Luana Ehrlich

When I wrote my first book, One Night in Tehran, I was just writing a “thriller,” not necessarily a faith-drive novel. In fact, I hardly ever read any Christian fiction, because there just weren’t that many spy stories, and those were the ones I read. Most of my reading was in secular fiction, but I was having a hard time finding a book that wasn’t filled with profanity, which meant I usually gave up on them after a few chapters.

I got the idea for One Night in Tehran after hearing about some Iranian Christians being persecuted for their faith. When I heard this story, I asked myself what if a CIA officer had to live with some Iranian Christians for several months when he was on the run from the secret police and he became a believer. About midway through the book, I realized it might need to be classified as Christian fiction, but that was the first time I thought about it being a faith-driven book.

Naturally, since my faith has shaped who I am as a person, that’s reflected in my writing, but because I believe a person doesn’t come to faith in Christ because he or she is coerced into believing, but because they are drawn to the joy of having a personal relationship to Christ, then my protagonists, each of whom are believers—although they each came to faith in a different way and under different circumstances—simply relate their faith as a natural part of who they are during the story.

Because my faith is such a pervasive part of who I am, I knew I couldn’t write a fiction story without including it, even though I didn’t read that much Christian fiction until I started writing it. It wasn’t until I was halfway through my first book that I realized I would need to market my thriller as Christian fiction since my character was exploring his newfound faith while continuing to live in the shadowy world of espionage, and my book wouldn’t have any profanity or erotica in it like the majority of thrillers in the secular market.

As to how I balance action, mystery, and faith into the pace of the story, it’s not hard because my protagonists are just living their lives, doing what they’re doing, and if a situation comes up where their faith plays a role in how the action is going, then they’ll briefly mention it or talk about it. Basically, their faith is just a natural part of their character and that will come out in the course of the story.

By the way, each protagonist in my three series is at a different point in their faith journey. Titus is a new believer, but he didn’t grow up in a Christian home, so he seeks out mentors to help him understand his faith because he can’t attend church very often. Mylas is a new believer too, but his brother is a pastor, and he has many opportunities to learn more because he can attend church in the Washington, DC area. Silas has been a believer a long time, but when his wife passed away, he was mad at God, so he’s trying to make his way back.

I believe I relate most to Titus, which is probably why I wrote my first five books in that series before writing—or even thinking about writing the Mylas books. Titus is a loner, very cerebral, and observant of others, all characteristics that I also have.

While I never begin a novel with any kind of theme in mind, as the plot progresses, I notice certain themes emerging, and I will often go on to emphasize those a little more before the book ends. However, this isn’t always the case. Sometimes, I don’t notice any themes until I write the book description.

In Eight Days Anxious, since the man holding the senator hostage is seeking justice, that was a natural theme to emphasize, and ultimately, what resulted from his actions was redemption, so that too was a theme to be explored.

Thus, I believe the moral dilemmas in each of my books simply result from the plot of the story.

The pressure that builds up in a mystery/suspense/thriller begins in chapter one, but it may not be the pressure of the actual plot. What helps keep the tension building in the book are the subplots that flow throughout the storyline. Each one has a little pressure in it, whether the reader is aware of it or not. A character has a conflict with another character. A deadline is approaching that’s not related to the story. The protagonist is dealing with a family issue that needs an answer.

Since CIA officers don’t write stories about their missions due to restrictions within the agency itself, the type of research I do is something I don’t talk about, but I have read a lot of CIA fiction books, so that certainly helps fuel my imagination.

I didn’t begin writing One Night in Tehran—the first book I wrote and the introduction of Titus Ray as the protagonist—with the thought in mind of creating a hero who openly depends on his faith. Instead, I just set out to answer the question of what would happen to a CIA officer who lived with some Iranian Christians in Tehran while being hunted by the secret police. What would happen to him if he became a believer and then returned to the States, knowing nothing about how to live out his faith? How would he feel about having to lie, deceive, and commit acts of violence while trying to follow the teachings of Christ. From that idea, I developed the character of Titus Ray. Readers are able to follow his growth in his faith journey throughout the 12 books and 3 spinoff books that I’ve written so far.

Each of us struggles with emotional issues in our life—those left over from our childhood or experienced as adults—so any realistic character will be dealing with his own issues in the course of the story. Silas’s issues are an integral part of who he is after losing his wife to brain cancer, trying to work through his anger at God for not answering his prayer for her healing, plus being confronted with his attraction toward a woman who isn’t a believer. These issues are important throughout the series because they are so obvious in Silas’s life. However, my other protagonists also have emotional issues, but they don’t affect the story as much as they do in Silas’s series.

I’ve enjoyed exploring the character of Ashley and her attraction and relationship with Silas because they come from entirely different backgrounds—she’s a rich, Dallas socialite, who’s interested in becoming a private investigator, and he’s the head of operations at a corporate security firm. What does their future hold? He’s vulnerable right now because he recently lost his wife, and readers aren’t sure if Ashley is really interested in Silas or if she’s simply exploiting him to gain experience and to open her own private investigator agency. It’s an interesting dynamic.

These themes resonate with me as a writer because they represent real life issues. Deep down, all human beings want to experience joy, happiness, and peace, but those needs can only be met through having a relationship with the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who through His grace gave His life to pay for our sins so that we can be in a right relationship with God our Father. This is truth, grace, and redemption.

Yes, it was, in the sense that I never use profanity—not only because I believe it dishonors God, but because it’s unnecessary; there’s always a way of expressing a thought without using it—and I avoid watching or reading erotica. This is for a number of reasons, but suffice it to say, it also dishonors God.

Because of those reasons, I never even considered including it in my novels, but in addition, I was finding it more and more difficulty to read my favorite genre without encountering profanity and erotica on almost every page, which meant I couldn’t finish the book. Thus, I decided it was time to write my own book with plenty of “thrilling” aspects in it without including profanity and erotica.

I suppose it’s because I have a vivid imagination, so I never run out of plots that are different from the other stories I’ve written, but I’m also a current news junkie, so most of my ideas come from actual events happening in the world, which are always new and exciting.

Hardly a day goes that I don’t hear from readers who want me to know how much they enjoy all three of my series, and most of the time, one of the features they include about why they like them is that I write “clean, Christian” fiction, which doesn’t have cursing or other elements that are offensive in them. That is truly encouraging to me.

Another rewarding part of my writing is to hear from readers who were influenced to seek a closer relationship to the Lord, or to start reading their Bible, or to share my books with a nonbeliever.

In “author world,” a writer who “discovers the story as it progresses” is called a pantser—as in flying by the seat of your pants. This describes me—sorta.

The other kind of author is a planner who outlines extensively before writing down one word. While I’m not a writer who outlines every chapter beforehand, I do write down a one-page synopsis of where the book will end. As I’m writing, though, I’ll occasionally jot down notes on each chapter before I write it. I guess I’m part pantser and part planner.

I’ve been a member of AllAuthor for many years, and I’ve found their services and support to be outstanding. Whenever I’ve had questions, their responses have been prompt, and whenever I’ve had a problem, they’ve tried to solve it immediately.

They also offer some very helpful services to entice readers to read the books on their site, plus they provide resources to help me market my books.