It’s the time of year when many churches bring the three J’s together—Jesus, joy, and juice boxes. Although in the case of our church, juice boxes come in the form of sweet tea and lemonade. But that would make for an awkward (and non-alliterative) title. Like most moms, I am sometimes riddled with regrets about how I parented my kids. …
The catalyst for the setting of my Norfolk Southern Series in Chattanooga was the railroad. Everyone has heard of the Chattanooga Choo-Choo—or at least the hit song from 1941 made popular by the Glenn Miller Band. No, I wasn’t alive back then, but I’ve always had a soft spot for the music of that era. The Chattanooga Choo-Choo was a …
We hear about tragedies every day. They occur so often that we can easily become desensitized by them, unless they impact us directly. On Mother’s Day, there was a six-car pile-up on Highway 75 near Chattanooga, but it didn’t become real until a friend showed me a picture of one of the families horrifically impacted by this accident—the Smiths. The …
Reading Kristin Hannah’s novel The Nightingale made me a fan of the author. I had no idea until recently that she’s been publishing books for over thirty years. The oldest novel of hers that I read was Night Road. It didn’t have near the depth of characters or plot I expected after reading her newer works, but like most …
Train-Wrecked Hearts, Book One in my Norfolk Southern Series, is my fifteenth novel to be published. If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll notice this release comes with little fanfare, and I must admit, a lot less stress. No “Countdown to Release” posts seven days before the big day. No seven articles after the release day. No hosting a …
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus—Philippians 4:6-7 After working on other author-related projects for two hours, I’m writing this post at 3:00 a.m. I can’t sleep. Is …
Quick note before I launch into the blog post. In case you missed last week’s blog, I’m doing a short series on trains in celebration of my newest novel, Train-Wrecked Hearts. I’m excited about this book for a couple of reasons. It’s the first in my new Norfolk Southern Series, and it’s also the first I’ve indie-published from start to …
My fascination with the railroad system has grown since I moved to Tennessee seven years ago. One reason is that for the first time in my life, I hear train whistles every night. Okay, they wail during the day, too, but for some odd reason, I don’t notice them as much. As I shared in my last post, the train …
I’ve been fascinated with the railroad for as long as I can remember. When I was young, a cold Sunday afternoon was often spent hanging out with my parents in the family room, where they would watch an old movie that happened to be on television. Back then, there were no videos (VHS, DVD, or any other kind), satellite TV, …
…a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough—1 Corinthians 5:6 It never ceases to amaze me where the inspiration for a blog post might appear. I suppose if God will use a donkey to speak wisdom to a fool (Numbers 22:21-35), He’ll take even the most mundane experience to draw us closer to Him. The other day, I was …
