Many of us work hard in our gardens, designing, digging, dedicating our spare time to creating a beautiful space to enjoy and share with others. If you’re like me, you go to a nursery and wander along the rows of starter plants, checking to see which plants will thrive in the soil composition in our …
This has been an interesting few months for me and Rick. Not long ago, we went on a two-week southern states road trip with friends. We were a day ahead of a hurricane, then a tornado and major flooding. One place we visited was four feet under water the next day. When we made our …
I always thought of graffiti as vandalism until Rick and I visited some Eastern European countries and I saw it along walls as our train passed by. It was often stunning, beautiful, vibrant with colors, shape, and form, even if I couldn’t understand the words. This graffiti wasn’t a letter and numbers spray-painted in haste, …
It helps me to see my characters when I’m writing a story. So, often, at the very beginning of a project, I’m on the search for faces that fit the person developing in my mind. I’ll cut out or print out pictures of people and pin them to a bulletin board or have an album …
My favorite art form as a child was finger painting. I loved mixing the colors, making designs, wiping them away, and starting over. I also liked making clay bowls from mud. Maybe it’s something about getting my hands dirty. I’m not sure. One thing I longed to do and never could was draw something well …
I enjoy reading and writing contemporary and historical fiction. For a long time, I wrote only historicals. During my “B.C.” years, my stories were set in California between 1846 and 1880, a period of history that still fascinates me. When I became a Christian, I couldn’t write for three years. It was a painful time …
There have only been two times in my writing life when I have known the title of a book before I started writing: And the Shofar Blew and The Masterpiece. In the case of the first, I had no idea what a shofar was or how it would play out in a story. I didn’t …
Our town of Santa Rosa has many small, and a few large, churches. When I say large, I’m not talking Mid-west or Texas-in-the-thousands-large, but hundreds. Our area has been called “faith unfriendly” by movie distributors, and few Christian movies make it to our town. Churches stand alone. With a few exceptions, they don’t get together. …
Crossing the Jordan is a local non profit in Santa Rosa. We are boots on the ground, receiving and distributing donations directly to the fire victims and preparing for the aftermath. Tens of thousands of donations have come in and we are in need of cash donations for additional truck rentals and gas. Please consider assisting …
Rick and I have spent the last two weeks with close friends on a road trip through six states. Our route: Dallas, Vicksburg, New Orleans, Biloxi, Montgomery, Birmingham, Nashville, Memphis, Fort Smith, Oklahoma City and back to Dallas. We covered 2500 miles, saw numerous National Parks, landmarks and museums, and enjoyed perfect weather. All the …