My Books

Judith: Wise Woman of Bethulia

Judith-smallIn this retelling of the classic biblical story of Judith, the beautiful young woman single-handedly saves her people from annihilation by the Assyrians, the greatest political and military power on earth. During the reign of Sennacherib (705 BCE – 681 BCE) the Jews refuse to abandon their God to worship the Assyrian monarch as demanded by the king’s general, Holofernes. As the last fortified city defending the road to Jerusalem and the sacred Temple, Judith’s hometown of Bethulia becomes the stage for an epic battle between her faith and General Holofernes’ force of over 100,000 warriors.

 

Junia: The Forgotten Apostle

Junia-small

Two thousand years ago in the land of Israel, Jesus exorcises a demon from Joanna, a Jewish noblewoman. She is known as Junia in the Hellenized court of Antipas, son of Herod the Great. Though she thinks of herself as the obedient wife of Antipas’ viceroy, in gratitude to her healer she defies her husband, and uses her personal wealth to finance the early Jesus movement. Rejected by her husband and the royal court, she finds herself a divorced woman who travels throughout the region with the itinerant preacher. Using her connections among the elite, she tries to intercede on Jesus’ behalf as dangerous forces rise against him. Ultimately she can’t save her savior and must watch his agonizing death. To her astonishment he returns from the dead, appoints her as an apostle and commissions her to spread word of his resurrection throughout the world.