Who are these people?

Where did they come from and how did this all get started?

My (Kent) books may have Kent Wyatt on the cover but that is just because Rebekah is an introvert and likes to keep a low profile. Actually, my novels are “our” novels, produced by the team of Kent and Rebekah Wyatt. My wife, Rebekah, will always be quick to tell you she is not a writer, but she contributes greatly to the finished product of our books. Rebekah (whose official title in the Wyatt Republic is Minister of Household and Finance) is a voracious reader of Christian Fiction. In the Wyatt writing world, she serves as (among other things) editor, researcher, manager, financial planner, contributor to the storyboard, plot, and characterization, and of course the final word on all things romantic. So, when you see our characters behaving like ladies and gentlemen instead of blowing snot, passing gas, and belching—thank Rebekah. (Disclaimer: the second half of this sentence was not Rebekah approved.)

Kent and Rebekah’s novels have been semi-finalists in the American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis contest and a Finalist for the Romance Writers of America Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. Kent serves as Vice President of the American Christian Fiction Writers NW Arkansas Chapter.

So how did such a partnership ever get started? I mean really, a man and a woman, together, they’re so different. Who came up with such an idea? Oh. Sorry, God. Great idea by the way. (Disclaimer: the preceding portion of this paragraph was not Rebekah approved). Of course, such an unlikely alliance could only begin somewhere remote and mysterious—like the flatlands of Northwest Kansas.

I was born there. Rebekah was dropped there like a tornado drops a rare orchid in the middle of a wheat field. Both our early days were, like most young lives, bizarre in their own ways. Mine full of the mundane misadventures of the son of a firmly planted fourth-generation farmer, and Rebekah’s comprised of the exotic escapades of a traveling evangelist’s daughter. When we were in our early teens, we met and fell madly in opposite directions and both skinned our knees. For the few months that her family stayed at our farm, we rode horses and performed magic shows together, but then Rebekah’s family was off to the next ministry opportunity. Over the years, we both strayed from God’s plan in our own ways and then were thrown together again in our late twenties. In a few months, we were married. God has rescued us from our own imprudence, grown us in our understanding of His plan, and bound us together for His purpose. We love Him greatly because He has saved us exceedingly. Our prayer is that through our stories we might introduce others to THE ONE who longs to do the same for them.

To understand how this whole writing thing began, there is one thing you need to know about Rebekah: She is a faithful helpmate to her husband and selflessly supports his dream far better than he deserves.

There are two things that you need to know about me: I was born a writer, but I became a cop.

Here is a little about Kent’s life.

(Rebekah is too shy and introverted to let me reveal more about her on the website.)

Kent Wyatt was born and then he died.  Wait a minute, I’m getting ahead of myself.  (Whew!  I’m glad I put that part in because, for a second there, I thought I was dead.)  Now that you know the beginning and the ending of my story, let’s go a little closer to the middle…

I’m from a remote part of Northwestern Kansas, and that probably explains a lot. The misadventures of my young life are another story that I will probably inflict on you someday, but for now, remember those two things:  I was born a writer but I became a cop.

Along the way, I also met the One that created me and made me all the things I am.  Well, except for all those parts that are tangled up and twisted – that was me trying to do things my own way.  But you know what, He took it and made it all okay – that’s just the way He is.  Really, that’s the most important part of my story but you’ll figure that out as we get to know each other.  So, back to Kansas.

As a child on the lonely plains of Kansas, back before video or cell phones, I always enjoyed reading and telling stories to the other kids. When I was thirteen years old, I read R is for Rocket by Ray Bradbury, and I decided I wanted to write stories like that, ones that haunted you and made you think. There was a new TV show called the Waltons and John Boy Walton became my hero, and I was going to change the world with my pen. I wrote short stories, our church’s Christmas play, deep and lofty essays, and poetry. Over the years, I learned that I wasn’t Ray Bradbury, but God had given me a writing voice of my own and He could use that talent if I would let Him. The only problem was I didn’t have enough life experience so…

When I was 17 years old, a car almost ran me and my mother off the road.  With my terrified mama holding onto the dash beside me, I pursued the other vehicle in my 1973 Mercury Montego and forced the speeding car to pull over.  It was the town drunk doing what he did best.  He came at me and I knocked him down and picked him up by his belt and threw him in the back seat of his car to sleep it off.  My mother decided that I should be a police officer.  She knew that writing nonsense was never going to get me anywhere.

In 1983 she saw an ad in the paper saying a small town nearby was looking for a police officer.  She convinced me to apply.  Click here to read more of that story.

But all the time I was being a cop, the bite I received from the writing bug became infected and grew septic. I fed the fever over the years with short stories, award-winning poetry and a humorous newsletter that I put out for a growing email list.

Another life-changing event was when I read This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti. It helped get me back on track with my faith and introduced me to Christian Fiction. I had found the direction God wanted me to go with my writing.

Foolish fans encouraged me by saying that they loved my newsletters and re-read them when they wanted a good laugh. Many even said I should write a book. With my law enforcement career and my family to raise, I could never commit to writing full-time. So, I satisfied myself with learning the craft and producing short works.

After 32 years, I ended my law enforcement career. I still have many friends walking the thin blue line, and I have a deep love for the profession. But God has told me it is time to fulfill my other destiny. Now, with His help, maybe my writing can change the world after all. Where are my old reruns of The Waltons? Look out, Ray Bradbury, something Wyatt this way comes.