Christina: Lana, thank you for joining me today. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
Lana: For the past 20 years, I’ve had a dual writing career. By day, I’m a medical writer for doctors, researchers, biopharma, biotech, medtech, and healthcare PR firms. By night, I write historical fiction, mostly set in the first century AD. I love a good intrigue—including secret stairways and third-floor windows. I believe most things can be solved with common sense, chai tea, or hiking. But everything can be solved with God.
Christina: I love that. Can you tell us, what is your book called?
Lana: Survival Secrets
Christina: When was it released?
Lana: September 23, 2025
Christina: Is it a series?
Lana: Yes, The Magi’s Encounters
Christina: Can you share your blurb with us?
Lana:
Boud by secrets. Hunted by kings. Chosen for something greater.
Pursued by Herod’s forces and others who fear what the Magi know about Yeshua, Akilah and his companions flee into the Wilderness of Paran—a land as merciless as the enemies pursuing them. To reach Egypt’s safety, his caravan must survive the elements and maintain their anonymity while protecting other secrets that jeopardize their lives.
The group carries a truth powerful enough to upend empires yet tenuous enough to fracture their resolve. When calamity tears one Wise Man away from the others, the group’s newfound faith start to crumble. Faith once sparked by wonder is now tested by hardship and the silence of unanswered prayers.
Farther from their goal of returning to Persia than ever before, Akilah encounters Yeshua’s family again. Its ramifications raise the stakes for the Magi’s cost of belief in the Hebrew God.
Meanwhile, two thousand miles away, Akilah’s estranged cousin Farzaneh begins her own dangerous search for truth, uncovering secrets her husband carried to the grave after embracing the Hebrew faith.
Survival Secrets is a gripping continuation of the Magi’s journey. As they struggle to return home while facing an uncertain future, costly obedience replaces the early awe of their belief—underscoring that faith doesn’t travel in a straight line, endurance is often learned in the wilderness, and trust rests with an unfathomable, sovereign God.
Christina: What inspired you to write this book?
Lana: Three things.
First, so much of what we think we know about the Wise Men is based on tradition rather than truth. I wanted to tell the truth of their story—because it’s way more exciting and inspiring than we realize. The Wise Men lived in an empire that said it tolerated many religions, but no empire or earthly king wanted to hear that a child had been born that would rule eternally. That would be an imminent threat to their throne. So what did the Wise Men risk to search for Jesus? What happened to them after that?Second, I believe that finding Jesus affected the Wise Men so profoundly that they crossed paths with Him more than once in their lifetime—hence, the series title, The Magi’s Encounters. Each brief encounter radically changes the trajectory of their lives—which rings true today in our lives, too.
Third, I was passionate about writing an intimate, history-with-political-intrigue story that made readers feel they were standing next to real people from the Bible. (When I started writing my series, The Chosen and House of David didn’t exist yet.)
Christina: What’s your favorite part of your writing process?
Lana: Co-creating with God. I can’t count how many times I’ve prayed for clarity and guidance as I write. (When I start a book, I know the A to B of its arc, but not necessarily all the steps to get there.) Also, I’ll find some research tidbit that sounds interesting but not applicable to the book … then, six months later—or even the next book later—it becomes crucial to the plot. I’m not that smart; that’s all God.
Christina: Can you share any challenges you faced during the research or writing process?
Lana: Writing biblical fiction requires a lot of research, so it’s a challenges to be organized, stay on point, and steward my time. My biggest writing challenge is to depict realistic, three-dimensional antagonists. I write about some pretty awful ones—like Herod the Great, his sons, and an unpopular king of the Parthian Empire. Readers don’t need to like them or agree with them, but they do need to understand them. It’s my job to make them relatable on some level.
Christina: How do you develop your characters? Do they come to you fully formed, or do they reveal themselves as you write?
Lana: Before I ever start writing, I do a deep dive into my characters’ background—family history, past wounds, needs, relationships with other characters, and so on. That way, I’m reasonably sure how they’ll react when I put them in a tight spot. Even so, they still surprise me sometimes. That happened in particular with my main orbital character, Farzaneh. I won’t say more about that because it would be a big spoiler.
Christina: If you could give one piece of advice to budding creatives, what would it be?
Lana: If I may offer two pieces of advice, it would be (1) keep your day job and (2) learn both the craft and business of writing. You’ll need all three to stay the course and succeed.
Christina: Can you describe your writing routine?
Lana: I still have a day job (writing for the medical industry), so I balance my time between two writing careers. I tend to write my books early in the morning and on weekends, but I keep a notepad by my laptop so I can jot ideas whenever they come to me. I don’t hold myself to a daily word count. Instead, I set goals to have [#] scenes done by [date]. I also make sure I do something on my books each day. Some days, that’s just research or sketching ideas for scenes. Other times, I cruise on writing.
Christina: What do you hope readers will take away from your book?
Lana: Four things:
- You don’t need to have everything figured out about God to trust Him.
- When you say you believe in Him, He will test you in wilderness situations to see if you mean what you say.
- Faith doesn’t travel in a straight line, and that’s OK. God is bigger than all your fears, doubts, and questions.
- God will show up big time in ways you can’t imagine—if you let Him.
Christina: What has been the most rewarding part of your publishing journey?
Lana: Reading comments from editors and readers.
Editors praise me for my writing craft and attention to detail. One editor called Survival Secrets a “full-bodied adventure with grit under its fingernails.” I love that.
Readers tell me the Bible came alive to them for the first time because of my books. They say they’d never thought about what the Wise Men risked to find Jesus—or what their faith cost them afterward. Now that they know, they say they appreciate Christmas in a whole new way.
Those comments are priceless to me.
Christina: Now for some fun! What’s your favorite snack to get your creative juices flowing?
Lana: Eating something crunchy revs up my brain. For that, my go-to is Kiwa’s Mixed Veggie Chips (sweet potato, parsnip, cassava, plantain, and beet). A close second is Siete’s Organic Blue Corn Chips cooked in avocado oil.
Christina: What childhood story has stuck with you through adulthood?
Lana: A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle. I first read it in 4th or 5th grade. It ignited my passion for science—and my imagination for storytelling. L’Engle said, “If the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” That’s part of her genius. Both children and adults love her books because they can be enjoyed on multiple levels.
Christina: What book are you reading right now?
Lana: Now and Not Yet by Ruth Chou Simons
Christina: If you could have dinner with any author, living or deceased, who would it be and why?
Lana: It would be Madeleine L’Engle. For financial reasons, she had to write. More than two dozen publishers turned down A Wrinkle in Time. They complained how “unusual” it was. They didn’t like its female protagonist and “complex” ideas. Some people criticized her books for not having “enough” of a faith-based message; others said they had too much of it. I’d love to ask her how she kept her faith through all that and stayed true to her writings.
Christina: What upcoming writing projects are you working on?
Lana: Book 3 in my series is due to my publisher December 1, so that’s consuming all my writing neurons for the short term. But waiting in the wings for attention are several devotional books, a split-time duology, and a modern retelling of a biblical story.
Christina: Are you a Plotter or Pantser?
Lana: I NEVER outline my books (there’s a whole story behind that), but I spend a great deal of prewriting time on character development … establishing their backstories, traits, and relationships with other characters. That drives my character arcs. Then I draft a detailed storyline, which speaks to plot. After that, research gives me insights about cultures, religions, and politics—which help me understand what my characters think, say, and do. Finally, I start writing. So I guess the answer is I’m a plantser.
Christina: What are you looking forward to over the next few months?
Lana: I’m looking forward to cooler weather and everything that autumn brings … sweater weather, gorgeous leaves, fall festivals, you name it. Also, I live in an area where an amazing variety of heirloom apples grow; they’re available for only a few weeks in the fall. Far better taste than other apples!
Christina: Oh, I love fall and those apples sound wonderful!
Lana, thank you for sharing some of your writing journey with us today.
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