I got my first exposure to Karen Ball at the 2005 ACFW conference. It was my first writing conference, and she was the keynoter. She did an amazing job of blending humor, heart-wrenching honesty, and spiritual depth in her talks. What Lies Within is the first of her books that I have read all the way through. I picked up …
Will Smith on Marriage
I’ve spent a couple days sequestered in a Chicago hotel working on multiple deadlines while Eric attends a conference. I’ve joked he has a conference and I have a computer. I actually have to get back to work, because I want to spend a couple more hours writing 2-3K more words before I leave. Oh and there’s the final review …
Shootings: What next?
I’ve spent much of the last week shaking my head and asking God what’s going on? First, there was the shooting at Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, last Wednesday. A highly troubled teen decided it was okay to take a gun into a Von Maur and open fire, killing 8 and himself. Then Sunday morning I saw that a Youth …
Stepping back in time
Thursday I had the opportunity to speak to the Home Economics Guild in Indianapolis for their Christmas program. It was a blast! The event was held at the beautiful Meridian Hills Country Club in North Indianapolis. That place knows how to decorate for Christmas. It was amazing!! If I didn’t already have my Christmas decorations up, I would have been …
Win a Copy of Canteen Dreams: New Review and Interview with Me
Gina Conroy has a review up on her blog. Gina bleeds all over my pages when she has time to read them. Though not as much as she used to. Some of those early pages she read look like they participated in the Battle of Gettysburg! Here’s her review though there’s more in her post: REVIEW: I’m not much of …
Shadow of Treason
A Shadow of Treason is Tricia Goyer’s latest fiction release. I had the pleasure of watching this book develop chapter by chapter a year ago. Book Two in the Chronicles of the Spanish Civil War, Tricia sheds light on a forgotten war that served as the prelude to World War Two. And the book is jam-packed with rich characters. My …
Tragedies Befall Us All
I often like to think there are pockets of the world that are still safe. Where the world hasn’t encroached. Where people can walk without fear of random violence. Yesterday one of those pockets was shocked when a 19 year old went into Westroads Mall in Omaha, opened fire, killed eight people, and then committed suicide. Where’s Westroads you ask? …
Another take on book signings
Check out this For Better or For Worse cartoon for an author’s perspective on book signings! And I saw this cartoon on Tina Forkner’s blog. Isn’t it a hoot!
Review: Bluegrass Peril
Bluegrass Peril, Virginia Smith’s latest offering from Love Inspired Suspense, is an enjoyable step into the Kentucky bluegrass region. We drove through this area in August, so I could picture the rolling hills and white fences surrounding huge horse farms. I wanted to stop and explore them all then, and through this book I can pretend I got to do …
Booksigning Photos
Saturday was my very first book-signing. Yeah! I was so tickled as so many friends made the effort to come by. Here I am signing a book for my friend Heather Corbin. She was one of the gals in a Bible study two years ago that I dared to risk this dream, too. That group of gals prayed for me …