Genesis award-winning author J. A. Webb is a former atheist and now a devoted follower of Christ, military veteran, husband, father, and business owner writing thrilling Christian fiction from his four acre farmstead on the prairies of the Upper Midwest.
You can subscribe to J.A.’s newsletter on his website.
Grab a free copy of his book Fugitive here.
Connect with him: Goodreads | BookBub
What first sparked the idea for your latest book—was it an image, a question, or a character voice that wouldn’t leave you alone?
Since my latest book is the third in the Seekers Series, and since, together, the books in that series tell one very large story, I’ll have to back up a few paces and think about what started that Series- the motivations for which were threefold.
First, I was frustrated by the dearth of thrilling stories written for Christian men. We say that guys don’t read, and there is some truth to that. But as a guy I can tell you that one of the reasons “guys don’t read” is that very little is being written to and for them.
We aren’t as likely to pick up a romance, or a thriller of which half the pages are romance. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with romance. It’s just that we’re wired differently. God made us in such a way that we love action, adventure, true heroes protecting the innocent and pursuing justice, the Light battling . . . and overcoming . . . the Darkness.
So, if we want more guys to read- let’s give them more of what they already love to read- but unfortunately, at the moment, can largely find only in the secular marketplace, and often not written from the Christian worldview.
Second, I was motivated by the call of another influencer that I follow who challenged Christians to “go out” and battle for God’s Kingdom and our culture using the Power of Story. That challenge resonated so strongly that since that very day, I’ve not stopped writing, The stories flow faster than I can publish- given the limited time family and another full-time career require.
Third, as a man who remained an adamant atheist for decades into adult life, the discovery of the Truth of God’s word brought such an indescribable sense of awe and wonder at His majesty, that I wanted to capture that same sense of awe and of God’s greatness in story. I also strongly desired to capture the imagination of the Lost and the Seeker with those same stories.
It’s for you to say how well I’ve succeeded, not I. It’s for me to continue to work hard, perfecting craft, learning this new, crazy business we call publishing, and writing as much as humanly possible.
When you sit down to start a new project, what’s your entry point: character, premise, theme, or setting—and why?
I’m the most discovery of discovery writers.
I get to experience the same joy a reader gets when they experience my stories for the very first time. But I get that joy as I watch the words form on the pages . . . words which are often as much a surprise to me as they will be to the reader. So when I start a project, I have a vague idea as to the shape of the story at large, the premise, the setting, and the themes, but it’s not until I begin to put words to the page that the story- and the characters- begin to reveal themselves. What fun!
What themes do you find yourself returning to, intentionally or not? How do you keep them fresh from book to book?
There are so many, as my books are epic in scope and construction, but the major themes include the absolute and reliable Truth of God’s word, His involvement in the world and our lives, the reality of the unseen world and the battles that constantly rage all around us, unseen.
And how to keep it fresh? God’s workings in the world are in infinite variety. Millions upon millions of books could be filled with the stories, and there would remain as many books to be written as “when you first began”.
And how could ever lose their awe of His workings? Of His majesty?
These themes only excite me more over time, not less. I hope I’ve transmitted that same excitement to the reader!
What are you working on next, and what can readers expect that may surprise them?
I’m currently putting the finishing touch on Interregnum, Book Three of the Seekers Series, which will be released sometime late this year. Then if’s off to shape of the manuscript for Persecution- Book Four of the series.
Then? There are a stack of WIP I’ll need to pick from. If you’d like to help me choose which will be coming next, sign up to join my newsletter (you can find the signup form on my website- where you can grab a free book for being part of the community). In the coming days I’ll be listing the manuscripts I have in backlog, and asking the community to vote on which will be the next to publish.
As for surprises? I write suspense/thrillers. If you don’t find a surprise on every page, email me for your money back 🙂 But it would be unfair to spoil the surprise here, wouldn’t it?
A people enslaved.
A band of heroes on an epic quest to uncover a lost truth.
An ancient secret waiting to set them free . . .
An Epic Thriller of Deception, Faith, and the Fight for Truth
The Order has been betrayed. The hunters have been loosed.
Father Curtis has forsaken his vows. He has left the Order and joined the Seekers, a hidden rebellion dedicated to uncovering the truth long buried by the global church. But walking away from the Order does not mean escaping its reach.
When word spreads that a copy of the True Text—the original thirty-nine books of the Creator—has surfaced on the far side of the world, Curtis, Professor Reuel, and Phillip embark on a desperate mission. If they can retrieve the artifact, it could change everything. If they fail, the truth will be lost forever.
But the Eye of the Eternal, the secret police of the Order, has already mobilized. Their assassins are relentless. Their power is absolute. And they will stop at nothing to silence the truth.
Outnumbered and hunted, Curtis and his allies must risk everything to defy an empire built on deception. But against such overwhelming darkness, is faith enough? Or will their inheritance—humanity’s true past—be erased from history once and for all?
Want a copy of Fragments for free?
Click on the cover and use code:
MDS-WKG-QFH
A people enslaved.
A band of heroes on an epic quest to uncover a lost truth.
An ancient secret waiting to set them free . . .
An Epic Thriller of Deception, Faith, and the Fight for Truth
The world ended—but its masters remained.
The year is 2158. Civilization has collapsed, but from the ashes, the Order has emerged, not as a savior, but as the unseen power that has ruled all along. Once a subtle force lurking in the background of human history, the cataclysm has unveiled the Order’s dominion in full—an unchallenged, one-world religion that bends all to its will. Truth is a relic. Dissent is a death sentence.
For Father Curtis, a priest of the Order of the Eternal, devotion has long been his refuge. Hidden away in his quiet parish, he has been content to believe the world is as the Order proclaims—until he is branded a heretic and forced to flee for his life. On the run, he begins to uncover a terrifying reality: the faith he upheld was never about salvation—it was about control. The Order does not serve humanity. It enslaves it.
Now, as whispers of rebellion stir, Curtis must decide: will he cling to the lies that once gave him peace, or risk everything to pursue a truth that could shatter the Order’s dominion forever?
