Carol Award Finalist: Dana Mentink

Today at the Craftie Ladies we continue our salute to our authors who rise to the top and prove that Christian fiction rocks! 

Please join me in welcoming Dana Mentink.

Her book, 

JUNGLE FIRE. 

is a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers' Carol Award.

What inspired you to write your finaling book?

My mother lived in Guatemala for a short time and I remember writing a paper about the national bird when I was in fifth grade. My agent approached me about writing a suspense novel about a missionary caught in a deadly situation and the setting popped into my mind.

How does your faith play into your stories?

God is the author of the universe. I just strive to encourage people to give their struggles to God. He’s the only one that can give us the happy endings we yearn for!

What is your favorite part of writing?

That moment, that precious instant, when I have a brainstorm at some random time that makes me say, “Yes! THAT’S the perfect plot twist!”

What are you working on now?

I’m writing a book for Harlequin’s Hearwarming, which is a wholesome romance, and kicking off a four book suspense series for Love Inspired Suspense. I also teach third grade, so I’ve got many young writers to coach!

Tell us about your Carol Award finaling book.

I’d love to, here’s the blurb.

Nina Truman is a missionary nurse, serving in a tiny Guatemalan town not far from the Mexican border.  It’s a fulfilling life, tending to the village poor, a way to serve in the country from which she was adopted. The day she leaves on furlough, is the day her life falls apart. Her bus is ambushed and she must flee from forces who inexplicably wish her dead. Trapped between a ruthless drug lord and his assassins, a corrupt police chief, and colleagues with ulterior motives, her friends may prove just as deadly as her enemies as she uncovers a plot tangled deep in the roots of her own past.

Nina’s only hope of survival lies in the hands of Shaw Wilder, a man who despises missionaries and the God they serve.  His skill is in handling a land mine detection dog, not helping a woman he blames for the death of his sister. When the lethal drug kingpin El Escorpion seeks to capture Nina, and the local police are no help, Shaw has to choose: flee into the Guatemalan jungle with a naive woman who has vowed never to take a life or follow his own spiritual demons and walk away. His choice may leave them both imprisoned in a jungle from which neither will escape.

Ooo...sounds exciting.

Thanks for joining us today, Dana. We'll be cheering you on at the Carols.