From Sisterhood to anxiety to fear and a faltering faith, author Tracy Wainwright shies away from none of it. Today, she reveals her thoughts and influences while writing Scorched Dreams, number six in the Fruit of the Spirit Christian women’s fiction series.

PBG: Scorched Dreams opens not on Christmas morning but in its quiet aftermath, as Maria and Aaron arrive for a “late” celebration while Alex sleeps off a double shift and James prepares for surgery. What drew you to set the story in that liminal post-Christmas stretch rather than the holiday itself, and how did that timing shape the emotional tone you wanted readers to feel from page one?

TW: Christmas in this story is the downtime between the resolution of Shifting Goals and Scorched Dreams. While most of the tension was resolved at the conclusion of the previous book, we have a few threads left unresolved, including James’s healing process that includes surgery and the trauma Maria and Aaron experienced in the previous story. I felt jumping right to the major life challenge the Mitchells face in this part of their story would leave the reader hanging in suspense, wandering what they were missing, on two major threads.

PBG: Katie and Maria’s relationship is introduced through small, specific gestures like a long hug, coffee in the kitchen, Aaron being scooped up and squeezed “to death”. How did you go about crafting a cousin bond that reads more like sisterhood, and what did you want that dynamic to exemplify for readers about extended family in the body of Christ?

TW: It’s interesting that you call this a sisterhood relationship, as it is loosely based on my relationship with my sister. I have Maria’s story ready and waiting to be written, which will begin after Scorched Dreams in the timeline and had this relationship in my head, wanting to tie in more family for Katie, as she’s an only child. A cousin like a sister felt natural. This also allowed me to bring in the element of having a very beloved family member who struggles with faith, which I think we all have. As believers, it’s often more challenging to be consistent, gentle, faithful witnesses for Christ with family members. However, God placed them in our lives as family on purpose for a purpose, which Katie exemplifies.

PBG: Katie quotes the saying, “You’re either in a trial, coming out of one, or heading into one.” That line feels like a thesis for the theme and tone of the book. How did this idea become a guiding thread for the Mitchell and Maria storylines, and why did you want Katie to voice it aloud rather than simply express it?

TW: I remember hearing this phrase fairly early in my walk with the Lord and thinking no way that was true. However, life has proved it to be so. As well as the fact that when we lean on and surrender every situation and circumstance to the Lord, He uses these times like no other to grow us and show us more of who He is. Sometimes a story can feel like a lot – so much upheaval, trauma, loss, grief, etc. Life, though, often comes hard and fast, real stories often being too much to put into a book because of how heavy accumulative struggles can be. I wanted the ebb and flow of these stories to show that yes, life can be very hard at times, and also, God is always good and always provides everything we need. Katie is a verbal processer, making the voicing of this thought work, but this also gave Maria an opportunity to hear, absorb, and process this truth.

PBG: Aaron’s attempted kidnapping hangs over Maria’s arrival—he wakes up screaming, won’t speak about it—while James faces surgery tied to a jet ski accident. What led you to braid two very different kinds of parental fear (a nefarious stranger versus trusting capable doctors) into the same act?

TW: Fear is a trap that many believers fall into for various reasons. Our enemy wants to trip us up, distract our gaze from the Savior, and paralyze us from living abundantly and being effective ambassadors for the Gospel. This fear can have a variety of sources, both logical and illogical. Weaving these two stories together allowed Maria and Katie to work together through their fears and hopefully to share the hope with readers that no matter what causes us to worry, fret, or be anxious about – perceived or actual fears – that we can instead place our full trust in the Lord for the outcome of every situation and circumstance, while it is very difficult in the flesh and the outcome may not be what we would think best. This tension mirrors the reality many believers face throughout their lives.

PBG: Katie is a painter, and one of the earliest tender moments is her silent prayer of gratitude over a canvas she made as a gift, “for giving her the vision and skill to pull it off.” How intentional was it to make her creative gift a vehicle for her prayer life, and how does her art continue to function spiritually as the story unfolds?

TW: To develop and exercise a skill, often leads us in our humanity to feel pride in our own work. However, we cannot create or influence our DNA to have any particular skill. I took an art class my first year of college and improved from my ability to draw stick figures to sketching out something that actually looked like an apple, but those with natural artistic talent started out creating more amazing art than I could produce in a decade of drawing classes. When we’re walking in faith and have a right view of God and ourselves, we recognize that while we have responsibility to utilize and develop our abilities and talents that are God-given. For Katie, a busy working mom, she rarely has a moment of quiet, and in this story returns to her art when she’s forced to slow down. The element of her also utilizing this time for prayer naturally developed with the story, as did her use of art to both represent the Lord and His character and bless the loved ones in her life.

PBG: Money is a quiet but constant pressure within the pages of the story. Alex’s overtime, the line “it’ll still take us like fifteen years to pay off everything… and that’s before tomorrow’s surgery” shows this pressure in an honest and realistic way. Why was it important to you to put that financial weight on the page so plainly?

TW: Having lived as a single-income family of six for the better part of twenty years, we have experienced the challenges of unexpected bills and expenses, although not on the level of the Mitchells. I have, however, watched others struggle financially to great extents, even suffering bankruptcy. Even faithful people living lives dedicated to the Lord. There are elements of American Christian culture that teach God will bring wealth when we’re obedient to Him, and this just isn’t reality for many. Such a philosophy brings guilt, condemnation, and discouragement to faithful believers, and I wanted to present the opposite – that God often allows us to face financial struggles for a variety of reasons, but just like other hardships in life, wants us to surrender and submit even this to Him. I wanted to bring encouragement and show that hope and joy are possible regardless of one’s finances. God wants us to rely on Him in and for everything, but again, that doesn’t negate the real stress that can come with being in a hard financial situation despite working hard and obeying Him. Again we have the tension between our natural responses and our desire to trust the Lord. I believe many can relate to that tension and hope they are encouraged to fight the mental battle to take even those thoughts captive to obedience to Christ.

PBG: Maria fingers an emerald necklace “she’d worn as long as Katie could remember” right as the cousins acknowledge they each carry burdens. Was that necklace always meant to be a recurring touchstone, and what role do you hope small physical details like it play in grounding readers in your characters?

TW: Yes, this necklace will continue to play a role as a grounding for Maria as well as help give her deeper dimensions for readers to connect with. Most of us have an unconscious habit or quirk that are part of who we are. Layering those elements in a character helps them become more real and for us to connect with them, like we do with a friend who twists a lock of hair or plays with an earring.

PBG: There’s a lovely moment in the hospital waiting room when Katie admits, “Anxiety muddles the creative juices,” and her drawing pad sits abandoned. How did you approach writing a faith-filled protagonist who still openly wrestles with worry, rather than one who already has it all figured out and can lean on God without any worldly anxiety encroaching her faith?

TW: Reality. While some struggle with anxiety more than others, whether based on personality or upbringing, few find complete release from anxiety in this world. Even those with strong faith have moments of doubt or feeling anxious when life feels out of control. A character who struggles between the reality of the flesh and the promises of God feels real and relatable.

PBG: When Maria says, “I wish I had the kind of faith you have,” Katie’s response is a gentle “I’d give you some if I could. Keep pursuing God.” That reads like a blueprint for spiritual mentorship between friends. How did you decide what Katie would and wouldn’t say in that moment, where it would be easy to slip into preaching or simplify the moment with a meaningless platitude?

TW: One of the benefits of being a writer is that we have an opportunity to think through what a character will say or do much more than we tend to in real life. Katie has learned a lot in the trials of previous financial instability and James’ accident. In those growing experiences, she is able to meet Maria with grace and wisdom, rooted in her consistent prayers that her cousin would come to a deep and abiding faith.

PBG: The Virginia snow flurries on the day James comes home from surgery, with Aaron running out to play because he’s never really seen snow, is such a quietly hopeful image. How do you use weather and setting throughout Scorched Dreams to mirror the inner seasons your characters are moving through?

TW: Weather is one of those things that I tend to pay close attention to. Having grown up in the deep south (in a town similar to the one Maria and Aaron live in), I only saw real snow a couple of times. Now living in eastern Virginia, we get more snow than that, but not as much as more western and northern areas. My snow-deprived little girl comes out every time it snows, and it was a lot of fun seeing that excitement through a young character. Living in a place with real and often dramatic seasons, weather can make an impact – whether the random snow and ice storm that shuts things down for days to a week to ninety-five degrees with eighty percent humidity. This helps layer the story in issues that real people deal with and provides a backdrop that reminds the reader that even in the darkest, coldest days, spring with its warmth, blossoms, and renewal are coming.

Scorched Dreams

Katie Mitchell's life shatters in an afternoon— her house half-destroyed by fire, belongings lost, and her son's car reduced to ash. But the flames are just the spark of deeper trials. As investigators suspect arson, a cruel newspaper article ignites accusations, and vandals target their property, Katie and husband Alex face suspicion of fraud. Still reeling from son James's near-fatal accident, Katie grapples with guilt, worry, and her mother's worsening Alzheimer's. Yet their tight-knit church community rallies with fundraisers, housing, and unwavering support, teaching Katie to trust God's refining fire amid the chaos. From the ashes, grace blooms in unexpected ways— reminding us that faith, family, and friendship can rebuild what seems irreparably broken. Scorched Dreams is a clean, closed-door contemporary Christian novel of redemption, resilience, and the promise that God works all things for good, even in the hardest seasons. Perfect for fans of Karen Kingsbury, Francine Rivers, and Lisa Wingate's The Prayer Box.

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