Meet and Greet Monday:Author K M Weiland

Dear Reader,

For me, writing has always been a creative itch I must either scratch — or go crazy ignoring! Stories have rattled around in my overactive imagination for as long as I can remember. In fact, my first memory is of my three-year-old self sitting in a tree house at a family reunion in Colorado, making up stories in which I was the superhero who saved the day. I like to think my stories have gained a little in sophistication since then!

I grew up chasing Billy the Kid and Jesse James on horseback through the sand hills of western Nebraska, at least in my mind. Aside from a few dreams of training horses and barrel racing, writing has always been my all-consuming passion. God gives each of us a gift (or gifts), and it’s our responsibility to give it back to Him. I write because I love it and because it’s part of who I am. I write because I believe this is what I'm meant to do with my life - and so I write to the best of my ability for His glory.

Epic tales of history have always thrilled me. It was a natural step for me to dive into historical fiction. My first book, A Man Called Outlaw, set in the 19^th century during the land wars that rocked Wyoming Territory, allowed me to write the inevitable western saga brewing in my imagination since childhood. Three years after Outlaw’s publication, I’m ecstatic to announce the October 1^st release of my medieval novel Behold the Dawn, set during the 3^rd Crusade.

Behold the Dawn is a tale of vengeance and romance, guilt and redemption, sacrifice and deliverance. Knights, fair ladies, indentured servants, *Templars, monks, and **Saracens all race across the pages, some of them fleeing a tragic past, others attempting to carve out a future. Marcus Annan, a knight famed for his prowess on the battlefield, thinks he can keep the secrets of his past buried forever. But when Gethin the Baptsti, a mysterious crippled monk, demands Annan help him find justice for the transgressions of sixteen years ago, Annan is forced to leave the tourneys — the infamous mock battles long condemned by the Church — and join the Third Crusade.

Wounded in battle and hunted by enemies on every side, Anan rescues Lady Mairead of Keaton, an English noblewoman, from an infidel prison camp. He flees to Constantinople but, try as he might, Anon cannot elude the past. Amidst the pain and grief of a war he doesn’t even believe in, he faces long-hidden secrets and sins. Anon bares his soul to the mercy of a God he abandoned years ago.

Although my representation of such an immense topic as redemption and grace must necessarily be flawed, I hope readers can see past the dross and take away a few flakes of gold from the story’s heart. And perhaps Marcus Annan and company will leave their impact on your life, as they most definitely have on mine.

—K.M. Weiland

*Templar: A member of an order of knights founded about 1118 to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land.
**Sacracen: A member of a pre-Islamic nomadic people of the Syrian-Arabian deserts.

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