Shanna Hatfield has written a fun romance, filled with the flavors of the West. As a fan of the “brother’s best friend” stories, I was excited to see the author had chosen to use this in Keeping Christmas. Trevor, in perfect big brother fashion, didn’t trust his best friend, Gabe, […]
Have you ever played the “would you rather” game? You know, “would you rather this or this?” with each choice being equally appalling. I have often considered that the one sense I would be most loath to lose is my eyesight. While I’m not afraid that I wouldn’t be able to […]
I wrote my first love letter when I was twelve years old. He was eighteen. Jack Romano. Sigh. That summer my parents had spent several months in Australia. My dad had been invited to teach in a university there and so they parceled us off to friends and relatives and […]
A conversation on Facebook discussed least-favorite plot elements – those that drive people absolutely crazy and cause them to stop reading a book. Several women mentioned things which aren’t necessarily plot elements – language, graphic violence, sex. Certainly those items make me set a book aside as well. And you […]
This year, while reading the various accounts of King David in the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, it occurred to me that it is very likely when he received the message from Bathsheba that she was pregnant, he became afraid. Terrified, even. If you look at his character up […]
Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. Ephesians 6:1 This admonition is spoken in several places in the Bible and, as Paul points out there, brings a promise of long life to those who do this. Yet, what if […]
Bridget determined not to make a mistake in the choice of her future spouse, and therefore she has compiled a list of exactly what she is looking for. And Ryan knows that he doesn’t want to have his family struggle financially as his own parents did, so he is determined […]
“You don’t own a dress? Not even a skirt?” My five-year-old mind couldn’t comprehend a girl not having even one of this most basic, most crucial wardrobe essential. And yet, the little girl who lived up the street from me (whose name I can’t recall) owned plenty of shorts and […]
I was at a conference this week. One of the speakers displayed a quote on the screen and attributed it to “a great American thinker” or some other great complimentary description. He then proceeded to tell us that the man he quoted was his father and spent the next five […]
Finding God through the fires of life This ain’t my first rodeo book, yet I don’t remember ever seeing a bond between the livestock and their owners like the one Knox and his bulls have. Is there such a thing as a bull-whisperer? The care and concern he had, not […]