Demi (also D.M. Griffin) Griffin is the author of several novels and has won multiple literary awards. Her novels in The Encounter Series won various Independent Author awards in the category of Religious Fiction.
She writes Christian Fantasy, Biblical, and Historical Fiction. She currently resides in Northern California with her husband of over thirty years. She has three adult children and multiple grandchildren who have been an endless source of delight and inspiration. Her love of Scripture came late in life when God captivated her heart at a youth conference she was chaperoning for her son. Her hobbies include taking walks, doing yoga, crocheting, and studying God's Word when she is not writing. She also works as an office manager at a local church.
As a native New Hampshire girl, she fondly remembers spending her summers there as a child. Thick accents, small towns, and fascinating weather stirred the imagination of a young heart. She has always had a fondness for stories, thanks to her imaginative mother, who would make up wild, adventurous tales to tell when tucking her into bed as a child.
She truly believes that a book that sits on a shelf unread is like a planted seed that never blossoms. Nothing delights her more than sharing a story.
Visit DM Griffin online
Blaze of Honor
Joram couldn’t pinpoint the burning conviction in his heart, the reason honoring his father felt like the only path to a life that pleased God. He remembered the unheard prayers of a five-year-old whose mother betrayed the sanctity of family and knew well the bitterness in his father’s heart. Whatever the reason, Joram, a man of few words, lived an obedient life. He adopted his father's wishes and desires as if they were born from his own heart, and with that came his father’s simmering bitterness and ingrained distrust of women. Driven by a desire for Joram to achieve more than a shepherd's humble existence, his father pressured him to excel academically, tirelessly seeking the approval of powerful figures. Joram's life took a dramatic turn when he captured the attention of Parthia's notorious bandit leaders. Caught in a dizzying storm of politics and family vendettas, Joram reluctantly accepts a fake marriage, meant to bring a young woman to Jerusalem so she could marry another man. Knowing how his father felt about women, a view he adopted as his own, Joram wasn’t prepared for the transformation that would take place once he began playing the role of a husband for all the wrong reasons. The treacherous journey, marked by near-death experiences, culminated with them arriving in Jerusalem amidst the vibrant Feast of Weeks. With his knowledge of God ringing hollow as a mere religious duty, Joram divorced his wife and surrendered her to another man, determined to honor his word. But when he stumbles upon the truth and feels the burning intensity of the Holy Spirit descend in a blaze of honor that illuminates far more than he could have ever imagined, Joram has to decide if he is willing to walk the path of love.
- ISBN: B0GGZ91S2D
- Publisher: Indie Published
Interview with DM Griffin 2026
Some stories begin with an outline. Blaze of Honor began with a crowd.
Author Demi Griffin had read Acts 2 more times than she could count, her attention fixed on the disciples. Then one day, a single phrase snagged her imagination: and they were amazed and astonished. "I wondered what brought those people to the city for such an unexpected blessing," she says. "The inspiration shifted my perspective to the nameless, faceless crowd that birthed the church that day." From that shift, Joram was born — a man of few words and many wounds, arriving in Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks carrying far more than he bargained for.
Anchoring a novel to Pentecost is an ambitious choice. The sheer scale of thousands gathered, the Holy Spirit descending in fire, and thousands added to the church in a single afternoon demanded that Griffin think past the disciples at center stage. "What surprised me the most was imagining the sheer number of people in the crowd, the diversity, and the unity represented as the Holy Spirit transformed hearts," she reflects. After living inside that scene through Joram's eyes, she says she will never read Acts 2 the same way again.
A Wound That Shapes a Man
Joram's brokenness is specific and childhood-deep: a five-year-old boy whose unanswered prayers calcified, over decades, into a grown man's bitterness toward women. Writing that kind of layered, long-carried wound with both honesty and grace required Griffin to introduce a character capable of getting past his defenses. Someone who knew him before the walls went up. That character is Azuba. "She knew him as a boy and was strong enough in her femininity to challenge his assumptions about women," Griffin explains. "Had she been a stranger to him, she wouldn’t have been able to skirt his defenses." The result is a heroine Griffin clearly adored writing. Someone whose quiet strength and reserved confidence grew directly from her own years leading women's Bible studies. "I made wonderful, long-lasting friendships that truly blessed me with an acute awareness of struggles unique to women of faith."
Keeping Joram sympathetic while he remained blind to his prejudice was the central tension of the character work. Griffin wanted to show, as in real life, how untreated childhood wounds distort an adult's perspective without letting the character off the hook for the damage that distortion causes. Azuba's presence provides a solid balance, enough grace to keep readers invested mixed with enough pushback to hold Joram accountable.
A Fake Marriage and a Real Reckoning
Not everything in Blaze of Honor was planned, though. The fake marriage at the story's heart was never in Griffin's original outline. Yet, it became a plot device that moves Joram and Azuba from Parthia toward Jerusalem under the guise of a union meant to deliver her to another man. "I have learned to hold those loosely," she says with characteristic openness, "so I can keep in step with the Spirit while writing." The unplanned device ended up doing more thematic work than anything she had plotted. It forced both characters into proximity, illuminated the intentions of the heart, and gave readers a clear view of how God peels away the crust on a closed-off soul. "I cannot imagine the story without it," Griffin says. "I love it when that happens."
The tonal balance between danger and tenderness was held together by that same thematic thread. There were Parthian bandits and political vendettas on one hand, and the slow thaw of a guarded heart on the other. The near-death experiences mark the outer stakes, while the fake marriage marks the inner ones. Both keep the story moving in the same direction.
The Weight of Research
Biblical fiction makes demands that other genres don't. Griffin describes the research for Blaze of Honor as the most comprehensive she has ever undertaken, and the most difficult to manage once it was time to write. "It was easy to get lost following interesting rabbit trails of information," she says. The harder discipline was whittling it down, keeping the historical texture vivid without letting it dilute the story's heart. "History overload made it difficult when it came time to write," she acknowledges. That struggle is often a unique gift and burden of the genre. The reward of deep research is a richly grounded world. The challenge is remembering that the world exists to serve the story.
Honor, Human and Holy
Honor operates on two levels at the center of this novel. There is the human kind of honor, the kind that traps Joram, tying him to his father's bitterness and his own rigid sense of duty. And there is the holy kind, the kind that liberates. Griffin spent significant time praying about the concept before she ever began writing. "When you really uncover the spiritual layers," she says, "it possesses a depth that truly brings to light the struggle in the parable of the prodigal son." She considered writing Joram's arc explicitly along that parable's lines before setting the idea aside and finding her own route. The spiritual journey is one she won't forget, and neither, it seems, will Joram.
Her own tagline, drawn from Galatians 5:25 — keep in step with the Spirit — runs quietly beneath every choice in the story. "It sometimes gets overlooked since it follows the more notable verses on the fruit of the Spirit, but 'keeping in step with the Spirit' is harder than it sounds when we think of it moment to moment, day by day, in every little decision we make." That honest acknowledgment of the gap between intention and obedience is part of what makes her fiction feel true rather than tidy.
A New Hampshire Girl in Ancient Parthia
It’s a long way from the thick accents and small towns of a New Hampshire childhood to first-century Jerusalem, but the thread connecting them has always been story. Her mother's invented bedtime tales shaped an imagination that, decades later, would travel into the context surrounding Scripture and explore the world beyond what’s written in black and white. "After delving into historical detail while holding tight to the boundaries of truth in Scripture, I couldn't resist expounding on spiritual truths through story, the way Jesus did in the parables."
One of the quieter joys of that journey is having her mother as one of her dedicated readers. The two of them have what Griffin describes as the best spiritual conversations discussing her characters' struggles and victories.
What Awards Don't Settle
Blaze of Honor arrives in the wake of multiple Independent Author award wins for Griffin's Encounter Series, recognition she receives with clear-eyed perspective. "They pale in comparison to connecting with readers and hearing how God has used a story in their lives," she says. "A personal, heartfelt review is more impactful than any award." She is candid about imposter syndrome, and equally candid about finding her grounding in obedience, not validation. "No matter how many sleepless night and how dirty my house gets, knowing I was obedient to answer the call of inspiration God put on my heart is the real motivation."
The real reward is the one that waits at the end: "Well done, good and faithful servant."
What's Next
Blaze of Honor is the first in the Spirit Ignited series, with the second installment planned for May 2027. Griffin is also at work on a fantasy romance trilogy, with two more books expected before the end of 2026, and a new fantasy trilogy scheduled for 2027.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Tiffany Amber Stockton has embellished stories since childhood, thanks to a very active imagination and notations of talking entirely too much. Honing those skills led her to careers as an award-winning and best-selling author and speaker, while also working as a professional copywriter/copyeditor. She loves to share life-changing products and ideas with others to help them get rooted in truth and live a life of purpose.
Currently, she lives with her husband and fellow author, Stuart Vaughn Stockton, along with their two teenagers and five cats in southeastern Kentucky. In her 20+ years as a professional writer, she has sold twenty-six (26) books so far and has agent representation with Tamela Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. "
Author Demi Griffin had read Acts 2 more times than she could count, her attention fixed on the disciples. Then one day, a single phrase snagged her imagination: and they were amazed and astonished. "I wondered what brought those people to the city for such an unexpected blessing," she says. "The inspiration shifted my perspective to the nameless, faceless crowd that birthed the church that day." From that shift, Joram was born — a man of few words and many wounds, arriving in Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks carrying far more than he bargained for.
Anchoring a novel to Pentecost is an ambitious choice. The sheer scale of thousands gathered, the Holy Spirit descending in fire, and thousands added to the church in a single afternoon demanded that Griffin think past the disciples at center stage. "What surprised me the most was imagining the sheer number of people in the crowd, the diversity, and the unity represented as the Holy Spirit transformed hearts," she reflects. After living inside that scene through Joram's eyes, she says she will never read Acts 2 the same way again.
A Wound That Shapes a Man
Joram's brokenness is specific and childhood-deep: a five-year-old boy whose unanswered prayers calcified, over decades, into a grown man's bitterness toward women. Writing that kind of layered, long-carried wound with both honesty and grace required Griffin to introduce a character capable of getting past his defenses. Someone who knew him before the walls went up. That character is Azuba. "She knew him as a boy and was strong enough in her femininity to challenge his assumptions about women," Griffin explains. "Had she been a stranger to him, she wouldn’t have been able to skirt his defenses." The result is a heroine Griffin clearly adored writing. Someone whose quiet strength and reserved confidence grew directly from her own years leading women's Bible studies. "I made wonderful, long-lasting friendships that truly blessed me with an acute awareness of struggles unique to women of faith."
Keeping Joram sympathetic while he remained blind to his prejudice was the central tension of the character work. Griffin wanted to show, as in real life, how untreated childhood wounds distort an adult's perspective without letting the character off the hook for the damage that distortion causes. Azuba's presence provides a solid balance, enough grace to keep readers invested mixed with enough pushback to hold Joram accountable.
A Fake Marriage and a Real Reckoning
Not everything in Blaze of Honor was planned, though. The fake marriage at the story's heart was never in Griffin's original outline. Yet, it became a plot device that moves Joram and Azuba from Parthia toward Jerusalem under the guise of a union meant to deliver her to another man. "I have learned to hold those loosely," she says with characteristic openness, "so I can keep in step with the Spirit while writing." The unplanned device ended up doing more thematic work than anything she had plotted. It forced both characters into proximity, illuminated the intentions of the heart, and gave readers a clear view of how God peels away the crust on a closed-off soul. "I cannot imagine the story without it," Griffin says. "I love it when that happens."
The tonal balance between danger and tenderness was held together by that same thematic thread. There were Parthian bandits and political vendettas on one hand, and the slow thaw of a guarded heart on the other. The near-death experiences mark the outer stakes, while the fake marriage marks the inner ones. Both keep the story moving in the same direction.
The Weight of Research
Biblical fiction makes demands that other genres don't. Griffin describes the research for Blaze of Honor as the most comprehensive she has ever undertaken, and the most difficult to manage once it was time to write. "It was easy to get lost following interesting rabbit trails of information," she says. The harder discipline was whittling it down, keeping the historical texture vivid without letting it dilute the story's heart. "History overload made it difficult when it came time to write," she acknowledges. That struggle is often a unique gift and burden of the genre. The reward of deep research is a richly grounded world. The challenge is remembering that the world exists to serve the story.
Honor, Human and Holy
Honor operates on two levels at the center of this novel. There is the human kind of honor, the kind that traps Joram, tying him to his father's bitterness and his own rigid sense of duty. And there is the holy kind, the kind that liberates. Griffin spent significant time praying about the concept before she ever began writing. "When you really uncover the spiritual layers," she says, "it possesses a depth that truly brings to light the struggle in the parable of the prodigal son." She considered writing Joram's arc explicitly along that parable's lines before setting the idea aside and finding her own route. The spiritual journey is one she won't forget, and neither, it seems, will Joram.
Her own tagline, drawn from Galatians 5:25 — keep in step with the Spirit — runs quietly beneath every choice in the story. "It sometimes gets overlooked since it follows the more notable verses on the fruit of the Spirit, but 'keeping in step with the Spirit' is harder than it sounds when we think of it moment to moment, day by day, in every little decision we make." That honest acknowledgment of the gap between intention and obedience is part of what makes her fiction feel true rather than tidy.
A New Hampshire Girl in Ancient Parthia
It’s a long way from the thick accents and small towns of a New Hampshire childhood to first-century Jerusalem, but the thread connecting them has always been story. Her mother's invented bedtime tales shaped an imagination that, decades later, would travel into the context surrounding Scripture and explore the world beyond what’s written in black and white. "After delving into historical detail while holding tight to the boundaries of truth in Scripture, I couldn't resist expounding on spiritual truths through story, the way Jesus did in the parables."
One of the quieter joys of that journey is having her mother as one of her dedicated readers. The two of them have what Griffin describes as the best spiritual conversations discussing her characters' struggles and victories.
What Awards Don't Settle
Blaze of Honor arrives in the wake of multiple Independent Author award wins for Griffin's Encounter Series, recognition she receives with clear-eyed perspective. "They pale in comparison to connecting with readers and hearing how God has used a story in their lives," she says. "A personal, heartfelt review is more impactful than any award." She is candid about imposter syndrome, and equally candid about finding her grounding in obedience, not validation. "No matter how many sleepless night and how dirty my house gets, knowing I was obedient to answer the call of inspiration God put on my heart is the real motivation."
The real reward is the one that waits at the end: "Well done, good and faithful servant."
What's Next
Blaze of Honor is the first in the Spirit Ignited series, with the second installment planned for May 2027. Griffin is also at work on a fantasy romance trilogy, with two more books expected before the end of 2026, and a new fantasy trilogy scheduled for 2027.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Tiffany Amber Stockton has embellished stories since childhood, thanks to a very active imagination and notations of talking entirely too much. Honing those skills led her to careers as an award-winning and best-selling author and speaker, while also working as a professional copywriter/copyeditor. She loves to share life-changing products and ideas with others to help them get rooted in truth and live a life of purpose.
Currently, she lives with her husband and fellow author, Stuart Vaughn Stockton, along with their two teenagers and five cats in southeastern Kentucky. In her 20+ years as a professional writer, she has sold twenty-six (26) books so far and has agent representation with Tamela Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. "
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