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If you’re looking for Breana Johnson’s blog archives dating from May 2015 to October 2023, then you’re in the right place! I hope you enjoy reading about:
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Do you love the setting of Anne of Green Gables? Then this blog post is for you! Today, PEI romance author Liz Johnson is talking about her latest book, Summer in the Spotlight with me, Breana Johnson–no relation to the author ; )
I absolutely love theater! I try to see at least a few Broadway shows in Phoenix each year, and it’s been a great way to bond with my nieces, who also love to see shows. My oldest niece has been in a number of high school and community productions, so I love seeing her perform.
My personal experience is confined to audience member. Though one time I auditioned for a role in The Importance of Being Earnest (the same show they’re producing in Summer in the Spotlight). I was terrible and did NOT get a call back. But I had so much fun!
The last production I saw was a community production of Beauty and the Beast. It was wonderful! A couple weeks before that I saw Anne & Gilbert: The Musical on Prince Edward Island. It’s one of my all-time favorites.
Oh, man. I don’t know. I think maybe I see myself most in Violet—the older sister, giving counsel character. I’m rarely without words like Levi—though I do enjoy reading like he does. And I’m not one to faint at the sight of blood like Kelsey. But like her, I enjoy organizing events and coordinating things that matter to me.
I hope readers will enjoy a fun escape to Prince Edward Island. And I hope they’ll be reminded of the power of the words we say. We can speak life, or we can speak death. I hope Summer in the Spotlight will encourage readers to encourage and uplift others every day.
Would you like to visit Prince Edward Island with author Liz Johnson? Explore the setting of Anne of Green Gables and Liz’s books when you join her PEI tour in July 2024! Find trip details here.
Have you ever wondered what Noah’s Ark really looked like? Well, travel to Kentucky (of all places), and you’ll get a pretty good idea. The Ark Encounter, a project of Answers in Genesis, is a life-sized ark based on the dimensions listed in the Bible.
Using the theory that that each pair of animals represented one “kind,” they filled the ark with models of these creatures based on prehistoric fossils. There are also several displays within the ark, including an exhibit provided by the Bible Museum and one that shares flood legends around the world.
It’s a little bit museum and a little bit theme park, which appealed to my five-year-old who loves science. Our visit to the Ark Encounter was an awesome experience for our whole family, from my parents (who brought us!) to my kids.
Judging by the major crowds at the Ark on the Saturday we visited, this is a popular destination. Perhaps this is, in part, because children’s tickets are free. The venue also hosts conferences and concerts–the day we visited, there was live music by a well-known Christian band included with the price of a ticket. We didn’t attend because there was so much to see!
Definitely a fun trip and one I’ll repeat when my kids get older and mature enough to appreciate new things about the experience.
Today, I’d like to introduce you to the 2022 winner of the romance category of the ACFW Genesis Contest–and her upcoming debut novel! Meet Lori Dejong, author of Love’s True Calling.
It’s so exciting to see Lori’s winning manuscript go from contest entry to published book! Love’s True Calling is being released June 27, but you can preorder now and see why this story captivated the judges of the contest.
1. What inspired you to write Love’s True Calling?
It was actually for a class I took from Laurie Schnebly about plotting a book based on character motivations. We had to come up with two brand new characters and determine what motivated them to achieve their goals, then plot out the book based on those motivations.
I at first thought of a woman going back to college in her late 20’s and finds her professor is the popular guy from high school who made her life miserable. But I couldn’t really get it to work. So I switched them around. She was still the woman coming back to college, but instead I made her the high school Miss Everything and her professor was the high school nerd who had a big crush on her.
It developed from there that they’d been childhood best friends who went separate ways as they entered their teens, and so on. It was really never intended to go anywhere past that class, but I fell in love with the characters and felt a strong pull to write their story. I put it into a couple of contests and won, and that led to my publishing contract with Scrivenings Press.
God always has bigger plans than ours!
2. in Love’s True Calling, your leading lady faces the tough decision between following Jesus’ calling on her life and following her heart. Can you share a time when you had to choose obedience to Jesus over something else that you wanted?
Oh goodness, well, I feel like this happens on a regular basis. In little ways and in big ways. I’ve been battling my weight for years, so I feel that every time I choose to eat when I know I shouldn’t, I’m choosing my will over His. And conversely, I know how good it feels when I have victory over that and choose His will over mine. It may sound frivolous, but on a daily basis, those can be tough decisions when you’re dealing with issues that go way beyond food.
My husband and I have had to make other life decisions where we chose God’s way over something we’d hoped for or planned on. We had really hoped to adopt when our daughter was about five or six, but we didn’t get the feeling that door was opening for us. So we left that dream of having a second child behind instead of pushing through just because it was something we wanted. When we later went through a long season of financial hardship due to job lay-off and the slow recovery afterward, we could see how having a second child through that time would have been very difficult.
3. What do you hope readers will gain, personally or spiritually, from reading your debut novel?
I hope they see the redemptive love of Christ. Harper, my leading lady, made some awful choices in her life, but once she gave her heart over to the Lord, He changed her simply by His grace and forgiveness.
Wyatt, my leading man, is a strong Christian man who has some tragedy in his past that led him to start a student ministry targeting teenagers who yearn to belong. But he comes to understand that even though he’s in ministry, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have issues of his own he needs to give over to God so that he can further his reach.
I hope readers see that obedience to God, no matter the sacrifice, is what brings true joy and peace.
4. You signed a multi-book deal. Can you give us a hint of what’s coming next?
Sure! Book Two, Love’s True Home, (June 2024) is Ally and Zane’s story. As a child to foreign missionaries who moved frequently from one country to another, Ally Kincaid yearns to plant roots in American soil. Zane Carpenter, raised in America’s heartland in the same house until he was eighteen, craves adventure, and if that involves a foreign mission assignment, all the better! But when they fall in love, will she find a home wherever her heart is, or will he find adventure in his own back yard?
Book Three, Love’s True Measure, (June 2025) tells the story of Hunter and Shannon. Raised in a wealthy family by a father who worked too much and a mother who put her value in their position, Shannon Trent only wants to serve God as an adolescent psychologist and student ministry volunteer. Attorney Hunter Cavanaugh, born to an unwed teenage mother who later married a man who couldn’t keep a job, believes his self-made wealth and status is the measure of who he is as a man. When he’s suddenly the guardian of his fourteen-year-old sister, his 80-hour work weeks become a thing of the past, as well as his dream of being made law partner by the age of thirty. But when Hunter’s tasked by his superiors to do something less than ethical, will he measure his worth by man’s standards or God’s? And will Shannon be able to leave the ghosts of her past behind to help a young girl seeking her own value in a new world?
Thanks so much, Lori! I can’t wait to read Love’s True Calling when it arrives on release day!
Have you ever wanted to pet a leopard? What about cuddle a chimp? Or feed a crocodile? Well, if you ever find yourself at Musee Vivant in Burundi, you can do all of those things.
While we were in Bujumbura, Burundi, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law took us and their kids to the local zoo, which features animals from East Africa.
Bujumbura’s zoo, Musee Vivant (“Living Museum”), doesn’t have the red tape or safety precautions of zoos in the States.
Part of that is really fun–nobody at a zoo in the U.S. would allow you to pet a big cat with gigantic fangs.
It also means that you do have to use your own common sense to decide what is or is not a good idea…like maybe if you’re wearing a ponytail, don’t snuggle the baby chimp. If it gets curious and yanks on your hair–well, there goes your scalp and your face.
Fortunately, my nephews don’t have ponytails.
As you can see, there’s a good reason why my sister-in-law calls this “The Petting Zoo of Things That Should Not be Petted.”
The Musee Vivant also offers a cultural element. Our tour guide took us through an exhibit showing recreating a traditional Burundian elder’s home.
There are several of these houses clustered together. One big house would be for the elder, and each of his wives would have a smaller version.
Our three-year-old wasn’t actually that impressed by the animals in the zoo–he’s not much of a predator person and I wasn’t too keen on letting him watch the crocodile hunt down a live guinea pig, anyway. He was more interested in finding sticks and drawing in the dirt with Auntie Joy.
But he did love walking through the houses and trying to climb this gigantic kapok tree with his cousins.
What about you? Which animals would you pet? And would you climb that tree? Let me know in the comments!
Africa Day 1: 30 Hours in Transit
Africa Day 2: Crossing Burundi
Africa Day 3: A Dowry Ceremony
Africa Day 4: A Burundian Wedding
Africa Day 5: Gisuru School for the Deaf
Africa Day 6: How to Make Mudbricks
Africa Day 7: How to Make an African Coil Basket
A Christian fantasy series based on adventure board games? Yes, please! Today I had the priveledge of talking to James R. Hannibal, author of the Lightraiders Academy trilogy. The second book in the series, Bear Knight, released in February of 2023 from Enclave.
How has your background contributed to the action scenes in Bear Knight?
I’m always aware of the physics when writing action, whether hand to hand combat or aerial battle.
Having studied multiple martial arts and having trained US troops in hand to hand combat certainly helps with the fight scenes. Having flown fighter and bomber aircraft also helps with visualizing the aerial scenes. Of course, everything must be adjusted for the physics of the fantasy realm.
Bear Knight has some awesome maps! How do you come up with the landscapes you invent?
I had a great foundation to start with. The Lightraiders Realm was first created by Navigators author and Christian counselor Dick Wulf back in the 80s. When he handed the world to me, I had a fairly detailed world map to start with and a few towns or locations that were created for the original game. That became my palette from which to build out other locations and fill in the map.
From there, I develop a landscape or village in my head and then work with fantastic artists and cartographers like James R. Brown and Jog Brogzin to bring them into visual reality for a reference.
What books or series inspired your love of fantasy?
This entire series is based on the original DragonRaid game by Dick Wulf. Our team is grateful he had the opportunity to write the forward for Wolf Soldier, the first book in the series, before he went on to be with the Lord. Both Dick and I have been inspired by Tolkien and Lewis primarily.
What do you hope readers will come away with after reading Bear Knight?
The theme in Bear Knight is courage in the face of our fears. We’re talking about fear of physical danger as well as less tangible but just as frightening fears. The characters deal with fear of being left behind by peers, fear of failure, fear of becoming someone they don’t want to be, etc.
I hope that readers learn that no matter what fears they face, they can always find peace and hope in Christ and His promises, and thus the courage to face those fears head-on.