A Royal Dance tells the story of Jacob and Abigail, his wife, during the time of Jesus (Yeshua). Jacob dearly loves Abigail, pregnant with their child. The birth occurs, and they are blessed with a daughter they name Jerusha. Her father dotes on her, tells her she came from royalty, flits around as his butterfly, and will one day dance before his King.
Jacob becomes certain Yeshua is the Messiah, causing grief in his household. Abigail seeks solace with Caiaphas, with whom they all had been friends. Jacob and Jerusha bond closely–he loves to watch her dance. Forced to leave, Jacob does so to protect his family, but Jerusha doesn’t understand.
So begins a tale of faith and failure and family and forgiveness. We follow Abigail and Jerusha through the depths of despair and their eventual redemption. At the same time, we see a brilliant picture of life in Jerusalem at the time of Christ, following his crucifixion, and later, Pentecost.
If you’re a fan of biblical fiction, you’ll love A Royal Dance. The story makes the reader aware of the difficulties of living during that era. For a woman who did not want to write, Linda created a wonderful set of stories. I look forward to reading the next two (or perhaps three) books in the series.
I interviewed Linda at the Munce Christian Product Expo. She told me she told her story through Jerusha’s eyes. She came out of abuse, out of barrenness. A meeting at Shiloh caused her to have a hunger to have people fulfill their destinies. Because of that, she has worked with Warring Dove International in Israel. Ms. Fergerson was born on Mother’s Day and raised in SW Kansas. She studied speech therapy in college and worked as a speech therapist. Once married, she stayed home, but was barren for sixteen years. They have three adopted sons.
Linda published several articles, but didn’t really want to write so stopped. She started writing a first person story which was sent to a publisher, but the publisher died. Linda joined an intercessory writer’s group, but had no idea how to deal with the competition. At the same time, she felt compelled to publish the things God wanted written. Ms. Fergerson felt most people missed the God in writing. She stayed in the group seven years, but the group dissolved, and she felt pulled to write again—she said she fought kicking and screaming through the whole process but would have no ministry until she wrote the book.
Linda now lives in Dodge City, Kansas—the middle of the prairie. To market her books, she starting speaking for groups. One woman told her Jesus became real to her while reading the book. Another said the book made her realize how tough life was back in those days. With that encouragement, she ended up writing three books—A Royal Dance, A Royal Family, and A Royal Father. A fourth book, A Royal Inheritance is in the works.
Deb’s Dozen: Pray, Don’t Beg, and Don’t Crawl—They May Come Back After All.
I had the opportunity to interview Linda at the Munce Christian Product Expo (CPE) last August. Born in Iowa, but her family moved to California where she grew up. Formerly an officer in the Navy, her husband now practices law—they live in Florida. She majored in Creative Writing and San Francisco State University and worked for a time at ABC, then as an English teacher. Her love was writing, but she had to wait for God’s timing to embark on that journey.
Deb’s Dozen: Superheroes retired, but children inherit power. Leia moves and sets things afire.
Allen Steadham previously created comic books and webcomics before he started writing novels. Married to Angel, they have two sons and a daughter. Allen and his wife are also singers, songwriters, and musicians. They live in Central Texas.