Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

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The Second Just the Write Best Novel Awards

A symphony of typewriters fills the room.  Clacks of the keys, zips of the carriage, and the percussive ting! as they reach the edges of the pages. Applause drowns out the final notes as the conductor turns to address the audience.  “Welcome to the Second Annual Just the Write Awards!  It is my 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

What Did I Think Of Chosen People & Do I Recommend It?

I’ve read a lot of his work in the past, so signing up for a review copy of Robert Whitlow’s Chosen People was kind of a no-brainer. A story about a law firm going after terrorists in the wake of an American woman losing her life while saving her daughter’s?  What’s not to love?  So, once the Continue Reading

Why Would Grief Make You Dance with Jesus?

Why Would Grief Make You Dance with Jesus? I don’t know the answer to that. But I suspect it’s similar to why tears heal.  Or, perhaps it’s just backwards—that when someone “dances with Jesus” in heaven, someone here grieves a loss. But Dance with Jesus claims to take the reader from grief to Continue Reading

How One Fluffy Read Betrayed Me & Why I’m Thrilled

The post promised a great historical read—FREE through Tuesday, August 14. Well, the last time Smitten Romance informed me (through a friend) that I’d love this “great historical book,” I’d found myself lost among the pages of Among the Poppies. So, I dashed off to Amazon. Then I saw it. Free for Continue Reading

What I Loved about Running and What I Hated

He joined our group as if he’d been there forever.  Laughing, joking. The two of us were the disruptive influence that night.  That probably shocks everyone… that I could be a disruptive influence, I mean.  I love fun repartee.  Dave knows how to do it and do it well. So, when he asked on the Continue Reading

What Did I Find Endearing about Enduring Love?

“Is there an author you can suggest who has really grown in his or her craft? I’d like to see if I can see the progression.” It was an unexpected question, but a good one.  And I had an answer—blurted it out before I realized I did.  “Toni Shiloh.” “Okay, so how has she grown?” I remembered Continue Reading

Celebrating These 21 Indie Books for Independence Day

America.  Land of the free--the ruggedly, independent, "don't tread on me" free. Our heritage includes innovation, expansion, settlement, and just a little more of that independent spirit. We didn't like taxation without representation, so we broke free of those chains.  A couple of centuries Continue Reading

So Why Is Everyone in Love with Just Let Go?

As my finger slid along the trackpad, inching the cursor away from the link on the Facebook page, a message popped up. “Why do we judge books by their covers when most authors don’t design their own cover art, anyway?” Guilt slammed into me and knocked me flat on my rump. You’d think with all Continue Reading

The Secret Confessions of a Disappointed Reader

“So… you write Christian fiction. I didn’t know that was a thing. Is there a market for that?” I tried not to laugh. No, really. I did. I mean, is there a Christian fiction readership? Thankfully, the gal didn’t notice that I’d choked back a laugh that morphed into what was probably a maniacal Continue Reading

What I Thought of The Tempering Agent

Victorville. 1981. My parents and I went to the movies just a few weeks before I turned eleven. They wanted to see Clash of the Titans. It sounded boring to me. I opted, instead, to see Raiders of the Lost Ark. Mom and Dad thought it sounded ridiculous. So, when we met up again outside the Continue Reading