I love it when authors take their adventures and passions and turn them into excellent stories for children that both show those passions AND entertain. Listen in to see how Yvonne M. Morgan did that with her Mary the Missionary story. note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. I loved hearing about Yvonne's mission adventures and how she used them to tell her stories. I'm eager to read the book and to discover all the new adventures he...
Jun 30, 2025•34 min•Season 6Ep. 443
What happens when an author sets another book at the location of a few of your personal favorites? Squeals? Yep. Pumped fists? Absolutely. Impatience to get your grubby paws on it? Oh, yeah. Listen in to see why this book is making a big splash. note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. There's something about how some authors can make you love what you generally wouldn't choose. Liz Johnson definitely fills that role for me. All the s...
Jun 28, 2025•54 min•Season 6Ep. 442
If you've been waiting for the sequel to Love Overboard... It's HERE! And no... you don't want to miss it. Clara and the shippers are back, and the stakes are even higher. Listen in and hear all the fun stuff about this book (and how to help us beg for another one!) note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. Okay, so talking about characters? CHECK. About research and fun? CHECK, CHECK. Learning about book three... RECORD SCRATCH Yeah. ...
Jun 23, 2025•36 min•Season 6Ep. 441
Queen of the alliterative series titles, Jordan Millsaps has a new one for us--Marriage on My Mind! Listen in as we chat about Mallory Bradford and her non-existent breakdown (or so she claims). See why I opened it up on Kindle the moment we got out of the interview and read as I cooked dinner. note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. Move over "Boyfriend in the Bargain" series, "Marriage on My Mind" is here, and we're kicking off wit...
Jun 21, 2025•36 min•Season 6Ep. 440
Love suspense that keeps you convinced that nothing will ever go right again? Love characters you fall in love with on the first page? Love wondering how these guys are going to get out of the terrifying situations authors put them in? Well, you've not seen anything until you've read a Laura Thomas book. Listen in for a glimpse of what you'll find in her newest release, The Final Word. note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. When it ...
Jun 16, 2025•38 min•Season 6Ep. 439
Oh, wow. When I read the synopsis for House of Honor by Margaret Ann Philbrick, I knew this was going to be a fabulous book. Forget all the endorsements and starred reviews, listen in to hear just how awesome this book is! note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. When Margaret described the story within House of Honor , I not only learned a lot of art history, but I got a taste of Italy (sadly, without pasta and gelato... sniff). I ca...
Jun 14, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Season 6Ep. 438
I don't know about you, but a book focused on Tampa's mafia? Sign me up! Listen in as I chat with Kristen Hogrefe Parnell and discover a side of Tampa I've never heard about! note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. Suspense... romance... organized crime... and a COAST GUARD VETERAN? Well, come on! Kristen gives us insight into this book and what is coming up next! Watch Your Back by Kristen Hogrefe Parnell You can’t watch your own ba...
Jun 09, 2025•32 min•Season 6Ep. 437
Chatting with Suzanne Woods Fisher is always a pleasure, and this interview was delightful as well. Learning all about her new series got me excited to read her latest release, Capture the Moment. Listen in and see what's up with her national parks series! note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. Photography is something we don't see enough of in Christian fiction. Maybe I've just missed all the books, but I can only name a small hand...
Jun 07, 2025•33 min•Season 6Ep. 436
Nothing says excitement like a middle-grade fantasy, and well, Rachel Keith's Squad Rising sounds perfect to me. Listen in and see why I'm excited about this new series. note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. Rachel and I had a blast talking about the origin of this series, the videos she's made for YouTube (don't miss the Hershey's Kisses video!!!), and her little Calico Critters decked out to look like her characters. The Squad: R...
Jun 03, 2025•38 min•Season 6Ep. 435
If you love historical fiction and want books set in places other than North America or England, Lynn U. Watson has a series for you. Listen in to see what you'll find in Frayed Promises. note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. Set in the late 19th century, Frayed Promises is full of family drama and life lessons we could all use a reminder on. Frayed Promises by Lynn U. Watson Sequel to The BookFest® Award Winner, Tangled Promises W...
May 31, 2025•32 min•Season 6Ep. 434
I love American history, and finding tidbits of unknown or misunderstood/inaccurate ideas are some of my favorite ones to discover. Put it all in a boo about spies during the War for Independence? SOLD! Listen in to see what you'll find in Megan Soja's Secrets of the Revolution. note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. In this episode we had a great conversation about what other realities of life were like during the colonial era and ...
May 26, 2025•37 min•Season 6Ep. 433
Crystal Caudill is one of my favorite historical fiction authors, but when I found out that Written in Secret kicks off a new series that TIES INTO THE OLD ONE??? Totally jazzed. Listen in to find out about the goat. note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. From a three-legged goat to someone killing off people and making an author look suspicious, what more can you expect??? Add in a heroine who not only writes as a man BUT... is det...
May 24, 2025•39 min•Season 6Ep. 432
I've heard a lot of "whys" from different authors--why they started writing, wanted to write, began when they did. All the whys. Listen in and learn why Heidi Gray McGill took her why for her career and reworked it into her new writing career (and why I think she was so successful!). note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. When I found out Heidi's series, Discerning God's Best, allows readers to watch characters grow up and learn to ...
May 19, 2025•48 min•Season 6Ep. 431
One of the best romantic tropes out there is "marriage of convenience," but when you add strange dreams of a twin sister you don't actually have and a man trying to take away your stepson, it's hard to convince yourself that this could actually work. Listen in to learn about another problem this couple has to overcome in Amanda Cabot's latest release, Echoes of Sunrise. note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. We're headed to Carr Val...
May 17, 2025•35 min•Season 6Ep. 430
Christian dystopian thrillers are too few and far between, but author J. A. Webb has a great one for us. Listen in while we chat about his Seekers Series and the second book, Inheritance. note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. Mix a corrupt secret society along with a priest on the run, and you've got a great mix. This series promises to be full of amazing twists and turns. Inheritance by J. A. Webb A Dystopian Thriller of Deception...
May 12, 2025•30 min•Season 6Ep. 429
Austen retellings are always a lot of fun, but make it happen in a contemporary setting and toss in some royalty, and you've got something unique. Listen in to see why I'm almost giddy over this new series (and the cover!) note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. Talking with Janelle was such a delight. Adding to that learning how she went from working with the publisher to writing part of the series and then taking on the whole thing...
May 10, 2025•48 min•Season 6Ep. 428
The series title, "Singing Silver Mine," was enough to not only grab but hold my attention. But... you'll have to listen in to learn what else Donna Wichelman has written that has me crazy excited! note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. Inspired by the Georgetown Loop, The Singing Silver Mine series takes us to Colorado where a new national mining law put in place in 1872 prompted the mine disaster Donna put in this first book in th...
May 05, 2025•31 min•Season 4Ep. 427
Have you ever wanted to visit Eden? Listen in as I chat with author Dell Vans about her YA fantasy series where siblings Josh and Judy find a portal... to Eden . note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. Portal fantasy is a particular favorite of mine, and going to Eden? Sign me up and gimme a few hours to read it, and... bliss. Right? Add to that all the best of fantastical and mythical characters from folklore the world over, and yea...
May 03, 2025•35 min•Season 6Ep. 426
When Sins of the Past came out, author Bethany Klassen intended it to be a stand-alone. Listen in to learn how a sequel came about and why I'm so excited about it and her next release! note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. Our hero from Sins of the Past returns in Tomorrow's Promise , and with him comes other familiar characters and new ones as well. Bethany shares her joy in research (and how it can take over) as well as the excit...
Apr 28, 2025•32 min•Season 6Ep. 425
Biblical fiction author turned fantasy with an eleven-book series? Sign me up, please! Listen in to learn more about this Biblical allegory fantasy with a tie to "the first shall be last and the last shall be first." note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. Releasing one book a month in 2025, The Illumination Chronicles combines seven epic novels with four novellas in this can't-put-it-down series. EEEP! From before the fall, through ...
Apr 26, 2025•37 min•Season 6Ep. 424
A few years ago I read a book about a woman who visited Ireland and the ensuing story. Well, last month I chatted with her about her Forever Series and especially, Forever Free . Listen in and see why I am excited to check out this series (especially #4!) note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. I loved Hope's author history--from the book that people thought was about someone a lot like her to the opposite, to yet another opposite, a...
Apr 21, 2025•34 min•Season 6Ep. 423
Nothing says "sign me up now" than a new book from Becca Wierwille. I had the pleasure of reading an early copy of Road Trip Redemption , and boy was I thrilled. Listen in to see why. note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. Full of wonderful lessons that appear naturally within the story rather than feeling placed there for maximum impact (read: SERMON), Road Trip Redemption ends the fabulous Road Trip Series with a bang--and an epic...
Apr 19, 2025•44 min•Season 6Ep. 422
If you love the children's classic, A Little Princess and story of Joseph from the Bible, imagine them set in a fantasy world filled with artists. Listen in while we talk about art academies and princes who don't want to be king! note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. Author of books like The Vault between Spaces and Beast , Chawna Schroeder does it again with a wonderful world of art and honor--and the things in between. Don't forg...
Apr 14, 2025•38 min•Season 6Ep. 421
Seth has three weeks to save his sister. Just hack into the government and voila. All saved. No biggie. Ahem. Listen in and see what his sister's fate is if Seth fails! note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. In a world with cameras everywhere, Jeremiah Friedli takes it to new levels in this sci-fi... well, he doesn't call it a thriller, but it sure feels like it might be one to me. If you liked Amanda G. Stevens' Haven Seekers serie...
Apr 12, 2025•37 min•Season 6Ep. 420
Christian chapter books for early readers are hard to find. Listen in and learn why Allie Slocum added subtle lessons about parts of speech in hers! note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. Where were these books when I was homeschooling young elementary kids? The stories look like heaps of fun, and a lesson or two along that way? Yes, please! Joseph O'Tooley and the Escape of Herb the Verb by Allie Slocum Every kid struggles with hum...
Apr 07, 2025•28 min•Season 6Ep. 419
I love American homefront stories from WWII. Make them epistolary novels and, well, that makes them just about perfect. Listen in to learn more about Caitlin Miller's Our Yellow Tape Letters. note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. When Caitlin Miller said she was inspired by Amy Lynn Green's Things We Didn't Say AND that Green endorsed the novel, well... I knew this book would be excellent! I've already started reading it, and so fa...
Apr 05, 2025•42 min•Season 6Ep. 418
I'm so excited about the On Victory's Wings series by Jennifer Mistmorgan. We had a blast chatting and you won't want to miss out on the a mini brainstorming session we had. note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. World War II had no end of amazing stories of heroism--in battle and on the home front. Sometimes it's a noble heart doing what might have been done at any time and in any situation but is made even more impressive by the d...
Mar 31, 2025•37 min•Season 6Ep. 417
When I read that Kelli Galyean's novel explores an unwanted abortion and the fallout that follows, I knew I had to read it. Listen in to discover the twist that cemented that decision. note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. Abortion is such a difficult topic to begin with, but when it's forced on you by parents looking out for their political ambitions... things get a whole new level of painful and complicated. Add to that the grief...
Mar 29, 2025•34 min•Season 6Ep. 416
Cheri Swalwell has a fabulous series, the Redemption of Green Pines, is finally complete. Listen in to learn more about the entire series and specifically what you'll find in this award-winning conclusion. note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you. I love that Swalwell has brought the series "full circle" with this series. It's such a great way to wind it up. I also love the idea that we might get more from this world. EEEP. But what I ...
Mar 24, 2025•44 min•Season 6Ep. 415
I love it when authors get ideas and go into new directions with their writing because of it. For Antony Kolenc, his middle-grade/YA medieval mysteries are followed by a supernatural thriller exploring what would happen if they managed to have Jesus' blood and cloned Him today. Listen in to learn about what Antony did with the chilling possibilities of trying to play God in this technologically advanced age. note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra e...
Mar 22, 2025•37 min•Season 6Ep. 414
