Historical Christian Fiction

Siri Mitchell graduated from the University of Washington with a business degree and worked in various levels of government. As a military spouse, she has lived all over the world, including in Paris and Tokyo. Siri enjoys observing and learning from different cultures. She is fluent in French and loves sushi.

But she is also a member of a strange breed of people called novelists. When they’re listening to a sermon and taking notes, chances are, they’ve just had a great idea for a plot or a dialogue. If they nod in response to a really profound statement, they’re probably thinking, “Yes. Right. That’s exactly what my character needs to hear.” When they edit their manuscripts, they laugh at the funny parts. And cry at the sad parts. Sometimes they even talk to their characters.

Siri wrote 4 books and accumulated 153 rejections before signing with a publisher. In the process, she saw the bottoms of more pints of Ben & Jerry’s than she cares to admit. At various times she has vowed never to write another word again. Ever. She has gone on writing strikes and even stooped to threatening her manuscripts with the shredder.

Her sixth novel, A Constant Heart, has just been released by Bethany House Publishers. Two of her novels, Chateau of Echoes and The Cubicle Next Door were Christy Award finalists. She has been called one of the clearest, most original voices in the CBA.

She is represented by Beth Jusino at Alive Communications.

Siri's books include:

 A Constant Heart

In a world of wealth, power, and privilege ...

                                     love is the only forbidden luxury.

“Trust was a valuable commodity at court. Traded by everyone, but possessed by no one. Its rarity was surpassed only by love. Love implied commitment and how could any of us commit ourselves to any but the Queen? Love implied singularity and how could any of us benefit another if our affections were bound to one in exclusivity? Love was never looked for and rarely found. When it was, it always ended badly.”

In Queen Elizabeth’s court where men and women willingly trade virtue for power, is it possible for Marget to obtain her heart’s desire or is the promise of love only an illusion?

A riveting glimpse into Queen Elizabeth's Court ...

Born with the face of an angel, Marget Barnardsen has always been fortunate. Now, with her marriage to an earl, her security - and destiny - are guaranteed.

But when her introduction to court goes awry, the queen's wrath turns to Marget. Fearing she may lose her husband forever - and all that he has gained - she'll risk everything to gain favor with the queen, and her husband, again. Even her life.

You can read an excerpt by clicking here!

Moon over Tokyo

   How many of us notice the instant our lives change? The moment we step out of ‘what has been’ and into ‘what is to come’? I didn’t. But looking back, unraveling all that had happened before and everything that happened after, I think I can pinpoint the exact moment. Surprisingly, it had nothing to do with Eric’s coming and nothing to do with Gina’s leaving. It had everything to do with me.

    I remember slumping into a chair and nibbling on a cookie I was pretty sure hadn’t gone bad while I’d been on vacation. I knew I’d probably regret it. But after a ten-hour plane ride, a three-hour commute into Tokyo, and sixteen hours of jet lag, my stomach wasn’t listening to me anymore.

    I’d gone home to Oregon for vacation to celebrate my birthday and attend my sister’s wedding. My little sister’s wedding. After having celebrated both another birthday and the happiest day of my sister’s life, my thoughts were anything but joyous. They were waspish thoughts that buzzed around the question, What about me?

    Both literally and figuratively.

    My sister had embarked on a life that I would soon have no claim to…although I fully intended to insert myself into it from time to time. Being sad for me and happy for her was making a see-saw of my emotions. Facing my return to life as a journalist in Tokyo hadn’t made it any easier. And the fact that I’d have to deal with Neil made it even worse.

    I never should have started dating Neil. I worked with him. He was a nice-looking guy. And I had total respect for him as a writer. Thought he was the best one at the paper. Several months before, I had gotten to the point in my life where I just wanted to be with someone, and he was the most obvious candidate. But every time we’d gone out, our dates had degenerated into bull sessions about work or about our careers in general. It was like talking to a brother.

 And then one night, we’d kissed.

The Cubicle Next Door

“So what do you think, Jackie?”

What do I think? Funny Joe should ask me that. He’s just finished reading my blog. He’s just quoted me to myself. Or is it myself to me? Do I sound surreal, as if I’m living in parallel universes?

I am!

The blog—my blog—is all about Joe. And other topics that make me want to scream. But the clever thing is, I’m anonymous. When I’m blogging.

I’m Jackie, Joe’s cubicle-mate when I’m not.

And that’s the problem.

Joe is asking Jackie (me) what I think about the Mystery Blogger (also me). And since I don’t want Joe to know the blog is all about me and what I think of him, I can’t tell him what I think about me.

My brain is starting to short circuit.

So if I can’t tell him what I think about me, I certainly can’t tell him what I think about him, so I’m going to have to pretend not to be me. Not me myself and not me The Cubicle Next Door Blogger—TCND to my fans.

I have fans!

If I were clever I’d say something like, “Look!” and point behind him and then duck out of the room when he turned around to look.

But there’s so much computer equipment stacked around my desk and so many cables snaking around the floor that I’d break my neck if I tried to run away. So that option is out.

I could try pretending I didn’t hear him. “What?”

“SUVs. So what do you think about them?”

But then we’d basically end up back where we started.
 
So how did I get myself into this mess?

It was all Joe’s fault.

Chateau of Echos

Suddenly widowed in a foreign country, Frédérique Farmer did what any girl would do: She bought a castle. She just never imagined that its mysterious fifteenth-century owner would hold the keys to her second chance at life.

 When an extensive restoration of the chateau reveals an ancient treasure, Frédérique kisses her reclusive life good-bye. She opens a bed-and-breakfast, hires a capricious graduate student, and gets talked into hosting a handsome American for an extended stay. Little does she know, she’s unwittingly concocted a recipe for intrigue, romance, and possibly disaster.

Château of Echoes is a novel of second chances which reverberates through centuries. Come inside and stay awhile.

Something Beyond the Sky

Can one woman engage in life-changing friendship with someone she’s just met? Can four? That’s life on an Air Force base, where four very different women share only the common bond of being military wives:

 Anne, newly married and with a university diploma in hand, finds herself unprepared for the realities of marriage, her limited job prospects, and people’s strange response to her.

 Rachel married beneath herself in terms of money, but discovers she is bankrupt in relational skills. She'll give anything to keep her shaky marriage intact.

 Beth resigned her commission to stay at home with her twins. How can she tell her husband that she thinks she made a mistake?

 Karen battles an eating disorder while she tries to ward off questions about her husband’s love, her lack of children, and what it means to be Mormon.

 In this compelling story of love, friendship, forgiveness, and truth, each woman discovers that with a little faith she can believe that yesterday’s heartaches and today’s troubles are nothing compared to what lies beyond the sky.

Kissing Adrien

Two hundred dollar shoes? Six hundred dollar lunches? Dresses that cost five-figures and jewelry appraised as priceless? Just call it an average day in Paris.

Sensible, practical Claire Le Noyer is as overwhelmed by the extravagance of France as she is by the attentions of Adrien, a childhood friend. Because above all, Claire is nice. And she has every intention of marrying the assistant pastor at her church…if he would ever get serious enough to ask her. Of course she's attracted to Adrien--who wouldn't be--but how could she be serious about a man who dumps her entire wardrobe into a trash can, has eyes the color of the Mediterranean Sea and exudes charm like an air freshener?  A man who will cause her to question the underpinnings of her faith; who will not only show her how to love, but also how to laugh. And live. Faith can be alive and real in a different culture than your own. Being a Christian doesn’t mean forsaking pleasure. Sound radical? It is for Claire.

I know summer vacation is months away, but it always pays to plan early…because if you add it to your packing list right now, you won’t forget to take Kissing Adrien with you on vacation. And if you take a digital picture of yourself reading the book and if you e-mail it to me in JPG format (the smaller the file the better), I’d love to post it here, on the website. And then you’ll be famous!