Message-driven fiction for children is so much fun to write. Weaving a message into an entertaining story can be a challenge, but if you start with the character and base your lesson around his or her actions and reactions, then the story comes together nicely. Take Robert from A Christmas Kindness: he’s a young boy…
In 1993 I saw a movie called The Age of Innocence starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Winona Ryder. The movie was based on Edith Wharton’s classic novel of the same title, directed by Martin Scorsese, nominated for Academy Awards and Golden Globes (winning several that year). I was drawn to the tortured-love triangle—the idea…
I shouldn’t be here. I read the writing advice blogs, the Web sites on how to get published, and none of them came close to my story. So, I want to tell it for those who dream impossible dreams, in the face of giants in the land, and in fear that they may be grasshoppers.…
Barbara Scott was the fiction acquisitions editor at Abingdon Press in 2008 and acquired my debut novel—They Almost Always Come Home, which was honored with several recognitions including RT Reviewers’ Choice Book of the Year nomination, Retailers’ Choice nomination, and a Carol Award finalist. Soon after the release of They Almost Always Come Home in…
In the Bible, the Lord asked that we not make promises unless we are sure that we can keep them. Lisa made a promise and has done everything in her power to keep that promise. a lesson her father needed to learn. Before he was able to practice keeping his promise, he lost the love…
My novels, I think, are essentially about heroism. I write of heroism with a spectator’s fascination—like a football fan watching Brett Favre play, analyzing what he’s doing, knowing all the time he’s criticizing a level of play he’ll never attain. There’s no need to explain in detail here the sad shortage of heroes in my…
One of my favorite Christmas hymns is “The Little Drummer Boy”. For those of you who don’t know it, the song tells the story of a little drummer boy who goes to visit Baby Jesus in the manger. He has no gift for the newborn King, so he asks Mary if he can play his…
One Holy Night started out as a short story back in the late 1980s. I was working with another author to develop a book of short stories that revolved around Christmas, each with a different theme, and all within a larger story that tied them together. I was assigned to write a miracle story, and…
It’s funny how I get ideas for books. I’m a veterinarian by profession and I’d participated in interviews for potential students into the states veterinary medical program. On the way home, one of my students, who happened to be interviewing for a slot, and I began talking about the ridiculous things going on in the…
The Story Behind the Book 