Ora Smith

Ora Smith is a Christian historical fiction author, whose background in genealogy allows her to uncover remarkable true events to bring forgotten people to life through stories of faith and courage.

Whether writing about Southern belles, slavery, colonial America, or her own ancestors, Ora believes history is filled with ordinary people whose lives reveal God’s hand. Her novels are deeply researched, grounded in authentic events, and written to entertain while strengthening faith and inspiring hope.

Her Heritage Fiction novels transform true stories from her own family history into compelling historical fiction, proving that the lives of everyday people can be every bit as impressive as those of kings and queens.

Ora is also the author and illustrator of the Stories of Light children’s picture book series, created to help children understand the Light of Christ and His influence in their lives. Her Young Adult series, Jamestown’s Boy Interpreter, follows the remarkable true story of Thomas Savage, the thirteen-year-old English boy who lived among the Powhatan people and became a friend of Pocahontas. The series has been praised for bringing an extraordinary chapter of American history to life for both teens and adults.

For more than twenty years, Ora has taught genealogy and family history research at conferences and to individuals. Her love of uncovering forgotten stories continues to influence every novel she writes.

When she’s not writing, Ora enjoys painting, sewing, antiquing, traveling, cooking old family recipes, and finding creative ways to use or restore old treasures. A lifelong lover of history, she will watch a B movie if it gets the historical costumes exactly right.

Ora has called Arizona home since 1986. She spent her childhood in both Southern and Northern California, where her passion to write blossomed on a tranquil riverbank with a beautiful backdrop of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Ora hopes every book she writes reminds readers that God has always worked through imperfect people to accomplish His perfect purposes—and that all our stories are still being written today.