Have you ever noticed how legal novels tend to have black, gray, and red covers? Sometimes dark browns and golds. Sometimes dark blues. But seriously, though. I went looking on Amazon to see, and almost all of them were either some version of black and red or browns and golds. I think that’s Continue Reading
What Did I Learn about the Seven Deadly Friendships?
An auditorium of expectant people waited for Kathy Ide to finish introducing our keynote speaker that morning. As the smiling woman stepped up and made a joke, I think we all relaxed. She was real—authentic. Not stuck up in some lofty place. So not unreachable. The people around me were comprised Continue Reading
Why Should You Dare to Begin Again Right Now?
“So, want to rent that storage unit?” My friend and I sat on my couches and dreamed once more of starting life all over. No “stuff” dragging us down. Clean, organized houses. It would be glorious. I’m pretty sure we called for prices. Alas, somewhere in the mix, our more sane husbands put Continue Reading
Which Author Writes the Best Novellas Ever?
Deadline looming, I had one thing and one thing only on my mind. No, it was not, “Get that book done.” It should have been. This I admit. Cathe Swanson is probably going to throttle me for this, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t even, “Set up the order page” or “Tweak the cover.” Nope. It was, “How Continue Reading
Why This Is a Perfect October Christmas Read
Near the end of September, the air grows a little cooler and crisps like the ripened apples on trees. It announces one thing. October is just around the corner. As Anne Shirley said, “I’m glad to live in a world where there are Octobers.” But for the bookworm, October brings more than cooler Continue Reading
What Happens When Your Little Sister’s Best Friend Becomes Yours?
As I’ve been working through the Madeline books, I realized that Madeline’s best friend is now her “best friend’s” brother. And vice versa! This of course, made me wonder if Russell knows it yet. So, I decided to ask him about it… and a few other things. Let’s get right at it. Note: links Continue Reading
Why the Best Friends Don’t Want You to Change
Eighth grade. We were moving. Again. But this time, I’d read about autograph books in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and remembered how Francie had been so surprised that all the girls had wanted to write in hers—had liked her. It was probably “too good to be true”—for me at least—but I’ve always been Continue Reading
Do I Really Think This Book Will Help Fight Sexual Impurity?
I didn’t understand pornography. My understanding of it was rather… simplistic. A picture of a woman—half or less dressed. Provocative position or possibly outright sexual posing. That’s what I assumed. Look, I’ve never really seen anything that labels itself as “porn.” I’ve seen stuff I consider Continue Reading
How to Recognize and Be One of Life’s Small Miracles
There’s this line in the movie, While You Were Sleeping. Sandra Bullock is talking to Peter Gallagher about saving people (and squirrels) and when Gallagher says he has never had a chance to be a real hero, she comments that he gives up his seat on the train every day. Peter says, “Well… but that’s Continue Reading
Did I Love or Hate Shadow Sister and Why?
The synopsis of Shadow Sister grabbed me. C’mon, Spanish, vineyards, vinters, and family? It’s like my Legacy of the Vines series but in Washington. I had to read it. Women’s fiction? Awesome! It wouldn’t be steeped in heavy romance. Score! I signed up to request a review copy within seconds Continue Reading
Why Write “Lies” When the Simple Truth Should Suffice?
I’ve shared before that my favorite server, Angela the Wonder Server, once told a man that a “famous author” spends time writing at Denny’s every night. That would be me—the “famous” author. Impressed, the man asked what genre I write in, and Angela knowledgeably said, “Christian fiction.” His Continue Reading
So, What Made Me Decide to Read a Book Like This?
There are specific reasons that I don’t lay out my personal understanding of Scripture with detailed exegesis here on my blog or in my writing. As I’ve stated numerous times, I also have my characters do and believe things that I disagree with. I do it because I have brothers and sisters in the Continue Reading
