Our family recently returned home from a road trip that took us from Dallas, Texas to Riverside, California across ten days and 1,500 miles. We had the best time! That's my family's summer vacation story! Before I go, I wanted to let you know that my publisher, Bethany House, would love to hear your story about how a Bethany House book has impacted, encouraged, … [Read more...]

This morning, I'm sweating in Florence, Italy. It's supposed to hit 105 degrees, without the humidity added in. It's hard to be too miserable as long as there is plenty of shade and water. This year while I've taught study abroad in Florence, I've been popping in and out of a lot of fun bookstores. I don't think I'd realized last time just how many bookstores there are. While I haven't captured … [Read more...]

I just had the privilege of hosting a second group tour of England. One of our stops on this trip was to Jane Austen's House Museum in Chawton, Hampshire. I have visited the novelist's grave in Winchester cathedral, but this was my first time visiting Chawton cottage, the only house Jane Austen lived in and wrote in that is open to the public. In 1809, four years after her father’s … [Read more...]