I recently had the great pleasure of writing a mystery for Journey Fiction’s Nosy Parker series based on ‘grown-up’ fans of the girl detective—girls of the fifties who’d obsessively read those books many of us also grew up with. My original idea was to have a 1950s heroine with a history degree become involved with […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Linda Shenton Matchett always wanted to be a reporter
During my young adult and career years, my writing opportunities ebbed and flowed, but I kept my hand in “reporting” through school year books and newspapers, and employee newsletters, with the occasional article in a community publication. When my husband and I relocated to NH to open a B&B, I once again found myself involved […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Tamera Lynn Kraft fell in love with the Greatest Generation
Alice’s Notions is the story I always wanted to write. The 1940s was such an interesting period of time to write about. This generation was called “the greatest generation” for good reason. This was the generation, forged in the trials of the Great Depression, who put their lives on hold and sacrificed everything to fight […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Gail Kittleson’s parents and her fiction
We don’t often reflect on the forces molding our childhood experiences until much later in life. Here I am in my sixties, finally considering how much World War II affected my parents, and therefore, my siblings and me. The Women of The Heartland Series, I realize now, found its roots in my parents’ moorings. Dad […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Susan Page Davis mirrors her ancestors’ lives in her stories
My Great-aunt Belle left a journal she wrote in the 1920s and ’30s. She died in 1939 at the age of 55 from complications of appendicitis. I never got the chance to know her, and I would love to be able to sit down with her for a cup of tea. Aunt Belle noted so […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Denise Weimer watched her folks restore a house
When I ask if God has ever taken you out of your comfort zone to perform a character overhaul on you, does a specific time and situation leap to mind? Often this happens when we discover something isn’t what it appears to be, or isn’t what we hoped. That new job. The place we moved […]
New releases from Christian writers
October 2016 New Releases More in-depth descriptions of these books can be found on the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) Fiction Finder website. Biblical Fiction: Providence: Hannah’s Journey by Barbara M. Britton — When the prophet of Israel refuses to heal her, Hannah flees Jerusalem and is captured by an enemy with a curse all his […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Ada Brownell exposes insane asylums of 100 years ago
In the early days of asylums, people who had seizures were thought to be lunatics or demon possessed. The public thought the same of those with Down’s Syndrome. Even paralyzed people were committed to asylums because the public believed paralysis was caused by humors in the brain. I once worked as a reporter for The […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Rebecca DeMarino struggled to fit fact with fiction
There is a challenge to writing historical novels about the lives of real people. The concept for my debut novel blossomed when I flew with my mother from the west coast to Long Island, N.Y., and visited the Horton Point Lighthouse, named after our ancestor, Barnabas Horton. We found he had been one of thirteen […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Cleo Lampos discovers the orphan trains
The books on the gift shop shelf featured grainy photos of children huddled around coal driven steam engines. Dressed in turn of the century clothes, some ragamuffins carried grief like luggage, but others appeared wide eyed with adventure. “Orphan trains,” my brother explained. “Those children were adopted here in the St. Cloud, Minnesota area. They […]