Bringing the Bible to Life through Amazing Love with K. Dawn Byrd

Good morning, Alley Pals and visitors. Pepper here, and today, help me welcome author, K. Dawn Byrd for a little chat about writing, and more specifically about writing Biblical allegory. Dawn is author of over 10 books, and all of them have come out within the past 4 years. She works full time as a counselor and spends her free-time writing, hanging out with her sweet hubby, or riding on her Harley J

I was blessed to get to attend my first ACFW conference with Dawn in 2010. We roomed together - and she put up with me quite well.

Now, for you readers out there, Dawn is a fantastic resource regarding epublishing and writing in the ‘nooks and crannies’ of life. She’s also adept at writing in various genres (so we have another thing in common J)

She’s written nonfiction, YA, contemporary romance, historical, and suspense….but today, she’s going to specifically target her new release, Amazing Love – a modern day retelling of the Hosea/Gomer story.

Welcome to The Writers Alley, Dawn!

Let's talk about the joys and challenges of bringing a Biblical story to the modern day. Authors are lucky that Scripture is sometimes vague about the details in some stories. For example, my latest novel, Amazing Love, is a modern-day Hosea and Gomer story. We know from Scripture that Hosea marries a prostitute and that she is unfaithful. The fact that the Bible doesn't give much detail allowed my imagination to run wild about how my heroine would betray her preacher husband and the consequences she would suffer for her sin.

Amazing Love was such a joy to write. It ministered to my heart in so many ways. The reader take away is that God loves us unconditionally no matter what. Period. No matter how low we sink in sin, no matter how great our indiscretions, no matter how many tears we bring to God's eyes, He loves us with an everlasting love. That's not to say that He won't let us suffer the consequences for our actions. Amazing Joy was such a joy to write because it reminded of God's unfailing love for His children.

It really sounds like a great story. So now that you’ve been writing a while, what books on writing have been the most helpful to you and why?

It's not really a book, but I'll tell you about it anyway. Margie Lawson's on-line classes made more impact on me and my writing style that anything else I've ever studied. They're very affordable too!

Every writer has a different reason for writing. What’s yours?

I write because I can't stop. It's more than a hobby, it's a passion. It's the most fun I've ever had in my life!

 Sounds familiar. :-)

Thanks so much for being a part of The Alley today, Dawn, and sharing your excitement about your new book.

Okay, so Dawn is going to try and stop by today to answer some questions. Bring them on. Also, if you’ve read a book or books that have taken a Bible story and modernized it (or placed it somewhere else in history) what did you like about it?

If you could rewrite a Bible story, which would you choose?

Biblical retellings are more common than you think, and range from closely linked version to loose interpretations. C.S. Lewis paints a closer allegory of the story of Christ in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Liz Curtis Higgs brings the Old Testament to Scotland in her beautiful stories beginning with Thorn in My Heart and MY favorite, Mine is the Night.

What are your thoughts?