Fiction

I’m so glad you are here. It’s my hope I can take you on an inspiring, faith-building journey with one of my books. I hope to bring a few smiles to your face, perhaps a few tears as well, and that you consider the time you spend with my characters is well worth it.

“The value of fiction is not just that it entertains us or distracts us from our troubles, not just that it broadens our knowledge of people and places, but also that it helps us to know what we believe, reinforces those qualities that are noblest in us, and leads us to feel uneasy about our own faults and limitations.”
John Gardner

Inspiration

Every time a writer creates a new story, it’s like embarking on a new life and experiencing the world through the eyes of their characters. But the goal is to take you, the reader, along on an unforgettable journey on which you experience emotions, places, and situations that you may never experience for yourself, and all without leaving the safety of your living room couch.

They say ‘no tears in the writer, means no tears in the reader.’
I think that’s a great way to put it, and it emphasizes the significance of producing work with integrity that leaves you encouraged.

I’ve written over 40 books as a ghostwriter and many articles and blog posts. The first novel under my own name is  ‘An Amish Fantasy.’ You can check it out here. I hope to publish my second novel soon.

Reviews about An Amish Fantasy

Vivid and captivating
The imagery in this novel is wonderfully vivid, causing one to almost feel as if they were there. The plot is fascinating, with twists and turns, holding one’s interest throughout. Sometimes a bit wordy in the dialogue, which was distracting, but all in all a good read. – Jean Evinger

Different storyline from other Amish novels
I liked the storyline about and older Amish/English couple. Need more like this. – Barb

Different and fresh
Your witing never ceases to amaze me. I love the conversational style. It’s different and fresh. – Kitty

I finished your wonderful Amish Fantasy last night. The book left me with a feeling of satisfaction and peace of mind. It was just the right antidote for a frazzled world. We can find good in this life if we just let it in. At times, I felt I was reading a fairy tale, replete with monsters, white knights, closed hearts, and people in distress. It felt good (Gut) to have a happy ending.
Colleen D.

An Amish Fantasy

Elmo Byler was Amish and had always thought he had a wonderful life. After all, didn’t he faithfully keep all the rules and wasn’t he always listening to his beloved, older sister as he should? She taught him how to stay true to the simple life and did all the thinking for him. But then she died. Just like that and she left Elmo behind, bewildered and with a thousand questions he had never dared to ask, but now stared him in the face.

And then it came to him … Rumspringa, that wonderful period in the life of Amish youngsters where they can leave the community and try out the world in search of answers. He had never had it. His sister wouldn’t let him and now he was close to 70, not the age any normal Amish person would think of trying out the world.

Perhaps Elmo wasn’t as normal an Amish person as he’d always thought he was. He was hungry to know the truth, hungry for answers about the meaning of it all, and mostly, he was hungry for love. And so he set out on a quest to still his desire for answers, a quest that would lead him to the big city where a new world opened up for him.

An Amish Fantasy is a gentle story of hope, showing us that God never leaves nor forsakes even the smallest of His children and that love can find a way even in the most unexpected places.

 

“If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it. Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can't allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative.”

- Elmore Leonard

Want to get in touch? Send me an email at jkstengerbooks@gmail.com and I'll get back to you as soon as possible