Gerhard Venter

Gerhard Venter used to pray, "Lord, please put me in a position where I can write full-time." So God gave him chronic back pain, which forced him to quit his job; helped him complete a masters degree in theology at Emory University in Atlanta; relocated him to a small house in the Northeast Georgia mountains; surrounded him with animals and grandchildren; and said, "Okay. Now write."

Not knowing what else to do, he wrote about chronic pain. "Slay Your Pain Giant," first published in 2012 as "Through Pain to Victory," was the result. The book was part of how he was delivered from the never-ending pain, and it has always been his prayer that the book helped others too.

Gerhard was born and educated in South Africa and came to the United States with his family in 1996. He is a successful radio scriptwriter and has published several short stories in national magazines. He wrote and co-wrote two stage plays that were successfully performed.

In the meantime, the small adventures of a small farm never cease. Imagine working on a novel with an angry goat battering at the front door.