Jodi Cowles
Real Stories.
Honest Faith.
No Easy Answers.
Memoir, fiction, and faith that survives hard questions — from seven countries and eight years in Istanbul.
Memoir
Then Came Joy
Jodi Cowles grew up acquainted with grief — and with a faith full of contradictions she wasn't allowed to question. Across dangerous assignments in forgotten corners of the world, the walls she'd built around her heart begin to crack.
And then, in a foreign country tangled in corruption and heartbreak and bureaucratic chaos, comes Joy.
A memoir of a life lived at full intensity — layered, funny, and at times almost unbearably tense.
Books & More
Part of Something Bigger
Writing is one way I live out my belief in the power of story. These four companies are another.
Jodi Cowles
American author, publisher, and creator. Jodi has spent more than half her adult life living and working in seven countries across three continents — including eight years in Istanbul, Turkey — and that time abroad has shaped everything: her writing, her perspective, her humor, and her deep belief in the human connection that crosses every border.
Living overseas gave her a front-row seat to how people tell their stories differently, love differently, and find meaning differently. It also gave her an endless supply of culture-clashing mishaps, inappropriate marriage proposals, and language barrier misfires — all of which end up in her books.
She is part of the core team behind Blue Hat Publishing, Blue Hat Print Co., and WellTold Studio, and the creator of Joy's World. She also writes two Substacks and publishes faith-based poetry.
"Profound and deep, but also comical at times."
— Reader Review
"I cried. I laughed. I wept. I snickered."
— Reader Review
"Reliably made me laugh out loud. Beautifully written."
— Reader Review
"A must read for those who have been disillusioned by mainstream evangelical church culture."
— Reader Review
Read along the way.
Essays on faith, doubt, and the writing life — plus first word on new books. Written by me, sent when there's something worth saying.
Prefer poetry? Sketching Faith is a separate weekly reading of faith-based poems — read it on Substack →