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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

It Helps to Explore the Hard Stuff to Reveal the Good Stuff

by Chautona Havig · Leave a Comment

Jennifer L. Wright isn't afraid to throw the hard stuff at you, and she tells a story you don't want to put down. See why in this episode! via @chautonahavig

The Dust Bowl. The Trinity Project. No one would accuse Jennifer L. Wright of sticking to fluffy topics! But man, the stories she has to tell! When I started reading If It Rains, it felt like I’d found a kindred spirit in Kathryn. But then Jennifer started talking about Come Down Somewhere. Oh, wow. Two women, two decades, converging in an explosion of experiments and faith?  Well… sign me up! Listen in to hear how this story came to be.

Jennifer L. Wright

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

It Helps to Explore the Hard Stuff to Reveal the Good Stuff

Author of what I’m going to call “gritty” women’s fiction, Jennifer L. Wright isn’t timid about tackling the hard stuff. From the dust bowl of Oklahoma to the home of wealthy folks seemingly untouched by the Depression, all the way down to what is supposed to be an “uninhabited” area of New Mexico where the government needs to test a new bomb, she writes of people and places that definitely endure that hard stuff.

Her latest release, Come Down Somewhere, tackles the Trinity Project and the far-reaching consequences of one terrible mistake. Told through the stories of two friends whose lives converge, diverge, and rejoin a decade later, Wright explores the intricacies of friendship, faith, and disillusionment in the wake of tragedy.  I for one, can’t wait to read it.

 

Jennifer L. Wright Come Down SomewhereCome Down Somewhere by Jennifer L. Wright

For fans of WWII fiction comes a powerful novel by Jennifer L. Wright about two young women coming of age during the Trinity nuclear bomb test in 1945.

Sixteen-year-old Olive Alexander has lived on a ranch in the Jornada del Muerto region of southern New Mexico her entire life. But when World War II begins, the government seizes her family’s land for the construction of a new, top secret Army post.

While her mother remains behind, Olive is forced to live in nearby Alamogordo with her grandmother and find a place in a new school. When Jo Hawthorne crosses her path, Olive sees a chance for friendship—until she learns that Jo’s father is the Army sergeant who now occupies her beloved ranch. Already angry about her new reality, Olive pushes Jo away. But as she struggles to make sense of her grandmother’s lapses into the past and increasingly unsettling hints about what’s happening at the ranch, she slowly warms to Jo’s winsome faith and steady attempts at friendship . . . until one devastating day when the sky explodes around them and their lives are torn apart.

Seven years later, Jo returns to Alamogordo, still angry and wounded by the betrayals of that fateful day. Determined to put the past behind her once and for all, Jo hunts for answers and begins to realize the truth may be far more complicated than she believed, leading her on a desperate search to find her friend before it’s too late.

Learn more about Jennifer L. Wright on her WEBSITE.

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 587: A Chat with Four Authors
byChautona Havig

I love a good Christmas novella collection, and Lighting Up Christmas promises to be a fabulous one. Listen in as I chat with four Scrivenings authors about the collection and their books!

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

If you knew the craziness that was this recording! Those poor women! Meanwhile, we managed, and now, I don’t know about you, but I’m dying to get to it! :D

Lighting Up Christmas by Amy R. Anguish, Heather Greer, Mary Pat Johns, and Regina Rudd Merrick

Four Christmas lights. Four love stories. One season filled with faith, hope, and happily-ever-afters.

In Lighting Up Christmas, four heartwarming holiday romance novellas shine with cozy charm, clean romance, small-town warmth, and the gentle reminder that God can bring light to even the dimmest season.

In The Bright Side of Christmas by Amy R. Anguish, Holly Belle loves Christmas, holiday décor, and twinkling lights. Her new neighbor, Robert Bradshaw, prefers peace, quiet, and keeping her Christmas cheer firmly on her side of the duplex. But when Holly decides his grinchy heart needs a little holiday help, their battle over lights may lead to something brighter than either one expected.

In The Light of a Christmas Star by Heather Greer, Elena Bell is determined to make Tannenbaum’s Festival of Lights a success for the families depending on it. When rising Hollywood star Trenton Wills arrives at her B&B, he may be the answer to the town’s needs—and the beginning of Elena’s own Christmas romance. But Trenton has secrets that could dim more than the festival lights.

In ‘Twas the Light Before Christmas by Mary Pat Johns, Cooper Blackmon enters the region’s biggest Christmas lights competition determined to win. Mandy Alvarez needs the prize money to save her family’s beloved Christmas Village. As rivalry turns to friendship and friendship glows into something more, only one can claim the prize. But both may have far more to lose than money.

In Pitch Perfect Lights by Regina Rudd Merrick, Holly Shepherd is facing her family’s first Christmas after loss while trying to create joy for her young siblings. When author Paxton Hollis returns home and quietly helps revive her father’s beloved light display, Holly discovers that hope can still shine, even through grief.

A charming choice for readers who enjoy clean, faith-friendly romance wrapped in Christmas lights, small-town warmth, and happily-ever-after hope.

Read Lighting Up Christmas and discover four faith-filled holiday love stories that glow with joy, hope, and the true light of Christmas.

Visit Amy at her WEBSITE or on GoodReads and BookBub.

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

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

You can learn more about Regina and her books 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
  • YouTube
  • and more!
Episode 587: A Chat with Four Authors
Episode 587: A Chat with Four Authors
September 30, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 586: A Chat with Becca Kinzer
September 28, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 585: A Chat with Jenelle Hovde
September 26, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 583: A Chat with Elizabeth Goddard
September 21, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 582: A Chat with Terrie Todd
September 19, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 581: A Chat with Bethany Crigger
September 14, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 580: A Chat with R. T. Ward
September 12, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 579: A Chat with Lauren Smyth
September 9, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 578: A Chat with Carolyn Bourke
September 7, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 577: A Chat with Denise M. Colby
September 5, 2026
Chautona Havig
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Book clubs can be murder. Well, at Olemann's Books Book clubs can be murder. Well, at Olemann's Books. Twelve people signed up for twelve months of reading fun. No one told them that signing up was signing on for life-or-death stakes. Take a prompt, figure out a riddle, read a book, arrive at all meetings. Or die. WHAT???

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#BookClubFiction
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#ChristianMysteries
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Book clubs can be murder. Well, at Olemann's Books Book clubs can be murder. Well, at Olemann's Books. Twelve people signed up for twelve months of reading fun. No one told them that signing up was signing on for life-or-death stakes. Take a prompt, figure out a riddle, read a book, arrive at all meetings. Or die. WHAT???

https://amzn.to/3TGmHhD
#BookClubFiction
#ChristFic
#ChristianMysteries
#KindleUnlimited
Book clubs can be murder. Well, at Olemann's Books Book clubs can be murder. Well, at Olemann's Books. Twelve people signed up for twelve months of reading fun. No one told them that signing up was signing on for life-or-death stakes. Take a prompt, figure out a riddle, read a book, arrive at all meetings. Or die. WHAT???

https://amzn.to/3TGmHhD
#BookClubFiction
#ChristFic
#ChristianMysteries
#KindleUnlimited
Picture it. You decide that this is the year for b Picture it. You decide that this is the year for book clubs. This is the year you're going to move off your "favorites shelf" explore new horizons (or at least a new author or two). It's gonna be great (why do I want to add, "they said"?). Maybe you're an introvert who knows that peopling for an hour or two is going to drain you, but for a good book? You've got this. You square your shoulders, open the bookstore door, inhale the vellichor (unless you're a Harper Brevig--then you're totally down for BIBLIOchor), and step into your new life--as a book club person. Oh, yeah.
You meet new people. Grab a snack. Sit down to find out what book you're going to read first and...
Discover that your life has been taken hostage. Because if you and your new book club friends don't solve a riddle, read the right book based on that riddle, and show up to every meeting? One or more of you won't be alive to attend the next.
WHAT???
It's basically @Chantelreadsallday 's Read Your Bookshelf Challenge in a book.
Dying to Read: their inciting incidents might be deadly. Available now in paperback and eBook (and on Kindle Unlimited!) The audiobook is coming soon! Don't miss more about the bookstore in the Booked for Love anthology releasing October 1!
https://amzn.to/3TGmHhD (#affiliatelink)
#BookishBook
#ChristFic
#ChristianMystery
#BookClub
Picture it. You decide that this is the year for b Picture it. You decide that this is the year for book clubs. This is the year you're going to move off your "favorites shelf" explore new horizons (or at least a new author or two). It's gonna be great (why do I want to add, "they said"?). Maybe you're an introvert who knows that peopling for an hour or two is going to drain you, but for a good book? You've got this. You square your shoulders, open the bookstore door, inhale the vellichor (unless you're a Harper Brevig--then you're totally down for BIBLIOchor), and step into your new life--as a book club person. Oh, yeah.
You meet new people. Grab a snack. Sit down to find out what book you're going to read first and...
Discover that your life has been taken hostage. Because if you and your new book club friends don't solve a riddle, read the right book based on that riddle, and show up to every meeting? One or more of you won't be alive to attend the next.
WHAT???
It's basically @Chantelreadsallday 's Read Your Bookshelf Challenge in a book.
Dying to Read: their inciting incidents might be deadly. Available now in paperback and eBook (and on Kindle Unlimited!) The audiobook is coming soon! Don't miss more about the bookstore in the Booked for Love anthology releasing October 1!
https://amzn.to/3TGmHhD (#affiliatelink)
#BookishBook
#ChristFic
#ChristianMystery
#BookClub
Picture it. You decide that this is the year for b Picture it. You decide that this is the year for book clubs. This is the year you're going to move off your "favorites shelf" explore new horizons (or at least a new author or two). It's gonna be great (why do I want to add, "they said"?). Maybe you're an introvert who knows that peopling for an hour or two is going to drain you, but for a good book? You've got this. You square your shoulders, open the bookstore door, inhale the vellichor (unless you're a Harper Brevig--then you're totally down for BIBLIOchor), and step into your new life--as a book club person. Oh, yeah.
You meet new people. Grab a snack. Sit down to find out what book you're going to read first and...
Discover that your life has been taken hostage. Because if you and your new book club friends don't solve a riddle, read the right book based on that riddle, and show up to every meeting? One or more of you won't be alive to attend the next.
WHAT???
It's basically @Chantelreadsallday 's Read Your Bookshelf Challenge in a book.
Dying to Read: their inciting incidents might be deadly. Available now in paperback and eBook (and on Kindle Unlimited!) The audiobook is coming soon! Don't miss more about the bookstore in the Booked for Love anthology releasing October 1!
https://amzn.to/3TGmHhD (#affiliatelink)
#BookishBook
#ChristFic
#ChristianMystery
#BookClub
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