Description: Lt. Mellie Blake is a nurse serving in the 802nd Medical Squadron, Air Evacuation, Transport. As part of a morale building program, she reluctantly enters into an anonymous correspondence with Lt. Tom MacGilliver, an officer in the 908th Engineer Aviation Battalion in North Africa. As their letters crisscross the Atlantic, Tom and Mellie develop a unique friendship despite not knowing the other’s true identity. When both are transferred to Algeria, the two are poised to meet face to face for the first time. Will they overcome their fears and reveal who they are, or will their future be held hostage to their past? And can they learn to...
Freedom Unconquerable
Olympic Equestrian Highlights – The stories matter more than medals
I’m not the type to believe that “everyone should get a trophy for participating.” I’ve come in last place in enough horse shows to know that failure and trials only push you to rise to the next level. But I do believe that when it comes to the Olympics, the medal count isn’t what really matters. It is the heart and the stories behind the competitors. That’s why I decided to share some of my favorite stories so far: Hiroshi Hoketsu, age 71, is the oldest competitor in the Olympics since 1920. He made his debut as an equestrian back in the 1964 Tokyo games and then worked as a...
Coming Full-Circle in Writing Conferences
This August marks the 4th consecutive year I’ve attended the Oregon Christian Writers Summer Coaching Conference. With a stellar faculty and amazing editors & agents, this conference has been essential to my writing career. Without the conference: I would have never learned the importance and value of marketing with other writers. I never would have met the Diamond Girls. I never would have met my agent (whom I met in 2009 and signed with in 2010). I never would have put that first novel to rest and written other novels that really honed my skills. I never would have started this website and blog. Now, as I look ahead to...
In Honor of the 2012 London Olympics
It is only right to highlight some of the incredible stories of the Olympics through the years. Well, the stories I find most fascinating: Major General Jack Burton was indeed one of several riders who represented the United States at the first Olympics since Berlin in 1936. He’d served in the Pacific during World War II and trained horses for the army during and after the war years as well. But his story didn’t end there. Or, one of my personal heros: The story of Lis Hartel, a woman who would win championship after championship, ride and place in the Olympics during a male-dominated period, and all without the use...