By Burton Cole
TUCSON, Arizona — During the coronavirus pandemic lockdown, Falmouth native Timm Mains mused on the Great Tribulation as described in the Book of Revelation in the Bible.
Combining his interests in Scripture, sci-fi and fantasy, could he explain what the world might look like when biblical prophecies come to pass?
The result was his three-book “Season of the End Times” series, self-published on Amazon.
“The twist in my book is a week after the rapture, I have UFOs showing up all over the world in major cities.”
The aliens tell the people left behind that it wasn’t the rapture. They claim that they themselves extracted the ignorant people, the ones stunting growth by clinging to old beliefs, so that the world could evolve.
But the “aliens” actually are fallen angels and demons whose mission it is to deceive people away from relationship with God, Mains said.
“We’ve heard about UFOs forever but we haven’t seen them,” he said. “If they are from the deceiver, the Restrainer (Holy Spirit) is holding them back.”
The Bible says the Holy Spirit will be removed from Earth in those days, which, in theory, would open the door for visitors from other dimensions, he said.
“I try to give an explanation on how all things could happen … in a manner that people can relate to” he said. “Is it biblical? No, it’s fiction. But I try to stay as close to Revelation as possible.
“I’ve had people say that I’m full of bologna. I haven’t had anyone that said I’ve misinterpreted the Bible.”
EARLY DAYS
Mains, 73, said he was born in December 1950 at his grandmother’s house on the Pendleton County Fairgrounds in Falmouth during a big snowstorm.
“My uncle had to shovel snow from the front door so the doctor could get in,” Mains said.
His parents, Paul and Cora Dunn Mains, moved to Covington, where he grew up, but he said he spent a lot of his childhood in Falmouth, where he still has “tons of relatives.”
His early days included fishing in the Licking River, visiting friends and family on Pendleton County farms and enjoying Kincaid Lake State Park.
“It’s a good place to live. It’s beautiful there,” Mains said.
His jobs over the years included crew chief in the U.S. Air Force, a mail carrier in Cincinnati, a grant writer, and he retired from the City of Tucson Housing Department as a Section 8 supervisor.
All the jobs he’s worked and all the states he’s lived were incorporated into his writings. Falmouth, Kentucky, is in the series, he said.
WRITING
Mains began writing in response to the global coronavirus pandemic.
“We couldn’t go to church. We were told to lock down. I thought, ‘There’s got to be some way for me to spread the Gospel in a different manner.”
He said that he conducted a lot of research, not just in the Book of Revelation, but studying the thoughts and ideas of others, while stirring in elements of current events. On top of that, he began every writing session with prayer, asking for God’s guidance.
He’s also published a fourth book, a prequel to the End Times series, and is working on a fifth book that explores from artificial intelligence and genetic engineering.
He notes that everyone who has read his books is a fan. The first couple of bad reviews he received stung “until I remembered that even Jesus said not everyone is going to like you,” Mains said. “The whole idea is it touches you one way or another.”
The majority of reviews on Amazon are positive.
“I figure if my book is good enough, someone (a publishing company) will publish it. It hasn’t happened yet. I’m good with that,” Mains said.
“All I make on books goes into advertising. I usually sell just enough to cover advertising. I don’t want to get rich. I want to get the story out.”