I love the TV show Castle. I love the mysteries they solve each week. I love the logo, with the pen that slices down into the A, releasing blood, that looks more like a book cover than the opening of a TV show. What I don’t like is the unrealistic way they portray the life of a writer—the way he …
Memorable Day 2: New Beginnings, Great Extremes
On December 22, 1998, we signed the closing papers for the house we now live in. We’d built what we thought would be the house we’d grow old in down in Atlanta. But then John accepted a transfer to the DC bureau of CNN, so we left everything we’d grow accustomed to, all our friends, the church we’d been part …
“But We Have the Best Doctors in the Whole World!”
I’ve been to two funerals in the last month. I didn’t know either of the deceased. Both were family of friends of mine. Regardless, funerals cause you to consider death, and life, and I naturally thought about mine. I think most people have the same “most important days”—weddings, children’s births, etc. But I want to share some of my most …
“There’s Blood Everywhere…”
I’m getting tired of sales calls. I get them several times a week now, despite being on the all but worthless Do Not Call list. Cell phones are not supposed to get unsolicited calls, since the owners often have to pay for the minutes. But my husband gets them frequently. What’s worse, these calls are getting more and more obnoxious, …
Beware of “Normals”
The annual American Christian Fiction Writers Conference was held last week in St Louis. I was blessed to be able to go, and finally meet my amazing agent Karen Ball in person for the first time. I also met with Kim Moore of Harvest House Publishers. We’ll wait and see if anything comes of that. ACFW is always a treasure …
Was There a Full Moon That Night?
Writing historical fiction is usually research intensive. Sometimes every sentence needs to be researched. Comments that in contemporary fiction would be commonplace need to be meticulously fact-checked. Something like, “He considered her opinion as he bit into the juicy peach,” means you have to make sure there were peaches in that time, in that season, in that place. Maybe peach …
5 Things You Don’t Know About Me
Sometimes when I do a guest blog to promote my books, I’m asked to name 5 things people might not know about me. Most of them I’ve already talked about here, but I tried to come up with five more: I played ice hockey. For a couple years in high school, I joined a girls’ ice hockey team. This was …
Will the Real 15-Year-Old Please Stand Up?
Last night was Back To School Night for my highschooler. BTSN is an event held at all the public schools where you go to each of your child’s classes in turn for about ten minutes. The teachers introduce themselves and talk about goals, objectives, teaching methods, expectations, etc. The building is brand new, huge, and three floors. I took Mira …
10 Things That Brighten My Day – Sort Of
My oldest left for Italy this week. You can read more about that in my shared blog. She is earning her BFA in photography, so she will be living in Florence for four months, taking beautiful pictures and studying Italian art history. I miss her already. There are some things that make me feel better when I feel bad. Some …
From Slaves to Rock Stars
The ancient copper mines in Timna Valley of southern Israel have long been associated with King Solomon’s mines. Brand new findings, however, indicate that the metalworkers there weren’t Edomite slaves, as has been assumed based mainly on the horrid conditions of the desert, but rather esteemed craftsmen. Men with the knowledge to smelt and work copper would have been highly …