Um… so… um…” The dead silences mocked me. Why could I pray just fine and dandy when someone asked me to pray for them or with them, but just an intimate time with the Lord turned my usual chatterbox self into a tongue-tied moron? Yeah. I still don’t know the answer to that. But I do remember Continue Reading
Why November 5 Is the Best Obscure Holiday Ever!
At least once or twice a year, someone asks. “What’s your favorite holiday?” It was fun answering the first time or two. Has my opinion changed over the years? Do I like something new or even older? Did something horrible happen to ensure that I hate Christmas now? Well, there you have it. The Continue Reading
The Pitfalls of Being Real and How to Combat Them
It happened again. Another person asked how homeschooled kids can possibly hope to cope in the "real world." I wanted to bang my head. Because if you pulled a publicly educated kid from the Bronx and set that kid in rural Iowa, he'd be a mess. He wouldn't know how to deal with that real world. Continue Reading
15 Bloggers Share How They Fell in Love with Christian Fiction
Said Farmer Brown, “Tra-la, tra-lee…” Ahh… Little Golden Books. They might not have been the first books my mother ever read to me, but they probably were. My first mystery. Nancy Drew. My first “western”? Well, I consider Little House on the Prairie to fit that bill! But remembering all the Continue Reading
The Most Beautiful Place I’ve Ever Seen
The memory blurs, but I recall a cedar shake facade… Spanish tile roofing, two stories—a ranch. The great archways that completely surround the outside of a desert "hacienda," the Oklahoma farmhouse—and the great generator that fired up now and then for a rare use of my curling iron. Each one a Continue Reading
My Top 10 Anticipated Summer Reads & Why They Made the Cut
Every day it seems—twice a day, even. The post appears on Facebook, Instagram, even Twitter. “Show us your TBR pile!” Also, for those who've managed to avoid all that internet speak, “TBR,” just means to be read. Beautiful pictures of stacks of books… They make my heart sing. Oh, they do. But they Continue Reading
Why Finding Love Surprised and Delighted Me
The other day, someone asked me if I knew of a good, quick read or three she could take on a summer trip. Her criteria? “It needs to be a quick read—preferably with a realistic romance. But not just a clean romance. I want some solid faith in there, too.” She doesn’t ask for much, right? Look, Continue Reading
What Is the Best way to Choose a Genre?
“Oh! You’re a writer? Cool. What genre?” *insert blank look* And this is where I usually reply with something like, “Um, the answer to that question is kind of a novel in itself.” For a while, I just said, “Christian Fiction.” But who knew that opened up one confusing can of worms? I Continue Reading
Warning: This Book Isn’t Free from Sexual Tension
“…just so glad I can grab any book with your name on the cover and know it’s safe for my kids and grandkids to read…” The longer the woman talks, the drier my throat becomes. I try to speak—I fail. Half-gasping, half-wailing to the Lord for help, the words miraculously (okay, a bit of hyperbole Continue Reading
The Unexpected Blessing of Unlikely Mentors
She wore white—a cotton t-shirt and jeans cut off at the knees. I’d been told not to wash my hair with shampoo, not to use hairspray or cosmetics, not to wear perfume—nothing with a scent. I felt ugly sitting there in the sweats and a t-shirt she’d left waiting for me in her garage—with my hair Continue Reading
3 Important Things You’ll Find in My Favorite Books
The scent of books mingled with coffee lures you in through the doors. You wander down past the array of clearance items, gift bags, goofy book-themed gifts, and hit the discount racks. Bestsellers. Science Fiction. Mystery. After wandering through the rows of beautiful “repurposed trees” for a Continue Reading
The Hidden Blessings in Losing Your Memory
“Who are you, again?” “I’m Joe’s, daughter. Vyonie.” My sister pointed to me. “This is Chautona.” For some odd reason, the niece she spent the least amount of time with, Aunt Doris remembered—somewhat. But she didn’t remember Vyonie from what I could tell. She smiled at me, that amazing, sweet Continue Reading
