I have often heard that the gospel of Jesus is in every book of the Old Testament, but I never realized how true that was until recently. I learned to see Him when I worked on my doctorate in theology, but it wasn’t until I began to read books by Messianic Jews that I began to see the pictures. The Bible is filled with picture patterns that illustrate God’s truths. For instance, consider … [Read more...]

Last week I met author-friends Michelle Griep (Missouri) and Erica Vetsch (Minnesota) for a writing retreat in Pella, Iowa. We stayed in an Airbnb for a few days and wrote together, ate together, and laughed together. Pella is a charming town, settled by immigrants from the Netherlands in the 1840s who had fled religious persecution in their own country. They called their new home Pella, … [Read more...]

I loved Jody's post a few weeks ago about the things she collects (especially since there were a lot of cat things and I love cats.) So I thought I'd be a copycat and share a few things I collect with you this week. As a kid, I remember collecting pretty paper napkins, the kind used for special birthday parties, wedding showers, or holidays. By the time I left for college, I had a large apple box … [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...]