Those hideous masks Dad stored with strange costumes and a Santa Suit appeared to be human faces with their eyes gouged out. When Great Aunt Laura took possession of them, they became scarier. Hiding out in the dark fruit cellar of my grandparents’ basement, she fashioned them into a couple of dummies. No one could […]
Looking for a unique idea for Valentine’s Day? We have a great one for you. It’s a bookish idea for Valentine’s Day! Authors use “pull quotes” from their books as teasers on social media and correspondence with their readers. Books expose avid readers to thousands of quotes every day. Grab your favorite quotes about LOVE. Each […]
Participating in Jocelyn Green’s World’s Fair Christmas Tour of Chicago last month met every expectation and more. What an amazing time we had. Oh, how many new places I saw and new things I learned about this city of my family’s roots in America. And tons of ideas for Tangled Promises’ sequel. See a few […]
This was me as a child. I imagined myself on my little flying carpet gathering stories to write down later. But later never came. My family moved so often, that my treasured tales seemed to fly away with the wind. The teachers that encouraged my talent were left behind, and my friends were left behind, […]
Does your community have one or several Little Free Libraries? I was amazed to find four of them within five minutes of my home. Sadly, the shelf of the second one pictured was empty. What is a Little Free Library? Exactly […]
When do you begin your Christmas shopping? Do you enjoy finding special gifts for those on your gift list? Do you dread the task? Is gift-giving just one more thing on your stressful holiday to-do list? It brings me great joy to find or create the perfect gift for each individual. I keep my eyes […]
What was the first Christian Fiction book you read? My answer to this question posed in a social media post: Christy by Catherine Marshall. Released while we were in high school in 1967, many of my friends and I read and thoroughly enjoyed this story of faith set in the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee. (Little […]
I met the girl in this photo when I was five years old. What I didn’t know then? Her story is a part of my heritage. Before my parents brought me home from the hospital, Dad started a doll collection for his little girl. He purchased a tiny porcelain doll dressed in a pink-smocked dress […]
This weekend we celebrate Independence Day or the Fourth of July in America. Whichever name you call it, here are a few fun facts about the holiday. In 1958 Robert G. Heft, a 16-year-old student designed the 50-star flag as an assignment in his history class. The teacher gave him a B-, but when he […]
An author researches many topics along their writing journey. With my current work-in-progress set in the second half of the nineteenth century, my curiosity was stirred about children’s party games (and adult parlor games, too). Alice in Wonderland was written in 1865. An outdoor party game was croquet. You can learn about its history here. Many games […]
