A scientist using Jesus' DNA to clone Him? Listen in to see what Chuck Shelton is doing with that!

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

This chat with Chuck was fascinating. He has an unexpected look at how this cloning thing would work and what would happen if somehow you cloned Jesus and ended up with a 21st century woman (I think it was 21st...)

Sudarium by Chuck Shelton

Jennifer Barnes discovers she was cloned from the DNA of Jesus. What could go wrong?

Elizabeth Barnes, a brilliant agnostic scientist, recovers and uses DNA from a legendary burial cloth - the Sudarium - to impregnate herself and give birth to a clone of Christ, creating chaos for her daughter and the world. When the identity of this 30-year-old woman cloned from Jesus is revealed, the media go wild, and people everywhere react. Her name is Jennifer, and she is not exactly a poster child for the Church. She has lesbian friends, uses he/she pronouns for God, and fights against domestic violence. The saying 'You're a child of God' takes on new meaning as her life is put in danger, she starts to fall for an FBI agent, and global conflict between religions escalates. Sudarium explores what it means to live with integrity and courage as a person of faith. It disrupts stale views about gender among Christians and invites its readers to pursue their spirituality with fresh eyes in the context of radically loving oneself and others.

Learn more on Chuck's WEBSITE and follow on GoodReads.

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

• Apple
• Castbox
• Google Play
• Libsyn
• RSS
• Spotify
• Amazon
• and more!

Things are heating up in Carr Valley. Listen in as Amanda Cabot and I chat about mysteries and the way sometimes chosen family is exactly what we need.

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

This Sisters of the Heart series is a beautiful testimony to the grace of God bringing people together in order to be able to support one another at just the right time.

I love my chats with Amanda, and this one was no exception.

Whispers in the Valley by Amanda Cabot

A woman whose life is in shambles. A man who's fighting for his future. A decades-old mystery. Carr Valley will never be the same.

Victoria Holton has it all, or so it seems: beauty, a doting father, betrothal to one of Philadelphia's most eligible bachelors. But all that ends the day her father is imprisoned for embezzlement. Suddenly penniless and shunned because of her father's crime, she flees to Carr Valley, hoping to find refuge with Sophia, her sister of the heart.

With her life upended, Victoria longs to find a new purpose, but what can she do? She wishes she could solve a decades-old mystery that's haunting a newfound friend, but the only clue leads nowhere. Her attempts at housekeeping in Sophia's hotel are laughable, and despite a number of would-be suitors, she has no intention of marrying. The only man who interests her is one she could never consider, for if there's one thing Victoria knows, it's that she is not meant to be a minister's wife.

Pastor Peter Mulholland has never doubted his calling to the ministry … until now. Even though he can't please everyone, he refuses to let the deacons' demand that he marry determine his future. He knows the kind of wife they expect him to choose, and it's not a woman like Victoria. Besides, what does he have to offer her? Perhaps his critics are right, and it's time for him to leave Carr Valley.

But then a stranger arrives and the whispers begin.

Learn more about Amanda on her WEBSITE and follow her on GoodReads and BookBub.

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

• Apple
• Castbox
• Google Play
• Libsyn
• RSS
• Spotify
• Amazon
• and more!

Laurie Christine's Dragon Slayer Bible series is such a cool concept. Bible stories retold as fantasy elements? Yes, please Listen in and learn what happens when Shem's father is too busy building a boat than to teach him the warrior skills he'll need.

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

This conversation was so cool. I really love what Laurie does with her imagination--finding ways to tell the stories that are somehow fantastical adventure tales AND open eyes to the themes in the Bible that sometimes kids miss in reading the stories. That they're told as stories rather than Scripture helps keep confusion from setting in, which I also appreciate.

Land of Giants: A Dragon Slayer Bible Story by Laurie Christine

A secret alliance, A dangerous mission, A deadly enemy.

Twelve-year-old Shem wants one thing—to become a warrior. But his father, Noah, is too busy building a giant ark to train him. The world mocks his family, and Shem is tired of feeling left out and embarrassed. He's ready to trade his tools for a sword and show the Cobras, the toughest gang in the city, that he's not just some weird kid with a crazy dad.

When Shem makes a secret deal with the son of a family rival, he finally gets the training he's always wanted. But something isn't right. Monstrous giants called Nephilites have invaded the land. And the dragon they serve is more dangerous than Shem ever imagined. If Shem wants to protect his family, he'll have to learn what it really means to be a warrior.

Land of Giants is an action-packed Biblical adventure, perfect for readers who long to battle dragons, defy giants, and discover the true strength that comes from the King.

Learn more about Laure on her WEBSITE or at Dragonslayerbible.com and follow her on GoodReads.

Don't miss her first interview HERE.

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

• Apple
• Castbox
• Google Play
• Libsyn
• RSS
• Spotify
• Amazon
• and more!

As heartbreaking as it is, everyone knows someone who has or is battling some addiction or another. Heather Greer has tackled that heartbreak in her new release. Listen in to see why I'm ready to dive into this book.

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Tackling a topic like addiction is hard enough without adding romance and the turmoil of deciding if loving a friend is safe enough to trust your heart, too.

Addiction, comes in many forms, drugs, alcohol, gambling, pornography--so many forms even shopping!

Hope Even After by Heather Greer

Loving him was never the problem.
Living with the addiction was.

In a small Illinois town, Daisy Taylor has loved her best friend Luke Masters since high school. But when grief drove Luke away from faith and into alcohol, Daisy learned an impossible truth: loving someone does not mean you can save them. Hoping for more than friendship felt risky, especially when the man she loved stopped believing in God and in himself.

Luke once trusted faith. After devastating loss, he decided it was nothing more than a crutch, and the bottle became his refuge. But when he crosses a line he cannot undo, Luke is forced to confront his addiction and begin the slow, humbling road toward sobriety.

As Luke fights for recovery, Daisy walks a razor's edge, loving someone in recovery without rescuing him, supporting him without losing herself, and guarding a heart she buried years ago. Old feelings resurface. Faith is tested. And the future she once mourned threatens to reappear—fragile and uncertain.

Hope Even After is a faith-filled story of second chances, hard-earned healing, and the quiet courage it takes to trust God when answers do not come easily. With emotional depth and a gentle thread of romance, this novel explores boundaries, grace, and what it means to hope wisely rather than desperately.

Perfect for readers who enjoy thoughtful, faith-centered novels like Still of Night, Where Grace Appears, Night Songs, and The Divine Proverb of Streusel.

If you believe hope can survive loss, love can grow with boundaries, and faith can rise even after disappointment, begin this redemptive story today.

Learn more on Heather's WEBSITE and follow on GoodReads and BookBub.

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

• Apple
• Castbox
• Google Play
• Libsyn
• RSS
• Spotify
• Amazon
• and more!

After her contemporary fairytale twist, Rendercella, I should've known that I'd love Amy R. Anguishe's Fairest Inn All, and boy did I! So fun. Listen in to see what she did with seven uncles and an old inn!

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Amy R. Anguish writes great contemporary romances with a lot of humor, faith, and heart, and Fairest Inn All was no exception. I got to read it early and loved the apple-themed inn and its delightful uncles. Find out why Kari isn't looking for a happily-ever-after with a prince of a guy!

Fairest Inn All by Amy R. Anguish

A queen, seven uncles, and an apple tart … real life is no fairy tale.

When Kari White's seven uncles beg her and her brother Jake to come to Georgia and revamp their inn, she isn't happy about it. She doesn't remember them nor does she want to leave West Virginia. But family comes first, and the Apple Inn has a lot of potential, despite the deadlines they're up against … not to mention the land-hungry Queenie Ville, who has her eye on buying the Apple Inn.

Royal Barrett loves Brunswick, Georgia, and wants to help preserve its heritage. That's why he convinces the Chamber of Commerce to start a Fairest Inn All contest to encourage inns across the town to refresh without becoming too modern. But when he meets the gorgeous Kari White, he discovers some other aspirations—like winning her over to a happily ever after with him.

Driven together by goals and weather, Kari can't help the attraction between them. But she's rejected a happy ending for so long, it's going to take more than a few walks under Spanish moss-covered oaks to win her heart.

Visit Amy at her WEBSITE or on GoodReads and BookBub.

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

• Apple
• Castbox
• Google Play
• Libsyn
• RSS
• Spotify
• Amazon
• and more!

It's always fun to talk to Jennifer Lynn Cary about her fun series that take place in 1970s Kokomo, Indiana. Listen in to learn about this latest novel and what you can look forward to next!

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Another song, another story, another piece of the Weather Girls Wedding Shop and Venue series. You'll love hearing about the history of Kokomo and all the fun things that go on in there!

Pieces of April by Jennifer Lynn Cary

April Mathers wants to move forward. She can't undo her impulsive high school blunder, so she keeps her head down, works hard, and prays for that long-awaited promotion. She's cautious—even about the friends she chooses.

Then her next-door neighbor sublets her apartment to the one person capable of blowing up April's world by repeating words that once shattered her.

Except he doesn't remember saying them.
In fact, he doesn't remember her.
Viet Nam vet Paul Romer has returned home hoping a support group can help him make peace with his permanent amnesia. All he has from before are flashes of a girl.

Then he finds her.

She lives next door.

And she definitely knows something—something not good.

Their chemistry is real, the tension tangled, and the secret between them is as stable as six-inch platform shoes. When the truth comes out, will it destroy their fragile beginning, or give them a future worth remembering?

Return to 1974 Kokomo, Indiana, where faith, love, and a legendary cardinal in a sycamore tree might fit all the pieces into place.
You'll swoon for this sweet, quirky, romantic tale of second chances, because sometimes sharing all the pieces of your heart is the only way to put it back together.

You can find out more about Jennifer Lynn Cary on her WEBSITE and follow on GoodReads and BookBub.

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

• Apple
• Castbox
• Google Play
• Libsyn
• RSS
• Spotify
• Amazon
• and more!

I've always had a soft spot for the woman at the well, and chatting with Jill Eileen Smith about her book, A Deeper Well just made me decide my Biblical fiction book of the year. Listen in and see why.

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Too often, the woman at the well gets a far worse rap than Jesus gave her, so I'm excited to see someone treating her situation with compassion AND Biblical truth. Eager to read.

A Deeper Well by Jill Eileen Smith

Her broken heart thirsts for acceptance and love that seem out of reach--until an encounter at the well reveals what her soul truly longs for.

In ancient Israel, soon after Nessa is of marriageable age, her father gives her to a wealthy widowed friend, capitalizing on her beauty to bring in the highest bride-price he can find. Nessa is devastated, as she had begged to marry Lavi, who returned her love and saw more in her than her appearance. Nessa's betrothal leads to Lavi's departure, compounding her grief, and she can never forget her forbidden first love.

Nessa tries to accept her fate, but after only a year of marriage, tragedy hits her new family. She is sent back to her father, who quickly finds a young man who wants to marry the most beautiful woman in Sychar. Misfortune follows Nessa as she is passed from one marriage to the next--until she meets an unusual Jewish rabbi at the town's well one afternoon, and her life is forever changed.

You can get A Deeper Well at 30% off with free shipping (as of today, anyway!) at BakerBookHouse.com.

Goodreads Giveaway going on in March 2026.

Learn more about Jill at her WEBSITE. and follow on GoodReads and BookBub.

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

• Apple
• Castbox
• Google Play
• Libsyn
• RSS
• Spotify
• Amazon
• and more!

I've seen devotionals connected with short stories before, but nothing like this. Listen in to see why I'm so excited about Barbara Britton's Across the Lake.

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Combining biblical fiction with devotional focus on scripture, Barbara Britton has created something so impressive.

Across the Lake by Barbara Britton

Hope can cross any distance—especially when Jesus is in the boat.

Set amid stories from the Gospel of Mark, Across the Lake by Barbara M. Britton is an inspirational Christian devotional for readers who long to encounter Christ's power and compassion in a fresh way.

Through short, story-based reflections, Britton explores moments of spiritual warfare, physical suffering, and divine restoration. Each vignette reveals how the life of Jesus continues to transform hearts and renew faith today.
Inside, you'll discover:

• Thoughtful devotionals rooted in Scripture and history

• Encouragement for your daily walk with God

• Insights perfect for personal growth or small group discussions

Blending the beauty of Biblical fiction with the truth of Bible study, Across the Lake invites you to see that every struggle can become a testimony when placed in the Savior's hands.

Jump in the boat with Jesus—the same Savior who still calms storms and transforms lives today.

Learn more on her WEBSITE and follow on GoodReads and BookBub.

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

• Apple
• Castbox
• Google Play
• Libsyn
• RSS
• Spotify
• Amazon
• and more!