Canyon Lake pastor publishes first book

BY Dawn Rankins

Thor Ramsey, a seven-year resident of Canyon Lake and pastor of the Canyon Lake Bible Club has just published his first book, “The End Times Comedy Show.”

Thor can’t help but smile as he talks about his life and how his published novel came to be.

He started writing the book in 1998 and, finally, after 24 years, he has finished it. Holding the book in his hands brings him quite the sense of accomplishment after such a long trek.

Thor Ramsey displays the book he recently authored and published, “The End Times Comedy Show.” Photo provided by Thor Ramsey

Thor also has four other novels in the process of being written and eventually published, but he said the vision he has for each of the books requires such a long time in getting one finished and published.

He said the inspiration behind writing “The End Times Comedy Show” goes all the way back to when he was in high school.

“I give credit to Mrs Osborne, a teacher I had in both my junior and senior years,” he said. “In one of the first class periods, we were asked to write an essay. After she read them and handed them back to us, she told the class we all needed help on the fundamentals and with grammar.”

Thor said he didn’t realize then what he knows now. It’s these fundamentals and grammar that make an excellent writer.

“I had to write lots of essays over those two years,” he said. “Mrs. Osborne said I had a flair for creative writing and she gave me permission to take something I knew and use it to create fiction. Up to my junior and senior year, I didn’t take school very seriously, but this teacher changed that. She really had an impact on my life and my education.”

His teacher also introduced him to reading, which resulted in a life-long love of books and literature. He said he had read very little prior to taking her classes.

“I am the youngest of my parents‘ children and I’m about a decade behind my siblings,” Thor said. “After my older brother moved out, I found a book he left behind, so I picked it up and began reading it. I still remember the book, because I really enjoyed it. ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ by J.D. Salinger.”

Mrs. Osborne continued to open his eyes to an entire new world of authors and books.

“Being from a small town in Nebraska, I didn’t have much diversity, so when she introduced me to ‘My Name is Asher Lev,’ a novel by Chaim Potok who is an American author and rabbi, it opened me up to a whole new world view that I didn’t really know existed,” Thor said. “The book was about Orthodox Jews. I loved this author‘s writings and fell in love with his sentences.”

The last essay he wrote for Mrs. Osborne’s class holds special meaning to Thor all of these years later. When she handed the essay back to him, it had her writing all over the cover in red ink.

“Among her comments was written, ‘you will be an author someday’,” he said. “And, finally, here I am. I’m an author.”

Thor majored in English in college because he said he wanted to be a novelist and a writer.

“During my life, I began to search for an author who had a Christian worldview,” he said. “Although I read plenty of these authors and they touched on subject matter that I found interesting, they weren’t what I was looking for. Around this time someone told me, ‘if you can’t find something you like to read, then write it yourself.’ That’s what I decided to do and ‘The End of Time Comedy Show’ eventually came to fruition.”

The book is fiction from a Christian worldview.

“I wrote it not to offend readers, though I’m sure that could happen,” he said. “I wrote it with the thought of blending magical realism and dark humor, and taking subject matter to hilarious extremes, all while avoiding heresy. The book is fiction and set in an evangelical world.”

Thor lives in Canyon Lake with his wife and they have three children, Eden, 21, Kate, 13, and Rex, 4.

“I’m a pastor, an author, screenwriter, actor, vertebrae and stand up comic, all in that order,” Thor said. “I couldn’t find the book I wanted to read, so I wrote it, and that’s the motto I adopted. My book went on sale this week and is available through Kindle.”

Thor said he hopes the reader of his book will become immersed in the subculture within the pages of the book.

“My audience might not be large, but they most likely will take on the Christian worldview the way I do,” he said. “My book is funny, but still takes on an element of seriousness. I hope my readers can see other possibilities for fictional writing with Christian themes.”

Thor continues to travel and do stand up comedy where he credits the development of his writing style to his standup. The authors he admires are Hemmingway, Salinger and Fitgerald and he said he knew long ago that he wanted to write a contemporary, funny book that is constructed in a Christian worldview.

Thor can be found Sunday mornings at Indian Beach, along with three other elders who help conduct services for the Canyon Lake Bible Club.