Tag Archive | Puzzles

Turning Faith into Fiction

Today my guest is Lillian Duncan. Even though her books cross genres, they have one thing in common, faith-based stories that show God’s love—and lots of action. OK—that’s two things. She believes in the power of words to change lives, especially God’s Word.

To learn more about Lillian and her books, check out her blog at www.lillian-duncan.com as well as her devotional blog at www.powerupwithGod.com.

Here’s what Lillian has to say:

What goes on in the mind of a writer? Scary things, according to my husband! He thinks I might be plotting the perfect murder—his.

But I promise I’m not. I watch a lot of TV and most of the shows have a common theme. Murder. Or at the very least danger. I keep telling him it’s research, and he acts like he believes me—sort of.

My usual books are fast-paced suspense and mystery novels but I’ve branched out to some other genres in the past few years. However, that makes sense. I’ve been living a different sort of life for almost seven years. My life was turned upside down when I was diagnosed with brain tumors and a genetic condition known as Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2) in 2012.

It’s not been an easy journey and I’m not the same person I was before the diagnosis—health-wise or spiritually. So when you’re a writer and your life changes that means your writing changes as well.

I still love mystery/suspense and continue to write it, but my novel, PUZZLE HOUSE, is a different sort of book. In many ways, Puzzle House is the book I never wanted to write because I know had I never been diagnosed with the brain tumors, I would never have written this particular story.

It’s not easy to keep trusting God when we’re suffering, whether it be from a physical condition like brain tumors or it be some other difficulty like losing a loved one. But when we trust God with all the puzzle pieces of our life, He will use them to create a thing of beauty, such as a book called Puzzle House—which ended up as a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Carol Award.

The tagline for Puzzle House is a novel of healing and hope and that’s what I want people to take away from the story—that no matter what circumstances they find themselves in God promises that he will work all things out for the good of those who love him (Romans 8: 28).

Here’s the blurb on Lillian’s novel – Puzzle House

Rachel Summers is all about Rachel Summers…until the day she crashes headlong into a semi-truck. As her life hangs in the balance, she has a visitor who asks a very simple question.

Does she want to be healed or to be a healer?

She makes her choice, but the journey doesn’t go quite the way she expected.

And so Rachel now runs Puzzle House. Every guest is different and yet the same. They all come to the Puzzle House for one reason and one reason only—to be healed, usually from a life-threatening illness. Sometimes they receive their miracle, and sometimes they discover there’s more than one kind of healing.

Nia is a fifteen-year-old African-American girl who is dying. The doctors have told her there is nothing else to be done. No more treatments. No more hope. No more life. And she’s angry about that. Very angry. Against her wishes, Nia’s aunt brings her to The Puzzle House.

Together, Nia and Rachel will take a journey that will change both their lives.

Puzzle House on Amazon.com

Blog at www.lillian-duncan.com

Devotional blog at www.powerupwithGod.com.