The word is out. Outside ABCs will release on April 21, 2026. I am so excited! Jonathan Huff’s illustrations and the layout are outstanding. Jonathan is my grandson, and I am so proud! I am eager to receive my pre-ordered copies.
You can pre-order your copies at this link on Ambassador International’s bookstore website.
Category: My Writing Journey
A dream come true
Today I signed a contract with Ambassador International for an alphabet book that germinated in my mind 45 years ago. It took that long to get all the wrinkles out of that pitiful first draft. LOL! The working title is Outside ABCs. Many thanks to people like Jon and Cathryn Sill who took the time to help me trim down my over-the-top first draft about 25 years ago, and to Crystal Bowman who encouraged and mentored me as we reworked many of the poems. I’ve also have many cheerleaders and critique groups who have encouraged me with this book.
Some of my prayer warrior friends came out on short notice to witness me signing the contract this morning.
A Christmas story: What a Reunion!
I recently submitted this article to The South Carolina United Methodist Church Advocate and it was published in the January 2021 issue which was printed and sent out at Christmastime. I hope you enjoy this unique approach to describing what happened around the little town of Bethlehem that night many years ago.
A Christmas story: What a Reunion!
Sidetracked as an author
I’ve been sidetracked for some time from my writing. I have one primary kind of writing that I most want to do, and that is writing Bible stories for young families. To that end I have self-published two books, The Creation and The First Christmas. I have also written another as yet untitled book about Jonah. My original goal was to illustrate my books with hand-appliqued fabric quilt blocks like I did with The Creation. I had the opportunity to publish The First Christmas quickly with illustrations by Violet Vandor, and we went with it. I have purchased some sketches from Christian artist Kimberly Merritt that I believe I can use to create hand-appliqued quilt blocks for the Jonah book, but finding the time is another matter. Continue reading “Sidetracked as an author”
The “Sharing Your Hope Workshop” – so rewarding!
I promised several people that I would write about the “Sharing Your Hope Workshop” I attended at the Highlights Foundation in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, and here it is two weeks later – and I’m still trying to sort through what I want to say.
Part of the problem is that I went with some expectations that were off-track. I carried lots of old manuscripts with me thinking it would be a time to pick one out, dust it off, and get wonderful feedback that would turn it into something ready for the market. That didn’t happen.
But what did happen was so much better. Continue reading “The “Sharing Your Hope Workshop” – so rewarding!”