Saturday, April 11, 1998

Professor settling in to third career

By LORETTA FULTON / Abilene Reporter-News

Michael Monhollon is settling into his third career, savoring the fruits of his second.

With the release of Divine Invasion, Monhollon can take a breather and just concentrate for a while on his third and current career, that of adjunct professor of economics at Hardin-Simmons University.

In his second career Monhollon wrote Criminal Intent, based on experiences from his first career as a lawyer and now has completed Divine Invasion.

Just in time for Easter, Divine Invasion is a fictionalized account of Jesus' life written in novel format.

"It's the hardest thing I've ever written," Monhollon said.

In 1992 Monhollon set out on his second career, that of an author. His book, Criminal Intent, published by Signet, came out the same year as John Grisham's The Firm and was of the same genre.

Although the book didn't sell as well as Monhollon had hoped, it didn't deter his writing. He eventually took a two-year leave from his law practice in Richmond, Va., and wrote Divine Invasion.

And how did Monhollon get from Criminal Intent to Divine Invasion?

"If there is a connection I would say it's in the unsentimental nature of Divine Invasion," Monhollon said.

Monhollon was especially fascinated with the effect Jesus had on the lives of people around him and wanted to explore that in a way that only fiction can.

For example Peter and Judas witnessed the same things, but with dramatically different results. Monhollon explores that phenomenon in his book.

"It's an exploration of how he could have such a dramatic effect on different people," Monhollon said.

Monhollon's road to Hardin-Simmons is a winding one, with numerous family ties. After earning a bachelor's degree from Baylor University, Monhollon got a master's in economics and later a law degree from the University of Virginia. At the university he met a woman from Midland and they later were married.

"Once I got married my future Texas residency was all but inevitable," Monhollon said.

Monhollon eventually practiced law in Amarillo, Virginia, and most recently, Dallas.

In the meantime his father, Dr. Jimmie Monhollon, retired from the Federal Reserve Bank in Richmond and got a job at Hardin-Simmons as a professor of economics and finance. Michael and his family moved to Abilene where he began teaching at HSU this semester.

But the family story doesn't end there. Michael and his mother were law partners in Virginia. After the family moved to Abilene, they shifted their focus to writing and publishing.

The family formed Reflection Publishing Co. and published Divine Invasion as its first project.

Reflection Publishing also plans to publish books by other family members, including Michael's grandmother and a sister.

Even Dr. Jimmie Monhollon, the economist, is involved in the publishing firm, serving as an editor and financial backer.

Michael's wife, Rachel, participates in the packing and shipping end of the business as well as being an occupational therapist and mother of their two children, Seth and Joshua.

Monhollon's book is drawing attention nationwide and even in Canada. This past week he had interviews scheduled with radio talk shows in six markets.

Writing the book posed a number of problems for Monhollon. He had been to the Holy Land when he was 12 years old and had photographs from that trip. He also consulted atlases, the Bible, and commentaries.

But trying to visualize the area was difficult and trying to remember sounds, tastes and smells to bring life to the novel was even harder.

He kept asking himself questions such as, "Is the water in the Jordan River brackish or sweet? Is it a steep drop off or a shallow drop off?"

But the labor was worth the effort, and now Monhollon will wait to see if others get from it what he did -- "a deeper sense of Jesus as a personality."

or more information, check Reflection Publishing's website at http://www.reflectionpublishing.com or call (915) 692-9651.