Book Review: His Gift

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His Gift: This historical novel is suitable for all ages, but the main character is in her late teens. This book is written to appeal to the YA audience, the NA audience, and every adult who has ever cared to dream. Brace yourself for a thrilling race with twists and turns as a young woman is determined to see her dream come true. On the cusp of the stock market crash of 1929, seventeen-year-old Molly has aspirations for a career in music after high school. With the passion of an athlete preparing for the Olympics, she trains relentlessly to become…

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A Chat with Author Julie Lavender

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Greetings from Marti Pieper in Seneca, South Carolina, where I’m rediscovering the wonder and beauty of fall after spending the past twelve-plus years in Florida! I’m excited today to introduce a new CAN member who also happens to be a longtime friend. Many years ago now, Julie Lavender and I were both young homeschooling moms who shared not only a church home (my husband was her family’s pastor for several years) but many family adventures and lots of laughter (please don’t ask her about the time we nearly lost each other in downtown Los Angeles). Welcome to the CAN blog,…

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Compassion Fatigue

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Compassion Fatigue By Janet Holm McHenry The Lord is a refuge to his people. –Joel 3:16 (ESV) From a recent training for local teachers on social-emotional learning I learned a new term: compassion fatigue. As teachers have doubled up duties to teach both in an in-person setting and in a distance learning model, they have also encountered countless cases of students and parents and peers in emotional distress, while also trying to manage their own families’ needs and their own. Compassion fatigue is real. I have experienced this often over the last 22 years as I’ve prayer-walked the streets of…

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Book Review: I Love You to the Stars – When Grandma Forgets, Love Remembers

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I Love You to the Stars — When Grandma Forgets, Love Remembers is a new picture book published by Kregel Publishing. Inspired by a true story, a young boy enjoys having his grandma and her dog live with them. Soon Grandma gets forgetful and needs to live in another home, but the love they have for each other remains the same.   And here’s a review reprinted with permission from Xochitl Dixon: In Crystal Bowman’s I Love You to the Stars, readers are introduced to a close-knit family facing the heart-breaking decline of a loved one who suffers from dementia. Bowman’s gentle tone…

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What’s In A Name?

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I’m fascinated with names. Maybe all of us writers are. I like creative names and creative spellings. I’m intrigued with old-fashioned names that come back in style, and I like unique names I’ve never heard of. I’ve chuckled at names, like one of my college friends, whose first name was “Holly” and she married a gentleman with the surname “Wood.” She said she had trouble cashing checks with the signature “Holly Wood,” so she eventually stuck her maiden-name initial between the two words. My brother had a friend named William Williams, but at least he went by the name “Bill.”…

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A Chat with Author Kimberly Rose Johnson

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Greetings from Sarah Sundin in California! Today I have the joy of interviewing Kimberly Rose Johnson, a multi-published novelist whose stories have won the Faith, Hope, and Love Reader’s Choice Award and been a finalist for the Selah Award! Please tell us about your book Certain Threat. The co-owner of Protection Inc. has one thing on his mind for the week of Christmas—rest and relaxation, but when his favorite neighbor needs his help, he calls in his team. Unable to turn their backs on someone Frank clearly has feelings for, the co-owners agree to help out Katrina.

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