Stephen L France — London Novelist and Author of The Taking Off My Shoes Series
Who am I
“Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”
James 1:2–4 · King James Bible
I don’t know what brought you here, but the first thing I would like to share with you is my most personal and cherished memory of my childhood. This is a photo I’d hidden from myself and the world for over 20 years.
My name is Stephen
I used to have a strong ambition for an independent life and a wholesome desire for a family of my own.
I undertook a distinct vow with which to pursue my ambitions and desires, but I was powerfully disappointed, hurt, and transformed by my decision.
I then made another choice — one in direct opposition to the first. It meant a renewal of my mind in a completely different direction.
It denoted an end to selfish ambitions and vain conceit. It induced surrender to and through Jesus: “not my will but yours be done.”
Do you seek the Truth?
Just to clear this up — I’m not a conspiracy theorist. But I’ll explain why I posed that question.
I was born and raised in London. At 25 years old, I flew thousands of miles out of the country, disappointed, dissatisfied, and depressed with everything that had gone before in life.
I’m not exaggerating. I was a truly unhappy man with a vivid memory reaching back to when I was three years old. It seemed as though nothing of my hopes and dreams had materialised.
Abroad, I sought my paradise — the perfect relationship, an ambitious writing career, and my fortune. I lived the western dream: journalist, beach bartender, and Editor-in-Chief of a luxury property magazine in the Caribbean.
In fact, there is much, much more to life than amazing climate, tasty cocktails, azure blue waters, and white sand beaches.
Now, all I seek to do is share the truth in everything I’ve discovered as a believer in Jesus Christ’s Resurrection.
This includes an honest account of my time in the Caribbean, forged in transparency and vulnerability — my novel: The Paradise Induction.
Why I write
In a saturated market like self-publishing, my only selling tool is telling the raw truth unique to my personal experience.
This means revealing my darkest times and most humiliating moments — a possible reason for why it’s taking so long to complete this series; it’s difficult reliving this.
However, I feel the need for the books’ release outweighs my personal feelings.
In this series of novels, names of people and places have been fictionalised to protect the identities of all those who contributed to making my Caribbean experience a brutal chastisement for the ages.
I look forward to getting to know you.
— Stephen L France, London
Read the novels
Stephen L France writes stories that linger — narratives of vulnerability and transformation pointing to the grace found in Jesus Christ.
Explore the series