Interview with Tamera Lynn Kraft

She knits. She tells stories. She juggles. She makes balloon animals. She does Gospel illusions. She coauthors an active blog. She works with puppets. She runs a ministry for children. She writes historical fiction. Tamera Lynn Kraft is our featured author this week, and her skills are quite eclectic, as well as unique. To hear Tamera tell it, though, those skills all work together to form a cohesive unit.

Everything she does in her chosen career is a ministry. Whether it be writing fictional stories inspired by historical events, or mentoring and training children’s ministry leaders for effective and impactful purpose. She might not always be successful at the balancing act, but she gives it her all and tries hard to manage her time well. There are times she devotes fully to writing and other times where her focus is on her ministry, Revival Fire for Kids. The more organized she is with her time, the better it all works.

And the two ministries do blend with each other. Tamera uses her writing skills in Revival Fire for Kids to write curriculum and articles and maintain a children’s ministry blog. The people she meets in her children’s ministry are often readers and love to hear about her fiction. It’s a nice balance on both sides of the coin that allows her to blend her ministries as needed, yet separate them when the situation and circumstances demand it.

In her writing, Tamera believes she is where she is today because of other writers who poured into her. “We all think we’ve arrived and are ready for publication long before we are.” When we’re open and realize we aren’t quite ready, we’re more receptive to the help that is offered to us along our journey. The same is true for Tamera. She had many writers gently guide her and help her perfect her craft. At the same time, they encouraged her to continue to write more novels. The book featured with this article—Alice’s Notions—is her first full-length novel to be published, but it’s the fourth one she wrote.

Someone once asked Tamera if she always planned to write Christian fiction. She laughed at the question because that was never her intention. She simply writes the stories God gives her, and her faith organically comes out in the story. “When it’s forced, it never works, but when God permeates your life, it will come out naturally in everything you do.”

I believe Tamera has demonstrated that through her devotion to her ministry and her craft as an author. She didn’t choose to write historical fiction. The genre chose her. Whenever she reads about an event in American history, she starts wondering about the people who lived through those times. What was it like? How did they manage to keep their faith and courage during the darkest times of their lives? That’s where her stories are birthed.

Her stories come from the adventures people lived throughout American history. Many of them have an element of romance or suspense, but all of them capture a sense of adventure from real historical events that shaped people’s lives. Yet through it all, Tamera’s characters maintain their faith and trust in God, no matter what happens.

In Alice’s Notions, Alice is in an impossible situation. She doesn’t know what’s going on or who she can trust. When things are the most confusing, she asks God to show her what to do. Tamera hopes the reader takes away that, even when things are at their worst, we can always trust God to guide us through.

Sometimes that guidance comes in the form of other believers. Tamera showcases that through her blog, Word Sharpeners, which she co-authors with Carole Brown. She began the blog a long time ago, but after a while, she found she couldn’t keep producing great content 3-5 times a week. Carole is a fellow member of ACFW Ohio Chapter, and they’ve become good friends. She has the same style of blogging, and Tamera felt it would be a great fit. She wanted another published author who wrote either historical or suspense, and Carole writes both.

The blog is eclectic, but it centers around the title, Word Sharpeners, and comes from the verse of iron sharpening iron. We all need sharpened in every area of our lives. The blog attempts to produce articles that touch these various aspects of our lives in an entertaining, challenging, and informative way.

Through it all, Tamera never forgets to center her focus on the Source of her inspiration and ingenuity when it comes to her writing and her children’s ministry. And even when a publisher says, “I’d like to offer you a contract,” which is music to Tamera’s ears, every time she leads a child to Christ or a group of children into the presence of God, her heart soars. That’s the real ministry, and Tamera achieves that through the gifts God’s given her. She sews into the lives of children and into the lives of her readers with every word she speaks and every word she writes. All of it is done to encourage, inspire, and uplift and to see the body of Christ’s church sharpened, ready for whatever life brings their way.


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Tiffany Amber Stockton has been crafting and embellishing stories since childhood. Today, she has honed those skills to become an award-winning author and speaker who lives with her husband and author, Stuart Vaughn Stockton, in Colorado. They have a daughter and son, and a Retriever-mix named Roxie. She has sold 20 books so far, three of which have won annual reader’s choice awards. She is represented by Tamela Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. www.amberstockton.com.