Being a Trekkie from way back, the release of Star Trek is something I’ve been awaiting for years. Twilight? Ho-hum. Harry Potter? Eh, if you say so. But Captain James Tiberius Kirk of the U.S.S. Enterprise? I’m so there! I vaguely remember watching the series when it originally ran, but I was a kid of 6 when the first program …
Zookeeper for a Day
I recently received an exciting phone call from my agent — I’ve been offered a new book contract! (Woo hoo!) This book is tentatively entitled The Zookeeper’s Daughter, and it is set in (you guessed it) a small zoo. Since I’ve never actually worked in a zoo, I knew I’d need to do some research to make sure I protrayed …
God’s Answer to H1N1: Fear not!
Our church was packed Sunday morning. Communion Sundays aren’t typically that well-attended, for a variety of reasons, but today the sanctuary overflowed. I sat there during the Prelude, mentally listing the possible reasons people would gather en masse the Sunday after several area schools have been closed and students encouraged not to congregate due to a few confirmed cases of …
A Strong Woman Named Mono
To celebrate the release of Murder at Eagle Summit, I was recently invited to post on author Lyn Cote’s blog about a strong woman in my life. It’s hard to pick just one strong woman to write about, because I come from a family of them. We’re from the south, and southern women are known for their inner strength, well-hidden …
Revelation – a Book for Today!
My Bible study group is neck-deep in the book of Revelation. Funny, in the weeks leading up to the beginning of this study, the apprehension in the group was palpable. Only a few of us had ever read Revelation before, and one lady said she had stayed away from it her whole life out of fear. But on the very …
Humphrey Bogart Rides Again!
Okay, not really Bogie, but if you enjoyed movies like The Matarese Circle and Casablanca, you absolutely need to read Miss Match, by Sara Mills. Set in 1947, the story takes Allie Fortune (who made her first appearance in Mills’ debut novel, Miss Fortune) from the streets of New York City all the way to Berlin. In 1947, that’s not …
A Great Weekend
It’s been a terrific weekend! I flew back to Kentucky last week, and have enjoyed a whirlwind of activity since. The family is all doing well. The house is still standing. (Though a tree suffered major damage from the ice storm earlier this year and will have to come down. Bummer!) On Saturday I rode with author Ann H. Gabhard …
Fools – April and Otherwise
I’m speaking at a couple of churches this week, and the topic, appropriately enough, is Fools. I’ve had a blast doing Fool Research, looking at anything the Internet has to offer on Fools and April Fool’s Day. PranksI found a bunch of really good ones, but here are a couple of notable pranks: In 1957, the BBC announced that, thanks …
Naughty or Nice?
I came across a fascinating article the other day. The Yale University Infant Cognition team conducted a study that proves human beings prefer kindness over meanness. They created a roller-coaster-like contraption, and put a little wooden toy with human-like eyes on it to climb laboriously up the hills. As babies between 6 and 10 months old watched, other toys came …
Read Any Good Books Lately?
I have, and I want to tell you about a few of them. The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner was named EPCA’s Book of the Year in the fiction category just recently, and I know why. It’s an awesome book, beautifully written and thoroughly captivating. When 19-yr-old Lauren takes a part time job transcribing a centuries-old diary for an …