The words burned into my laptop screen. Five minutes later, I couldn’t tell you if they were crazy or if I was, although I suspected it was the latter. Some things one does not investigate. But seriously, read the whole Bible in 90 days? Why? How on earth would anyone get anything out of it Continue Reading
If You Want to Make Genuine Connections, Use Words
For me, it all began in a little bookstore in Ventura, California. It was a friend’s birthday. Odd, but I can’t remember which friend! That’s an unusual thing because I rarely had more than one or maybe two. I suspect it was the pastor’s daughter, but I wouldn’t put a lot of money on that. Mom Continue Reading
This Writing Technique Produced a Love-to-Hate Girl
Church breakdown about ten years ago. I was using a carpet sweeper and chatting with the pastor. If I recall correctly, we were talking about Lorna Doone and how I loved hating Carver. That’s when I said it. “The best thing about fiction is that it’s not a sin to hate the bad guy.” I totally Continue Reading
When This Life Denies You Coffee, Wait 10 Years
Ten Years Ago... A U-Haul, three pickups, and two cars pulled up in front of the house at 241 Holly Circle just as Richard Stephens pulled his mower from the garage and checked the gas reservoir. A man about his mother’s age climbed down from the cab of the U-Haul and called out, “Okay, Ruth! Continue Reading
How a Silly Santa Story Exposed My Hypocrisy
I’ll never forget that evening. It was in Fillmore, California on Mountain View Street. I was four. We all sat around the dinner table, and Dad had just poured milk. I’m pretty sure he was about to stuff some cornbread in it. Thought you oughtta know. I’d spent the day with my cousin, Continue Reading
My Top 10 Genre Picks for Gift Giving This Year
“My wife [daughter, sister, brother, husband, uncle, aunt, friend, cranky neighbor, insert other person here] loves to read, but all I know is they like Christian fiction.” A question like that just begs one more. “Do you know their favorite subgenre?” Insert blank look here. “What’s a Continue Reading
Is Anything Better Than Christmas at the Inn?
The Facebook post appeared. A seemingly generic post about… something. I will confess now that I might not have read it right away had anyone else posted it. But Liz Johnson… Something told me I’d want to know. Something was right. My brain, tired from a long night of writing (or maybe from Continue Reading
From Disaster to Delightful: How Aggie Saved Christmas
The battered journal sported several places where pages had been tipped back in with washi tape. Still, Aggie flipped back and forth from her hand-printed index to the coordinating pages, comparing original Christmas ideas with the shopping list she’d created. Luke popped his head in the door and Continue Reading
How My Heart Attack Sent My Husband to the ER
Christmas Adam 2016. Balmy weather, palm trees, beautiful houses built into the side of a hill—every traditionalist’s Christmas dream, right? I’ll confess. I didn’t want to be there, and not just because I’m a natural homebody. Perhaps if it had been a Currier and Ives scene. A farmhouse, Continue Reading
3 Simple Ways to Destroy Romance in Marriage
Or: The Lessons Learned in Tarnished Silver. Five years ago I released a book on our silver wedding anniversary. Tarnished Silver. Though it wasn’t “our story,” I did put certain elements in the book that were influenced by or directly ripped from our lives. Things like the “cattle drive” feel of Continue Reading
Who Will Love These Stories the Most?
The stack of books wasn’t that tall, and there weren’t many kids who would want them—not when there were Barbies and Legos in the offing, anyway. Still, as they got to know the kids and tried to find the perfect gift for the perfect child, the woman’s lips stretched thinner. Tighter. Her heart Continue Reading
3 Ways Cassie Solved the Christmas Stocking Nightmare
Confession time. Cassie hasn’t dealt with Christmas stockings yet. I mean, c’mon. April Fool’s Day just passed. And for all her faults, Cassie’s no fool. So why’s she spouting off about Christmas in April? Well, because in this alternate timeline, I’m in November, and stocking season is just Continue Reading
