Friends, I’m delighted to be a part of this year’s Splashes of Hope short story collection. Click below to download your free PDF copy: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/1OCBdtV Check out the websites of these talented authors and follow their work! Pamela Baker Kathi Bloy Leone F. Byron Elizabeth Daghfal Beth Foreman Linda Lyle MaryAnne Quinn Ruth Schmeckpeper Felicia […]
Have you ever been visited by an angel? I mean, a real one walking on this Earth? Mine came in the form of a six-year-old Havasupai girl named Christina. Well, that wasn’t her original name—Christina was the name the Anglican church had dubbed her on her 2nd birthday. One of my biggest regrets is that […]
I opened my eyes, delirious with fever, to see the anxious faces of five friends peering down at me, the brilliant blue sky a backdrop to their floating heads. “We gotta pack her out.” Pack her out? What the heck did that mean? They divided my things. “Good thing she compartmentalized. I wouldn’t want to […]
Heather’s ringtone is the theme song from Batman. You know the one. Dah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-Batman! It hasn’t always been my friend’s ringtone. There’s a story behind it. The first week after my husband left, I existed solely on chai lattes and Skittles. Over-chewing the little rainbow-colored candies every day caused my TMJ to flare up. One rainy […]
From The Oystercatcher of Southwark by Erica Colahan-Ruggieri Copywrite 2022 “O, Holy Night, hmm hmm…” Mary hummed as she helped Mollie into her little bed, tucking the blankets around her. “Pretty, Muter,” Mollie sighed, rubbing her eyes and reaching her chubby arms up to hug Mary’s neck. “I am the most blessed mother in the […]
Guest Post by Melanie Wolfe As I drove down the highway on this cold and windy Christmas Eve to visit my grandmother at the nursing home, I felt nostalgic and sentimental for the Christmas Eves of my past. Christmas Eve was my favorite day of the holiday season when I was a little girl. There […]
“Psst…go back to that empty lot and grab one of those Christmas trees.” Grandmom nudged us back into the minivan. “What?” My eyebrows shot up in surprise. My brother looked at me, then at Grandmom. “You can’t be serious. We can’t just steal a Christmas tree.” “Why not?” Our Grandmom, Edna, was forceful. “Here, leave this in […]
“You’ve got long legs.” Samantha, the school’s most popular athlete, looked me up and down. “You should join our new girl’s crew team.” I was taking a sip from the water fountain in the hallway of my high school. “What? I thought rowing was about arm strength?” “You thought wrong. Meet us at the Chattahoochee […]
by Erica Colahan-Ruggieri Copyright 2022 More than 125 years have passed, and MARY PARAGANO’s tragic voice has been silenced by history—until her great-granddaughter, BELLA, and a stranger named SOPHIE discover their family connection and finally unearth Mary’s story. Philadelphia, 1897—Disowned by her Catholic father, abandoned by her husband, JAKOB, and pursued by a jealous gangster, […]
The morning after I held my infant Goddaughter over the baptismal font—making promises to help guide her in her faith journey—I went directly to the paper goods shop and bought a purple leather-bound journal. I got straight to work once I completed the fancy inscription on the inside cover. I intended to chronicle for her […]
