Not only did I forget my cell phone the morning I had a newspaper stringer interview at Chik Fil A, I also failed to write down the gentleman’s name that I was supposed to interview. I knew the focus of my article – interview an 80-year-old community member who served as a chaplain for a large car dealership in the area. Eighty-years-old and he meets participating employees every morning at 7:00 AM to share a devotion and prayertime, and I get so frazzled explaining schoolwork to my homeschooled teenagers that I dart out of the house without a phone and…
Category: Humor
This is our archive pageThe First Zip Line Ride?
Fun trivia: The Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883. The first person to cross it was E. F. Farrington, the Bridge’s master mechanic. But instead of walking across the bridge, he went by zip line! I discovered this fascinating bit of trivia while doing research for my novel, A Sicilian Farewell, part of which is set in late 19th-century Brooklyn. Dr. MaryAnn Diorio is an award-winning author who writes riveting fiction that deals with the deepest issues of the human heart. Her latest novel, IN BLACK AND WHITE, a love story about racism, released in November 2019. MaryAnn has also written…
Discovering The Rabbit in the Moon
We welcome Linda Rooks and thank her for today’s wonderful fascinating fact! Did you know there is a rabbit in the shadows of the moon? In the United States we often talk about a man in the moon, but in other parts of the world—especially Asia—people talk about the rabbit they see in the moon. In fact, centuries ago, storytellers in the East not only observed a rabbit on the left side of the moon but made up legends about him. In countries like India, China, Japan, Korea, Mexico and others, legends abound about the brave rabbit whose sacrificial courage…
A Funny Thing Happened – On the Way to a Story
“A book with a cowboy on the cover. Historical.” That’s what the editor wanted. Did I have such a story, she wanted to know. No. Well, not really. But I could. After all, I’m a writer. I could come up with an idea, couldn’t I? Let’s see. Set it in Colorado. In the 1880s. Do some online research. What happened in Colorado in that time? A drought in the southwestern part of the state. For several years prior, in fact. Gold mining. Silver mining. Wait a minute. Cowboys care about water. And silver mining? Who knew. So I was off…
Reflections From the Road
My recent retirement prompted a personal move from Illinois to my home state of Wisconsin—which meant my awesome nine-year-old quarter horse mare and I also moved to a new barn and horse trainer. All of these changes resulted in prepping, practicing, and praying for success on a brand-new horse show circuit this year. We agreed to an aggressive schedule of shows that would take us from Wisconsin to Oklahoma City for our first event; onto Las Vegas for our second show—The Silver Dollar Circuit—and then to Scottsdale, AZ for our final event, the Sun Circuit. This was my first series…
God’s Creative Humbling
As I was talking with a women’s ministry director at a church training conference, I hoped she would invite me to speak at her women’s retreat. I enjoyed one of the freshly baked chocolate chip cookies set before us while we sat in the lounge of the convention center. When she asked my opinion on some important issues, I spoke with confident tones. I was thrilled to see her staring at my mouth, obviously eager to hear my every word. Surely, I was impressing her. All I have to do is say the right things, I assured myself, as I…
Water or Not?
Sandra Glahn While I’ve often written for medical publications—both fiction and non—I am not myself a physician. But I’ve been on the receiving end of more than my share of surgeries and treatments, so I can definitely write from the patient’s perspective. When I wrote non-fiction medical information for the trade market, my editors usually viewed my “lack of knowledge” as a benefit. My ignorance meant I naturally said “miscarriage” instead of “spontaneous abortion” and “bruise” instead of “contusion.” But when I decided to branch into fiction to explore complex medical issues (Lethal Harvest; Deadly Cure; False Positive), I knew…
Dreamy Ideas
Where do you get your ideas? We writers know, love, and sometimes hate this age-old question. My Jo Oliver thriller series started with a desire to write compelling stories of triumph, choice, and the power of emergent faith and community. Each story was fueled by a strong character, a plot idea, or an idea of what justice might look like via a twisty series of events. And while I am playing around with my next installment, I find myself distracted by new dreams. For the past year or so, I’ve been toying with a new story that I finally had…
SKEE BALL, PIZZA FIGHTS, AND FUN!
I had been dating Roy for a while, and he decided the time had come for me to meet his children, Jill and James. Very apprehensive but knowing this was the essential next step, I flew down from New Jersey to Atlanta with him. You wouldn’t think a six-year-old girl and a three-year-old boy could terrify a thirty-plus-year-old woman, would you? I’d never been around children much, other than an occasional babysitting job while I was in high school. And having the approval of these two kids meant everything. We went to Chuckie Cheese for the afternoon and for dinner….
Double Jeopardy – Why This Story Will Change You as a Reader
By Donna Schlachter When I think about books from my childhood, I recall books like Black Beauty and Call of the Wild. What really sticks with me is both told stories of heartbreak and joy, of separation and reunion, or defeat and victory. Throughout these two books in particular, bad things happened for no good reason. People got sick. Died. Animals were mistreated. Lives were shattered. But then. . . In the end, all was set right with their world. When I sit down to write a book, I ask myself, “How bad can things get?” And then I put…