It’s a good day to begin again

With a fresh look and a new project

It’s been a while since I showed up in your email inbox — which isn’t necessarily a bad thing! There are seasons in life, even for writers, when we just don’t have much to say. Often it’s because we’re busy DOING. The past nine months have been quite full in all the best ways. I’ve traveled to England and Hawaii, welcomed a new granddaughter and been hard at work on my first (and probably only) novel.

I want to share with you my novel-in-progress through this new avenue of communication — Substack. It’s still me talking about all things writing and spiritual (often in the same sentence), but in a fresh format. So, let’s begin again!

This will likely be my one and only novel and it’s kind of a big deal. I have writing friends who produce a book nearly every year, but that will never be me. This one story has been living in my heart and mind for at least five years and once the final chapter is written and in your hands, I will be satisfied.

I’m reaching out to friends who have followed my blog to invite you to continue traveling with me as I tell the story of three women bound by the promises they keep. Ruby, Katie and Stella share a mission across three generations to lay down a legacy of words — healing words that cannot change the past but may illuminate events that shaped all their lives and leave a fresh imprint on the future. I hope you enjoy the journey!

Along with regular subscribers to my blog, I’m sharing this first missive with new friends I met and ministered to at the 2022 Alabaster Heart Women’s Conference. I’ve also included a small group of fellow fiction writers with whom I recently spent five fantastic days at the Scriptoria Workshop. If your inbox is already overloaded with emails you don’t have time to read, please respond with an Unsubscribe message and I’ll take you off the list. If any of you wish to continue receiving Story Teller emails, click the link at the bottom and they’ll continue coming your way no more than once a month. Easy peasy!

But before you make your decision, let me share what you’ll find in this growing community of Story Tellers.

As I said earlier, I’m deep in the work of crafting a novel about how promises — the ones we make, the ones we break and the ones we keep — shape our lives and impact those who come after us. This multi-generational, fictional story spans nearly a century and takes us from a farm in central Indiana to the city of Detroit. Along the way, we’ll face issues such as prejudice, family disfunction and equality. We’ll cross paths with a real-life character or two and we’ll meet some very special individuals who care enough to do the right thing.

It’s your journey, too

The promises we make, break and keep shape our lives, too. We’ll talk about that here and reflect on how spending time in the presence of our divine Creator helps us make choices and grow habits that can point us in the right direction. I’ll share books I’m reading, messages that have resonated with me and links to websites I’ve found helpful, both in crafting this fictional tale and in crafting a life.

My website has received a facelift. While some elements will continue to evolve, I’m excited to get back into the habit of writing regular “reflections” (formerly known as blog posts). In my latest reflection, I’m letting you in on the inspiration for the site’s tagline “All the way home” and sharing some wisdom from a modern-day apostle who has impacted my life both as a story teller and a woman of faith. Won’t you join me?

---