Join me in welcoming friend and award-winning Christian fiction author, Deena Adams, to the Diamond Mine! Deena's debut novel is an amazing testimony of God working in the struggles within a family. If you haven't had a chance to read it, treat yourself! You won't be disappointed. Without further ado, here's Deena!
As a Jesus girl for over thirty years, and a pastor’s wife for most of those, Deena Adams understands how important hope is to daily life. This belief fuels her passion to inspire others through hope-filled fiction based on true-life stories. She is a Certified Mental Health Coach, a multi-award-winning author, an active ACFW member, and a six-year ACFW Virginia board member.
First let’s learn a little bit about you. Can you share a few things about yourself that have nothing to do with writing?
Thank you so much for having me on your blog. I appreciate the opportunity to share about my debut novel.
I grew up in Northwest Georgia, near Chattanooga, TN, and met my husband in eighth grade. We married six months after high school graduation, and we’ll celebrate our forty-fifth anniversary this December. We have three grown children and seven grandchildren.
In 1999, God called my husband to plant a church in Chesapeake, VA, two years before he retired from his twenty-year Navy career, and he still pastors that church. I’ve served as a ministry assistant there since the church started. I love it, and I’m blessed to be part of a ministry that makes a difference for eternity.
What an amazing story! How blessed you are to have found each other so young. What drew you to write?
God planted a love for writing inside me many years ago, but it didn’t blossom until 2018, after a two-year battle with grief and depression over a painful break my husband and I went through with our best friends and ministry partners. My counselor encouraged me to find something I enjoyed doing and pour my energy into that, so that’s when I pursued writing novels. What started as therapy became a passion.
Isn't it amazing how that can happen? What’s your writing process?
To save myself from an extremely messy first draft, I’ve tried to become a plotter, but that hasn’t worked out for me yet. My characters refuse to follow my outline, and they always take over. I try to have a couple of ideas for some major turning points in the story before I start writing, but even those change sometimes. So, to answer your question … I’m ninety-five percent pantser and five percent plotter. It’s actually quite fun to find out where the story goes as I’m writing, but also a little scary.
I've had a very similar experience! I've almost given up and just let the characters do what they will (they're going to anyway ha!). How do you come up with your story ideas?
I’ve always been a fan of books, movies, and television shows based on or inspired by true events, so
that’s what I write. The three manuscripts I’ve completed so far all have personal elements from my life
within them.
That's awesome! I hope we get to hear a bit of the "story behind the story." I loved reading an early copy of “Stronger than the Storm” and I know a lot of readers are excited for it. Tell us about your new release.
This story is Christian Women’s Fiction inspired by a personal experience we went through with a
prodigal child twenty years ago. I didn’t set out to write a book with so many hard topics, but as I wrote,
the characters kept digging themselves deeper into a hole. I ended up with a novel that tackles family
secrets, betrayal, domestic violence, crisis pregnancy, a teen runaway, marital strife, and a distressing
DNA element.
Although I didn’t originally intend for my book to be so weighty, the issues addressed are important to
talk about, because life is messy and people deal with lots of hard stuff—even in the church. Those in
the trenches need to know they’re not alone, and I think my book offers encouragement and hope for
readers who feel like they might not survive the storm they’re facing.
The topics are heavy, but you handle them well. Are there certain themes explored in the story?
Oh, yes. As I mentioned in the previous question, this story delves into a lot of hard topics, so there are
naturally quite a few themes that rise to the surface.
A huge one running through the book is how God is with us through every messy situation. He’s working
for good, even when the characters can’t possibly see how they will survive the chaos.
Another is our identity in Christ. Beth and Leesa both struggle with self-worth and must learn to see
themselves as God does and know they’re accepted by Him just as they are.
One last theme I’ll mention is forgiveness. We have all faced, or will face, a situation where forgiving a
deep wound is challenging. Stronger than the Storm shows how it’s possible—with God, time, and
counseling—to forgive the unforgivable and move forward in love.
I believe the combination of hard issues and God’s redemptive love make this a great book club read.
There would definitely be no shortage of topics to discuss!
So good!! And I'm sure that's why this story is touching so many hearts. Do you have any favorite characters in your books?
One of my favorites is Leesa’s friend, Jackson. He’s such a sweet, godly young man. The kind of guy
every mother hopes their daughter will bring home.
Jackson is a sweetie for sure! What are you working on now?
I’m currently editing book two in The Holbrook Family series, which revolves around Kevin and Beth’s
son, Tyler, and his new bride, Shelby. The heroine’s dream is to purchase the music studio where she
works as a dance and vocal instructor and to offer lessons to underprivileged children.
While participating in a nationwide talent show to try and win the prize money, she contracts a horrific,
rare skin disease. My personal experience with this disease in 2022 inspired this story, and the book will
launch in June 2027.
Oh, I can't wait for that one! When you’re not writing, what do you enjoy doing?
I love to read, watch movies, and play cards and board games with my husband, family, and friends. I
also love being outside, so when the weather’s nice, I enjoy taking walks, sitting on the swing reading,
or heading to the beach. The last two on my list don’t happen nearly as often as I’d like since I started
writing!
A runaway teen. A wife’s devastating secret. A family’s reckoning.
Beth Holbrook has spent years building a life centered on faith and family. As a pastor’s wife, mother of three, and respected parenting coach, she’s devoted herself to helping families raise godly children. Now, with a publishing contract within reach, Beth stands on the verge of realizing a lifelong dream.
Then her daughter runs away.
Eighteen-year-old Leesa is tired of living under expectations she feels she can never meet. One impulsive decision sends her fleeing to Myrtle Beach, determined to take control of her life. But when she returns home weeks later with shocking news, the fragile peace inside the Holbrook family fractures.
As tensions rise, Beth struggles with growing conflict in her marriage, painful criticism from her mother, and the crushing realization that the advice she’s given other parents may not save her own family. Worse still, the secret she’s hidden for nearly two decades threatens to destroy the very foundation of her life.
When a powerful hurricane barrels toward their Virginia Beach home, the Holbrooks must confront the storm raging inside their hearts.
Can grace and forgiveness rebuild what secrets and betrayal have broken—or will the truth tear their family apart?
Purchase your copy:
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