It's Thursday and I'm not a Guitar Hero

It's Thursday and it's raining. This is good. There's even been a little thunder -- nothing severe, just enough to feel like spring. I've just got some random thoughts today.

I've got a new favorite game. My son Tim got this game for PS2 called Guitar Heroes 2. It has a cool controller shaped like a guitar, with buttons on the fret bar and a strum bar on the body. The idea is to play the notes (color coded to match the buttons) as they scroll along the screen. And what you're playing are rock songs. This is harder than it looks. Even on Easy. So far, I can blunder my way through Girlfriend, Carry on My Wayward Son, Message in a Bottle, You Really Got Me and Sweet Child 'o' Mine. And blunder is the operative word. I think the best I've done is get about 89 percent of the notes right. Of course, there are various bells and whistles to go along with the music -- flashing lights and something called star power that makes the notes glow and gives you more points. It's a very fun game and could be seriously addictive.

It's also humbling. I have some musical talent and I have a fairly deep familiarity with rock 'n roll. But this game is hard. You have to hit the buttons at just the right time and the notes scroll along pretty fast. And some of the timing is funkier than you think it is. You can't play this game without practice. A lot of it. I'll never be very good at Guitar Heroes 2 because I'm not going to dedicate significant chunks of time to a video game.

But I do want to be a good writer, a better writer than I am now. That's going to take practice. I'm going to have to dedicate a significant amount of time to sitting my butt in the chair in front of the computer and tapping away at my stories. I wrote a story this week and need to revise it fast if I want to make the April 1 deadline for Coach's Midnight Diner (brought to you by the folks at Relief). So it's butt in chair time. (With occasional short breaks to play Sweet Child 'o' Mine.)

Good stuff for a Tuesday

Here are some good things:

Gregory Paul Smith: This singer and songwriter is a Kansas native and his album I Can Live Again has been released through Creative Soul Records. He led worship for us Sunday, which is how I became aware of him. I appreciated the honesty of his testimony -- both spoken and in his lyrics. The album is a nice blend of musical styles -- some rock, some mellow, some gospel. Besides his Web site, he has a ShoutLife page. (ShoutLife is a Christian social networking site, similar to MySpace. I was looking at it a bit today -- looks interesting. Like I need another blog.)

Double Vision: I blogged about this last week, but I hadn't read it yet, so I didn't get specific. But Saturday night I started reading it and I couldn't put it down until I finished it, at about 3 a.m.! Randy Ingermanson has done a fine job with this "humorous romantic suspense." His characters are distinct and memorable and the plot twists keep the reader guessing. Randy is a physicist and I got lost a bit among the science -- the story's plot revolves around a computer that uses the principles of quantum physics -- but not so much that I couldn't follow the story. One of the things I appreciated about the story was how the Christian characters interacted with nonbelievers -- it was genuine and believable. One of the things I want to do as a writer is show Christians as real people, not freaky stereotypes. Randy has done this very well. Faith is an important element of the story, but it is integral to the characters, and so is a seamless part of the plot. This is an entertaining book, but it also gets you to think a bit about faith and forgiveness, love and ethics.

Journler 2.5: (Note the spelling -- it's not Journaler.) I upgraded to Journler 2.5 today and it's got some cool new features, like a drop box that sits on my Mac's desktop. It allows me to drop a document or other item into it and it makes a new entry in the category and folder I specify. It also has a Lexicon, which is essentially a list of all the words you've used in your journal entries. It allows you to see new connections between what you've written, or see all the entries where you've used a certain word. And of course, Journler is searchable, lets you add tags and search that way, and is fully integrated with iLife applications. By the way, Journler is only for the Mac. I use Journler a lot to keep notes related to my work, such as InDesign tips, or procedures such as how to set up color separations for printing. It's also a depository of nifty quotes, blog entries, song lyrics, and random thoughts.

Rebecca reminded me of one of our adventures in music.

CSFF Tour: Double Vision

This month's Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy blog tour features Randy Ingermanson's new novel Double Vision. Not only is Randy well-known for his novels, he's a cottage industry of writing help, with his Web site, Fiction 101 sessions at writer's conferences and on CD, and his Advanced Fiction Writing e-zine (I'm a subscriber). Randy is known for blending science and story in a way that holds readers to the last page. (After all, he is a physicist.) And, he won a Christy award for his novel Oxygen, in 2001. This new novel looks intriguing (and it's on my pile to read, but I haven't gotten to it yet). It's described as humorous romantic suspense. Here's the premise:

Dillon Richard is a brilliant and meticulous engineer, respected by his co-workers at CypherQuanta, but he has never had a woman interested in him before. Now he's got two, and they're giving him double vision . . .

Rachel Meyers is a quirky, erratic biophysicist who has just developed a quantum computer that will change the world. If Rachel and Dillon can bring it to market, CypherQuanta will be worth billions. But someone is determined to steal the secret . . . and create a rift between Rachel and Dillon.

Keryn Wills is a mystery novelist and part-time chief financial officer at CypherQuanta. She desperately needs to keep Rachel and Dillon working together to finish the project, but she desperately doesn't want them to be friends. Now Keryn finds herself on the run, like a character in one of her own novels, as somebody begins tightening a noose around her and Rachel and Dillon. Somehow, she needs to unravel this mystery -- before it unravels her.

Three secrets. Two women. One man. No time.

As always, you can follow the tour by visiting the fine blogs listed below.

Nissa Annakindt
Jim Black
Grace Bridges
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Frank Creed
CSFF Blog Tour
D. G. D. Davidson
Janey DeMeo
Tessa Edwards
April Erwin
Linda Gilmore
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Leathel Grody
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Christopher Hopper
Jason Joyner
Karen
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Kevin Lucia and The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 - The Compendium
Rachel Marks
Shannon McNear
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Caleb Newell
Nicole
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
Robin Parrish
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Tsaba House Authors
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Daniel I. Weaver

Friday news and views

I guess this is a week for publication news, though I knew this one was coming. If you attend an Evangelical Covenant Church you most likely have seen a little publication called the Covenant Home Altar. It's a quarterly devotional and each week's set of devotions is written by a member of a Covenant church. I have a week of devotions in this issue -- the week of June 10 -- so if you see a copy, pick it up. Or you can order copies or a subscription through the Web site.

Basketball Tournament notes:
K-State won it's NIT game against Vermont on Wednesday evening. Next up is DePaul on Monday. Go 'Cats!

My NCAA bracket isn't in too bad shape yet. I was wrong about Old Dominion, Duke, Gonzaga and Marquette, but of those, I had only picked Gonzaga to advance to the Sweet 16. And I wasn't terribly disappointed that Duke lost to VCU. It was a good game and I was impressed with how VCU played. This seems like a program that could be a factor in years to come.

Texas Tech is out. Yes! Stanford is out. Yes! Further proof that Drexel and K-State should have received bids instead, at least to me.

Tonight KU plays its first game. I guess Niagara is a good team, but I think KU has shown this year that they can play well in tough games. (For ex., coming from behind to beat Texas in the Big 12 tournament championship game.) So they should advance.

In the this-is-just-so-cool category:
Scientists at Purdue have developed a working tricorder. It doesn't look much like the Star Trek models, but it sounds really cool, and useful.

And the winners are ...

Me, among others.
Yes, Robin Parrish has at last announced the top 10 finishers in both poetry and fiction for the 2006 edition of Best of Infuze. My story Confessions of a Christian Mom made the cut! I'm in very good company -- there are some excellent stories and poems included. The anthology will be available in a few weeks, so make your plans to get your very own copy.

Four things

I think I've done this before, but Jim tagged me, so here goes:

Four jobs I have had:
The salad girl at the Red Geranium Restaurant in New Harmony, Ind.
A nurse's aide in a nursing home.
Composition editor at the Clifton News-Tribune in Clifton, Kan.
Publications editor for K-State Research and Extension

Four movies I could watch over and over:
While You Were Sleeping
The Goodbye Girl
About a Boy
Safe Passage
(Can you tell I'm a sucker for sappy movies?)

Four places I have lived:
Bowen, Ill.
Griffin, Ind.
Lincoln, Ill.
Jamestown, Kan.

Four of my favorite foods:
Pizza
Mexican food
Lasagna
Mashed potatoes and gravy

Four places I would rather be right now:
London
Fort Wayne, Ind. (where my friend Rebecca lives)
Chicago (where Megan is and where KU plays it's opening round in the NCAA tournament)
At home with my husband

I can't think of anyone to tag, but if you read this and want to play along, leave a comment.

Madness

Yes, it has come again -- time to give myself over to the annual orgy of college basketball that is the NCAA Men's Tournament. I was very disappointed (and I mean VERY) that K-State was not one of the 65, but Texas Tech got in, even after K-State wolloped them in the Big 12 Tournament. Shouldn't winning 22 games and winning 10 games on the road in the Big 12 and finishing 4th in the Big 12 for the regular season count for something? Apparently not. I could whine some more, but it makes no difference now. K-State plays it's first NIT game tomorrow night right here in Bramlage Colliseum, so at least they get some postseason play. I'm hoping they do well.

As for my other basketball school -- KU is a No. 1 seed! The 'Hawks Rock! I do not think they'll fold in the first round this year, either. They've shown they can play in tough games and I'm picking them for the Final Four -- and to win it all. (I'm probably being optimistic, but my bracket will be shot to pieces by the end of the first weekend, so my picks are just for fun, anyway.)

I'm not planning on taking Thursday and Friday afternoons off, but I'll be watching the scores and then go home and watch a lot of basketball. I love the early rounds, especially, when everybody plays with so much heart.

Friday news and views

I've been a pretty lax blogger, so I've got a bit of catching up to do today.

Today's Christian Fiction Blog Alliance tour is The Watchers, by Mark Andrew Olson, a tale of supernatural suspense.

Just below the surface among the family of God lives another family tree--one traced in spirit, invisible and ageless, known as the Watchers. For two thousand years they've seen beyond the veil separating this world from the next, passing on their gift through a lineage mostly overlooked. Throughout history they've scouted the borders of the supernatural frontier, but now their survival hangs by a thread. And their fate lies in the hands of a young woman, her would-be killer, and a mystery they must solve....

If that sounds intriguing, check it out.

One of the books I'm looking forward to this year is Tribulation House, by Chris Well. It's getting some good advance notices and it sounds like another hilarious entry in his series of stories set in Kansas City:

IT’S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD—WHICH COULD BE A PROBLEM...

Mark Hogan has it all. The job. The family. A position on the board at church. All he’s missing is a boat. Not just any boat—a 2008 Bayliner 192.

When Reverend Daniel Glory announces that the Rapture is taking place on October 17 at 5:51am, Hogan realizes his boat–buying days are numbered. So he does what any man in his situation would do—he borrows a load of money from the mob.

Not that there’s any risk involved: After all, when the Rapture comes, Hogan will be long gone. The mob will never find him.

But when Jesus fails to come back on schedule, Mark Hogan finds the mob is in no mood to discuss the finer points of end–times theology...

The book releases April 1 and I'm hoping to have an author interview in a few weeks. Chris reports that he and his wife Erika are working on other projects, too, with more details to come.

I've been listening to some new music:
Sara Groves -- Add to the Beauty (my favorite track on this is "Just Showed Up for My Own Life," which is a very upbeat, catchy tune, with good lyrics).

Badly Drawn Boy -- About a Boy soundtrack. I've always loved the movie and the music in it, so I finally got the soundtrack. Very cool music.

The Black Keys -- Rubber Factory and thickfreakness. This duo from Akron, Ohio, rocks the blues with mostly just a drum and a guitar. Good stuff.

Oldies but goodies -- some Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Guess Who and Queen.

Spring is almost here!

March column

My March "Notes from the Windowsill" column is up: Cleansing Fire. One of the wonders of the Flint Hills, at least for me, is when farmers and ranchers burn off pastures. It can be a dramatic sight, especially at night. And it reminds me of how God works in our lives, burning away the stuff that gets in the way of living for him. So that's what the column is about. As an online bonus, I included some relevant links.

How to tell spring has almost arrived in Kansas ...

Saturday we were under a tornado watch until 6 p.m. Then we were under a blizzard warning.

(Fortunately, we didn't get the nastiest of the weather -- just lots of rain and lots of wind.)

Blog tour and truth-tellers

Today I'd like to point you to a couple of things.

This week's CFBA blog tour features the second book in John Aubrey Anderson's Black and White Chronicles: Wedgewood Grey. You can find more about it at the CFBA blog.

This week I've been thinking about what freedom in Christ means -- particularly what it means when it comes to writing (but also reading). I don't have my thoughts very organized yet, but it's interesting how when I start thinking about something, I always find others who are thinking related things. Mike Duran posted yesterday about "What is Christian Art?" and it looks like the first in a series. Mike's thoughts are similar, though better expressed, to some of what I've been thinking. And he's not afraid to rattle a few cages, but he always does it with love. And since it's Friday, it's Mark Bertrand's turn to post at the Master's Artist: Tasting the Bitter Scroll is about the unpopularity of prophetic voices. If you wonder about honesty in art, both of these posts are good to read.

Good stuff on the Internet

One of the books I'm looking forward to reading this year is the first novel by Kathleen Popa, a fellow member of the Faith in Fiction community and a regular blogger I read. Her book is called To Dance in the Desert and it's coming out in May. There's a trailer up now and I encourage you to visit -- it's beautiful. Then enter the Web site and find out more about what inspired Katy to write about the desert, and read the first chapter.

I don't listen to a lot of podcasts, but one I listen to regularly is by Michael Spencer, otherwise known as the Internet Monk. He's a Bible teacher and preacher in Kentucky and I have to admit that part of why I like listening to him is I like his accent -- I lived in Southern Indiana long enough for a Kentucky accent to sound like home. But mostly I like what he says -- he's got good insights into Scripture, a heart for his students, a sharp wit and a keen eye for inconsistency and pretense in the American church. And he always plays cool music. (By the way, you do not have to have an iPod to listen to a podcast -- and you can download his podcasts from his blog if you don't want to mess with iTunes.)

OK, I have to add something. Chris posted about this very fun game that is right up a word geek's alley: Word Shoot: Spell Fast or Die. The idea is simple -- spell the word next to the alien ships coming at you. And sometimes you get the word "detonate," which blows up everything. This could be addictive.

CSFF Blog Tour: Where the Map Ends

This month, the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy blog tour is highlighting a Web site: Where the Map Ends. The owner, Jeff Gerke, is a writer and former editor with several different publishing houses. But most of all, he's a fan of science fiction, fantasy, speculative fiction ... Well, here's how he describes himself on his Web site:

Jeff Gerke is...me: a guy who loves Christian speculative fiction.

Christian fantasy. Christian science fiction. Christian time travel. Christian spiritual warfare. Christian supernatural thrillers. Christian "chillers." Christian alternate history. Christian pure speculative. I even like Christian speculative gaming, manga, comics, animation, machinima, and animation. If it's Christian and it's speculative, I'm there.

Jeff has filled his Web site with the kind of stuff Christian science fiction and fantasy writers and fans will love: interviews, book suggestions, art, writing tips, publishing suggestions and lots of other neat stuff. A new feature he's added is world-building and character-building tools, including alien name-building. How cool is that? (I wish I'd knows about this when I was trying to come up with a name for the alien race in a short story I'm writing.)

Jeff is developing a great Web site that I know I'm going to be visiting again. Check it out.

You can also explore these fine blogs and Web sites to learn more:

Nissa Annakindt
Jim Black
Grace Bridges
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Chris Deanne
Janey DeMeo
Tessa Edwards
April Erwin
Kameron M. Franklin
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Todd Michael Greene
Leathel Grody
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Christopher Hopper
Jason Joyner
Kait
Karen
K. D. Kragen
Tina Kulesa
Kevin Lucia and The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 - The Compendium
Rachel Marks
Shannon McNear
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Robin Parrish
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Daniel I. Weaver
Timothy Wise

TGIF

I've been busy this week. I have some projects at work that have needed more attention and I haven't taken time to blog.

I think I'm going through a season of thinking. Which may be a good thing. When I have more to say, I'll say it. For right now, I've been thinking and praying. Our church has been doing 24/7 prayer for about a month now, and it's really neat. I've been in the prayer room about once a week since we started. It is very good to have a place to just be quiet and listen to God and see what he's doing in the lives of people in my church. And time in the prayer room does seem to help put the little daily annoyances and cares in perspective. So that's one thing I've been doing.

I've been walking again this week. One of my co-workers gives me a ride since it's been so bitterly cold. (It's not so cold today, but this afternoon it started snowing. I think it's more than the weather service had expected. It's been very pretty to watch out my window, but in a while I'll have to ride the van in it. Fun.) Anyway, I stood on the scales at the rec center and I've lost a little weight since December. It's encouraging, but I've got a long way to go.

We've been listening to Harry Potter books on audiobook. I get them from the library and Bob and I listen to the cd's together. If you've never listened to the audio versions of these, narrated by Jim Dale, you're missing a real treat. Dale is a wonderful reader, and does different voices for all the characters. It's fun to listen to. And while I listen, I've been trying to crochet again. I learned a long time ago, but I never was very good at it. But it keeps my hands busy and when I'm crocheting, I'm not eating.

So I guess that's the main things. Take care. And here's a thought for the weekend: Don't hate yourself in the morning. Sleep in. :)

CFBA Tour: Christian Writer's Market Guide

I was truly excited to receive my copy of this book in the mail this week. Why? Because it is an important tool in a writer's toolbox. Sally Stuart's Christian Writer's Market Guide is for Christian writers what Writer's Digest's Writer's Market is for general market writers.

Here's a bit about the author:

Sally E. Stuart is the author of 34 books and has sold more than a thousand articles and columns. Her long-term involvement with the Christian Writers' Market Guide as well as her marketing columns for the Christian Communicator, Oregon Christian Writers, and The Advanced Christian Writer, make her a sought-after speaker and a leading authority on Christian markets and the business of writing. Stuart is the mother of three and grandmother of eight.

And about the book:

For more than 20 years, the Christian Writers’ Market Guide has offered indispensable help to Christian writers. This year, for the first time, this valuable resource comes with a CD-ROM of the full text, so you can search with ease for topics, publishers, and other specific names.

The 2007 edition also includes up-to-date listings of more than 1,200 markets for books, articles, stories, poetry, and greeting cards, including information on 40 new book publishers, 83 new periodicals, and 34 new literary agents. Perfect for writers in every phase, this is the resource to get noticed – and get published.

It contains listings for: 695 periodicals, 228 poetry markets, 355 book publishers, 133 online publications, 29 print-on-demand publishers, 1185 markets for the written word, 321 photography markets, 31 e-book publishers, 122 foreign markets, 112 literary agents,and 59 newspapers.

It also gives you comprehensive lists of contests, writers groups and conferences, search engines, pay rates and submission guidelines, editorial services and websites.

I looked through the book last night and was pleased to see how well it is organized. It will be easy to find specific publishers or specific markets I want to submit stories to. I'm going to use this book a lot, I'm sure.

The Door Opens

When I got home last night, my husband said I had a letter from The Wittenburg Door -- a letter with a release I had to sign and return. Whoo-hoo! The Door has accepted a humorous survey I submitted called Preacher's Kids Anonymous. It will either be in the magazine (in one or the other of the next two issues) or in the newsletter or online -- or maybe in all three. Not only does the Door actually pay, it's one of my favorite magazines. I'm very excited about this.

In other news, I think you have a few more days to vote in the Infuze Best of 2006 poll. My story Confessions of a Christian Mom is in the running, so I'd really appreciate your vote (if you haven't voted already). My critique buddy Chris has a poem in the running, too.

Have you noticed the new look here? I used the customize layout option that Blogger offers now and I think it turned out pretty good. It's not real different, but I was able to clean it up a bit and it was very easy to do. And I added a link to my Flickr photos, too, if you're interested.

I am ...

You Are An INFP

The Idealist You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world. Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships. It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close. But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop. You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist.

What's Your Personality Type?

CFBA Tour: Germ

This week's featured book is Germ, by Robert Liparulo (who is becoming one of my son Joel's favorite authors -- I should have had him write this entry!).

Once again Liparulo has come up with a story that is just close enough to reality to be unsettling. What's it about?

The list of 10,000 names was created for maximum devastation. Business leaders, housewives, politicians, celebrities, janitors, children. None of them is aware of what is about to happen--but all will be part of the most frightening brand of warfare the world has ever known.

The germ--an advanced form of the Ebola virus--has been genetically engineered to infect only those people whose DNA matches the codes embedded within it. Those whose DNA is not a match simply catch a cold. But those who are a match experience a far worse fate. Within days, their internal organs liquify.

Death is the only escape.

The release of the virus will usher in a new era of power where countries are left without defense. Where a single person--or millions--could be killed with perfect accuracy and zero collateral damage. Where your own DNA works against you.

The time isn't coming. It is now. Pray the assassins get you first.

In case you're wondering, Joel (age 16 and a voracious reader) says it's pretty good.

FIRST: Abiding Darkness

This month's featured book for the FIRST tour (Fiction in Rather Short Takes) is Abiding Darkness, by John Aubrey Anderson. I'm afraid my heeby-jeeby meter went way high when reading the cover copy for this spiritual warfare thriller, so I haven't read it yet, but it has received some good reviews from other readers. Here's how fellow FIRST reviewer Kevin Lucia describes the book:

Abiding Darkness, by John Aubrey Anderson, is a promising work of literary weight that’s a wonderful period piece steeped in nostalgia and good old fashioned, Southern living. Told in a style reminiscent of Flannery O’Conner and other Southern writers, Abiding Darkness takes the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s and fleshes them out to real-life proportions, so much so you can smell the catfish roasting on the fire and hear the Temptations playing in the background. The characters are wonderful studies of simple, foundational living, and the narrative drawls in a uniquely Southern fashion, Anderson writing the character’s dialogue as only a Southern writer could.

The story follows the life of Missy Parker, a white girl who’s been deemed “special” by dark and holy powers alike. Through her young life and through adulthood, Missy is unwittingly the center of a demonic and holy tug of war, as unseen, dark forces wage war against her; first in an effort to sway her soul, and forever after in an effort to hurt her and the ones she loves. Twice these forces claim the lives of those close to her, as two people she cares for sacrifice themselves for her.

However, the dark forces that dog her every step are thwarted by the prayers of those close to her and Missy’s own determined spiritual development. Also, beyond her ken and of those around her, an angelic host stands guard, making sure that God’s special ones are not harmed by the Enemy’s hand. The novel ends as a demonic and angelic forces clash once again, and the storyline leaves us expecting continued repercussions of the Cat Lake ‘War of ‘45’.

So, here's the the beginning of Chapter 1 of Abiding Darkness (I'll send you to the FIRST blog for the rest of it):

Summers were mostly reliable.

The always followed spring. They always got hot. And they always promised twelve weeks of pleasure to the three children at Cat Lake.

The summer of ’45 lied.

^ ^ ^

The whole thing started right there by the Cat Lake bridge.

They were playing their own version of three-man baseball when Bobby knocked the ball onto the road near the end of the bridge. Junior was taller and faster, but Missy was ahead in the race to get it. Bobby and Junior were older, but Missy was tough enough to almost keep up, and the boys usually held back some so they didn’t outdo her too much.

Missy was still a few yards from the ball when it rolled to a stop near the only car in sight. A boy taller than Junior stepped from behind the far end of the car and picked up the ball; he was followed by two more boys—one younger than Missy and another almost as tall as a man.

Missy slid to a stop in the gravel and yelled, “Hurry! Throw it!” Junior jogged up behind the girl and waited.

A heavyset man in a rumpled suit was standing in the road by the driver’s door; he allowed himself a long look at the girl and whispered something to the boy with the ball.

The boy nodded at what the man said and backed toward the car. The tallest boy moved up to stand by the man.

The fat man eyed Junior, then looked up and down the deserted road before beckoning to Missy. “Why don’t you come closer, and he’ll let you have it?”

Missy ignored the man and advanced on the boy with the ball. “Give it.”

When she walked past the taller boy, he fell to his hands and knees behind her and the one with the ball shoved her over his back. When Missy hit the ground, all three boys laughed. The man grinned.


In the near distance, a foursome of well-armed witnesses—tall, bright, and invisible—stood at a portal between time and eternity and watched Bobby Parker leave home plate and sprint for the bridge.

One of the group said, It begins.

Junior Washington’s guardian answered for the remainder of the small assembly, And so it does.

The three guardians conferred quietly about the events taking place before them; the archangel watched the unfolding drama in silence. The quartet—guarded by the wisdom of the ages against restlessness—waited patiently for a precise instant in time that had been ordained before the earth was formed.

(For the rest, follow this link.)

Take the survey

If you'd like to offer feedback on the cover of a new novel from Bethany House, you can take this survey. Dave Long has also posted a link to an interview with author, Ann Tatlock, too.