The Broken Bridge tells the story of two communities united by their faith in the Great Bridge and the intense fear and dread that follows its catastrophic collapse. What was the inspiration that drove the development of the world the characters live in?
The story began with a single image in my mind: a great, living bridge holding two communities together—until it falls. I’ve spent years walking with people through conflict, loss, and reconciliation, and I wanted an allegory that shows both the terror of separation and the costly beauty of restoration. The world of The Broken Bridge is built around that question: when what we’ve trusted collapses, which “bridges” do we run to—and which one can actually bear the weight of our hopes?
I felt this story was very well-written. What’s your experience as a writer?
Thank you. I’ve been writing for over two decades—first Bible studies, devotionals, and discipleship courses through our ministry, and then a number of nonfiction books. Fiction became a natural next step for me because a story reaches the heart in ways instruction alone can’t. The Broken Bridge drew on those years of pastoral ministry and teaching, but it let me weave truth into a narrative that invites readers to feel as well as think.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Unity and division: how easily communities fracture—and what it truly takes to reunite them.
Counterfeit vs. true solutions: many “fixers” promise quick repair; only one path restores the heart.
Sacrificial love: the kind of love that stands in the gap and pays a cost for others.
Pride and humility: the danger of self-reliance and the freedom that comes from surrender.
Hope through suffering: how longing, loss, and waiting can become the doorway to deeper healing.
What is the next book you are working on, and when will it be available?
Two follow-ups are on the way. The Living Bridge is due out in October 2025—it continues the allegory by exploring how trust is rebuilt and what kind of bridge can truly hold. The trilogy concludes with The Eternal Bridge, scheduled for January 2026, which lifts our eyes to the ultimate reunion and the promise of forever.
When love is all you have left, how far will you go to reach the one who matters most?
Seven years ago, an earthquake separated Fidel from Verita the day before they were to be married. Now, as they exchange nightly lantern signals—an old watchman’s code Verita learned from her uncle—the churning waters of the Vitae River still separate them, but their light signals speak across the dark divide.
Six builders arrive, each promising to rebuild the bridge. They each represent some aspect of humanity’s attempt to heal what’s broken—through law obedience, knowledge, religion, servitude, charisma, and self-transformation.
When the seventh builder arrives—an ordinary carpenter with extraordinary compassion—everything begins to change. Geshriel speaks of a different kind of restoration, one marked by humility, love, and a mysterious costly sacrifice.
As darkness closes in, will Fidel dare to trust a path that seems weaker than all the others—but somehow feels truer? After seven long years of lantern signals across the raging river, will Fidel and Verita finally be reunited?
This is a story of ache and heartbreak, of longing, of desperate attempts to be reconnected. It speaks of love and loss, of yearning to be reunited.
A story of separation and reunion, sacrifice and redemption—and the bridge that love builds when all else fails.
Bella Brown Visits a Bee Farm follows a young girl who is in the garden with her grandmother when she is frightened by a bee, so her grandmother takes her to visit a bee farm to learn about these amazing insects. What was the inspiration for your story?
I surprised my wife, Alicia, with a visit to a local beekeeper store because she was interested in becoming a beekeeper.
While reading through the children’s books they had about bees, I realized I could write a story that would connect with young readers more effectively and help them understand these amazing creatures in a deeper way.
What were some educational aspects about bees that were important for you to include in this children’s book?
The book shows eight-year-old Bella Brown’s journey from fear of bees to fascination as she learns more about them. This transformation applies to all of us – the more we understand our fears, the easier they become to manage.
After reading books about bees and researching everything I could find online, I contacted a bee farmer in Pennsylvania called Aunt Fancy, who was incredibly generous with her knowledge.
She not only answered the fifteen most common questions kids have about bees, but shared additional fascinating details – like how bees communicate with one another through a special wiggle dance.
Everything Aunt Fancy shared with me went directly into the book, which is one of the reasons I dedicated it to her. While any of us can search online for information, speaking directly with experts provides an invaluable depth to education that you simply can’t get from research alone.
What scene in the book did you have the most fun writing?
It’s a two-way tie between two scenes:
First, the scene where Grandma Yetta asks Bella to help in the backyard garden. Readers see Bella standing in the doorway, dressed in oversized garden clothes – hat, gloves, boots – hugging a larger-than-normal garden bag stuffed with every kind of gardening tool. She beams and says, ‘I’m ready!’ You can see all of Bella’s enthusiasm and eagerness to help Grandma Yetta.
Then, when you turn the page, readers see a humongous, non-threatening bee with a friendly smile splashed across its face on the far left page, following Bella, who’s on the far right page, screaming ‘AHHHHHHHhhhhhhh!’ with all her garden tools flying out of her bag.
While there are no bees that size in real life, in an eight-year-old’s mind who’s afraid of bees, this is exactly how they might perceive them. But for readers viewing the scene, this oversized, smiling, friendly-looking bee is the complete opposite of threatening, which sets up the book’s central message perfectly
Can you tell us more about what’s in store for Bella Brown and the direction of the next book?
I’ve written twelve picture books for children ages four to eight. Two are standalone books that take place in the same universe, as well as ten Bella Brown books – the first eight make up the core Bella Brown series, while books nine and ten launch the Bella Brown Holiday Series.
And in all my picture books, readers with keen eyes can spot Pip the Domovoi hidden in the background of various illustrations – it’s like my signature, so they know they’re reading one of my books.
The series gets especially exciting in Book Four, Bella Brown Meets Pip the Domovoi, where Bella’s late-night encounter with a tiny, blue-haired house spirit changes everything. When Pip desperately needs her help before sunrise to prevent Sinti from threatening both worlds, Bella discovers that the butterfly locket Grandma Yetta gave her isn’t just a family heirloom – it’s a magical key that makes her the guardian between two worlds.
In Book Five, Bella Brown—Dragonfly-Dragonfly-Dragonfly, Pip comes to Bella for help saving both worlds when Sinti threatens to shatter an ancient crystal at Earth’s core. Riding on the backs of 300-million-year-old dragonflies at 60 miles per hour, Bella must use everything she’s learned about being a Key Keeper to prevent both realms from merging into darkness.
Book Six, Bella Brown—Pip’s Perfect Purple Present, brings delightful chaos when Pip borrows Papa Pip’s magic paintbrush without permission to surprise Bella by painting her bedroom purple. But the paintbrush escapes and paints everything – Bella’s cat, Grandma Yetta, houses, the school, teachers, classmates, even zoo animals – in every shade and tone of purple imaginable. Can Pip catch the runaway paintbrush and undo the colorful catastrophe before everyone’s permanently purple and before Bella gets home from school?
Book Seven, Bella Brown’s Ten-Moon Mysteries, takes readers on a camping adventure in Grandma Yetta’s backyard, where Bella and two school friends share stories about the different colored moons they’ve witnessed together – from dramatic blood moons to mysterious blue moons, golden harvest moons to rare purple moons. Each moon color becomes a gateway to both scientific understanding and cultural traditions from around the world.
In Book Eight, Bella Brown’s Baking Bedlam, Bella and Pip attempt to make Grandma Yetta’s cookies but don’t know how to measure correctly. Soon they’re swimming in a kitchen full of ingredients. This book teaches what happens when measurements go wrong and includes three delicious cookie recipes kids can actually make.
The Holiday Series begins with Book Nine, Bella Brown’s Candy Cane Curfuffle, where Bella’s class dresses as Christmas figures from around the world, leading to debates about which figure should represent their school on the parade float (Santa Claus, Christkind, the Three Kings, Ded Moroz, Krampus, and Christmas witches). Can Bella and her classmates come together and break through their Christmas figure curfuffle and participate in the town’s annual Candy Cane Festival Parade?
Finally, Bella Brown’s Turkey Trot Tizzy (Book Ten) features Bella – the slowest runner in school – participating in a charity run where she encounters classmates stuck in mud, tangled in circus balloon strings, and even escaped zoo monkeys.
Each stop to help puts her further behind, but Bella discovers that sometimes finishing last means finishing first because you’ve put others first.
And moving on to my standalone book, The Stomp-Clomp-Clump Monster Above the Bed, is told from the perspective of Fred, a monster living under Bella’s brother Billy’s bed. I wrote it because I always wanted to know how the monster felt about having noisy children above.
It completely flips the traditional story – now the monster and his dust bunny friends are terrified of the human child stomping overhead.
The other standalone book, Pip’s Epic Treasure Hunt, expands authentic Slavic domovoi folklore by creating an original nine-clan system where Pip teams up with domovoi from Earth, Air, Fire, and Dimensional clans to find five legendary magical objects before Sinti, a mischievous shadow creature who threatens both the human and magical worlds, can use them for cosmic pranks.
Buzz into adventure with Bella Brown in this delightful tale of courage, curiosity, and discovery! When a friendly bee sends Bella running through Grandma Yetta’s garden, she never imagines the amazing world she’s about to discover. What starts as a scary encounter becomes an unforgettable journey to Farmer Joe’s bee farm, where Bella learns that sometimes the things that frighten us most can become the most fascinating.
From Fear to Wonder Watch Bella transform from a bee-fearing little girl into a confident nature lover as she uncovers the secret life of these incredible insects. Through colorful observation hives and fragrant flower gardens, she discovers how bees dance to communicate, work together like tiny factories, and help our world bloom.
Perfect for Young Nature Lovers This beautifully illustrated story gently teaches children about: How bees make honey and pollinate plants Why bees are essential to our food supply The amazing teamwork inside a beehive How to safely observe and appreciate nature
More Than Just a Story Packed with fascinating bee facts, a helpful glossary, and practical tips for creating bee-friendly gardens, this book turns reading time into learning time. Young readers will finish the story eager to help these hardworking creatures in their own backyards.
From the Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author The third book in the beloved Bella Brown series combines heartwarming storytelling with gentle science education, perfect for children ages 4-8 who love nature, adventure, and overcoming their fears.
Ideal for: Bedtime reading and classroom sharing Children afraid of insects or bees Young environmentalists and garden enthusiasts Parents seeking educational yet entertaining stories Join Bella as she learns that being brave doesn’t mean you’re never scared—it means you’re curious enough to look closer! Perfect for budding nature lovers and anyone who’s ever been afraid of something new.
That Kind of Girl follows an anxious and overwhelmed physician who meets a stripper-slash-therapist whose fearless confidence leaves her to question if having it all is worth the price of losing herself in the process. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration for That Kind of Girl came from seeing the women around me trying to balance the chaos of demanding careers and motherhood. I started writing the book when I was a new mother trying to weave parenting into my life as a physician. I wanted to explore what it truly means to “have it all” and the toll it can take on a woman’s sense of self. The dynamic between the anxious physician and the fearless stripper-therapist is a way to highlight different approaches to confidence and self-acceptance. Ultimately, my hope is to inspire women to find something they love—something that grounds them and brings joy—amidst the overwhelming demands of their lives. It’s about rediscovering yourself when the world expects you to be everything to everyone.
Opal’s struggles with balancing a career, marriage, and family are relatable to many women today. Are there any emotions or memories from your own life that you put into your character’s life?
Absolutely. I often pull emotions from real life into my writing. I want the reader to experience the wide range of emotions they find on the page, often messy, but most of all the joy and levity that comes with not having to do this alone. One memory from my own life that made it into the book was writing a text message filled with four-letter words about my boss and accidentally sending it to my boss instead of my husband.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
One of the core themes I wanted to explore in That Kind of Girl is that a person is never just the sum of their past mistakes. We all carry regrets and moments we wish we could change, but those don’t define us. Redemption, I believe, truly begins with forgiving yourself—allowing space to heal and grow beyond what’s happened. Through the characters’ journeys, I wanted to highlight that self-forgiveness isn’t easy, but it’s essential for reclaiming your sense of worth and moving forward with courage and hope.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?
Turbulent Skies is about a woman days away from her wedding when her fiancé has an accident that leaves him on life support. Things go from bad to worse when his ex shows up and reveals they never legally divorced, she has medical decision-making power, and she wants to pull the plug. The book is expected to hit shelves in 2026.
he’s struggling to raise two kids, nurture a marriage, and manage a demanding career. Will she sacrifice herself to keep everyone she loves happy?
Doctor Opal Collins is anxious and overwhelmed. So when her husband threatens to leave her unless she finds the time to add a baby to the chaos, she digs deep to impress her boss and earn a sanity-saving promotion. And though she’s excited by the spark between them, she knows she should be offended when her boss suggests she trade her body for the job.
Thrilled when she earns the coveted position after setting boundaries in their scandalous affair, Opal’s complicated dual relationships have her humming with tension. But with the tangled web of deceit and affection already woven, she fears there’s no way out without betraying her vow to do no harm.
Has her people-pleasing persona destroyed her dreams, or can she cling to a vestige of self? That Kind of Girl is a wickedly witty work of women’s fiction. If you like emotional tension, laugh-out-loud humor, and beautifully crafted prose, then you’ll adore Jacey Bici’s unexpectedly sweet journey.
In Open Water, you share the details of your difficult upbringing, your struggles with mental health, and the mysterious medical condition that ultimately changed your life. What inspired you to share your story with readers?
The goal in writing this book was and is still to help others in any way possible. That could mean just being able to spread awareness of this condition in hopes of eventually finding a cure for people, or also hopefully preventing others from having to go down the dark road that I did in order to find an answer. I am also hopeful that this could reach people or their families with this specific disorder or any other similar diagnosis and make them feel less alone and let them know that there is always hope.
I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about?
I think that while it was honestly quite difficult and emotional to revisit some of those darker places and times, like my stay in Haliston Hospital, the hardest thing about writing all of this was honestly emotionally reconciling all of the difficult family aspects of this and coming to terms with the best way to tell the story 100% truthfully while telling of some of the more difficult moments with family and people that I will always love dearly!
How important was it for you to convey a sense of hope to your readers?
That sense of hope is absolutely critical. Getting through my own struggle or any even remotely similar, requires understanding that there is always hope and you can always persevere no matter what. I can’t think of a more important message to get across and I very much aim for that sense of hope to be something that readers definitely take with them.
What is one thing you hope readers take away from your experiences?
As all of these answers hopefully suggest, raising awareness for this disorder, as well as being able to help others in anyway possible are certainly the main goals. As far as a take away that I would love to be able to relay? Always persevere, always try to press on no matter what, and using the metaphor in the book, always swing, knowing that there is always hope.
This memoir tells of Alex’s medical journey, an insanely bumpy ride that goes to unimaginable extremes. In searching for a diagnosis, incorrect results of genetic testing and many other issues resulted in absolute confusion for him and his family. That confusion led to wild searches for answers throughout his teenage years and well beyond, which included multiple months-long stays in various inpatient psychiatric facilities, treatment centers, and other medical attempts at successful intervention. When all else seemed to fail, they even turned to extreme spiritual interventions, such as time spent at faith-healing churches, one-on-one sessions with radically religious counselors, and multiple exorcisms.
Open Water details that journey and communicates many of the lessons that he learned from it and hopes others can benefit from as well. The goal is to ensure that those who might be dealing with similar conditions never have to feel as darkly alone as he did at times, going through his own many-years-long search for a diagnosis and learning to live with a disability. Alex stresses that if reading this can help just one person going through anything even remotely similar to what he went through to feel less alone or desperate or afraid, it will all be worth it to him. He hopes that any such individual’s family or close friends are able to process and understand better what is happening as they move forward as well.
The title, Open Water, is a visual comparison carried throughout the story. Like open water, life can be absolutely beautiful and sometimes terrifyingly stormy as well, with moments when the only choice is just trying to swim and stay above the surface. Times of relative serenity still bring with them the fear of the unknown, not knowing what lies below the murkiness around us. The only thing to do is keep pressing on in hopes of eventually finding clarity.
Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899 tells the story of a football team from a small college in post-Civil War Tennessee and their incredible accomplishments. What inspired you to share this story with readers?
I was a student at Sewanee in the 1970’s. Everyone there hears about this team. It’s a truly amazing story. Over the years, I kept thinking someone would do a documentary film about this team, but one never appeared. So, my classmate, David Crews and I decided to do it ourselves. Later, after the film came out, I realized we had a lot of original paintings and a unique music score, as well as a great deal of archival information. We decided this should also be preserved in a high quality coffee table book.
How much and what kind of research went into putting this book together?
We spent almost 5 years researching this story and doing interviews. This involved hours in the Sewanee Archives, as well as meeting with people who knew about the story, and doing research online as well. It also involved contacting the schools Sewanee played that year to see what information they had. Then, my co-author, Karin Fecteau, and I spent another two years creating this beautiful book to further preserve the history of this incredible accomplishment.
Did you learn anything surprising during your research process?
Yes, we thought we knew the story, but it was far richer and more layered than we ever imagined. We also uncovered materials and photos no one had discovered before, which was exciting. Finally, we thought we’d mainly explore the lore of the 1899 team, but what we learned was that the facts were even better than the lore.
Can we look forward to more history selections from you in the future? What are you currently working on?
Would love to but right now I’m focused on selling these books.
Serving the Leftovers is a memoir that blends the grit of animal rescue with the raw edges of personal survival. Alysia Dubriske shares her journey from a fractured marriage and unfulfilling jobs into a life defined by compassion, chaos, and canine companionship. Through stories of Pekingese rescues, barnyard adventures, and late-night emergency vet runs, she invites readers into the messy, heartbreaking, and often hilarious reality of saving “the leftovers,” the unwanted, overlooked, and broken animals who need someone stubborn enough to fight for them. The narrative isn’t just about the dogs, though. It’s about how rescue work transforms the rescuer, forcing them to confront their own scars while tending to the wounds of others.
Reading this book, I felt like I was riding shotgun in Alysia’s truck, driving from one impossible situation to the next, always with a dog (or three) in the back. Her writing is candid and conversational, never dressed up with needless polish, which makes the emotional punches land harder. Some chapters made me laugh, like with the golden retriever too bored to fetch, or the duck-pool competitions, while others left me with a lump in my throat. She doesn’t sugarcoat the burnout, the heartbreak, or the anger at human cruelty. Yet she also never loses sight of the beauty in each small victory. That mix of grit and tenderness stuck with me.
What I admired most was her unflinching honesty about herself. She talks openly about mistakes, moments of doubt, even the selfish thoughts that creep in during hard times. It makes her wins feel earned. At times, the pacing feels like a kitchen table conversation. Stories tumble out with tangents and sudden swerves, but that unpredictability works here. Rescue is chaotic, and so is life, and she captures that without forcing it into a neat box.
I’d recommend Serving the Leftovers to anyone who loves animals, but also to anyone wrestling with the idea of purpose. This isn’t just a book for dog lovers. It’s for people who have been knocked down and gotten back up, and for those still down, who might discover that reaching out to help another soul could be exactly what saves them, too.
A Goblin’s Mind follows Doctor Harlow, a sharp-witted therapist living in a secluded forest who treats the most peculiar of clients. Through his sessions with a compulsive half-unicorn hoarder, an arrogant wizard, a lonely young goblin, and even royalty, Harlow navigates strange personalities, tangled problems, and his own isolation. Each chapter plays out like a self-contained therapy vignette, yet threads of mystery and personal reflection run underneath, hinting at Harlow’s own unfinished business and the curious island he inhabits. The tone swings between deadpan humor, gentle empathy, and surreal fantasy, making the reader feel both entertained and unsettled.
I enjoyed the way the writing marries dry wit with moments of quiet melancholy. Dresner has a gift for making absurd scenarios feel grounded. A unicorn discussing her belt-buckle attachment issues becomes, in his hands, both hilarious and strangely poignant. The banter between characters is crisp and revealing, with dialogue that often says as much in what is left unsaid as in what is spoken. At times, I laughed at Harlow’s sardonic observations. Other moments caught me off guard with their tenderness. There’s a rhythm to the prose that makes the conversations feel alive, and yet the pacing never lingers too long in one mood before shifting to another.
I also found myself appreciating the undercurrent of loneliness that runs through the book. Harlow may be the one guiding others, but Dresner never lets us forget he is just as mortal as his patients, grappling with uncertainty and longing. The island itself feels like a character, its stillness and strange boundaries adding to the sense that everyone here is a little trapped, including the good doctor. Some of the surreal touches, like the recurring dream imagery and the letter that keeps reappearing, worked beautifully to keep me curious, though a few left me wishing for more payoff. The blend of slice-of-life pacing with the quirks of high fantasy felt fresh.
I’d recommend A Goblin’s Mind to readers who enjoy character-driven fantasy with a strong conversational voice. If you like your worlds a bit odd, your humor a bit dry, and your moments of heart snuck in between the jokes, this is worth picking up. For anyone who enjoys the idea of a therapist’s couch deep in an enchanted forest, Dresner delivers something charming, sly, and quietly moving.
Self-Care for the Creative is part memoir, part survival manual, and part pep talk for empaths, highly sensitive people, and artists who are burning themselves out in pursuit of their craft. Fryzel draws on her own life of gritty lows, career highs, and all the messy middle, to explain how sensitivity and creativity often walk hand in hand, and why that combination demands intentional care. The book blends personal stories, practical tips, and a hefty dose of humor to guide readers through setting boundaries, managing overwhelm, and building a self-care toolkit that actually works in the unpredictable life of a creative.
Fryzel writes with a voice that is equal parts tender and unapologetic. She’s funny without being flippant, and her swearing isn’t there for shock value; it’s exactly how a real conversation with her would sound. I appreciated that she never veered into airy, vague “just love yourself” territory. Instead, she gave concrete, actionable steps, all while weaving in stories that made me laugh, wince, and occasionally nod in recognition. That mix of vulnerability and authority made me trust her completely.
What I liked most was how well she captures the emotional reality of being both highly creative and highly sensitive. She doesn’t romanticize the struggle or paint it as a necessary price for great art. She calls out toxic patterns, talks openly about depression and burnout, and reminds the reader that martyrdom isn’t a badge of honor. At the same time, she treats sensitivity as a superpower worth protecting. Her framing felt liberating, especially for those of us who have been told our feelings are “too much” for as long as we can remember. The book also gave me a few new self-care strategies that I immediately wanted to try.
I’d recommend this book to any creative who feels overwhelmed, stuck, or simply too drained to make their best work. It’s especially powerful for empaths and highly sensitive people who haven’t yet learned how to protect their energy without shutting down their gifts. If you’ve ever felt like your art is costing you more than it’s giving back, Fryzel’s words might just be the reminder you need to step back, take a breath, and start taking care of the most important tool you have… yourself.
LITERARY TITAN 