How do you respond to a Guided Call?

Laila Ibrahim is a spiritually guided, best-selling novelist. Her books arrive in magical flashes of insight – and each has a purpose of spreading compassion, and create bridges where there have been divides.

It took seven years to write her first novel, but now – five years after the initial publication – she sells 8,000 to 60,000 copies per month. (Yes, you read that right.)

When Laila got the idea for her first novel, she was a preschool teacher who had never even thought of writing a book. I interview her about the writing of all her books, including

Yellow Crocus, a novel that begins in the antebellum South just before the Civil War.

In the book, a white mother gives birth to a privileged child. The baby is nursed by an enslaved black wet nurse who becomes the most important person in the child’s life as she grows up. It’s a powerful story to read in these turbulent times, and a serious look into the inhumane customs and laws that shaped American history.

Also, Laila reflects on her most recent book, Living Right, about a Christian family who attempts conversion therapy for their suicidal son, and the vision that informed this book.

Her story a fascinating example of how one person can respond seriously to a guided call … and create a major difference in the lives of many, many people with the gift of writing.

Listen to our conversation, and you’ll hear about:

• The remarkable story of how the book ‘found’ her … and became her life purpose
• How she came to publish the book herself
• How African-Americans and white Americans both react to the book
• How Laila used her spiritual guidance to create a book with a larger social mission
• How she fought through her self-doubt around the project again and again
• The larger, spiritual purpose of Yellow Crocus
• The story behind her most recent book, Living Right

… and so much more.