Dawn Ringling
Authentic Fiction. Tangible Grace.
BOOKS
Divorce is not just a fact in Christian circles, it's a common occurrence. Yet most Christian fiction dealing with marital struggles insists that reconciliation is always possible. Jumping in Sunset shows how God's abundant love works through situations where the neat, accepted answers don't. Meet Pamela Thornton, who has a comfortable faith, a twenty-year marriage, and a solid relationship with her college-bound daughter - when her husband announces he's leaving her to marry another woman. Slowly, Pamela learns to understand and experience God within the impossible truth that her marriage has come to an end.
(Note: This book is backlisted with reprint rights in the works. Until then, it is available on Kindle. Used copies are still available.)
REVIEWS
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Readers of evangelical Christian fiction should welcome this novel for its acknowledgment that sometimes marriages between two believers fail, and resolution isn't possible... The characters are multifaceted, and their emotions, even when disturbing, are believable. This novel deserves a place in CBA bookstores for its genuine portrayal of imperfect
Christian people.
– Publishers Weekly
EDITORS’ PICKS FOR THE BEST NEW BOOKS
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Divorce is something we hate, but it is hard to escape. Even Christian families experience at least one divorce and usually more. This book grabbed me with the first word and I couldn't put it down. I had not read this author before, but I highly recommend her and hope to see something by her in the future.
– Juanita Nobles
Author, A Heritage of Faith
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Every so often we get to read a book that has us excited each time we find a little hunk of time to read it. This is that book. It was full of surprises and twists. It is entertaining and intriguing. But mostly it was just plain comforting to read a story from a Christian point of view about something that affects so many of us.
– Paula
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Jumping in Sunset was a refreshing read. I think Dawn Ringling captured well the roller coaster of thoughts, feelings, and emotions, which correspond to a major life change, in this case being the victim of an unexpected divorce.
– Doranne Long, PT, MS
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Pamela is shocked when her husband files for divorce. She heads to a rustic lakeside cabin to heal, but how can she get over her husband's betrayal? Can she open her heart again to love? As Pamela answers these questions to herself, she discovers herself, her capacity to forgive and come to God. A deep story written by a knowledgeable author. Very satisfying.
– Heather
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I loved this book the first time I read it, and I return to it from time to time. I still love the tranquility I find within
the pages.
– Cara
THINGS WORTH CONSIDERING...
If I Said I'd Pray. . .
May 2026
Telling someone you’ll pray for them is a serious statement. I used to toss the phrase out thoughtlessly. A ‘Christiany’ way to conclude a conversation when nothing else felt right to say. Years ago, however, I was convicted that saying it, but not actually praying was wrong.
Now? If I say “I'll pray for you,” I will.
But it's not easy to remember to do so– or to quiet my mind and busy life long enough to actually have that promised conversation with God.
I'm the first to say I long for the good old days of land lines and face-to-face communication. But my promises to pray have become easier for me to follow through on because of texting. Most often, I text myself right after promising to pray. If I can, I stop right where I'm at and shoot off a group text prayer to God and the person I prayed for. Then, a week later, it's a record for me to review and almost always offer thanks for what He’s done in the situation. And it is also a reminder to keep going to God when needed.
As I've made this commitment, something amazing has happened to me over time. I've stopped fretting over the needs of the people I love. For so long, I was a mess of anxiety, codependence, and enmeshed emotional caretaking. When Jesus told us to bear one another's burdens, He never meant for us to do it alone. I’ve learned that when I can't physically be present (and sometimes shouldn't be!) I can, through prayer, place my friends and loved ones in God's capable hands and walk alongside them through the battle.
“Pray in the Spirit on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6:18
Copyright © [2026] [Dawn Ringling]
Signs of Life
May 2026
When our first grandchild, Ayven, was 4, we bought him a Mulberry tree and taught him how to care for it. When their family moved the following year, we dug it out and relocated it to their new backyard. He was faithful to water and fertilize and prune it—and that second, third and fourth year, it produced a wealth of berries that were huge and delicious.
His family moved again this year, but couldn't take the tree, so we uprooted it and transported it across two states to our home in North Carolina. I planted and mulched and fertilized and watered
But it died. Branches turned brittle. Black leaves shriveled and fell to the ground. No sign of life. So I stopped my daily ministrations.
I've been watching that ugly skeleton for 2 months now, knowing that this weekend I'd dig it up and burn it. And then the rain started. Five days of it. Yesterday, from our porch I saw what looked like bit of green! Sure enough, when I went out to look, new buds had popped out on all the branches. And today there's a few unfurling leaves! I'm betting in a few months, there may even be fruit.
I was struck with how similar that tree is to me. To all of us. Aren't we, at some point, just a mess of shriveled up leaves? Dead to all the potential and beauty God planned. A skeleton. And then we crash and realize we can't fix ourselves…and let God take over.
What a difference His rainfall and His nurture has made in my life. It's an authentic life with fruit enough to share. Oh yes, there will be drought and disease and too much of one thing or another. But I'm confident that if I remain in Him, and let those roots grow deep, my God will sustain me until the day my role in His plan is complete.
“If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
Copyright © [2026] [Dawn Ringling]
Writing That Gets Past the "Christian" Label
April 2026
I’ve worn a lot of hats in my life, but only one answer feels exactly right when someone asks what I do.
I write, I can finally say again.
But I still dread the follow-up question. And yes, it's asked EVERY time: What do you write?
Fiction, I say. (Sans the qualifier “Christian.” Just about every time.)
It's not that I don't want people to know I'm a Christ follower. I'll shout that from the house top! It's because most people assume Christian fiction is only for Christians and that it's inherently preachy.
Mine is neither. I write about life. And it's a life that includes God because I can't imagine a world– even one that springs from my imagination– that leaves Him out. Maybe I'm a little different when it comes to being a writer who is a Christian. My subject matter and themes are a tad bit edgier than some of what's out there. Maybe I just like fiction that reflects reality, but still points to someone bigger than myself.
I was young when my first novel, JUMPING IN SUNSET, came out. It was about a broken marriage. Quite honestly, I’d have written it differently today. I've grown. I'd round out a few characters who I colored a little too dark. Maybe build tension a bit more? I'd definitely be more subtle when it comes to the themes of brokenness and redemption. But (no spoiler intended) I'd keep the ending. Not syrupy-sweet, but real and a little unexpected. Because, even as a first time novelist, I had no desire to contrive a simplistic happy ending. Life is hard whether you follow Jesus or not. And to imply otherwise, even in fictional form, is dishonest. The novel that I just finished? Like with a second baby, I took the gloves off and dove in the deep end. No fear.
Before there was a category in publishing called “Christian Fiction,” writers who happened to follow Christ just wrote and sold books. Some of the best novels of all time would be marketed as religious fiction today. Can you imagine Flannery O’Conner, C.S. Lewis, Madeline L’Engle, Leo Tolstoy, and Walker Percy separated from other fiction, lined up on the bookshelf in Walmart, right above the Fantasy Fiction section?
Today, publishers without a religious imprint rarely offer contracts to authors who write books that contain more than a nod toward God. Unless it's a more generic God absent Jesus. Christian publishing houses are where novels like mine find their home.
I crave the novels of authors like Tosca Lee, Charles Martin, Cheryl Bostrum, Susan Meissner who bravely write about life's sacred themes across different genres, who don't compartmentalize their audience into Have-God or Have-Not-God, and whose writing is of the highest caliber. This is what they were tasked by their Creator to do and I applaud them.
I pray God allows me to write with that compulsion. To beautifully reflect Him and the world He's created. To refrain from pat answers or less than pleasing word-smithing. And to create worlds and stories with characters whose lives are not only memorable but authentic in the way they move through each moment. It's what He’s given me to do. And I intend to obey.
“My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of an eager writer.” Psalm 45:1
Copyright © [2026] [Dawn Ringling]
When Boundaries Become Enstrangement
April 2026
I recently completed my manuscript, a novel about family estrangement. It's an agonizing issue that has catapulted into our society and escalated rapidly over the past decade. A Cornell University study found a quarter of Americans have been intentionally cut off from close family. And that the majority of this is between adult parents and children
One of the challenges in my writing was the need to inhabit the minds of both the estranged parent character and that of the adult child who left. It was made even more difficult because I hadn't seen my own son in over a decade.
I won't lie, I cried through draft after draft as I fought against my own anger and sorrow to empathize with and create an authentic character who was valuable and vulnerable. And then I sobbed even more as the parents moved through their loss. Because aren't our adult estranged children the babies we held in our arms for hours in the night? Whose tears we dried? And fought for when they were bullied or teased. The ones who won that contest…or made that team…or kissed us goodbye each morning until that very last day?
Looking back, the process was cathartic. It forced me out of my pain as a parent– away from a victim mentality that is so easy to adopt when adult children sever ties– into a mindset that kept my focus on my characters’ wounds. And really, on trying to understand my child and his pain.
As I built a plot and struggled to understand the pain the son in my novel had and help him plow through the why's of it all, I began to internalize just how much our culture has swapped healthy boundaries for this complete cut-off. In part– maybe in large part– a generation has been trained to believe the only solution for relational angst is to walk away. (I should specify that I'm not referring to situations where a complete disconnect is necessary, such as in abusive or dangerous mental illness situations.)
One of the conversations that happened in my novel was between the son character, Jack, and his counselor. It's a deleted scene, but it helped me grasp something significant:
“Jack,” Felix asked. “Did you cut off relationship with your parents to protect yourself? Or was it just to stop the pain?”
Jack closed his eyes and leaned back on the sofa in Felix’s office. “I just left. It felt good not to have to deal. Everything was so confusing at that point. I didn't have words. Or time. So I set boundaries.”
“Setting a boundary involves communication,” Felix said. “It's drawing a line that says ‘I’m hurting and I need to find a way to address my hurt, but until then, we need to do things differently.”
Jack nodded. “I see that now. But then? I never considered what shutting them out for a week would look like. And then a month became 5 years. Then 10. And now? My parents are strangers.I have no clue how to go back. And maybe I don't want to.”
There are situations where we or our adult children just don't have a desire for closeness. Where communication is present and there is mutual respect but not much more. I've learned that is OK. The expectation that we be best friends with every family member is burdensome. And though we may desire more than is offered, this is not estrangement. It is life.
Somewhere in between that point and complete cut off are gray areas. It's in this space where boundaries can become walls. And then fortresses. And somehow, we need to start figuring out how to hit reset so this silent epidemic doesn't continue.
Copyright © [2026] [Dawn Ringling]
Do This Not That
April 2026
I was thinking today about how I make decisions. Somebody has to do it, but I hate it. Even choosing where to go for dinner stresses me out because the options are a jumble of forks in the road with no right choice.
Earlier in my life, with bigger life decisions, my ‘method’ began with scanning the horizon. Then on to a stressful analysis of the available options to best match my gifts with my perception of what God needed. I usually landed quickly (too quickly?) on Something Important. The last step was to ask God to walk alongside me and 'bless' my efforts, feeling certain I was smack dab in the center of His will.
I now realize this view cast me as the playwright, producer, director and main character of my own screenplay-- and that I pretty much assigned God the role of a lighting or sound engineer to accentuate my performance. As I've come to see Scripture in a more wholistic way, I've realized just how out of whack this whole plan was.
Take Abraham. His life decisions grace a good portion of Genesis' pages. But the book is NOT about Abe choosing between this or that so he can be God's hero. It's about God accomplishing HIS purposes by entering into a relationship with Abraham in order to establish a people for Himself. God specifically told him to get ready, then to go to a place– an unknown place incidentally–that He would point out along the way. Likewise with Moses: Exodus isn't about Moses deciding between this or that. It's about God working through Moses for His own monumental purpose of fathering Israel.
If God wants to work through me for HIS purposes as He has done with humankind since time began– then my major decisions should ironically be less about making decisions! My focus should be on a minute-by-minute, daily relationship with the Creator of the the universe. He cares less about what I do for Him than He does about me knowing Him.
I'll repeat that: God cares less about what I do for Him than He does about me knowing Him.
It may sound heretical, but God doesn't really need me. In fact, my focus on making plans that line up with God's will was really just poorly disguised pride. The complicated part is that self-centered decision-making makes tremendous sense from a human perspective. Our culture derides those who make decisions that aren't fiscally responsible or personally enriching. Even the church can tip the scales, encouraging us to leverage our gifts so that God will have what He needs to use us to advance the Kingdom. Use those gifts, yes! But the weight is on God’s shoulders, not ours.
Truly God-centered decision-making requires retraining our minds to continually pursue Him rather than our plans. To allow Him to order our steps. It means being so aware of where God is at work that stepping forward to join him becomes second nature. Unrehearsed. Involuntary as breathing.
Honestly, I've relished living outside of the pressure that self-centered planning put upon me. It got tiresome to always be scanning that horizon, worrying I was missing out on His will if I planned wrong. It's far more of a thrill to live my life on His stage, letting Him supply the script and direction, knowing I am a beloved character in a larger-than-life drama that will last for eternity.
Copyright © [2026] [Dawn Ringling]
I'll Pray For You?
April 2026
Telling someone you’ll pray for them is a serious statement. I used to use the phrase lightly. A ‘Christiany’ way to conclude a conversation when nothing else felt right to say. Years ago, however, I was convicted that saying it, but not actually praying was wrong.
Now? If I say “I'll pray for you,” I will.
But it's not easy to remember to do so– or to quiet my mind and busy life long enough to actually have that promised conversation with God.
I'm the first to say I long for the good old days of land lines and face-to-face communication. But my promises to pray have become easier for me to follow through on because of texting. Most often, I text myself right after promising to pray. If I can, I stop right where I'm at and shoot off a group text prayer to God and the person I prayed for. Then, a week later, it's a record for me to review and almost always offer thanks for what He’s done in the situation. And it is also a reminder to keep praying when needed.
As I've made this commitment through the years, something amazing has happened to me. I've stopped fretting over the needs of the people I love. For so long, I was a mess of anxiety, codependence, and enmeshed emotional caretaking. When Jesus told us to bear one another's burdens, He never meant for us to do it alone. I’ve learned that when I can't physically be present (and sometimes shouldn't be!) I can, through prayer, place my friends and loved ones in God's capable hands and walk alongside them through the battle.
“Pray in the Spirit on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6:18
Mornings in the Mountains
April 2026
No matter the season, one of the best things about living in the mountains of North Carolina is my morning walks. I head out early (most days!) and am gone for at least 45 minutes. My little Aussie, Joey, makes certain that I never miss a day!
I really enjoy studying the Bible, but this is not that. It's more akin to meditation. I used to spend the entire walk with an audio book in my ears. But now? It's become my time to pray and then listen for what I'm supposed to hear. To consider the beauty along my path. To work out the kinks in my creative pursuits. And to focus on the quiet in order to press down life’s crazy.
In the Bible, there's a verse that has become the call of my heart. Isaiah 50:4 says: “The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.”
I really do think there's something important about mornings when it comes to focusing on what I'm called to do. I've tried the whole grab-coffee-and-hit-the-ground-running thing. It's a recipe for chaos! But when I start calm, my entire day follows in that vein.
The value of morning meditation runs all through the Bible. David writes, “Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust” (Psalm 143:8). Moses prays, “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days” (Psalm 90:14).
Jesus himself got up “ very early in the morning, while it was still dark… and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed” (Mark 1:35). And John says that Jesus went to His Father every morning before He met with His disciples or the crowds “to hear as those who are taught” (John 5:19).
What are your mornings like? Peaceful? Crazy? Rushing out the door or to attend to your family? What difference might there be in your life when you get up a little earlier and intentionally slow down the start of your day?
Copyright © [2026] [Dawn Ringling]
Take me to the Mountains
March 2026
Take me to the mountains
Let me feel the green
Set me by the river
Where ancient dogwoods lean
Take me to the mountains
Let me see the pink
Of laurel lining roadsides
Where dappled sunlight winks
Take me to the mountains
Let me breathe the blue
Of sky against the rounded peaks
Cut through by misty hues.
Take me to the mountains
Bathe me in the rain
Let me see the gray wash out
Til clouds are white again.
Take me to the mountains
Let me touch the ground
That springs up lush and feeds my soul
And whispers: You are found!
Take me to the mountains
To walk with You each day–
To hear your voice and know your peace.
It's here I long to stay.
Copyright © [2026] [Dawn Ringling]
A Prayer From an Estranged Child
Month Day, Year
One of the biggest challenges in fiction writing is to develop depth of character or traits in characters I don't necessarily understand-- and to do so in an authentic way. In writing my novel on family estrangement, I especially struggled with creating the character of Jack, the adult son in my novel who walked away.
In order to realistically show his angst, I spoke with many estranged adult children and opened my heart as much as possible to get past my own bias to hear their pain. The prayer below is not a part of my novel, but I wrote it to keep beside me anytime I found myself forgetting– or attempting to reason away– Jack’s angst.
God, if you are really there, I need you to hear me!
I needed more from my mom than what she offered and her consistent inability to see that, to see only herself, began a rift I just can't push past. I'm tired, God. This space between us is just too big now to get past. I know she doesn't see how she hurt me. I know she is hurt and angry that I won't speak. But, Lord, I am afraid to talk to her. Afraid she will ignore or justify her own ignorant actions. That her face will tighten and her eyes will grow cold with self-protection. And most days, I'd rather live without her than risk trying to say anything. It's easier to stay away than be prepared for more of the phrases and expressions she uses that invalidate me. Words that prove she is blind to my pain and her involvement in it. Responses that tell me she is more concerned about herself than me.
I don't see a way from where I am to where she is. I may be grown, but I long for her to see me. To dry my tears. To put herself aside long enough to just understand that her inability to see ME is the reason this wall is there in the first place. I want to believe you are the God who heals, but this feels impossible. If you really are the one who stopped the wind and the rain, who healed physical disease, who raised a man from the dead, then help me, Lord!”
Copyright © [2026] [Dawn Ringling]
ABOUT DAWN
Have you ever picked up a novel and thought 'this could be my story?' With both failure and grace in her cache of life, Dawn’s writing will resonate with those who love fiction that gets to the heart of human experience and offers a view toward hope. But it’s a realistic hope that isn’t all about pat answers or unbelievable resolution.
After graduating with a degree in Creative Writing and Marketing from Biola University and working in the marketing industry, Dawn released Jumping in Sunset in 2003. Since then, she’s been in a whirlwind of raising a family, entrepreneurial adventure, and experiencing all the living and learning that God intended. She is currently putting the final touches on her second novel, The Path To October which explores the agony of family estrangement and details the journey of an extended family who is challenged to uncover the roots of brokenness in order to see if reconciliation is even possible.
Dawn and her husband, Jon, live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina with their toy Australian Shepherd, Joey, a handful of hens (plus one mouthy rooster), and three goats. Be sure to sign up for her monthly inspirational newsletter filled with bits of hope, grace and encouragement—plus news on her upcoming books.
KEEP IN TOUCH
For any inquiries, please contact Dawn at dawnmringling@gmail.com
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