My first stories were written on lined notebook paper in my bedroom in the little stone house where I grew up. The stories would become scripts for my younger sisters to act out on a grassy stage in our lawn. I’ve been writing ever since. My first paying job as a writer came the summer after my freshman year of college. I took a summer job at our local newspaper and in the decade that followed I received the best education from a string of patient editors and mentors. I worked off-and-on for the newspaper until our third son was born when I “retired” to educate our four children at home. Over the next 20 years, most of my creative energies went toward teaching my own children and other homeschooled kids how to write.
Now that our sons are young adults (and several are writers), I’ve returned to writing. I began blogging a decade ago, the year I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Essays about my cancer journey helped me process this unexpected news. Besides creative non-fiction, I’m writing my first novel. It’s a cross-generational story that takes the reader from the 1920s to the present, and from Indiana to Detroit. I’ll welcome you along on this writing adventure as that story comes together and, hopefully, becomes an actual book.
Another passion is helping others tell their own stories. I’ve created a tool for gathering life stories and preserving them. Our stories have the power to heal both the storyteller and the story-receiver. They also offer the gift of legacy to our family and friends. My own experience writing and publishing a collection of my Dad’s life stories brought me great joy and gave our community and family an important record of a life well-lived. You can read more about this labor of love here. You can request a copy of our little book titled “One Man’s Work” by sending me an email here. When you do, I’ll include a copy of my writing tool “Tell Your Story”.
You may wonder at the tagline in my website title. “All the way home” is a phrase shared by author and speaker Jill Briscoe. I first heard this contemporary “hero of the faith” speak at a women’s conference when I was a young believer. A Brit by birth and an American by choice, Jill and her late husband Stuart drew others to their worldwide ministry with sound, bible-based teachings. Now in her 80s, Jill felt ready to leave the mission field several years ago. The Lord reminded Jill that He had called her to serve Him “all the way home.” She remains the founder of Just Between Us, a magazine for women, and the author of many spiritual books.
As I cross the line into my 70s, I sense the Lord has made the same call on my life. I will write stories and share my faith for as long as I am able — all the way “home”.