May is National Foster Care Month in the United States, and if you’ve followed me on any social media for a while, you’ll know that foster care and foster care adoption are subjects that are dear to my heart. Three of my children were adopted through foster care in 2013, and we fostered two other […]
A Different Kind of Roadtrip
Vacation season is gearing up. Are your bags packed? Are you more likely to be a book “traveler” this summer, taking trips simply by reading about them? That’s probably what my summer is more likely to resemble. Our house has taken quite a bit of the money I had hoped to use on a trip. […]
Married Love in the Movies
I don’t watch much TV, but I took my kids bowling on Good Friday, and there are huge television screens all over our local bowling alley. Most of them were showing the Masters Golf Tournament, but one was playing an interview with the actor Jesse Metcalf. I wasn’t paying much attention, because there was no […]
Retreat!
Retreat!! Don’t we all love the word. I know for me, retreats are always special. They don’t happen often, but when they do I’m ready and willing. I’ve done spiritual retreats and writing retreats. They are both wonderful and an amazing way to reset and refocus. There are several reasons why I love going on […]
When a Book Isn’t Just a Book
Okay, Emily…when isn’t a book just a book? Oh, absolutely every time you or I read one. Why is that? Because we, as readers, bring our life experiences with us into every book we read. This means that a story is no longer words on a page, but an experience filtered through the events in […]
Sunday Edition
Happy Mother’s Day! Whether you’re a mom or a daughter or an aunt or a teacher or a caregiver… I wish you all the best today. One of our favorite stops in mid-Vancouver Island is Cathedral Grove. While the trees are definitely not as large as California’s redwoods, this is still an impressive spot to […]
A Matter of Heart
I once heard someone say Mother’s Day should come with a trigger warning. This same person had a hard time going to church on Mother’s Day Sunday, explaining that for her the day was fraught with conflicting, complicated emotions she’d rather not have shoved in her face. If you can relate, this post is for […]
The Problem With Pets
I’ve got a problem with pets. It’s not that I don’t like them—I love animals, and we’ve had pets in the past. But all my memories of pets are linked to the pain of loss. It began when I was four. Following a major family crisis, my mother, siblings, and I were staying with my […]
Dinner with the Calvanos
Hey, y’all made it! Come in, come in. We’re so glad you could make it for dinner tonight. You know Dad and his grill—he’s making so much food that it’s going to take an army bigger than all of us Calvanos to eat it. So I hope you brought your appetite. But first, let me […]
Backup Plans & Love Pacts
One of the things I’ve been trying to be more intentional about when doing the meager amount of planning I do for my books is to think about tropes ahead of time. If you’re paying attention (and it’s totally fair if you haven’t been), you’ve seen my titles shift from more obscure phrases like Wisdom to […]