What’s your favorite thing about writing in your genre or writing Christian fiction in general?
My books are definitely a “hybrid genre,” blending story with spiritual formation content and themes. I love writing about the Holy Spirit’s power to heal and transform lives, so I write about characters who are learning to walk more intimately with God in community. Because there’s quite a lot of teaching embedded into the books with spiritual disciplines “handouts” and other retreat content, readers can choose to participate in the spiritual formation exercises with the characters or simply read the books as stories.
I love writing fiction because it’s so invitational. Jesus understood the power of story and imagination and used it to reveal the kingdom of God. Stories can sneak around our defenses and penetrate us when we’re least expecting it.
As we become invested in a story, characters can serve as mirrors that help us see ourselves more clearly. And story can linger with us and pursue us and shape us long after we’ve read the final page. It’s a joy for me to partner with the Spirit in creating stories that reveal God’s love and longings for us.
Visit Sharon Garlough Brown’s author page:
https://www.familyfiction.com/authors/sharon-garlough-brown
Sensible Shoes: A Story about the Spiritual Journey
Sensible Shoes Series #1
Sharon Garlough Brown
InterVarsity Press
Four strangers embark together on a journey of spiritual formation:
• Hannah, a pastor who doesn’t realize how exhausted she is.
• Meg, a widow and recent empty-nester who is haunted by her past.
• Mara, a woman who has experienced a lifetime of rejection and is now trying to navigate a difficult marriage.
• Charissa, a hard-working graduate student who wants to get things right.
You’re invited to join these four women as they reluctantly arrive at a retreat center and find themselves drawn out of their separate stories of isolation and struggle and into a collective journey of spiritual practice, mutual support and personal revelation.
Along the way, readers will be taken into a new understanding of key spiritual practices and find tangible support for the deeper life with God.
Two Steps Forward: A Story of Persevering in Hope
Sensible Shoes Series #2
Sharon Garlough Brown
InterVarsity Press
The women from Sensible Shoes are taking their next steps in the spiritual formation journey. But each of them is finding roadblocks along the way.
Sometimes life feels like two steps forward and one step back. Find your own spiritual journey reflected in the lives of these women and discover the way forward.
Barefoot: A Story of Surrendering to God
Sensible Shoes Series #3
Sharon Garlough Brown
InterVarsity Press
The spiritual journey takes unexpected turns for the women of Sensible Shoes in this third book of the series, continuing on from the events of Two Steps Forward. Having been challenged to persevere in hope, can they now embrace the joy of complete surrender?
Join the women of the Sensible Shoes Club in a poignant story that reveals the joy that comes from laying our lives at the feet of God and standing barefoot on holy ground.
An Extra Mile: A Story of Embracing God’s Call
Sensible Shoes Series #4
Sharon Garlough Brown
InterVarsity Press
The women of Sensible Shoes are navigating both deep joy and devastating loss. Can they find equilibrium in the midst of all that has changed?
In this final installment of the Sensible Shoes series, you’re invited to travel with these beloved friends as they endure trials that test their trust and their willingness to walk an extra mile.
Sensible Shoes Series Boxed Set
Sharon Garlough Brown
InterVarsity Press
In this boxed four-volume set that began with the bestselling Sensible Shoes, author Sharon Garlough Brown invites you to join in the journeys of Hannah, Meg, Mara and Charissa as they—and you—gain a new understanding of friendship, spiritual truths, and a deeper life with God.
Find your own spiritual journey reflected in the lives of these women and discover the way forward as you walk the path by yourself or with a group of friends.
Sensible Shoes Study Guide
Sharon Garlough Brown and Sharron Carrns
InterVarsity Press
Have you enjoyed the journey with Meg, Mara, Charissa, and Hannah? This companion guide will take you deeper into their world and give you an opportunity to try out the spiritual practices that you’ve seen them engage at New Hope Retreat Center.
Sensible Shoes Study Guide includes twelve weeks of daily Scripture reading, prayer, and reflection questions (five days a week) that correspond to the disciplines the women practice in the book. A group discussion guide concludes each week. Engaging the lives of these characters in their spiritual journeys will offer both a window and a mirror into your own life and relationship with Christ.