“As Sure As the Sea” by Jamie Ogle … and a GIVEAWAY!

Welcome to Friday Reads!

 

 

#Giveaway for a print copy of As Sure As the Sea by Jamie Ogle, courtesy of the publisher. (US ONLY!) Enter by using the Rafflecopter link at the bottom of the post. (Contest ends February 21, 2025) If you’re the chosen winner, I’ll contact you for your information to pass along to the publisher.

 

About the book…

 

Once she denied everything she believed in. Now she’d give anything to choose differently. But in the shadow of the Roman Empire’s persecution and the shame of her past, she fears that what she wants most will be forever out of reach.

Eastern Roman Empire, AD 310. In the shadow of Emperor Diocletian’s anti-Christian edicts, Demitria makes a meager living harvesting coral and pearls for a merchant who turns a blind eye to her faith. By night, Demi goes upriver with her brother, Theseus, to obtain provisions for fellow believers in the port city of Myra. While willing to risk her own life to ensure others are safe and fed, Demi lives with a desperate fear for those she loves and carries secret shame over her greatest failure. When Theseus is injured in a diving accident, all seems lost, until a stranger named Nikolas appears on the beach and offers help.

Arriving in a sinking boat, Nikolas is burdened by guilt over his older brother’s tragic death. Though the wealth he inherited from a prosperous shipping business now rests at the bottom of the sea, as the new pastor in Myra, he is determined to recover it and use it for good. As the violence against Christians increases, Demi helps Nikolas retrieve his lost fortune and distribute it to those in dire need.

Despite wondering if she can ever be worthy, Demi is drawn to Nikolas and longs to trust in his belief that freedom can be found in forgiveness. Then one terrifying night, everything changes as the Roman Empire’s fury rains down. Demi has no other choice but to decide if she has the courage to do what she once failed to . . . and if the faith she calls her own is sure enough to carry her.

 

Amazon purchase link

 

Sample…

 

Lycian coast
27 Aprilis, AD 310
Seawater closed over her head with a roar of bubbles in her ears. Twenty- year- old Demitria closed her eyes, body relaxing, heart slowing as the  stone tied around her ankle pulled her to the depths of the Mediterranean.

The rush in her ears quieted to a dull hum, punctuated by the familiar clicks and burbles of the underwater world. She opened her eyes. Sunlight poured in brilliant shifting shafts through the cerulean water, illuminating the rainbow of coral and plants studding the rocky seafloor, fast coming into clear view. She scanned the bottom, eye snagging on a flash of red in the shadow of an outcropping. The coral stretched from the seabed like an arm, fingers splayed, reaching toward the light above.

 
There you are. 

As the stone hit the bottom in a cloud of pale sand, Demi slipped her foot from the loop in the twine and kicked toward the coral, scanning the bottom as she swam. Air bubbled out between her lips.

She wiggled the little iron hammer from the mesh bag tied around her waist, fighting to stay near the seafloor as she made her way toward the coral. Prized for its mythical powers of protection and healing, and for the way the blood-red color didn’t fade to white when harvested and cut into beads, a piece of coral this size might have fed her family for  months. Too bad Mersad, self-proclaimed jeweler of the seas and their controlling employer, would get the lion’s share of the profits.

Remorse flickered through her as she smashed the hammer against the coral, red fingers snapping free. Fish scattered from the destruction in flashes of silver and yellow. Demi tucked the coral into the bag and paused to run her fingers over the jagged space scarring the reef. What a waste. To destroy something so beautiful for the vanity of red jewelry. At least Mersad used divers to harvest only the red coral, instead of  dredging the seafloor with weighted beams and destroying entire coral beds like other harvesters. Even so, she much preferred oyster hunting to coral collecting. Though not always reliable for pearls, at least oysters served the dual purpose of filling their bellies.

Curious fish darted around her legs, fins whispering against her skin.

A large shadow flickered over her. She looked up to see her brother, Theseus, swimming for the place where the reef swelled upward in a near vertical wall. Only a year younger, his strokes were sure, strong, and so much like their father’s.

How had three years passed since Pater, Mitera, and Hediste had been so violently taken from them? Three years since she and Theseus had filled Pater’s place as Mersad’s best divers—for quarter pay. Not that either of them would dare complain. They were among the lucky few Christians to have jobs.

Lucky. A strange word to use in these times.

Six and a half years ago, after a seer had accused Christians of interfering in her attempts to read the future for Emperor Diocletian, the emperor had passed a series of edicts and demanded the other three rulers of the Roman tetrarchy enforce them in their own regions. The first edict had removed Christians from the military and public office; the second called for the imprisonment of church leaders and the burning of Christian literature and Scripture. The latest edicts had mandated all citizens of the empire to burn incense to the emperor and the chief god of the empire, the Sol Invictus. In return for declaring the emperor as lord, they’d  receive a libelli token which enabled them to work, buy, and sell. Living without a libelli was difficult, and in some regions violently prohibited. Thousands upon thousands had lost their lives refusing to utter the words “Kyrios Caesar.” Caesar is lord.

 

Q & A with Jamie Ogle…

 

Q:  How did you decide on the title, As Sure as the Sea?
A:  This book was originally called A Determined Hope, which sort of fit, but I didn’t totally love it. After I’d finished the book, my editors and I  discussed some ideas and landed on As Sure as the Sea. We loved how in the beginning of the book, Demi finds her peace in the sea—a place a lot of us might think of as changing and dangerous—but toward the end, she finds her peace firmly anchored in the Maker of the seas.

Q:  How might the depiction of Saint Nikolas in this novel subvert  readers’ expectations?
A:  When we hear Saint Nikolas, a lot of us probably picture a jolly man in red, surrounded by reindeer and mounds of snow. The fact that he lived on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world during the worst persecution in Christian history doesn’t sound quite so jolly. But it was such a fascinating and powerful story to research, especially when his  famous generosity is placed against the backdrop of such violence and danger. All of a sudden he’s not just some nice guy, giving out of his excess, he’s a man of insane courage and faith, doing everything he can to protect and provide for the people around him—both inside the church and out—and putting his own life at risk to do so.

Q:  Who was your favorite character to explore?
A:  Nikolas was fascinating. Before researching, I used to think of him as a boisterous, largerthan-life character, but looking at his stories, I found a rather quiet man who seemed more concerned with living the gospel and “doing,” rather than talking about it or leaving any written records. (The fact that he got in trouble as an 80-year-old man for dealing with  heresy with his fists rather than words, really seems to confirm this for me.) I loved digging into and imagining the possible backstories that motivated his dangerous and courageous generosity.

Q:  How can stories of the early church encourage and challenge modern-day believers and readers of this story?
A:  It’s easy to look back on the people of the early church and place them on pedestals, thinking they had super-strong faith and had it all together, when they were just as human as we are, with the same fears and failings. The good news running through all of history is that no matter the historical era or circumstances, we Christians serve the same God who is
faithful to forgive and guide us into a right relationship with Him. I was  particularly convicted about how easy it is to get caught up in the “rules” and to think that following the rules equals relationship with God, when in fact, it’s our relationship with God that brings us to the place where we want to follow and obey. It’s an important distinction, and one my  characters wrestle with in the book.

Q:  What advice would you give to other aspiring writers in the fiction space?
A:  It’s so important to establish early on why you’re writing in the first place, and to know for certain that God wants you to do it. Because writing doesn’t get easier once you have an agent, or contract, or book in the world (I mistakenly thought it would). The process of obedience, trust, and surrender is ongoing—as are the fears and pressures. We can’t do this alone, and I’m so grateful for the encouraging friendships and community of other Christian writers.

Q:  How do you hope the themes of this story will resonate with readers beyond the page?
A:  I never set out trying to write about a certain theme. As I write and explore each story, God brings a specific theme to the forefront—and every time it’s been something I’ve needed to hear and be reminded of. This time, the theme that stood out is that no sin is too great for God to forgive. That if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us. We don’t have to continue living with the guilt and shame of our mistakes hanging over our heads, or feel as though we have to do a certain number of good things to earn our way back into God’s love
or favor. There is no possible way we could. His grace is free, and that’s really difficult to fathom, but so, so important. I’m not saying we should do whatever we want because God is gracious and loving, but that we should obey Him from a place of love, not out of guilt and shame.

Thanks, Jamie. I’m sure my readers enjoyed learning a bit about you and your book.

 

About Jamie…

 

 

Jamie Ogle is a predawn writer, homeschool mom by day, and a reader by night. Inspired by her fascination with the storied history of faith, she writes historical fiction infused with hope, adventure, and courageous rebels. A Minnesota native, she now lives in Iowa with her husband and their three children, and she can usually be found gardening, beekeeping, and tromping through the woods. Learn more about Jamie at jamieogle.com

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