Faith-Filled Historicals for the Adventurous Heart

by Tamera Lynn Kraft

Faith-Filled Historicals for the Adventurous Heart is the tagline I came up with when I started writing fiction to be published. I wanted a tagline that reflected who I am as an author and what you would expect to find in my fiction.

Faith-Filled: Every novel and story I write is written from a Christian worldview and has an element of faith in it. I don’t do preachy because I don’t try to add that faith element. Because my Christian faith permeates every part of my life, it comes out organically in everything I write.

Some stories, like A Christmas Promise and Soldier’s Heart, have more overt references. Soldier’s Heart (now out of print) is about a Civil War soldier with PTSD. The soldier is a Christian and uses Scripture to help him cope. A Christmas Promise is about Moravian missionaries in Ohio, so Christianity is a central part of the characters’ lives.

Other stories have faith in the background, but it’s still there. Resurrection of Hope, my newly released novella, is about two flawed people trying to make their marriage of convenience into a real marriage based on love and respect. Although God is occasionally mentioned, He is mostly in the background giving them the hope and guidance they need. Alice’s Notions, my soon to be released full-length novel, is even more subtle. The story is a cozy spy novel set in post World War Two with a Christian worldview as a backdrop.

Historicals: All of my stories are set in American history. That’s where I find my ideas.

Adventurous Heart: The one element my stories all have is the adventure I long for when I read a novel. Most have an element of romance, some have an element of

suspense, but they all have a strong element of adventure running through them.

In the middle of Soldier’s Heart, Noah has to confront his own insecurities and fear to face the danger that confronts him and his wife. In A Christmas Promise, John is faced with sharing the Gospel with a hostile tribe of Indians while his wife Anna worries for his safety. In Resurrection of Hope, at some point, a tornado blows through town. In Alice’s Notions, there are Communist spies in a sleepy town in West Virginia. I do this because facing danger, both from within and without, and conquering our fears to do what God wants us to do is the greatest adventure anyone could ever have.