Sharon Garlough Brown has signed a contract with InterVarsity Press for two follow-up books to Sensible Shoes: A Story About the Spiritual Journey (IVP Crescendo).

Brown said, "I am delighted and deeply honored to partner again with the gifted team at IVP, and I'm excited about exploring the ongoing spiritual formation of the characters in Sensible Shoes. Jesus masterfully used the power of story to reveal the heart of God and to invite people to participate in the kingdom. I pray that God will use these books to stir imagination and longings, cast a vision for deepening life in Christ, and encourage readers to say yes to walking closely with him."

Sensible Shoes is the moving story of four strangers as they reluctantly arrive at a retreat center and find themselves drawn out of their separate stories of isolation and struggle and into a collective journey of spiritual practice, mutual support and personal revelation.

In March 2013 Kathie Lee Gifford recommended Sensible Shoes as one of her favorite new things on NBC's Today. She said, "If you’re a spiritually inclined person I think you'll really love it. It's about four women, every one of them coming from a different place spiritually. But all of them in need of a new, fresh cup of mercy, if you know what I mean. So it's terrific. I highly recommend it."

The next book in the trilogy, set to release in Fall 2016, will follow the same characters. Although the story is still coming together, Brown said that the next two books will take the characters through a season of Advent waiting for Christmas and then follow them through a Lenten retreat to Easter.

"Sharon Brown is a gifted storyteller with the heart of a pastor," said Cindy Bunch, Brown's editor and IVP's associate editorial director. "She has a unique way of writing narrative that instructs the reader in the deep ways of God, pointing the way further down the road of life in the Christ. We are delighted and honored to continue to partner with her. And I can’t wait to see what happens next as these stories unfold."

Brown is a pastor and spiritual director with the Evangelical Covenant Church. She lives in West Michigan with her husband, Jack, and son, David.

For women wanting to read Sensible Shoes as a group, a twelve-week companion guide is available as a free download at www.sensibleshoesclub.com.