Mom’s Choice Awards is excited to announce another post in our interview series where we chat with the inventors, designers, publishers, and others behind some of our favorite family-friendly products.
Hello, Mom’s Choice readers! Thank you so much for joining us today for another interview in our ongoing series. For this interview, we sat down with multi-award-winning author Allen Brokken to talk about his book, Armor of God, book 4 in the Towers of Light Series! Allen Brokken is a Christian, husband, father, storyteller, and leader. He spent much of the last decade running youth programs that his children participated in as a volunteer while he was working full-time in technology leadership. He has since branched out into a number of different things, with writing being the main thing, but he also developing resources for homeschooling families. He also has a heart for encouraging fathers to connect with their families & puts out the dad joke of the day on his Twitter! Keep reading to find out more about Allen and his award-winning book, Armor of God!
MCA: Hi Allen, thank you for joining us for another interview! Armor of God is the fourth book in the ongoing, multi-award-winning Towers of Light Series. What was your inspiration behind it?
The MCA award-winning book, “Armor of God.”
Allen: Growing up in the church, I remember being enthralled by a sermon on the Armor of God as a kid. When I started writing the Towers of Light series for my children, I knew I wanted the Armor of God concept to be a fantastical element of the stories. So will pieces of the Armor of God show up in earlier books, this one makes that a focal point.
MCA: Thank you for sharing that with us! Towers of Light Series is filled with so many inspiring and important messages that are beneficial to readers of all ages. Can you share with us what some of the key lessons found in Armor of God are?
Allen: This book stretched me in many ways as a writer. One of the biggest was a sudden change in direction. Originally I meant for the character known initially as Prime Sister to be a “big bad.” The kind of character that everyone ends up fearing and is the main antagonist. But as the story progressed, I completely rewrote the last half because I felt she was lost and needed someone to show her the light.
The real stretch came when the person showing her the light was the five-year-old Ethan. I had to figure out how to write a compelling gospel message with the words of a five-year-old. I pulled that off by all accounts, but it was tough to keep it compelling and not out of place or cheesy.
MCA: Tell us more about the theme of Armor of God!
Allen: To this point, I’ve referenced the armor of God from Ephesians 6 multiple times. For example, Ethan’s shield of faith won the day in Light of Mine, and Aiden’s sword of the spirit saved them from various calamities. The family learns about a cache of holy weapons they could arm others with to defeat the forces of darkness. First, however, the family must find them before the enemy does, or their Father, who has become the Dark One’s champion, will corrupt them for use by the enemy.
I had a lot of fun with this one because my youngest son helped me work out the idea of “corrupting” the pieces of the armor of God. Plus, the two of us enjoy watching “The Flash” together, so I had the chance to add some fun elements to the story that I might not have otherwise.
MCA: It is always so special when family can be involved in the writing process! What kind of response from readers have you received?
The MCA award-winning book, “Armor of God.”
Allen: Families love the action of this story. It’s fast-paced, and there’s another twist when they think they have it figured out.
MCA: What is next for you as a writer?
Allen: Wellspring of Life Book 5 in the series was launched in November of 2022. This was the most fun to write of the series because I got to include some of my children’s friends as characters, and there’s a bunch of “no good egg stealin’ prairie dogs” and other prairie animals to spice things up. After that, I’m writing book 6, Demolishing the Stronghold, which should be out in November 2023.
MCA: That is so much fun, and it has already won a Mom’s Choice Award, congratulations! We will be patiently waiting for Demolishing the Stronghold’s release.
You can learn more about Allen Brokken and her award-winning book, Armor of God by visiting her MCA Shop pages.
