Writer’s Desk with Ronda Wells
Tricia GoyerDoctor by day, writer by night—Dr. Ronda Wells is an award-winning author who has written inspirational romance and romantic suspense for over twenty-five years. She has helped numerous Christian writers with creating authentic medical scenes for their books. Her column, Novel Malpractice, can be read at Killer Nashville Magazine.
A lifelong Hoosier and preacher’s kid, Ronda is a wife, mother and grandmother who lives in Indiana and loves to travel. Her stories from the heartland illustrate extraordinary faith among the conflicts of ordinary life.
Connect with Ronda on her website, Instagram, X, Facebook, Bookbub, and don’t forget to sign up for her newsletter.
More about The Christmas CherubLove lingers long after the war.
As snow falls gently over postwar Indianapolis, Clara Goodwin hides her heartache behind ribbon, glitter, and fragile hope.
The war may be finished but her fiancé—Jack Thompson, a courageous B-17 pilot—remains missing. Each day without news chips away at her spirit, yet Clara clings to faith, channeling her longing into her work as Head Artist at Amberson’s Department Store.
This year’s challenge? Designing the 1946 Christmas Catalog with little inventory to promote. Faced with blank pages and a looming deadline, Clara sketches whimsical cherubs to fill the void.
But as she brings them to life, she pours into them more than just creativity—she weaves in her love, her grief, and the aching questions that haunt her: Is Jack MIA, a POW… or gone forever? And if he returns, will he still be the man she knew?
In a season made for miracles, Clara’s cherub may be more than just a symbol of the holidays—it may hold the key to her deepest prayer.
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Enter to Win a copy of The Christmas Cherub + a $25 Amazon gift card!Q&A with Ronda WellsARCF: Can you tell us a little about The Christmas Cherub and the inspiration behind it?
RW: My inspiration for The Christmas Cherub was a local Indianapolis tradition involving a historic department store clock and a real cherub statue. The creative genius was a female artist, who designed some filler for the store’s holiday catalog, and ended up using cute little cherubs. The city went mad for them and on Thanksgiving Eve, 1947, a commissioned brass cherub appeared on the store’s big corner clock. It disappeared before Christmas morning. Every year (save one) since then, the cherub appears to herald the holiday shopping season. I wanted to weave a love story around the history and add a little twist to the cherub by giving it a special ability!
ARCF: What are three words to describe The Christmas Cherub?
RW: My three words to describe the book are love, hope and miracle.
ARCF: Did you base any of the characters in The Christmas Cherub on real people in your life?
RW: Some characters are actually conglomerations of people I knew, some are real like a childhood babysitter, and others have names of real people but are totally unlike their characters!
ARCF: How do faith and fiction blend together for you when you’re writing stories like this one?
RW: Faith and fiction seem to blend and flow naturally when I write. But I’m always surprised by what the Holy Spirit does when I’m not listening. Looking back in my story, I see themes and motifs I didn’t consciously add – but the Spirit sure did. As a physician, I’ve encountered a lot of broken people in the world, but I’d prefer to cast more light than darkness in my stories and choice of characters. We need more happy endings.
ARCF: What role does hope play in your storytelling—especially during the holiday season?
RW: Hope must be my theme. It’s mentioned all throughout The Christmas Cherub. The heroine artist, Clara, prays and hopes for a Christmas miracle that her missing-in-action fiancé will finally return from WW2 even eighteen months after the war has ended. And my next release this spring is titled, Harvest of Hope!
Enjoy this Excerpt from The Christmas Cherub:
I ran my hands over my hollow cheeks. I’d lost too much weight since the telegram arrived.
We regret to inform you, the rather simple telegram to his mother had stated. Captain Jack Thompson, MIA, April 24, 1945. I later learned other pilots reported seeing his B-17 go down in flames on the last major bombing raid over Eastern Europe. We regret to inform you. The war in Europe ended less than two weeks later with the German surrender.
We regret to inform you. My wonderful fiancé had almost made it home.
My hands shook. I tried to erase the memory of the ugly words as I pulled out my lipstick case.
He can’t be gone—I won’t accept it.
I think Christmas stories are timeless of course, because Jesus offers eternal salvation. They’re also nostalgic, which hopefully take you back time and again to past holidays with family and friends. One comfort is that our pasts never change when our futures are always uncertain, so the past is safer to visit.
I would hope readers remember Clara Goodwin. She’s so loyal and determined to wait for definitive news about Jack even while being openly courted by a very eligible, handsome bachelor at the store. Clara has what they called “moxie” in the 40s – “the ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage.” But she also prays hard and has a great deal of faith, evidenced by her actions and stated hope for a “Christmas miracle.”
I think the cherub itself makes the book stand out. So far as I know, Indianapolis has the only holiday cherub statue sitting on a department store clock in the nation. The historic clock was patterned after the one at Marshall Fields, but L.S. Ayres upped them one by adding the seasonal cherub. The other thing that sets this book apart is the Indianapolis setting, where I could use all my favorite sights and places, so the details are very real. Addressing the issue of “battle fatigue” (PTSD) may also set this apart from other Christmas tales.
Harvest of Hope is coming this spring! An inspirational contemporary romance set in Kansas. A heartbroken rancher-veterinarian tangles with a jilted Hollywood producer over renting his family’s historic mansion for a film based on a book he and his parents despise. What this couple didn’t count on was falling in love. And there’s another Christmas Cherub novella in the works, hopefully in time for next Christmas.
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