What started the Chaos in the Blink of an Eye series for Patrick Higgins stems from his deep love of sports, which, he admits, has diminished considerably over the years. He still enjoys watching and attending sporting events whenever he has the time. But these days he views them from an entirely different perspective than when he wore a younger man’s face and displayed a weaker man’s faith in God.
This slow but gradual shrinking away started soon after Higgins was saved. The Lord impressed upon his heart that the fastest growing religion in America, and the world for that matter, wasn’t Christianity or Islam, but “sports”. Every day of the week—including Sundays—millions of fans fill stadiums and arenas (or shall I say cathedrals?) worldwide to worship their heroes.
Whatever the sport, fans show up in droves to cheer on mere mortals as if they were gods. When their teams win life is good. When they lose life is miserable. As a once-guilty participant for many years, Higgins should know.
The passion most fans have for their favorite players and sports teams is the same passion they should have in pursuing the One who saw their unformed bodies from the foundations of the world, the very One who knit them together inside their mothers’ wombs. Tragically, this is not the case. Hence, the reason for the CHAOS series.
The sporting event Higgins chose for the story was the famed Michigan-Ohio State college football rivalry. Prior to writing the prequel, he traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan to attend the game. He admits to being just as caught up in the mass hysteria as everyone else. Higgins said it was impossible not to be swept up into the vortex that had completely engulfed the vibrant college town. The energy was quite palpable. So much so that Higgins had to remind himself more than once that he was there to research and observe everything connected to the game, then put it all into words for his readers. The sporting event itself was secondary.
Though the prequel initially centers on the football game, in no way is this a sports series. If you decide to read it for yourself—and we hope you will—this will become quite clear to you when Bible prophecy comes to pass inside Michigan Stadium. Many suddenly vanish into thin air, leaving everyone still inside the stadium utterly panic-stricken. It was just the beginning of things to come, as life as humanity had known it was forever changed in the blink of an eye…
The inspiration for his first novel, The Pelican Trees, came while visiting Sanibel Island, in southwest Florida. He went for a stroll on the beach and stumbled upon a large banyan tree flanked by two pine trees. All three were full of pelicans. Suddenly, thoughts started popping in his head like popcorn in a popper, and he felt inspired to write a novel. A few years later, The Pelican Trees was published. On many levels, it’s still his favorite book.