When a verse pops into my mind that feels particularly relevant to my mood or situation, I'll sometimes turn to it in the Bible and read the whole chapter that contains the verse. A few days ago the famous "See, I am doing a new thing" verse rose to the front of my thoughts. I paged to Isaiah 43. What a rich and powerful chapter of scripture! It blessed me and so I thought I'd share snippets of … [Read more...]

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Big perk of the writing life? The opportunity to travel to the settings of your books!Last summer, after I submitted Turn to Me to my publisher, it came time to dream up a new series. I decided I'd write about three brothers and titled their series Sons of Scandal. Next I needed to hunt for a location. So far, I've set books in Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington state, and the north Georgia … [Read more...]

I recently posted this question on my Facebook author page... "I'm curious! Do any of the following things bug you when reading fiction? 1) Misunderstandings that go on too long. 2) A predictable plot. 3) Unlikely calamities (for example: fire followed by sickness followed by a blizzard). 4) When one honest conversation would really help matters, but the characters avoid having that … [Read more...]

It's summertime and big budget movies are returning to theaters, including Top Gun: Maverick. It released two weeks ago and has already earned 292 million -- making it the highest-grossing release of Tom Cruise's career. Back when the first Top Gun released, in May of 1986, I was finishing up my freshman year of high school. I used to go to the movies very often in those days with school … [Read more...]