“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 (New Kings James Version) I guess when you decide to write a post about the first lines of books, you can’t go completely wrong with the first line of the Bible. That line opens the door to everything that follows. God in the beginning and then wow. No …
Meet Hidden Springs Cat #3
A cat will do what it wants when it wants, and there’s not a thing you can do about it. ~Frank Perkins Are you a cat lover? If you follow my blog or join the conversation on my Facebook page, you know that I’m a dog person. That doesn’t mean I don’t like cats. It just means that dogs trump …
Hidden Springs Cover Reveal and Giveaway
Have you been to my little town of Hidden Springs where Deputy Sheriff Michael Keane tries to keep the peace? It’s a sleepy little town that might remind you of other small towns you’ve known. The kind of place where everybody knows everybody and people sit around on front porches and share stories. Sometimes about themselves or their families and …
Sabbathday Lake Shakers
One of the questions I am asked when I give a talk about writing stories set in my fictional Shaker village of Harmony Hill is whether there are any Shakers today. When I would say three, somebody in the group would usually speak up to say no wonder since they were celibate. While that does cut out the chance of …
Happy Hollyhill New Year
January 1, 1967 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill on New Year’s Day. Can you believe it’s 1967? Sixty-seven!! I’m fifteen. Grown. Old enough to behave myself, Aunt Love says. Old enough to fall in love, Leigh says. Old enough to take a trip to Jupiter, Wes says. Old enough to understand a few things about life, Dad says. Tabitha …
2017 – A New Chapter in Our Book of Time
Each New Year’s Day is like starting a treasure hunt again from scratch, with a slightly altered map. ~Terri Guillemets Happy New Year! Can you believe it’s 2017? Some of you may be like me and remember thinking of how old you’d be at the turn of the century when you were a kid. It seemed a terribly old age …
Missing Mom’s Smile
“Christmas is far and away my favorite holiday. I love everything about it, from the event that inspired it, hoping for a white one, to wrapping presents. But mostly I love having family and friends gathered, and sharing traditions.” ~Ellen Hopkins I hope you all had a merry and joyous Christmas with your families and friends. And if you couldn’t …
A Christmas Letter to Santa
I wrote this little story in 1997 for our local electric co-op magazine. I shared it on here a couple of years ago, but here it is again. Hope you enjoy Joey’s letter to Santa. Dear Santa Claus, It’s the day after Christmas and I guess you’re wondering why I’m writing you now seeing as how I didn’t write you …
A Lesson Learned at Christmas
Oscar and I say Merry Christmas as I share one last reader Christmas story before we head into the New Year. I’ve shared Sandi’s stories on here in the past. She’s has a way with words that makes her memories come to life. She says her granddaughter has quite suddenly grown up and at sixteen has started her first paying …
A Last Christmas Together
Sometimes Christmas celebrations with family can be bittersweet times when you miss the ones you love who are no longer here but are celebrating with Jesus in heaven. It was that way for my family this year as we lost two of our family unexpectedly last year. Both were in the prime of life …