Goodreads asked Nancy Carabio Belanger:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Nancy Carabio Belanger It is the strangest thing. Seemingly out of the blue, God planted this idea in my heart that I should start praying for vocations. I also started to become very interested in St. John Bosco, a priest who guided so many young people and plays a role in the book. So every time I am at Holy Mass I pray for vocations, seminarians, and priests at the moment of Consecration. I also offer up any sufferings I have for this cause, no matter how small. It started out this way: One day I went to daily Holy Mass and the priest did not show up. From my pew, I stared at the empty chair on the altar and I felt this enormous sense of sadness for the future. I saw a scene in my head of no priests, no Eucharist. It was this overwhelming sadness and I felt anxious and helpless, thinking about the future with so few priests, and how society looks at priests. Reading the comments section for online newspapers every time there is an article about Catholicism literally turns my stomach; there is such disrespect for priests. I know so many wonderful, holy priests and I wanted to do something to support the “Yes” they gave to God, to serve others. It was then that I asked the Lord what I could do about it, and he told me about prayer, redemptive suffering, and to write The Gate. Also, I remember talking to a priest friend of ours and he said the one thing he is hearing about more and more in confession from young people is that they feel hopeless about the future. I couldn’t get that out of my mind, so that played a role in my book as well. If the Good Lord allows my book to touch one young child's soul, I will be thrilled.

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