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Biography

 

Many other miracles have happened in my family since I gave my life
to Jesus, and all I can say is I truly look forward to every day.

MaryLu Tyndall, a Christy Award Finalist, and best-selling author of the Legacy of the King's Pirates series is known for her adventurous historical romances filled with deep spiritual themes. She holds a degree in Math and worked as a software engineer for fifteen years before testing the waters as a writer. MaryLu currently writes full time and makes her home on the California coast with her husband, six kids, and four cats. Her passion is to write page-turning, romantic adventures that not only entertain but open people's eyes to their God-given potential. MaryLu is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writers of America. For more information on MaryLu and her upcoming releases, please visit her website at http://www.mltyndall.com or her blog at http://crossandcutlass.blogspot.com/

Testimony

I grew up in a home that was broken in more than one place. My mother married multiple times. In addition, we moved twenty-five times before I turned eighteen. I never knew my father.  You can imagine what that type of upbringing can do to a shy, insecure little girl. I craved love and stability. I wanted someone to take care of me and never leave me.  I had two choices to fill that need. One, to turn to the God I learned about in brief periods of Sunday School, or two, to seek to fill that need on my own with the things I saw in the world.  I made the wrong choice.

 

I grew up in a home that was broken in more than one place.

Every thing  I did, every party, every relationship, every material possession I bought, every success I achieved, ultimately left me alone and empty until at age thirty-five, my second marriage was failing, I hated my dead-end job, my youthful beauty was fading, and my teenage kids were rebelling (wonder who they learned that from?)  I remember wanting to kill myself, get it over with. I felt no hope for the future. I was a drinker back then. Alcohol helped numb the pain of life. So, I had a hidden bottle of Tequila in my closet. Whenever life overwhelmed me, I’d sneak in there and have a drink or two. One dark day, while sitting in the closet, I glanced upward and saw my old Bible sitting on a shelf. I dusted it off and began to read, promising myself that I would read it from cover to cover to see if anything happened. What did I have to lose?  I wanted to believe so badly that God was real and that He loved me, but I had grown very skeptical. 

I read it every night before I went to bed. Somewhere in the middle of Ezekiel, something began to happen. Passages prophesying how Israel would be scattered all over the world and then in the last days would return to their own land, flew out at me from the pages. You see, Israel was in the news a lot back then. Suicide bombings and rumors of war were a common story each night. And I knew enough history to know that Israel had only become a nation a few years before I was born. The stunning revelation that God had predicted them returning to their land sped through me like a cyclone. I remember saying out loud. “You’re real.” And then God’s presence fell upon me. I shivered. I got on my knees and began to sob. I gave my life to Him that night. I knew God was with me now. I knew He loved me and had a plan for my life. Suddenly my life had meaning and my heart was full. This is what I had been searching for! 

 

 I remember saying out loud. “You’re real.”

But life didn’t get instantly better. In fact, it got worse!  I had married an atheist and all of our children were atheists. I was in a house full of atheists! I didn’t know what to do. So, you can imagine the struggles and heartaches I endured in addition to the constant battles of faith. Yet, through it all, God never left me.  

Several years ago, my daughter and I became infatuated with the first Pirates of the Caribbean movies. We had fun sneaking off to see it in the theater multiple times! Shortly afterward, I heard God’s voice deep within my soul telling me that He wanted me to write a book about a Christian pirate. At first I thought I had gone crazy and was hearing things! For one thing I was working full time as well as taking care of six kids and a house. When was I supposed to find time to write this book? But things began to change in my life, both at work and home, and I suddenly found I had some extra hours. So, without any formal training in writing or English, and never having written a complete novel before, I set out to write The Redemption, the story of a British lady who travels to the Caribbean in search of her father, gets shipwrecked and then kidnapped by pirates. It took me a year to write, but I had no hopes of getting it published. I knew the odds of any writer getting published were so slim, that a new author like me didn’t stand a chance. But the Lord encouraged me, nudged me, and sometimes shoved me forward! He led me to online groups where I learned so much about the writing process and how to find an agent, etc... To make a long story short, God opened door after door for me in such a miraculous way that it was evident His hand was on my book. I received my first contract only three months after my agent submitted my novel to various publishers. Now, years later, I’m writing my tenth novel.  God once told me that He had something wonderful for me to do, and I can honestly say, He’s a God of His word.  

 

...God opened door after door for me in such a miraculous way that it was evident His hand was on my book. 

I am also happy to report that during the past fifteen years since I found the Lord (or He found me!), my husband is saved and all of our children but one have made commitments to the Lord and have been baptized. My marriage is better than I could have ever imagined it could be, and though we still have struggles with wandering kids and jobs and family and life in general, one thing I willingly shout from the rooftops:  God is real. He loves you more than you could ever imagine. And He is faithful!