From Veterinarian to Author: Meet Brad Swift
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Ghost Elephant, is the third book in the Zak Bates Eco-adventure series by Flat Rock author, Brad Swift.
What would possess a successful small animal veterinarian to suddenly decide to sell his practice to become a writer and life coach? According to local Flat Rock resident, Brad Swift, it’s the very question his mother is still asking from heaven to this day.
Brad, along with his wife, Ann, and their daughter, Amber, moved to Flat Rock twenty-five years ago when Amber was two years old. “We spent a year after I sold my practice asking ourselves where would we choose to live now that we could live anywhere. After traveling around the country for over twelve months, they finally settled on Flat Rock. “It was close to Ann’s family down in Greenville but not too close,” Swift says, “and I’ve always wanted to live in the mountains. We call it ‘Paradise Found.’”
From their redwood chalet home off of West Blue Ridge Road, they raised their daughter who is now a successful real estate agent for Keller Williams and still lives in the area. Over the past quarter-century, Swift has written and published over twenty-five books including twenty science fiction and fantasy novels, many under the pen name of Orrin Jason Bradford.
His most recent novel, Ghost Elephant, is the third book in his Zak Bates Eco-adventure series for middle grade student and animal lovers of all ages. “Being a former veterinarian, my love for animals of all kinds has influenced much of my writing,” Swift says. “It took me over two years to figure out how to expose the devastating effects poaching is having on the African elephant population in a way that young students could understand, and hopefully be called into action. I’m pleased with the final result.”
Two of his favorite books were inspired by our mountain area. The Fantastic Fables of Foster Flat series is a compilation of inter-connected short stories in the spirit of Ray Bradbury’s writing and the original The Twilight Zone TV series. “I truly believe we live in a magical part of the world, so it was natural for me to want to share it with others through these two books.”
Mike’s On Main, Goldsmiths, and the bears that magically show up on Main Street in Hendersonville each year have inspired stories in the series. Charm House, one of the more suspenseful stories in book one was inspired by a historical home within a stone throw of Swift’s resident, and is available to be read on his website at: www.wbradfordswift.com/charm . You can find a list of his books on Amazon at: Author.to/wbswift and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/wbradfordswift.
