Tate Publishing is proud to announce the signing of local author Robert Branham and his soon-to-be-published book, "A Matter of Truth."
"A Matter of Truth" takes four ordinary people, whose lives would have never intersected otherwise, out of their comfortable environment and places them into a cold and unfamiliar city without explanation, without recourse, without anything.
"A Muslim from Turkey and a Baptist Preacher from Oklahoma head the list of characters that are thrown into the mix," shares Branham. "People who would otherwise be at odds must decide if they should or can work together to survive in their unforeseen predicament."
"'A Matter of Truth' will put you on the edge as a search for truth, in religion. Robert spent roughly nine years living abroad in Istanbul Turkey. His life experiences magnifies curiosity while uncovering deep issues we have all questioned at one time or another," said Mireille Mistkowski, the acquisitions editor for the book.
Branham's personal experiences living in Turkey served as the inspiration for the book. "I first moved to Turkey from Waco, TX in 2005. Ever since we moved it has been an ongoing curiosity to observe and make note of the cultural differences," says Branham. "There are many differences that distinguish our two cultures but also there are similarities. I sometimes imagine what it would be like if I could instantaneously transport someone from central Texas over to Istanbul, Turkey (and vice versa)."
Branham's cultural surroundings also color the book in a vivid, illustrative manner. "100% of the book was written in the country of Turkey, with 90% was written a stone's throw from my neighborhood mosque. The sights, sounds and smells from the crowded streets of Istanbul flavored the story line," says Branham. "I wrote while the 'call to prayer' blared throughout the day from speakers at the Mosque across the street alerting all passersby that it was time to come inside and pray. There were countless glasses of Turkish chai set before me in those distinctive figure 8 shape glasses amidst the cloud of cigarette smoke that often hovered where I drank, sat and wrote at my favorite cafe. All of this helped to flavor the writing so that hopefully the reader will gain a unique experience from this part of the world."
Branham expresses that the gut-wrenching awareness/mystery of the afterlife deeply influences and uses the word "scary" to describe this theme in the book, sharing "somewhere deep inside of each of us, no matter where we live or what language we speak or what religion we say we have, deep down inside is an idea that we hold to in the very center of our soul that explains the meaning of life, death, heaven and hell. The more people that I have talked to around the world, the more I see that it is the same regardless of culture and religion. People want to believe in a heaven and hell."
"But," Branham questions, "why do we believe what we do? Is it something we heard from a parent, teacher, or preacher? Maybe it was something we read in a book? What if that teacher was wrong? What if the church got it wrong? What if the best selling author that we read was incorrect? Where does that leave us...for eternity?... Perhaps even more interestingly almost everyone seems to live with the notion that they are going to heaven and that it will be the 'other' guys that are going to hell. This is the scary part, unless truly everyone around the world is going to heaven. But if we are wrong, how do we know?"
Branham hopes this overarching themes will "cause readers to reexamine what they believe and why. Hopefully it will be scary enough to cause readers to reevaluate their core beliefs... David Hume said that errors in philosophy are just ridiculous but errors in religion are dangerous. We can afford to be sloppy in our convictions about some things but not about religion."
Published by Tate Publishing and Enterprises, the book will be available upon its release through bookstores nationwide, from the publisher at www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore, or by visiting barnesandnoble.com or amazon.com.
Robert Branham is married to Joni Branham. They have been married for 24 years and have four children. They moved from Waco, Texas to Turkey in 2005. Robert left a position with Baylor University in the Information Systems Group where he was Senior Systems Analyst at that time to teach in a private Turkish school.
For more information or interview requests please contact Michelle Whitman, publicist, at (405) 458-5642 or send an email to michelle@keymgc.com.
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