Do you enjoy an adventure? Are you fascinated by people, places, and history? When you travel, do you find yourself exploring every nook and cranny of a place, talking to locals and learning about the culture? When you read books, do find yourself gravitating towards non-fiction on times and eras and events that took place in the past? Or if …
Jones House Creative Mission Statement
We exist to be dynamic creatives who breathe life into vision, empower purpose, and remove burdens by bringing inspiration, excellence, and compassion wherever we serve.
All Hallows Dead by Marilyn Leach a Good Read on these Short Autumn Days
As a writer, I’m a reader of various genres–from mystery, thriller, and suspense to historical fiction and romance and, on occasion, mainstream. Each genre gives me a taste of the craft of writing from a number of excellent authors. One of my most recent favorite cozy mystery authors is friend and co-writer Marilyn Leach. At the age of nine, …
Calling All Kindred Spirits
At various times in a writer’s life, we come across kindred spirits in surprising places. A kindred spirit is one who has the same view of life as you or with whom you share a common interest. I met such a couple at my church’s 4th of July festivities. Hans and Lily Diehl are parents of a friend at church, and …
Finding A Treasure Trove of Tenable Opportunities
After my Christian suspense novel, Undaunted Valor, released in April this year, people asked me if I had actually visited the parts of Europe where Alessandro’s Grandmother Luciana was kidnapped and held for ransom. My response always feels humbling, because I consider having gone to the Savoy region of France to do research on the book an enormous privilege. Yet the …
Writers: What Do We Feel About Our Writing?
Writers are often asked how they feel about their writing. The answer seems obvious until you read what some prominent authors have said in response. Kurt Vonnegut told an interviewer for the London Times in 2007, “When I write, I feel like an armless, legless man with a crayon in his mouth.” C.S. Lewis once wrote on a …
How Are You Living Your Real-life Story?
Last week, I shared a blog written by my friend Jane Choate titled Humbly Grateful or Grumbly Hateful. Her eloquently expressed thoughts roused in me a desire to write Bitter versus Better: Writing Stories that Touch the Human Spirit. Like my friend Jane, I experienced bullying during my primary and secondary school years. Bullying happens for a …
Discover The Adventure: Have You Discovered the Treasure Beyond the Fuzzy …
Discover The Adventure: Have You Discovered the Treasure Beyond the Fuzzy …: Before LASIK surgery at age forty, severe nearsightedness blinded my vision without corrective lenses. I only saw an advantage to this cond…
Have You Discovered the Treasure Beyond the Fuzzy Orbs?
Before LASIK surgery at age forty, severe nearsightedness blinded my vision without corrective lenses. I only saw an advantage to this condition at Christmas when the tree went up with its strings of colorful bulbs. Without vision aids at night, the lights on the tree appeared as fuzzy orbs, blending together in a dazzling display of color. To be honest, …
Discover The Adventure: Lessons Learned from Rejection
Discover The Adventure: Lessons Learned from Rejection: I will always remember the drizzly day I ambled Emily Brontë’s heather-dressed moors at age seventeen. As an American student in the Uni…
Lessons Learned from Rejection
I will always remember the drizzly day I ambled Emily Brontë’s heather-dressed moors at age seventeen. As an American student in the United Kingdom writing a thesis on Wuthering Heights, my romantic spirit soared, savoring my chance encounter with an old gent, sporting a cap and a cane, whose family had known the Brontës. The experience sealed my desire to …
Karen Van Den Heuvel Debut Thriller Heats Up with Drama and Danger
I’m pleased to introduce debut thriller author and friend Karen Van Den Heuvel. Karen’s diverse experiences as an attorney, certified civil mediator, Registered Dietitian, teacher, speaker, and published author with more than 20 years experience in the corporate, government, and private sectors have fueled her desire to assist people live fuller, richer lives. She desires to help people add spice …