Fascinating Friday – Catch the Vision

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by Cheryl Schuermann Like many young writers, I once dreamed of writing novels set in exotic places with castles and golden-haired princesses with tiny waists. But more than a half century later, I found myself standing at the edge of a farm pond in the muck helping my grandchildren catch tadpoles. And thinking…wow, I see the makings of a devotion here. When this “I’ll never live in the country” city girl married a boy from rural Oklahoma more than fifty years ago, I didn’t realize how I would come to love the country experience. Soon after Stan and I married…

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Fascinating Fridays: Christian Fiction – A Tool for Evangelism

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by Patricia Bradley Then the LORD told me: “I will give you my message in the form of a vision. Write it clearly enough to be read at a glance” (Habakkuk 2:2 CEV). The Christian fiction genre accounts for nearly 51% of all faith-based book sales, and I believe it is an awesome tool for evangelizing. Not everyone agrees with me, but think about it. Jesus taught by story—parables—short fictional stories with heavenly meanings, but they were stories nonetheless. Stories that listeners were caught up in because Jesus used characters, items, and events from their everyday lives. His listeners could…

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Fascinating Friday Feature – Long Unsolved Family Mysteries

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by PS Wells Awarded Mystery Suspense of the Year, Unnatural Cause explores two long-unsolved family mysteries rooted in World War II. My profoundly smart coauthor, Max Garwood, is a patent attorney and inventor. Max pitches brilliant plots to me and I craft a novel from his ten bullet points. Unnatural Cause, the recent book in the Marc Wayne Action-Adventure Series, is equal parts Max’s fiction and my truth. My grandmother was one of ten children who grew up in a small, patriotic burg in the Midwest. When the US entered World War II, her oldest sister’s son, who had been…

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Book Review: Maisie Discovers Her Fingerprint by Sandra Chambers

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Post Title:  Book Review: Maisie Discovers Her Fingerprint by Sandra Chambers Genre: Picture Book for ages 3-8   Description of Maisie Discovers Her Fingerprint: Maisie Discovers Her Fingerprint (© Oct.1st 2024, Ambassador International Publisher, STEM, SEL) is a picture book for kids 3–8 about a cute Frenchie who just wants to feel special! She isn’t accepted by her doggie friends because she can’t swim well like they can and she never gets invited to their doggie sleepovers because she snores so loudly. Kids will identify with Maisie as she seeks out what makes her unique and special. She visits the zoo to find…

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Book Review: The Bomb Squad by Jill Chapman

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Post Title:  Book Review: The Bomb Squad by Jill Chapman Genre: Middle-Grade Fiction   Description of The Bomb Squad: The Bomb Squad is a middle-grade adventure/mystery story. Bryan and his three friends find adventure at every turn. After a Fourth of July fiasco, the boys want to keep a low profile until a new neighbor brings a mystery to their neighborhood. The Bomb Squad sets out to discover his secrets, and trouble explodes in their lives again. They trust in each other, and with a little help from Bryan’s dog, Max, the boys solve the mystery and save their neighbor….

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Book Review: The Home Team and Home Team 2

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Book Review: The Home Team and Home Team 2 by Dave Pratt Genre: Christian Action Suspense series   Description of The Home Team: Sam Anthem has always been a team player, leading his Home Team on secret missions around the world and chasing down bad guys for the U.S. government. But Sam has never had a place to call home or someone to go home to. Consuelo Zamora has been serving as a missionary nurse, but her work has led her to be forced to work with some South American drug lords to provide medicine for the common people. After…

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Fascinating Friday Feature – The Pony Express Tale

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by Donna Schlachter Most people know something about the Pony Express, but few realize it only operated fromApril 1860 through to November 1861. The first ride left St. Joseph, Missouri heading west, andfrom Sacramento, California heading east, on April 3rd, 1860. The idea for a Pony Express was conceived in the minds of its owners because of the possibilityof winning the contract for the overland US mail. Another company, Butterworth, was running asouthern route that took up to three weeks to deliver to the west coast, and Majors and Waddellthought they could beat that time by taking the shorter northern…

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Fascinating Friday Post – No Fear in Pre-school

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Taking a break from writing fiction for a bit, I wanted to share this raw and rare post. As authors, our stories stem from our daily lives, and this process requires honesty at every turn. So here’s a bit of honesty for you – I just left my grandson’s preschool open house. He led me by the hand to the classroom he recognized from last year. His teachers greeted him with warm hugs as they exchanged giggles. They’ve clearly missed each other. The walls of his classroom were decorated in primary colors that spotlighted an airplane theme throughout the entire…

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Book Review: 12 Ways to Age Gracefully by Susan U. Neal

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Book Review: 12 Ways to Age Gracefully by Susan U. Neal Genre: Christian Self-Help: Aging, Nutrition, & Diets   Description of 12 Ways to Age Gracefully: Embrace the Youthful Spirit at Any Age As you face the mirror each day, do you meet an older version of yourself? It’s a familiar journey, one where we acknowledge that we’re not as young as we once were, yet not quite ready to embrace being old. But what if there was a way to traverse this path with grace and vitality? The good news is you can slow time down. By making the…

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Book Review: Names of God: Living Unafraid by Grace Fox

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Book Review: Names of God: Living Unafraid by Grace Fox Genre: Devotional Study   Description of Names of God: Living Unafraid: You don’t need to be an expert in biblical Hebrew to use this devotional study! Accessible and simple to follow, each chapter gets to the heart of God’s character and message with beautifully crafted outlines, straightforward word studies, and much more. Most books about the names of God seek to be informative, but this series goes a step further. Readers not only dive into the meaning behind God’s names but also draw closer to him through Grace’s heartfelt and…

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