First Up: Interview with Dena Dyer, Author of Wounded Women of the Bible
What a joy to re-introduce my long-time friend, Dena Dyer. Dena was among my first guests way back in 2008, and she has certainly been busy since then. (You might want to check out Dena Dyer’s first interview at The Christian Writer’s Den here.) You can read her bio below, but I just want to let you know that as a speaker, writer, entertainer, actress, and humorist, she’s definitely a woman after my own heart!
Friends, don’t forget to leave a message for Dena and you’ll be in the Random.org drawing for a free book! Then be sure to return next week to see if you’re the winner.
Welcome back, Dena! I’m so happy to have you back with us and to see what God has been doing in your life. Let’s start by letting the readers know the title and publisher of your latest book.
Wounded Women of the Bible: Finding Hope When Life Hurts, is my latest book, written with my co-author and dear friend Tina Samples. Kregel Publishers released the book on July 1, 2013.
I LOVE the title of this book! What has the response been so far?
We’ve been so grateful that women have been reading the book and then buying several for friends. That was our prayer—that it would meet a deep need of women who’d been hurt (and that’s all of us!). Several generous donors have helped us buy books for women in prisons and also women with disabled children at a “Joni and Friends” camp. This summer, we held our first online study for the book and we had ladies from all over the US who participated. And last but not least, we were thrilled to win a Golden Scroll award from Advanced Writers and Speakers for “Non-Fiction Book of the Year” this June. So God has been gracious to us.
Yes, I was so excited when I saw that Wounded Women of the Bible won a Golden Scroll award! Where did the idea for your book come from?
God literally woke Tina up in the middle of the night with the idea. For years, we had been praying for a project we could work on together–-since we both speak, sing and write–-and God nudged Tina to call me and ask me to come alongside her. I said yes, Greg Johnson of Wordserve Literary loved the idea when we pitched it to him, and we co-wrote the proposal over several months.
I’m currently working on a book with a co-writer and we live 1000 miles apart. I must say, it hasn’t been easy for us. I’m curious to know the process you used as co-writers.
Tina lives in Colorado and I reside in Texas, so we wrote our halves of each chapter separately and then combined them. Tina handled the Bible study/reflection half of each chapter, adding in parts of her testimony. I collected and edited modern-day women’s stories, wrote about my experiences, and combined our two separate parts into a cohesive whole.
We worked completely long-distance. Thank God for technology! Our communication happened via emails, phone calls and much prayer. From idea to completion took about three years. It was a long, difficult process, because we completely laid bare many wounds God was (and is) healing us from.
We were thrilled with the job Kregel Publishers did, from cover design to editing to back cover copy, and we were thrilled to share the final product with readers. We’ve also developed a retreat based on the book, and we’re praying for many future opportunities to spread the hope and healing of Jesus Christ.
Your story certainly gives me hope since we’ve been working on our book off and on for well over two years. Changing gears a little here, since we can’t cover everything in such a short interview, would you tell us the synopsis of your book? What do biblical women such as Hagar, Abigail, Martha, Bathsheba (among others) have in common with women today?
They’ve all been wounded by relationships, losses, or their own mistakes. In Wounded Women of the Bible, we as authors share fresh spiritual insights gleaned from ancient women who faced the same emotions and questions as contemporary women.
We also tell our own stories of healing, as well as those experienced by our friends and family members. Our prayer is that readers will find hope and strength for their own journeys as they view biblical women’s wounds through the lens of God’s grace.
I love that! What else about your book might pique a reader’s interest?
We know there are countless women who carry wounds from their past. However, many women feel isolated in their pain, believing that no one could possibly understand how they feel. It’s our fervent desire that Wounded Women of the Bible would touch the hearts of those desperate to find freedom and make them feel less alone.
As they read WWOB, we pray women (and men—because anyone can glean truths from the book!) will find a much-needed connection with biblical women, as well as with those who’ve shared their journeys to healing. In addition, it’s our prayer that readers of the book would come away changed—believing that God is powerful, loves them personally, and longs to heal them.
This is a much-needed book, Dena. Thank you to you and Tina Samples for working so long and hard to bring encouragement and hope to all of us.
Friends, don’t forget to leave a message for Dena and you could win a free book. But you’ll have to check back next week to see if you’re the winner!
Bio: Speaker/author Dena Dyer’s books include Wounded Women of the Bible: Finding Help When Life Hurts, Let the Crows’ Feet and Laugh Lines Come, and Grace for the Race: Meditations for Busy Moms. She serves as a contributing editor with The High Calling (). Visit her website () to learn more.
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Speaking of Book Winners, Who Won Miriam Bradley’s Book?
It’s Cathy Baker! Congratulations, Cathy! Now all you have to do is contact me with your mailing address and it’ll be right out to you!
And for those who didn’t win, I know you want your own copies, so here are the direct Amazon links to Double Cousins and the Missing Watch, The Double Cousins and the Mystery of the Torn Map, Double Cousins and the Mystery of the Rushmore Treasure, and All I Have Needed: A Legacy for Life.
Thank you, friends, for joining me week after week. You have no idea how encouraging your visits are to me! Without you, there’d be no reason for me to even post. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
I pray God’s blessing on the work of your hands and your hearts,
Vonda
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I met Miriam Bradley at the 2012 Carolina Christian Writers Conference and then got to know her even better at both the Christian Communicators Conference and the Christian Communicators ADVANCED Conference. I soon discovered we had a lot in common. But I never realized we were sisters separated at birth! Read on and you’ll see why. 🙂
realized that picture books are hard. You only get a few words. I like lots of words. I also learned that I should write what I know. So, I wrote a children’s mystery book about cousins who visit their grandparent’s ranch and encounter a mystery. This was based heavily on personal experiences at our grandparent’s ranch in Nebraska with our—you guessed it—cousins. Sadly though, we never had a mystery in real life. The Double Cousins and the Mystery of the Missing Watch was self-published in 2009. Since then, I found a publisher for two more in the Double Cousins Mystery Series, as well as a collection of pieces celebrating the legacy of godly and practical wisdom I received from my grandparents and parents. This non-fiction book, All I Have Needed–A Legacy for Life, has a section with practical ideas for recording history written by my husband, Bruce Bradley.
As many of you know, I’m on a writing retreat, working hard to redirect a book proposal for an interested agent. And yes, even after four traditionally-published book it’s still so hard!
Congratulations to These CWD Friends!
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