What would you like readers to take away after having read your story?
Carolyn Miller: I’ve been encouraged by readers who have said this story reminded them that God can be trusted for all aspects of the future. I also want them to gain new insights into what Christmas was like in Regency England, and to feel encouraged and entertained by this cozy, funny romance.
Amanda Barratt: I pray they are encouraged to draw near to God in the midst of whatever challenges and trials they are facing, remembering that no life or circumstance is ever too broken in the eyes of Christ.
Erica Vetsch: I hope that when readers finish Wonders of His Love, they will remember that God sees and cares about them, that love is a great gift from Him, and that Christmas is a wonderful time to remember those things. I also hope they enjoy falling in love, as witnessed through the eyes of Cilla and Hamish.
How does your faith influence how you write your story?
Carolyn Miller: I always pray and ask God to direct the stories I write, and then try to focus on the aspects of faith that I’ve worked through in my own life, or in the lives of others – which is not to say that all my stories are exposés of my heart! I trust God that He will lead me to write stories that will minister to people as well as entertain, and I’m so encouraged by readers who say one of my stories was ‘just what they needed to read’ at a particular time.
Amanda Barratt: Every book is written with the prayer for God to guide the words that I pen and to use those words for His honor and glory in the hearts of readers. With each book I write, God takes me on a journey, pouring out His grace and guidance when I feel most inadequate. My stories portray the very real brokenness present in the world today and throughout history, but each one is always painted with brushstrokes of hope. With God, we have the surest hope there is, sustaining us when faced with darkness and strengthening us to be messengers of His hope in the midst of that darkness.
Erica Vetsch
Erica Vetsch: Writing from a Biblical worldview comes naturally to me, having been raised with Biblical truth since I was a child. I am always aware of the need to show the questions and doubts that we all have when it comes to spiritual things, and to show the answers revealed in Scripture to those doubts and questions. I firmly believe the world need more hope in their daily consumption of words and information, and that hope must be grounded in the truth of God’s Word.
Why do you think storytelling is such a powerful way to share truth?
Carolyn Miller: Stories are a more subtle way to impart true things, and often easier to hear than a sermon or analytical study, as we engage with the characters, and identify with their challenges and emotions. I love that my non-Christian friends still enjoy my books which have sometimes been called unapologetically Christian, with messages that don’t shy away from God’s word or truth. They respond to the issues presented which are ones we all can face at different times in life. And hey, Jesus was the master storyteller, so I think He knew that stories are ways to connect with people and help them to engage with otherwise confronting truths.
Amanda Barratt: Stories have tremendous power to reveal universal truths in an accessible way. By creating empathy with its characters, a novel gives us new eyes to see into our own hearts and into the hearts of those around us. Often we meet ourselves within its pages, even and especially in the characters who are the most multi-faceted and flawed. Mirrored in their brokenness is our own. Reflected in their souls is a glimpse of ours. When we see ourselves in a character, the truths and hard questions they face in the story become relevant to our own lives. When an author digs deep and allows themselves to be vulnerable on the page, those are the stories that resonate with readers, because they speak to our common humanity—a thing both individual and shared by us all.
Erica Vetsch: I think humans are wired to respond to story. People engage with the emotions of story much more than facts and figures and statistics. If you can engage the emotions, you’ve opened the door to sharing information in a way that will resonate and linger with the reader. By allowing your reader to live the emotions of a character through storytelling, you also allow that reader to discover the truths the character is learning along the way. If you are a skillful storyteller, you can weave spiritual truth through a novel organically and not at all ‘preachy.’ At the very least, you can write in such a way as to make the reader ask questions about truth through the characters’ own questions and struggles.
Visit Carolyn Miller’s author page:
https://www.familyfiction.com/authors/carolyn-miller
Visit Amanda Barratt’s author page:
https://www.familyfiction.com/authors/amanda-barratt
Visit Erica Vetsch’s author page:
https://www.familyfiction.com/authors/erica-vetsch
Joy to the World: A Regency Christmas Collection
By Carolyn Miller, Amanda Barratt, Erica Vetsch
Kregel Publications
Inspirational Regency romance with a Christmas twist from three best-selling authors
In Joy to the World, three popular authors come together to offer a heartwarming collection of holiday Regency romance. Based on lines from a beloved Christmas carol, these three novellas in one book have depth, faith, and satisfying stories all packed into the perfect length for readers to curl up and take a brief break from their holiday busyness.
“Heaven and Nature Sing” by Carolyn Miller
Two music lovers, deeply devoted to each other, were on the brink of engagement when family circumstances drove them apart. How can they ever overcome their obligations and fears to find their way back into each other’s arms?
“Far as the Curse is Found” by Amanda Barratt
One winter night, a woman struggling to provide for her illegitimate child encounters a scarred veteran of the Napoleonic Wars on the streets of London. Can love conquer the darkness of two broken pasts?
“Wonders of His Love” by Erica Vetsch
A Scots portrait painter with a hidden identity finds work at a noble manor house over the holidays. He never imagined he’d fall in love with the emotionally frozen widow there. Now he wants nothing more than to thaw her heart.