relegated to realms of superstition or the hysteria of the dark ages. The fact remains that demon possession, and the work and influence of demonic spirits, is as real today as it was in Jesus’ own day. Even in the churches today, many people ignore demonic possession but we need to remember that Jesus encountered this phenomena many times during His ministry. If it wasn’t important, would it have been recorded to the extent that we see it in the Gospels? Another reason I wrote the book though was to demonstrate that even though the demonic realm is a reality, God is far greater than any evil influence and is able to bring deliverance into even the most hopeless and darkest of situations.

 

 

At the time of writing the book has been out for just over a month but the overall response has been a little quiet so far I am sorry to say. I know that Kingsway sent out about 20 promotional copies of the book to various ministries, and I have sent a few out. So far though, as well as this interview, I have done a local Christian radio interview (Flame FM) and had an online review from a friend who runs a similar ministry in Ireland. On another level though, I have had a lot of very positive feedback from individuals I know who have read the book. One of the most common themes that has come out so far is that those who have read it have said that they have found it very difficult to put down, reading it right through in one or two sittings. This has been a great encouragement as it must surely be the sign of a good book. 

It started many years ago, just by writing down a few rough thoughts about some of the things that had happened to me in an attempt to try and make sense of it all. Eventually, I had written enough to send to a Christian magazine called Voice which published it. Then, in 1998, I put it up on the Internet. As the years went on I just continued adding to it as there was so much more to tell. I think writing down your thoughts is a bit like talking about them. It helps you to put it all in order. The difference with writing it down though is that it gets preserved rather than simply spoken and lost.

 

 

One very memorable moment comes to mind in the way of vision. I was in a local library and was looking at all the many thousands of books on the shelves. I thought to myself, “All of these books simply represent normal everyday people who have simply decided to make an effort to write. Anyone can do it.” That experience spurred me on. It was important because I think all would-be authors go through periods of feelings of inadequacy. For some reason we think that a book is always something written by someone else. But no, it is written by someone like you!

 

 

The editorial process was a new experience for me and was somewhat intense at times. I would get a chapter or two at a time emailed back to me re-edited (sentences rearranged, the flow of a sentence changed to run more smoothly etc.) and then I had to make comment on it, change it, add to it, etc. and email it back. After this even more editing by someone else I think. Problem with all of this though is that it is easy for small errors to slip into a text. Even though I had opportunity to read through the manuscript before it was typeset there is so much to check in so little time that is easy to miss errors, or things written in a way which could have been explained better, that you wished you had spotted before it went to print and could have changed before hand. These are only a few minor errors but are personally very frustrating (and a little upsetting) especially when you have poured out the story of your life in honesty and integrity before God. So I would say to other writers – after editors have gone through your work, read the entire manuscript very carefully a few times as this is your chance to change anything you are not happy with because once it’s typeset, that’s it (unless it goes into a second printing and you may persuade the publisher to change the offending errors). Beside this, another challenge I faced was the re-living of the things I wrote about. As the events were very traumatic it certainly brought back the emotions of those days, some of which were quite upsetting. You find yourself transported back and on an emotional rollercoaster. It can be quite draining.

 

 

Interesting question. I suppose to some degree both. Primarily though, I saw myself simply as a person talking about the things that happened. All our lives are stories and we are all viewed as characters, especially by others. But on another level, I can appreciate that some people who don’t know me may look at me just as a character in a book. But for the people who have read the book, who have known me for a long time, they will tell you that the person you see in the book is the person I really was back then and am today.

With writing an autobiographical/testimonial type story I always felt it best to just tell the events that happened, my thoughts and feelings, the way I expressed myself, just as it was, warts and all if need be. People can connect with such things as we all experience them. It invites the reader deep into your world, a world of emotion that we can all identify with.

 

 

On the Internet you don’t have anyone editing your work for one, or publishers suggesting one thing or another. Writing articles on the Internet, particularly for your own website, is pretty much a free-for-all really. Even so, I do think it is helpful if people comment on things that need changing with an online article and this happens from time to time. I have always said that I am open to any of my articles being corrected and rewritten.

 

 

I tend to research the things that grab my attention, read around it a lot, then start writing some short notes and thoughts. Eventually, it is as though I am ready to let the article out and I start typing. I very much like to try and use as many primary sources that I can for the articles I write. Best to go straight to the horse’s mouth, so to speak, rather than get your information second hand.

 

 

Be careful to change the names of people who either don’t want to be mentioned or you can’t get permission from. Also, when you mention specific places (such as companies, organisations, etc.) be careful what you say. For example, Kingsway advised me to leave out some references I made to some unsavoury practices that were going on in one of the places mentioned by actual name in the book. If it is not entirely necessary to the story, and it could create a legal backlash, best leave it out.

 

 

These days, I do find it very difficult to get the time to write as much as I would like to. Some of this has come in the form of having to compete with my two teenage sons for the only computer in the house. MSN has a lot to answer for! 

 

 

My job is that of a housing support worker. This involves working in a hostel with young people, assisting them with life skills like cooking, budgeting, benefits, housing, etc. As jobs go, I can’t grumble too much as it is better than many, pays the bills, and makes you feel that you are occasionally helping some people along the way. But I would dearly love to go into some sort of full-time Christian work. I think this would be the only way I would find true job satisfaction.

 

 

My job isn’t a typical 9-5 as it involves working four days on shift (long days!) and four days off. Four days off may seem like a lot to some to do writing but the time soon gets taken up with things that I was unable to do while working. The best time for me to write is late at night when the family have gone to bed and my wife lets me have a sleep in the next morning on a day when I am not working.

 

 

I did start writing some ideas down for a book on the theme of a Christian witness to those in pagan and occult groups. Soon after this though a friend in the U.S. (who has also authored a book) asked me if I wanted to be involved in a book project he was working on. As this was along the lines of what I had already been writing I took him up on his offer and I’m now in the process of using the material I have to contribute towards this work. The book is to be a joint effort, written by a number of former occultists, each of whom will contribute a chapter or two.

 

 

Start by thinking about what events would be interesting and start writing! This may sound obvious but many people I speak to about this don’t get past the thinking-about-it stage. Keep a notebook and pen handy, and quickly write things down that come to mind because if you don’t, you’ll regret it. It is amazing how much starts coming to mind that you think you have forgotten about once you start giving it some thought.

 

 

I would very much like to continue writing. It is a great joy and a feeling of real satisfaction to be immersed in a project. I would also like to be working in some sort of full-time Christian work and am waiting on God to open a door in this area.

 

 

I would like to see Freed from Satan’s Grasp (or a version of it) get into the mainstream book arena. It seems that so many excellent Christian books go by virtually unnoticed by the world at large when it is they who need to read such books the most. Please join me in praying that this will happen.

 

A review of Freed from Satan's Grasp will be on this website soon.