
Welcome
Do you love novels based on true stories? Do you find the risks more perilous, the setbacks more crushing, the overcoming more courageous? If you’re like me, you just said yes.
I love to read those kinds of books as well as write them.
I write stories that immerse you in the people, culture, politics, discoveries, trials, and celebrations of an era in history.
My deepest desire is you’ll enjoy a gripping story while going beyond what you know (or think you know) about the story’s characters and settings. Immerse yourself at the intersection of first-century biblical and global events … the mid-1500s’ clash of religion and politics as seen through the eyes of a nun and a midwife … and more. Enjoy a “go beyond” experience that leaves you a little different from when you first picked up the book. That theme undergirds all my novels. Join the adventure of “living history” with me!

About Lana
When I was losing my life’s greatest battle, God saved my life. Literally. A few years later, He nudged me to start writing novels.
I’d spent decades writing for the medical community … but creative writing? God has a sense of humor.
More about that later. But for now, a quick snapshot of me:
- Science, history, and archaeology geek
- Love true stories of grit and “going beyond”
- Adore secret staircases, houses’ mysterious third floors, jazz music, and chai tea
- Hiking is my favorite exercise and vacation
- Master’s degree in counseling
- Clinical laboratory scientist
- Believe in “I can” regardless of what people say
- Moved cross-country (alone) 3x to be treated for a near-fatal case of Lyme disease
- Beat the odds to LIVE
- Can’t ride roller coasters (neck injury)
- Live to create “aha” moments in writing
- Pretend I live in the mountains (but actually live on the 4th floor of a building on flat land)
- Believe many problems can be solved with common sense (and chai tea), but God can solve every problem
Writing is an adventure—much like hiking. Often humbling, always exciting. You’re never the same afterwards. In one way or another, you go beyond what you were before. In ways large or small, you overcome. I pray the same happens when you read my books.
The Bible, archaeology, and other sources are brimming with fascinating history and politics that provide the backdrops for my books. Here’s a fast way to learn a bit about the first-century world depicted in my writing.
People
Culture
Beliefs
Recent Blog Posts

God is 55 Miles Closer than You Know
A church misconception is that if you’re “godly,” your faith won’t falter. I beg to differ. Take the book of Ruth, for example. Elimelech and Naomi were a godly Hebrew couple that lived in Bethlehem (which means “house of bread”). They had already endured years of famine when their two…

What God Does With Your Ugly
In my read-straight-through-the Bible effort, I’m almost through the book of Judges. It is UGLY. “And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord”—on repeat. I asked God if I could skip Judges. Seriously. Of course, I knew the answer before I asked. Every word of the Bible…