Real Stories. Honest Faith. No Easy Answers.
Jodi Cowles
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
Start with the story that fits.
Different doors in. The same honest voice on the other side.
Memoir of faith & doubt
Start with Then Came Joy
For a true story of grief, faith, international life, and a joy that arrives in the middle of the chaos.
Meet the book →Comic expat novel
Start with Cold Turkey
For a funny, honest adventure through crowds, culture clashes, and the everyday absurdity of life abroad.
Meet the book →International thriller
Start with Some Wandered
For a suspenseful story of survival, faith, and unexpected redemption set in North Africa.
Meet the book →
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 co-founder and COO of Blue Hat Pub & Print, part of the core team behind WellTold Studio, and the creator of Joy's World. She also writes two Substacks and publishes faith-based poetry.
Readers on Then Came Joy
What Readers Are Saying
“Like a Dorito — leave you reaching for more until suddenly you're finished. One of the best books I've read in a long time.”
“I cried. I laughed. I wept. I snickered. I grieved over all Jodi has dealt with. But I ultimately rejoiced at God's deliverance, mercy and restoration in her life.”
“Jodi's honesty in life's struggles, as well as her sense of humor in the telling, made her story both relatable and a joy to read. And the international adventures are an added bonus!”
“Full of grit and grace, she takes the reader on a journey to the other side of the world to discover that true joy is found where and when you least expect it.”
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 →
Part of Something Bigger
Writing is one way Jodi lives out her belief in the power of story. These three ventures are another.
