Fabulous Friday Feature-Stephanie Wetzel Landsem

Today we welcome author: 

Stephanie Landsem

To win a copy
of Stephanie's new release:
The Tomb

Scroll to the end of the post 
to see how to get your copy.

  

I asked Stephanie to join us and share how God has led her on her writing journey. Here is what she said:

God's Plans Can Be Much More Than We Imagine For Ourselves

I never expected to write biblical fiction. In fact, the idea never even crossed my mind, which proves once again that God’s plans can be so much more than we can imagine for ourselves.

I knew I wanted to write historical fiction — as a history major in college, I’ve always been fascinated by the many untold stories throughout history, especially in ancient Greece and Rome. So when my youngest child went into kindergarten, I started writing. But I didn’t find my story. No matter what historical era I tried, no character came to me and said, “Tell my story”. I thought maybe I wasn’t meant to write at all. Looking back, I can see that God was just telling me to wait.

Finally, one Sunday, I sat in church listening to John’s Gospel account of the woman at the well. I’d heard the story many times—as many of us have—but this time my mind was filled with questions: Who was this woman that Jesus stopped to speak to on a lonely road in Samaria?  Why did Jesus stop to speak to her? Did she have children? And how did her encounter with Jesus affect those around her, especially her family? By the time I got home from church, I knew that I wanted to write the story of this woman’s fictional daughter, Mara. As the story and the characters came to me, I knew that this had been what I was waiting for.

As I wrote The Well, and after that the other two books of the Living Water Series, I wanted to answer these questions:

1.    What was it like to live in the time of Jesus? We can’t enter fully into a story until we’ve learned what was going on around us. What did people eat, what did they wear? What were their worries and their joys? The historical research within each story brings readers into the world of Jesus.

2.    What was it like to meet Jesus, the Incarnation, face to face? My favorite part of each story is when my characters meet the Son of God. I like to imagine what they would have felt, thought, and said to him.

3.    How did it meeting Jesus change the characters’ lives and the lives of those around them? Meeting Jesus had to have made an impact not only on one person’s life, but on their family, friends, and community. In each book of The Living Water Series, I explore how a single meeting could change the course of history for a family, and even a whole town.

4.    Did meeting Jesus lead to a happily-ever-after ending for my characters? We all know that being a Christian doesn’t promise us an easy life in this world. In real life, and in the stories I write, believing in Jesus leads to sacrifices and tests to our faith.

Especially during the joyful time of Easter, my hope and prayer is that my unexpected journey into biblical fiction will give my readers a chance to ask these same questions of themselves:

1.    What would it be like to meet Jesus?

2.    How would encountering Jesus change me, my friends, and my family?

3.    Would meeting Jesus myself lead to THE happily-ever-after, eternity with him in heaven?

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Stephanie's siblings- The treasures she
dedicated her book The Tomb to.
Rachel and Jennifer are here, 
Steve and Rebecca weren't here that day

Stephanie Landsem, author of The Living Water Series, writes historical fiction because she loves adventure in far-off times and places. In real life, she’s explored ancient ruins, medieval castles, and majestic cathedrals around the world. Stephanie is equally happy at home in Minnesota with her husband, four children, and three fat cats.  When she’s not writing, she’s feeding the ravenous horde, avoiding housework, and dreaming about her next adventure—whether it be in person or on the page.

Contact Stephanie through: 

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest 

She loves to hear from her readers!

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Click HERE to see or buy The Tomb

The Tomb:

In this captivating retelling of a classic biblical story, Jesus shocks the town of Bethany with Lazarus’s resurrection from the dead, leading Martha—a seemingly perfect woman trapped by the secrets of her past—to hope and a new life.

Everyone in Bethany admires Martha—the perfect Jewish woman. She feeds and clothes her loved ones, looks after the family farm, and meticulously follows every precept of the Pharisees’ strict laws. But Martha is hiding a secret. At her sister’s marriage feast, she gave her heart and her innocence to a young musician who promised to return and marry her, but instead betrayed her love and abandoned her.

Seven years later, only two people in Bethany know of Martha’s secret sin: her brother, Lazarus, and Simon, the righteous Pharisee to whom Martha is betrothed. When Lazarus falls ill, Martha is faced with a choice: send for Jesus to save her dying brother—risking the wrath of Simon who threatens to betray her—or deny Jesus’ healing power and remain trapped in her tomb of secrecy and lies.

Meanwhile, on the shores of Galilee, Isa roams the wilderness, tortured by demons and knowing only that someone is waiting for him. When he is healed by Jesus, he finds that seven years have passed since his descent into madness. Isa journeys home to Bethany only to find he is too late to win back Martha’s love.

When Martha risks all to heal Lazarus, will Jesus arrive in time, or will he—like Isa—come too late?

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Click HERE to see or buy The Thief

The Thief:

Nissa is a Jewish woman with a sharp tongue and no hope of marriage. Abandoned by the God she once loved, her only recourse is to depend upon Mouse, the best thief in Jerusalem, to keep her blind brother, Cedron, fed and the landlord satisfied.

Longinus is a Roman centurion haunted by death and failure and is desperate to escape the accursed Judean province. Accepting a wager that will get him away from the aggravating Jews and their threats of revolt, he sets out to catch the thieves harassing the marketplace.

When a controversial teacher miraculously heals Cedron, Nissa hopes for freedom from her life of lies. But the supposed miracle brings only more misfortune, and Longinus, seeking to learn more about the mysterious healer, finds himself drawn instead to Nissa, whose secret will determine the course of both their futures.

Cedron, Longinus, and Nissa are unexpectedly caught up in the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus. As danger closes in on them from every side, they must decide if the love and redemption Jesus offers is true or just another false promise. How can the so-called Messiah save them from their shackles, when he cannot even save himself?

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Click HERE to see or buy The Well

The Well:

For the women of the Samaritan village of Sychar, the well is a place of blessing—the place where they gather to draw their water and share their lives—but not for Mara. Shunned for the many sins of her mother, Nava, Mara struggles against the constant threats of starvation or exile.

Mara and Nava’s lives are forever changed with the arrival of two men: Shem, a mysterious young man from Caesarea, and Jesus, a Jewish teacher. Nava is transformed by Jesus, but his teachings come too late and she is stoned by the unforgiving villagers. Desperate to save her dying mother, Mara and Shem embark on a journey to seek Jesus’ help—a journey that brings unexpected love and unimaginable heartbreak.

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To enter the contest for a copy of 

Staphanie's  new release: 

"The Tomb"

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The winner will be announced on my facebook page.

Thank you,Stephanie, for Joining us This Weekend!

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