Balancing Mental Health Messages with Christian Values
Discover Wanda Luthman’s transformative journey blending counselling insights into beloved children’s books and profound biblical fiction, inspiring readers worldwide.
Wanda Luthman is a Christian award-winning international children’s author and speaker who loves dar chocolate, kittens, and long naps. She writes books with positive counselling messages based on her professional background in counselling and her Christian stories are based on the passion of Christ. Children love her characters and easily understand the messages embedded in them. Her love of Jesus and her desire to share his message of love with others inspires her biblical fiction books. She resides in beautiful Brevard County, FL with one feral cat that chose her to be her person.
With your extensive background in mental health and guidance counselling, how do these experiences influence the themes and characters in your children’s books and Christian fiction?
My experience and training in both Mental Health Counselling as well as High School Guidance Counselling influence my books greatly. I write books that convey good mental health to children in a non-direct and entertaining way. For instance, my first book, The Lilac Princess, is about forgiveness. This is often a difficult thing to do, especially the more damaging actions people have done to another. However, when someone finds their way to forgive another person for what has been done to them, they free themselves from the damage of those actions and from that person. It’s the most healing choice to make for oneself. This was actually my life story. I had a difficult and damaging encounter when I was very young and it took me a long time to figure out how to forgive that person. In the end, it came down to hearing another person’s story of forgiveness. Then, I was finally able to choose to forgive and I prayed to God to help me forgive that person and He did. I was able to totally and completely let go of the hurt and forgive that person. When we think of how God forgave us so freely and completely before we were even sorry, it helps.
In A Turtle’s Magical Adventure, the turtle doesn’t like his shell because it makes him too slow. Through a series of encounters, he learns to love and cherish his shell. The concept of self-acceptance can be difficult for most of us. We usually have things we don’t like about ourselves. But this concept is incredibly empowering, once we learn to accept ourselves just the way we were made.
Your children’s books, such as A Turtle’s Magical Adventure and Franky the Finicky Flamingo, often convey important life lessons. What inspired you to write stories that help children with self-esteem, confidence, and self-acceptance?
I addressed the turtle book above, but my Franky the Finicky Flamingo book really came from my daughter who was an incredibly picky eater. I wrote the book to show how sometimes appearing to be picky isn’t really how it is. It’s finding the right food and maybe the right food combination to encourage your youngster to eat, plus trying new things is an important concept shared in the book as well.
In The Veil, you explore a significant event in Christian theology through biblical fiction. What motivated you to write this story, and how did you approach balancing historical accuracy with creative storytelling?
The Veil is a work of biblical fiction which was inspired by a truth told in the Bible about the veil in the Temple tearing when Jesus died. I was motivated to write this book along with my other biblical fiction book, The Cloak, after learning about Christian meditation from my Pastor. One part of the meditation is to “live into” the story. The Cloak came to me during a mediation, and I wrote it down as soon as possible. The Veil came after that and I have 4 others to publish as well. It is important not to veer too far off from the truth of the scripture, so I try to only fill in the blanks of “what if” in-between to expound and enhance the truth, not change or distract from it. It is a balancing act. I pray and ask God to help me convey what He wants conveyed.
As a high school guidance counsellor, how do you find the time and energy to write and self-publish so many books? What does your writing process look like amidst your busy schedule?
My writing schedule is more based on when inspiration hits me rather than sitting down daily to write which I definitely do not have time to do. But, when inspiration strikes, I will write and write until I’m finished.
You have won awards for your books and have a significant international following. What advice would you give to aspiring authors, particularly those interested in writing children’s literature and Christian fiction?
I would encourage aspiring authors to never give up on their dream. Keep pursuing it and learning everything they can from others in the industry and do what they do. If you can dream it, you can do it!
