INTO THE MESSBOOK REVIEW Into the Mess by Debie Thomas is a well-written exploration of familiar Bible passages. Sometimes when I’m reading a book, I find myself automatically re-writing sentences as I go, adjusting for clarity or word order. The writing in this book is so lively, humorous, and engaging that I instantly shut off […]
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FOSTER CAREBOOK REVIEW Edna wastes no time drawing a hot bath for the child then scraping grime out from under nails, washing her hair, cleaning her ears. The girl describes the bath: “Then she makes me stand and soaps me all over with a cloth. Her hands are like my mother’s hand but there is
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BRUSSELS SPROUTSA CAUTIONARY TALE Photo Courtesy of Jodi Pender 0:00 / 0:00 Brussels Sprouts I used to have impossibly high hopes for family holiday dinners. I blame Norman Rockwell. Remember his painting of a well-dressed family gathered around a flawlessly set table? The children, parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents sit shoulder-to-shoulder, admiring an unpardoned turkey
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THE CELESTIAL VAULT Photo Courtesy of Unsplash Years ago, I read a book that animated and forever changed my creative process. In The Mind of the Maker, Dorothy Sayers says, “It is a universal experience that a work of art has no existence apart from its translation into material form.” That is, people think a
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KILLER ANGELS Our first Christmas tree was a pine branch stuck into a white plastic milk jug. That year, we’d been married for only two months when I came down with meningitis in mid-November. Distracted by my potential imminent demise, my husband, Bruce, did not attempt to decorate. So, on Christmas Eve, a friend
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DREAMING BIGGER 0:00 / 0:00 Dreaming Bigger MEDIUM just published this essay. You can read it below. A while ago, a video made the rounds on Face Book. In it, a virtual Santa on a large screen greeted passengers in an airport lobby. As the folks had their tickets scanned, the Santa asked what
SEARCHING FOR ARTHUR’S STONE Photo Credit Simon Godfrey This story was first published in the Virginia Quarterly Review. Between grief and nothing I will take grief. William Faulkner Rain splattered against the windshield of the van. The glass fogged. Meg fumbled with buttons on the unfamiliar dashboard, trying to find the defrost. After turning on
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REQUIEM FOR ONE TUBA Photo Courtesy of Nathan Bingler This short story was published by the Virginia Quarterly Review. REQUIEM IN B Flat MAJOR FOR ONE TUBA The old lady stood so close I felt her hot breath on my neck. Her cramped apartment was filled to overflowing: moving boxes stacked on end, brass
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TRIAGEA SHORT STORY Photo Courtesy of Daniel Ramierez My short story, TRIAGE, won first place in THE HOOK fiction contest. You can read it below. TRIAGE Thursday Night (Emma) Upstairs in bed, Emma hears the front door creak. She stiffens. It’s Alex coming in late. She listens to him open the refrigerator. Something tumbles
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HOLDING VIGIL:FOSTER CARE Photo Courtesy of Atharva Tulsi 0:00 / 0:00 Holding Vigil One result of the overturn of Roe v. Wade will be that many more children will be entering foster care, a system that is already underfunded and overwhelmed. Years ago, at my first job out of college, I saw firsthand how a
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