love to paint

This is the first of two reviews of Christmas fiction that I'm going to be posting.  Over the past few days, I sat down first with Christmas Roses by Amanda Cabot and then with Melody Carlson's yearly Christmas novella. Christmas Roses prompted me to consider something I hadn't thought about before.  I always read the author's description on the jacket cover and a bit about them on the internet.  Something struck me about her bio--no one was mentioned but her.  I learned nothing personal about this woman at all--even in a 20 minute interview she linked to on her website.  I suspect she isn't married.  This is interesting to me, because she writes romantic fiction. I pondered this for a moment and then Jane Austen came to my mind.  Jane Austen was a spinster who never married.  She had no family of her own, yet she wrote romances that have beguiled and spellbound generations of readers who love her books.  Was Jane Austen's writing any...

I read the author's bio before I read this book and realized it is his first book. I have to say--I have read a lot of books this year and I have really come to appreciate how hard it must be to write a book. I've tried several times, but blogging is all I have time for right now. When I blog, I only write short entries. Undertaking an entire novel would be a very different thing. All that said, I think Dan Walsh does a great job his first time around the block! To read an excerpt from this story: http://www.revellbooks.com/Media/MediaManager/Excerpt_9780800719241.pdf The story is set in the 40s during World War II. I believe it is set in Baltimore (I don't know of any other town with a Baltimore Pike). It made sense to me in light of the details included, because Baltimore is just south of the Mason Dixon line--it's not exactly in the North and not exactly in the south--but somewhere in between. A young boy has just come to live with his grandfather. His mother has di...

When I watch Hallmark movies, my husband rolls his eyes. When I read cheesy, cheesy Christian fiction books, he also rolls his eyes. I am not ashamed that I enjoy both. But, I have found that many movies and books follow a formula that always centers around a romance. I think we all love the ideas that love conquers all, that love is greater than everything else, that love heals all wounds, that the love of a significant other is what will complete people's lives and make them happy and enjoy life. I love a good happy ending--where the conflict gets resolved and peace is found. But, I think we have to be wary and not get caught up in these ideas. A few years ago, I read a book called Seduction of the Lesser Gods. It was quite a good book and it has come to my mind many times over the years. Basically, anything that we give more importance to than God becomes an idol. Anything can become an idol--friendship, children, jobs, and even love. There are different kinds of love...