Barbara is here to share a bit about her latest release, Heavenly Lights: Noah’s Journey. She has offered to give away a print copy (US ONLY) or an electronic copy of the book. You can enter by using the Rafflecopter link at the end of the post. (Giveaway ends March 24, 2020 If you are the randomly chosen winner, I’ll contact you.)
My writing journey…
I never dreamed I would be an author. In 2007, I was teaching chapel at a Christian school to kindergarten through fifth graders—all at one time. I wrote a lot of curriculum myself due to the age range. When school was almost over for the year, I was a bit burned out and thinking about what I would teach next year. I prayed, “Lord, hit me with some creativity.” I received ideas for Bible lessons, but I also felt a prompting to write a sweet romance story that was in my head. I wrote three books that were sweet romances before I wrote my first Biblical Fiction story. The first book that received a contract was my work of Biblical Fiction. My contract came in 2015—eight years after I began writing.
I came in through the back door of publishing by entering a mentoring program where agents and editors review manuscripts at the end of a six-month mentoring relationship. No one in mainstream publishing wanted to touch the take-off of a Bible story. My mentor had taken on another author who “just happened” to be an acquiring editor for Pelican Book Group. The rest, as they say, is history. The editor and Pelican requested my manuscript, I submitted the book, and my published author journey began in October of 2016.
Thank you for having me on the blog, Leslie.
The story behind the story…
I enjoy sister stories like Pride and Prejudice and Little Women, but I had no idea there was a sister story in the book of Numbers. I have been a Christian for over four decades, and I had never heard the story of the daughters of Zelophehad. Five orphaned sisters went to Moses and asked to inherit their deceased father’s land. Moses sought God, and God said the girls were right. If a man died without a son, his daughters could inherit his land. Groundbreaking!
I wrote about the sisters’ big ask and followed them as they crossed the Jordan River into the promised land. I left them before the battle of Jericho. Wait, the girls don’t have their land. I decided to write two more books and follow the girls through all the action in the book of Joshua. After all, these girls remind Joshua about their land in Joshua 17:3-6.
Heavenly Lights: Noah’s Journey brings the beginning chapters of Joshua to life with Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah front and center. Noah (the female one) takes center stage with her sisters and Jeremiah, her shepherd who cannot speak. If you’re an animal lover, you will fit right in with Noah and Jeremiah.
Book blurb…
Noah bat Zelophehad might have broken tradition by being able to inherit her father’s land, but her heart’s desire is to have the finest herds in all of Israel, something an orphaned and unmarried woman has never achieved.
Jeremiah ben Abishua cannot speak, nor hear. God has made his thoughts captive to his mind. But he can communicate with one shepherdess, a woman who sees his skill with animals and treats him like a man worthy of respect.
When their people disobey God and incur his wrath, Noah and Jeremiah must overcome tragedy in order to change perceptions in the tribes of Israel. Will their kinship desire to care for one another and the four-legged creatures God has placed in their care, be able to flourish in a land filled with enemies of the One True God?
God gave Noah bat Zelophehad four sisters, a way with four-legged creatures, and a strong spirit. She will need all three gifts to thrive in the Promised Land of God and find love with a special shepherd.
Excerpt…
Noah’s ears thrummed with the thunder of hoof falls. Dusty air strangled her words. Cover. She must find a fortress of her own so as not to get trampled. Sheep and cows galloped in a mass of panic, eyes bulging as if possessed. Their jaws hung open, emitting clipped cries.
She yanked her whip from her belt and let it hang from her fingertips. The boy, Enid, stood like a sculpted idol near the boulder. Why wasn’t he diving behind the rock?
Jeremiah rushed toward the stampede. He lashed his carved staff, diverting the rush of livestock from the camels.
He would never reach her, or Enid, with all the chaos. With his strength, he could fend off stragglers heading toward the acacia grove, but he could not stop a crazed herd.
“Enid,” she shouted, dust settling on her lips. “The rock.”
The boy did not flinch.
Nooooaaaah.
Her kid’s bleat was but a whisper in the beat of hooves. He, too, needed to shift behind the boulder and closer to his mother stationed behind the large stone.
She had to divert the lead animals away from Enid and save her clansman.
Her whip shot out. Crack.
Rearing, a lead ram briefly slowed his charge. Sheep scurried around the ram.
She darted toward Enid.
Crack. Whoosh. Crack.
Animals closest to the whip veered east, except a stupid ox. The plow beast barreled straight toward her, undeterred by the pack’s swerve.
“Move.” She shoved Enid in back of the boulder and stooped to rescue her confused goat. Her sandal caught in a divet of dirt. She stumbled. Her heart stuttered so fast, she thought it would soar out of her robe and thump onto the soil.
About Barbara…
Barbara M. Britton lives in Southeast Wisconsin and loves the snow—when it accumulates under three inches. She is published in Biblical Fiction and enjoys bringing little-known Bible characters to light in her stories. Look for Barb to venture into Christian Historical Fiction in 2020 with “Until June.” Barb is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Romance Writers of America and Wisconsin Romance Writers of America. She has a nutrition degree from Baylor University but loves to dip healthy strawberries in chocolate.
Social media links…
Website: http://www.barbarambritton.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbaraMBritton
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Barbara-M-Britton-173432342754243/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14983213.Barbara_M_Britton
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Thanks for having me on the blog, Leslie. I enjoy sharing about these historic and faith-filled girls.
You’re very welcome, Barbara!
New authors to me, love Facebook and how it’s introduced me to great authors
Diane, I’m glad I could introduce you to a “new” author! I love that about Facebook, too.
Good luck, and thanks for visiting my blog.
Hi Diane! Thanks for joining us. I see so many books on social media that I would like to read. I just need more time.
I enjoy how Biblical fiction books give more details to Bible stories so that the reader can more fully imagine and appreciate them.
Hi Roxanne. I find that sometimes I have to cross reference Scripture to get the details on the story I’m writing. I learn so much. I appreciate you stopping by.
Yes, I like that, as well, Roxanne.
Thanks for visiting my blog. Good luck!
I have read a few biblical fiction stories and love them. Never on these girls though.
I’ve never read anything on them either, Jan, but it does sound interesting.
Good luck, and thanks for stopping by my blog!
Thanks for joining us, Jan. The daughters of Zelophehad were new to me, too. I found them a few years ago. They deserve a big “Amen!”
Usually read biblical non-fiction. Sounds good. Lovely cover.
While this isn’t nonfiction, I think you’d enjoy it, Nancy. I agree that the cover is beautiful.
Thanks for visiting my blog. Good luck!
Hi Nancy! Thanks for being here. My publisher does a great job on my covers. I’m glad you like them.