Recent content on D. J. Speckhals
The most important piece of fiction writing is the story. Are the characters compelling? Is the plot exciting and coherent? Is the story believable? Paired with that is writing quality, which includes grammar, syntax, spelling, and punctuation. Without an immense amount of work on these points, authors lack a book worth publishing. 
 Formatting and typesetting a novel can become an…
I spent a month of my free time transcribing an influential 1800s religious novel. And having just completed it, I can say it was so worth every minute. 
 Theodosia Ernest by Amos Cooper Dayton made an immense impact on American Protestants, especially Baptists. Dayton, a physician turned minister, was convinced of believer’s baptism in his 40s and thus joined a Baptist church. Soon afterward…
William Tyndale is perhaps the most famous Bible translator in the English-speaking world, but the francosphere (encompassing France, Belgium, Switzerland, and much of Africa) has its own pioneer translator. Pierre Robert Olivétan brought the Hebrew Masoretic Old Testament and Erasmus’ Greek New Testament to French—the first from the original languages. La Bible d’Olivétan shaped French-speaking…
Chance meetings can be the best ones. Last summer, my wife and I attended the CHAP (Christian Homeschool Association of Pennsylvania) Convention . While browsing the exhibitor boots, a map of southern France caught my eye. Intrigued, I stepped closer to his publisher’s booth, where Andrew Lambdin was representing his books. 
 Among the Christian books on display, I noticed two novels by Mr.…
What did Waldensians believe about election and predestination? Were they Calvinist or Arminian ? I could answer this question in a variety of ways, but I’ll try to keep it as brief as possible while still providing the key details derived from historical evidence. 
 Who Were the Waldensians? 
 The term Waldensian (also Waldense in English, Vaudois in French, Valdesi in Italian, et al.)…
Every Christmas season, a certain piece of music seems to follow me everywhere—from radio jingles to shopping mall speakers. But it wasn’t until a snowy evening in 2012 that Handel’s Messiah truly captured my heart. That December, I decided to take my wife on a date to see the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s performance. I had always liked classical music, but nothing prepared me for what I would…
Daily commutes don’t need to be boring. For the past 14 years (except for a hiatus in 2020), my drive to work has been about 30 minutes. I learned early on to listen to something and have since consumed over 2 months of audiobooks (thanks Audible!). But of course I’m driving, so I have to be aware of my surroundings too. 
 One feature that captivates me nearly every day is a wide, slow moving…
1 John 5:7 is probably the most controversial inclusion in the King James translation of the Bible. Often referred to as the Johannine Comma (Latin: Comma Johanneum ), entire books have been written about this one verse, either for or against its place in the Biblical text. It is arguably the most concise Trinitarian declaration in the New Testament: 
 
 For there are three that bear…
To start off 2024, I’m excited to announce Heretics of Piedmont: A Novel of the Waldensians as part of a unique giveaway! 
 The organizer of this giveaway, Jayna Baas , had such a creative idea to promote an amazing collection of books that literally spans centuries of faith. 
 As a side note, one of the books in this giveaway, Whose Waves These Are by Amanda Dykes, was one my wife and I…
When airport baggage conveyors brought mine and Andrea’s matching black suitcases into a terminal, it was hard to distinguish them from other generic bags rolling alongside them. They were branded as Jeep , but they weren’t extraordinary, and toward the end of their usefulness, I picked them out by their rips, broken wheels, and other scars. 
 They were part of our marriage from the beginning.…
My family has about a fifteen minute drive to church. It’s a scenic drive that includes farm fields contoured to the rolling hillsides, thick woodlands, and a small town. Often as my family loads into our car, the bells of a nearby church sound out through the southern Pennsylvania countryside. It’s not our church, but I still enjoy hearing those bells—the ancient call for the community to worship…
I recently read a blog post by Pastor Tom Brennan titled, “How to Write a Book.” I’ve read two of his books and have been impressed by both the content and quality, so I knew his insight here would be valuable. A point he made in the post that caught my attention was this: 
 
 Only write a book if you have read at least twenty-five books on similar subjects. 
 
 I agreed, but then…
I’m not sure about everyone else, but for me it’s easy to be pulled into investing in shiny new tools when learning a skill. 
 When I picked up running, I heard about all the gadgets: smart watches, GPS, pricey shoes, running shirts, running shorts, head bands, wrist bands, armbands for your phone, apps for your phone, app subscriptions, virtual running coaches, and many more. Where do you…
Continued from Part 1 
 I sat on a church pew one Saturday morning watching my children practice their Christmas program. It was going to last almost two hours, and I didn’t have anything except a notebook to occupy my mind. 
 Three days earlier, I had finished planning my first novel, but other than about thirty pages of notes, I hadn’t yet written anything. I wanted to write it, but I…

 

 
 To my brother— 
Adam Murdock 
#42 
 
 In March, my youngest brother, Adam, died in a car accident on his way home from work. I could never describe the feelings in a few words posted on the internet, nor would I want to. 
 The first draft of The Lord of Luserna was two days from completion when everything happened. Instead of writing a few pages for a…
How did I find myself writing a story about Renaissance-era religious dissenters? 
 Since I can remember, I’ve had a love of geography. Some of my first memories were from watching the 1990 animated movie, The Rescuers Down Under . There’s a short scene where the heroes relay an important message from New York City to Australia. The camera zooms out to show a map and how a telegraph…
“A trailer for a book? Really?” 
 Trailers for movies have been around for a long time , but it wasn’t until video distribution became simple in the mid-2000’s (especially in the advent of YouTube) that book trailers came into existence. 
 For Heretics of Piedmont , I read from multiple sources that a trailer is helpful, but not totally necessary. I didn’t pursue it until just before that…
Folk stories and songs shape culture. What would the United States be without Davy Crocket and Daniel Boone, England without Robin Hood, Scotland without William Wallace, or France without Joan of Arc? They embody the national spirit and provide legends passed down from parents to children through the generations. 
 During my ongoing study of the Waldensians, it’s easy to get bogged down in…
Every so often in history, it seems everything happened at once. A recent example future historians may evaluate is the rapid downfall of colonial empires from the end of World War II until the 1960’s. Further back was the period of national revolutions beginning with the American Revolutionary War and ending with the Napoleonic Wars. 
 Build Up 
 The most interesting to me, however, is…
Did you know the Waldensians had their own translation of the Bible? It was probably translated from an Old Latin version (often called the Vetus Latina , not to be confused with Jerome’s Latin Vulgate ) into Old Occitan (also called Romaunt or Provençal over 1,000 years ago. 
 In Heretics of Piedmont and its sequel (whose name is yet to be revealed), I wanted to add a couple places where the…
Part way into writing Heretics of Piedmont I found myself typing the phrase: “after a few minutes.” I paused, shut my eyes, and doubts entered my mind. That wasn’t the first time I had used a phrase like that, but it felt like I should check into it. 
 Heretics of Piedmont is set in the 15th century—1458 to be precise. Did people even think in minutes and seconds then? Did numerical…
Almost twenty-one years ago, Caitlin Mirela entered our lives. Now, that may sound odd to those of you who know her, because her twenty-first birthday was over seven months prior to me writing this post. But there are a few of us out there who remember November 1 just as easily as her March birthday. 
 First, let me step back a few years. In about 1997, my parents chose to begin the foreign…
Where I live in Pennsylvania, the old adage of “a pizza shop on every corner” almost applies. Many of the national chains are here (Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Little Caesars, Papa John’s), but local shops flourish even more. Those local shops all serve New York style, and you should expect to hear Italian spoken while they toss the dough. 
 My family loves pizza, to the point of eating it nearly…
The last few pages in Heretics of Piedmont , after the story and epilogue, are acknowledgments. I am very thankful for those who supported me through my first writing journey. You can read those pages for yourself, so I’ll refrain from reiterating them here. I want to give special attention to my wife, Andrea. 
 A few years ago, I remember her asking me a question: “What’s one of your dreams…
No … but I imagine that answer lacks sufficient explanation. 
 This article is my opinion based on my education and recent research, yet it’s far from scholarly. I do, however, want to explain my conclusion as one who has thoroughly enjoyed studying about the Waldensians: a historic, dissenting branch of Christianity predating the Protestant Reformation by at least 400 years. They are also the…
I admit it—I’ve cried during a movie. And it’s hard to say that. I grew up proud of being unemotional; in fact, I would say I’m still pretty restrained. Yet, a few years back as a 30-year-old man, I actually shed a few tears while watching a film. No, it’s worse than that: it was during a documentary—and not the kind you would first imagine. 
 My wife, Andrea, and I were watching BBC’s Planet…
Have you ever read a story—whether a novel or a children’s book—where you rolled your eyes at the unbelievable? In fantasy and fairy tales, we expect to encounter extraordinary or even absurd characters, people, and settings. That expectation allows you to continue on and enjoy the story despite the fiction. But if we experience a contrived plot or unfactual statement, no matter the genre, we feel…
We are in an age of endless information—one might even argue too much information. Not only can we find a diagram illustrating the Pythagorean theorem in seconds by reaching into our pocket and tapping a glass pane a few times, but we also know minute life details of our friends, acquaintances, and strangers around the earth. For most of us, information is both easy to access and readily…
Romans 12:3-8 
 In December 1958, (a few months before Mt. Zion Baptist Church of Brogue, Pennsylvania was founded), Leonard Read published a short essay in a magazine called The Freeman that made this assertion: no single person on the face of the earth knows how to make a pencil. He wrote the essay, I Pencil , to illustrate the futility of a planned economy and the power of a free market.…
Modern society, perhaps more than ever, drives us to consume. We consume products then dispose of them when they become outdated. We absorb all that our phones, computers, Alexa’s, and streaming service demands. Though some of us may spend less time consuming than others, we still devour food, media, and words daily. 
 And what of our relationship with God? We can sit under preaching three…
With a story set in the fifteenth century featuring oppressed Christians, it is impossible to avoid talking about the Roman Catholic Church. In fact, they were the ones doing the oppressing. In a sense, it would be easy for me to paint the Catholic Church as pure evil—the persecutors of God’s people, the Mary-worshipers, the harlot of Babylon. 
 But Heretics of Piedmont would be very edgy,…
Raimond Durand is used to the persecution that comes with spreading the gospel across Italy’s Piedmont. But when a snowstorm forces him to seek shelter, he stumbles into the village of Chivasso and meets a little girl named Elionor. A girl the same age his own daughter would have been. 
 Cast out by her greedy aunt, Elionor has made her home in a barn. When Raimond discovers the fate awaiting…
In 1458 Piedmont, novice monk Andreas de Bonomo’s promising future shatters when false accusations exile him from his Benedictine order. His abbot, aware of the injustice, offers a clandestine path to absolution: infiltrate a burgeoning heretical sect in the rugged Alpine valleys. 
 Armed with his wits and language skills, Andreas arrives as a traveling scribe, offering to chronicle the…
D. J. Speckhals is the author of the “Witnesses of the Light” historical fiction trilogy, which transports readers to fifteenth-century Europe to explore the resilient faith of the Waldensians. 
 
 

 From a young age, Dustin has held a deep, lifelong passion for history and geography. He spent many school nights studying National Geographic and Rand McNally atlases, striving to…
It’s 1459, and former monk Andreas de Bonomo has found his place among the Vallense Christians of the Angrogna Valley. He’s preparing for life as a preacher—and life with Constanza Pavarin. 
 But when he learns of an ancient New Testament manuscript rescued from Constantinople, he can’t ignore the opportunity to make God’s Word available to all. 
 Now Andreas faces an unknown enemy who…
It’s 1460, and newlyweds Andreas and Constanza settle into their home among the Vallense Christians of Italy’s Piedmont. Navigating the challenges of a growing family, Andreas wonders when—and if—he can serve God as an itinerant preacher. When his church asks him to investigate a strange new sect, he quickly accepts the task. 
 Then Constanza and their adopted children are seized by the very…
P. Robert Olivetanus, the humble and lowly Translator, 
 to the Church of Jesus Christ: Greeting. 
 The good custom has obtained from all antiquity that those who bring some book into public view—whether they have compiled it by their own industry and invention, or have translated it from one language into another—come to dedicate and present it to some Prince, King, Emperor, or Monarch,…
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