Blog Archives
Becoming a Diamond
Becoming a Diamond, by Nicole Lindhorst, is a faith-centered guide for women who feel caught between the life they’ve built and the person they’re still becoming. Framed around “Facets,” including identity, purpose, self-worth, authenticity, decisiveness, focus, relationship, and brilliance, the book blends memoir, coaching, scripture, reflection prompts, and small action steps. Lindhorst begins with the tender ache of her daughter Emma’s graduation and move to Omaha, then follows that emotional opening into deeper questions about motherhood, purpose, business, faith, and the courage to stop living inside roles that no longer fit.
I appreciated how personal the book feels. Lindhorst writes from the middle of lived experience, not from some polished mountaintop where all the pain has been neatly solved. The scene of Emma in her white dress and diamond tiara gave the whole book its emotional doorway, and I found that vulnerability disarming in the best way. The later moments, like her retreat at Sedona Mago, her decision to sell the rhinestone and sign businesses, and the grief of closing her boutique, give the ideas real weight. This isn’t just a book saying “find yourself” in a pretty font. It’s a woman admitting that identity can quietly attach itself to motherhood, work, usefulness, and being needed, then asking what remains when those things shift.
The writing is warm, conversational, and deeply encouraging, with a rhythm that feels closest to a long, honest talk with a friend who also happens to be a coach. I liked the recurring images, especially the closet full of old roles, the untouched guitar as a symbol of forgotten joy, and the phone-at-dinner scene that makes the chapter on focus feel immediately recognizable. The book repeats its central language of polishing, facets, brilliance, and becoming. I think that repetition is part of the book’s design. It’s meant to be absorbed slowly, almost devotionally, with the “Reflect” and “Polish” sections nudging the reader toward action rather than passive inspiration. The ideas are strongest when they’re grounded in story, like Sally’s painful reimagining of motherhood through fostering or the “just a mom” passage that gently pushes back against the ways women diminish their own sacred labor.
I felt that Becoming a Diamond succeeds because it understands transition not as failure, but as an invitation. It has a tender, steady confidence about women’s capacity to change without discarding who they’ve been. This is a heartfelt and useful book for Christian women in midlife, empty-nest seasons, career transitions, identity shifts, or any moment when “I’m fine” no longer feels like the whole truth.
Pages: 236 | ISBN : 978-1970329148
Humans Tend to Label People
Trouble at OverTrails Farm follows a group of friends as their day of therapeutic horse riding turns into a murder investigation. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
As a psychologist for decades, I worked with many disabled adults who had amazing strengths, sometimes hidden, despite having physical and/or intellectual difficulties. Therapeutic riding addresses physical, attentional, and emotional difficulties, and the program fits nicely into the horse country of central Virginia. The young friends are physically active and emotionally engaged, and I wanted to showcase Alex’s special strength of attunement with animals, especially the horses at OverTrails Farm.
What made this setting the right backdrop for a story about justice and friendship?
Humans tend to label people, problems, and things, including those who differ from the norm. Labels are broad, “convenient” categories that miss the fine details of individual differences and often portray the negative aspects of a group. Using common labels provides an opportunity to blame scapegoats for wrongdoing. While this tendency is common, there is incredible power in friendship and loyalty, along with the strength of a supportive community.
How did you construct the mystery without losing sight of the emotional stakes?
I began with the outline of showcasing Alex’s strength of loyalty to his friend and neighbor, Nina. (This was first described in my first novel of this “journey” series, in which they each protected one another from a local bully.) The initial outline included Alex’s development from a recipient of riding instruction to a volunteer support person for other students. My belief is that Alex is going to become a valued member of his community. With that idea as the premise, I inserted the stories of other troubled individuals who fall prey to their own mistakes, ultimately casting blame on Alex, a presumed easy target
What conversations did you hope Alex’s storyline would inspire among readers?
How do we miss attending to the whole person in our relationships?
How do we provide genuine loyalty and support to those around us?
What assumptions have we made about others in the past that were faulty and premature?
What do we assume about our own weaknesses, and what do we need to do to focus on and develop our strengths?
How do we become the hero of our own story?
Author Links: Website | Amazon
OverTrails Farm is meant to be a place of healing. The therapeutic riding stable in rural central Virginia offers confidence, connection, and calm—until the sudden death of a young employee shatters its sense of safety.
When suspicion falls on a disabled volunteer and former student of the program, a close-knit group of teens who ride and volunteer at the farm are unwilling to accept this theory.
Determined to uncover the truth, they begin their own quiet investigation. As they piece together overlooked details, they confront family tensions, unspoken fears, and the subtle ways bias shapes how others see—and misjudge—those who are different.
Their search tests their courage, their loyalty, and their willingness to examine their own assumptions. In challenging the easy story everyone is ready to believe, they help their community move toward a new understanding of responsibility, fairness, and the dignity of every person.
Set against the charm of small-town Virginia, the healing world of therapeutic riding, and the bond between humans and horses, Trouble at OverTrails Farm is a clean cozy mystery filled with heart, hope, and the enduring power of friendship. It is a story about seeing beyond labels, fighting for those who can’t fight alone, and discovering the strength of community when it matters most. This is a story for readers who believe kindness and truth still matter.
Seeker
Seeker, by Glenn S. Robertson, is a post-apocalyptic western set in a fractured Wyoming more than a century after the Red Death has broken the old world into scavenged towns, armed territories, and hard-won loyalties. Andrew “Ghost” Shelton, a weary seeker with a violent past and a stubborn moral core, returns to Casper only to be pulled into a dangerous pursuit involving a kidnapped girl, raider factions, old grief, and a self-styled king whose brutality threatens everything Ghost still considers worth saving.
What I appreciated most was the way the novel treats survival as more than gunfire and grit. The barter economies, fortified settlements, weapon scarcity, and patched-together rituals of civic life give the world a lived-in texture. Robertson’s Wyoming is not just a backdrop; it’s a flinty, weather-beaten character in its own right. The story has plenty of action, but its strongest moments often come in the quieter spaces: Ghost tending to his horse, weighing what a book is worth, remembering the dead, or trying not to let old wounds calcify into something uglier.
I was also drawn to the book’s moral architecture. Ghost is capable of violence, and the novel never pretends otherwise, but it is more interested in what violence costs than in making it look glamorous. The supporting cast gives the journey welcome shape, especially Neva, Carl, Jake, Leonidas, and Hannibal, whose presence broadens the story beyond one man’s revenge. The novel moves with the sprawl of a frontier saga, but that largeness suits a story about ruined nations, improvised families, and the stubborn human habit of building meaning out of ash.
This book will appeal to readers of post-apocalyptic fiction, dystopian westerns, survival adventure, frontier science fiction, and gritty action novels. Fans of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower may recognize a similar fusion of wasteland myth, gunslinger melancholy, and strange-road questing, though Seeker keeps its boots planted more firmly in Wyoming dirt. Seeker is a rugged, mournful, and blood-warmed ride through the ruins, where the real prize is not survival, but the courage to remain human after surviving.
Pages: 384 | ASIN : B0GV4TGLTL
Maybelline Has A Very. Bad. Day.
Maybelline Has a Very. Bad. Day. follows a playful young goat on The Finca as one small disappointment turns into a whole tumble of troubles. Maybelline misses Ellie, the girl who usually brushes her, then gets bonked for sneaking hay, pricked by blackberry thorns, stuck in a fence, blamed for spilling snacks, startled by a vet shot, nipped along by the herding dog, and finally soaked in the rain. By bedtime, though, she’s safe in the barn with her mama, who gently reminds her that bad days happen, but they don’t last.
What I liked most about this book is how honest it feels about a child’s emotional world, even though the main character is a baby goat. Maybelline’s bad day isn’t one grand dramatic event. It’s the kind of day made of little stings, embarrassments, unmet wants, and bruised feelings. Some children’s books rush too quickly toward the lesson, but this one lets Maybelline actually have the hard day first. The writing is simple and accessible, with a nice rhythm in the repeated “bad day” feeling, and I appreciated that the comfort at the end doesn’t erase what happened. It just gives her somewhere soft to land.
The artwork brings a lot of the tenderness. Olena Kharkovenko’s illustrations have that gentle farm-life warmth I always enjoy in picture books, with soft fields, expressive animals, muddy little mishaps, and cozy barn scenes that make the world feel safe even when Maybelline is having a rough time. I especially liked the contrast between the wide, cheerful pasture scenes and the quieter images of Maybelline looking droopy or overwhelmed. The book also has a sweet amount of visual detail for children to notice, from the goats’ personalities to the little ladybugs and flowers tucked into the pages.
I found this to be a warm and reassuring children’s book with a kind heart and a very relatable emotional core. It’s funny in places, tender in others, and quietly wise about the way children process frustration, discomfort, and disappointment. The concluding thought lands gently: today may have been awful, but tomorrow still gets to be new. I’d recommend this book for preschool and early elementary children, especially kids who love animals, farm stories, or need a comforting read after one of those days when everything seems to go wrong.
Pages: 32 | ASIN: B0H1T5J8DL
A New Theory of the Visible Universe
Joe Fisher’s A New Theory of the Visible Universe is an audacious and idiosyncratic work of philosophical cosmology built around one uncompromising claim: that the universe is not a realm of matter suspended in space, but a single infinite visible surface occurring in one infinite dimension. Across essays on Einstein, Newton, Galileo, Hawking, Hubble, mathematics, time, and language itself, Fisher returns again and again to the primacy of what can be seen. His examples range from Einstein’s imaginary railway carriage and stone to the flat disk of the sun, the shrinking surface of a baseball in motion, the blackness between stars, and even the space bar on a keyboard. The book is less a conventional scientific argument than a sustained act of dissent, one man’s lifelong refusal to accept invisible abstractions as reality.
There’s something strangely moving about the persistence of his gaze, his insistence that the visible world has been overlooked precisely because it is always before us. I found myself drawn to the emotional core beneath the polemic. Fisher is writing from a place of frustration, wonder, pride, and injury. His recurring question, “Why can’t y’all see the one thing I see?” gives the book its pulse. It’s not merely an argument about cosmology, but a plea to be heard.
I liked the book’s fierce commitment to seeing the world freshly. Fisher has a rare ability to take ordinary acts of perception, looking at the sun, holding a hand before the face, watching a baseball move, and turn them into moments of philosophical urgency. I appreciated the sincerity and stubborn wonder behind them. The book feels driven by a deeply human desire to strip away abstraction and return to what the eye actually encounters.
The writing is raw and unmistakably personal, which is its strength. Fisher’s phrasing can become liturgical, especially in the repeated formulation of “one infinite visible contrasting surface.” The rhythm has a stubborn music to it. I admired the way he turns ordinary perception into philosophical evidence: a hand held before the face, a window, a mirror, a baseball, a surgeon’s scalpel, the visible sky. These moments give the book texture and immediacy. The later autobiographical passages, including his memories of Manchester City, his lack of formal credentials, his published essays, and his unsuccessful search for a publisher, deepen the work considerably. They reveal not just a theory, but the life behind it, a self-taught thinker trying to carve meaning from the visible world and from his own exclusion.
I came away from A New Theory of the Visible Universe convinced by its courage, its loneliness, and its strange devotional intensity toward visibility itself. Fisher’s book is argumentative, but it is also earnest in a way that can’t be faked. Its best passages invite the reader to slow down and consider how much of reality we inherit through language, authority, and abstraction before we ever test it against our own eyes. This is a demanding, unconventional book, and I would recommend it to readers who enjoy independent philosophy, outsider science, speculative metaphysics, and intensely personal challenges to accepted ideas rather than to those looking for a measured introduction to contemporary physics.
Pages: 161 | ASIN : B0GRBV4TM3
He Is Intensely Complex
Keep Close follows a group of survivors navigating life after meteorites crash to Earth, unleashing creatures that hunt humans. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The story was actually inspired by COVID and the toll it took on mental health. The 6 foot tether law in this devastated world is an inverse to the 6 foot distance rules during COVID. I’ve always been a fan of post-apocalyptic stories. Originally a screenplay, ‘Keep Close’ was also inspired by movies such as ‘A Quiet Place’ and ‘Signs’.
Which character surprised you the most during the writing process?
Fitz for sure. He is intensely complex villain. With each of his scenes I tried to reveal glimpses of the good in him. All of my characters have good and bad qualities to them, which is what makes them so realistic and easy to identify with.
What were the biggest challenges in designing the creatures without revealing too much too soon?
My goal was to keep the threat a mystery to the reader until Ren witnesses it herself. Since that’s not until well into the book, I had to fill the beginning with a lot of ominous signs and one chaotic attack even Lee can’t fully witness. After this, the focus is back at sea with Ren while society adapts to this terrifying reality. When she finally comes ashore, civilization has completely changed and the predator danger is everywhere. This allows the reader to feel the same confusion and alarm that our protagonist does.
What is the next book you are working on, and when will it be available?
‘Keep Close’ is the first of a three-part series, and I’m currently working on book 2. I also have a true-crime murder mystery researched and outlined, and 5 children’s book manuscripts that need illustrating. It’s a busy time!
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website
You stay close. You stay alive.
In this breakthrough thriller, Ren, a haunted but brilliant 17-year-old, is thrust into a fight for her life when a catastrophic meteor shower leaves her family stranded at sea.
Rescued after months adrift, they return to shore far from home, only to confront the terrifying presence of banshees— phantom creatures that prey on anyone caught alone. With survival hinging on safety in numbers, Ren must use her wits as she embarks on a twisty and suspenseful journey to get to the key to her family’s survival. Along the way, deep feelings ignite between Ren and a courageous Australian ally, further complicating her mission.
As Ren’s path is threatened by a desperate gang, she must navigate a treacherous wilderness where trust is fragile and loyalties are tested. In this unpredictable new world, can Ren overcome her emotional scars, the weight of leadership, and a tumultuous first love to lead her family safely back home?
So You Want To Be A Fashion Designer
So You Want To Be A Fashion Designer, by Linda Soules, is an inspiring and highly engaging introduction to the world of fashion design for young readers. Written for kids ages 10 to 14, this illustrated guide follows the creative journey of a garment from the first rough sketch to the runway. Soules presents fashion as far more than glamorous clothes; she shows it as a form of communication, identity, problem-solving, and wearable art.
I loved how the book balances the excitement of fashion with the realities of the profession. Readers learn that designers must think like artists, engineers, storytellers, material scientists, and problem-solvers. The book explores trend forecasting, fabric choices, sketching, sewing, garment production, and the teamwork involved in bringing a collection to life. It also doesn’t ignore the more difficult parts of the industry, including tight deadlines, copied designs, sustainability concerns, waste, and the importance of fair treatment for workers.
Soules fills the book with fascinating history, memorable facts, and stories of creative visionaries such as Coco Chanel, Virgil Abloh, and Issey Miyake. Young readers will be surprised to learn details such as the origins of high heels and the extraordinary amount of handwork that can go into a single haute couture gown. The hands-on activities are especially valuable, encouraging readers to start a sketchbook, drape fabric, redesign or repair garments, and begin thinking like designers right away. The glossary and “The Most Important Qualities of a Fashion Designer” sections make the book feel practical.
This is much more than a simple career guide. Linda Soules writes with warmth, encouragement, and respect for her young audience, never talking down to them while still making complex ideas easy to understand. The vibrant illustrations and lively descriptions make studios, fabrics, and runways feel vivid and exciting. So You Want To Be A Fashion Designer is an excellent choice for creative kids, aspiring artists, and anyone curious about how clothing can help people feel seen, confident, and valued. It is educational, realistic, and wonderfully inspiring.
Pages: 38 | ISBN : 978-1972766347
A Shroud Undone
A Shroud Undone by A.M. Woodbury is a dark epic fantasy novel about a world trapped in an ancient, exhausting war between humans and the Sylphar, with the mysterious Stillight sitting at the center of both faith and bloodshed. The story follows Theron, a haunted hunter with a hidden past, as he is pulled from the quiet hardship of Wyrnhollow back into the machinery of war. What begins as a tale of survival and reluctant duty grows into something larger, touching on old gods, broken belief, impossible choices, and the terrible cost of trying to end a conflict that has shaped generations.
What struck me first was the weight of the writing. This is not a light fantasy adventure, and it does not pretend to be. Woodbury writes battle with grit and patience, letting the mud, ash, cold, and blood pile up until the reader feels worn down alongside the characters. The violence has impact because it is rarely treated as spectacle alone. Even when the action is intense, the book keeps circling back to grief, memory, and the small human moments that survive inside chaos. A joke between soldiers. A shared meal. Someone trying to keep another person alive for one more day. Those details give the story its pulse.
I also found myself drawn to the author’s choices around perspective. Theron is the emotional center, but the book becomes more interesting because it does not let only one side own the pain. Nyra Draeven, on the Sylphar side, gives the war another face, and that choice keeps the story from becoming too simple. I liked that the book asks what happens when both sides have suffered long enough to believe their cruelty is necessary. The pacing is deliberate, which suits the novel’s grim atmosphere and gives the emotional moments room to land. Rather than rushing from one battle to the next, the book lets the sorrow and violence settle in, making the war feel like a wound that keeps reopening instead of just a backdrop for heroic action.
A Shroud Undone will appeal most to readers who like their epic fantasy bleak, layered, and morally uneasy. I would recommend it to fans of stories about reluctant warriors, ancient powers, religious mystery, and battles where victory never feels clean. For readers who enjoy a grounded and bruising fantasy novel with a strong sense of history and consequence, this is a thoughtful and immersive start to A Fractured Balance.
Pages: 382 | ASIN: B0GNDJ459G
