Oh friends, you are in for a treat today! Karen Gonzalez is a friend, a fellow writer and a teacher to me. I felt privileged to be able to read some of the early chapters of The God Who Sees, but even more so, consider it an honor to have my perspective changed by the likes of someone like Karen. The book releases today, so grab a copy ASAP, or check out this interview with her and take your chances on a... Read more
If you haven’t been following the news this last week, Alabama’s the talk of the town. On Tuesday night, with a 25-6 vote, the Senate passed the Alabama Human Life Protection Act, a bill that threatens to criminalize doctors who perform abortions. Even in cases of rape and incest (which Democrats sought to ratify in a failed amendment), the new bill remains and will go into effect in six months’ time. Now, here’s the deal: although one could argue that... Read more
Author Tuesday returns! Today I’ve got a favorite human, writer and friend named Andi Cumbo-Floyd I can’t wait for you to meet. Andi is a writer’s writer who inspires me in the many different forms her writing takes; from non-fiction to fiction, writing to writers, general audiences and young adults alike, she is an inspiration to many. Read her heart behind her new book, Silence at the Locks, and leave a comment below to win a copy of the new release! ... Read more
I noticed something interesting when I was glanced over at the stack of books next to my reading chair a couple of days ago: all of the books were written by women. Loving My Actual Neighbor (Alexandra Kuykendall) Becoming (Michelle Obama) Devotions (Mary Oliver) Girls & Sex (Peggy Orenstein) Ordinary Light (Tracy K Smith) Perhaps this is interesting to you. Perhaps it isn’t. Perhaps this is the exact stack you find next to your reading chair (or bedside table, or in purse... Read more
I’ll be the first to tell you that I didn’t know Rachel Held Evans personally. Sure, we followed each other on Twitter and snapped a couple of pictures together when we found ourselves in the same place (mostly at my starstruck insistence), but we didn’t text. We didn’t email. We didn’t reach out to one another with encouragement and lament and laughter alike. But our lack of personal knowing didn’t mean I wasn’t changed by her. Perhaps like you, I mostly got... Read more
If there’s one thing my newly minted forty-year old self has taught me it’s that I don’t bounce back the way I used to. As some of you know, I was a high school English teacher and then a non-profit outreach ministry director before I became a writer and speaker. And as I was saying to a friend the other night, I knew it was time to leave ministry when a week at camp yielded a week of recovery on... Read more
As per the Tuesday usual, have I got a TREAT for you! If Emily Freeman’s not on your radar yet, you need to remedy that situation ASAP. She’s a writer’s writer, a guide and a teacher, and someone I’ve been paying attention to for awhile now. I’ve read a couple of her books and can’t wait to check out The Next Right Thing just as soon as I finish the current stack of books. Enjoy this interview with her! — Tell us a... Read more
Oh friends, I am GIDDY as I type the introduction to today’s post, because you get to meet one of my dear friends, Alia Joy. Alia’s new book, Glorious Weakness, just released a couple of weeks ago, and if you don’t already know her, she’s a writer’s writer, a soul-barer, a Four on the Enneagram and someone who gives the rest of us permission to know we’re not alone in our pain. She’s been a mentor, an editor and an... Read more
Last weekend, Theo and I spent the extended weekend in Mississippi. As happened with Oregon just a couple of weeks before, my husband and I counted it as a chance to kill two birds with one stone – two birds encompassed by visiting family and getting the chance to share about my book. So, we set up an event with my father-in-law, James Meredith, and a justice slinger I’m rather fond of, Jemar Tisby. We found a local bookstore to... Read more
Another Tuesday, another dollar …is that how the phrase goes? I’ve got an author I’d like you to meet: Ryan Pemberton is a local minister and friend, who also happens to have written a story-driven memoir about calling. Like Ryan, words give me life – but even if words are in our bones, there’s no guarantee that the rest of the world is going to resonate with the stories we tell (nor does it mean that publishers will pick up said words). Curious as to how... Read more
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