One of the best parts of being a writer is meeting other writers, people with whom I would have no other common ground than that we all like to play with words. One of those writers is Ronie Kendig, a self-described Army brat, who writes what I would call military thrillers. Kendig was the featured […]
Historical
To Help A Hurting Child
The numbers are staggering. In a recent article in the Register Guard, a Eugene, Oregon newspaper, more than seven thousand children are reported to be in foster care in Oregon. The demands on state workers to find homes and provide services to these kids grows greater every day. Many consider these numbers a statewide crisis. […]
A Horse from History
No horse rescue ranch would be worth a story if not for a horse. When I chose to place the setting of my novel in Harney County in eastern Oregon, I was motivated by knowledge of a protected herd of horses, who ranged on Steens Mountain near Kiger Ridge. The herd is believed to be the […]
Welcoming 2018
The New Year is upon us. Three hundred sixty-five days waiting to be lived, surprises to be discovered, hopes and dreams to be realized. I’ve enjoyed 2017. I’m reluctant to let it go. My debut novel, An Anchor On Her Heart, published, my second novel, Love Calls Her Home, will follow in March, and […]
A Different Black Friday
I skipped Black Friday. I’ve done my share of after-Thanksgiving shopping in the past. When my children were young, buying toys and clothes at holiday prices helped provide a more substantial Christmas. I’d rise before dawn and slip out while my family still slept. I’d return in time to make breakfast. The fun of seeing […]
In Everything, Say Thanks
When the Pilgrims celebrated a harvest festival in 1621, fifty-eight of the original one hundred and two remained alive after surviving that first dreadful winter. Native Americans had come to their rescue earlier that year, helping them grow crops to harvest. A second ship arrived from England, bringing recruits and supplies they desperately needed. That Thanksgiving […]
Reflect with Thanks
Days of rain, accompanied by cold, forced my husband’s decision not to attend this year’s annual Veteran’s Day parade in Albany, a city forty miles north of us. The parade boasts more than two hundred entries and as many as 40,000 spectators, making it the largest of its kind west of the Mississippi. The event […]
Book pick–Biblical fiction
Bread of Angels, one of Tessa Afshar’s biblical history novels, is the retelling of the story of Lydia, the purple seller mentioned in the book of Acts, a woman who was Paul’s first convert in Philippi. I checked the reference in the book of Acts where Lydia is given barely a handful of verses, but […]
Book Pick–Laura Frantz
Laura Frantz has earned a place on my favorite authors list because she writes genuine life-changing stories set in the wilderness of early Kentucky. She creates fascinating images of the existence the early settlers endured, the dangers they faced, and the courage they had to summon to survive. A Moonbow Night, is one of those […]
What’s In A Reunion?
High School reunions mean different things to different people. For some, reconnecting with friends from their past is exciting, for others, the very idea sends shivers down their spines. Not every reunion is the same, either. At ten years out most are still establishing their families, building their careers, waiting for life to begin. On […]