Why do I like stories about disasters and tragedy? The Titanic. The Galveston Hurricane. The Holocaust. These are all topics I find myself interested in, mainly because, though some people certainly die, I like the stories of everyday people who overcome incredible odds. That’s the crux of every good novel, if you think about it. Plus these are real people—nobody made them up—and their stories of courage and tragedy haunt me. The Johnstown Flood of May 31, 1889, is one of those stories that grabbed ahold of me and wouldn’t let go until I’d finished reading David McCullough’s fine, engaging book. I wanted to know how two thousand people could just die because of a broken dam. And how could a dam fall into such disrepair and fail? Didn’t the people in the valley below realize they were living in a major flood zone? Didn’t anyone warn them? Why would anyone…
I’ve been a fan of Kathy Ide ever since I learned about the Christian Editor Network and The Christian PEN: Proofreaders and Editors Network, two organizations that were a tremendous help to me when I began editing from home in 2006. Kathy was especially gracious in helping a newbie like me learn the ropes in the scary world of editing books from home. She even referred some projects to me, which helped me earn income to support my family. I’m saying all this in the interest of full disclosure before I talk about her new book, Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors. What Is This Book About? What a treasure this book is, especially for book editors like me. I refer to the online version of The Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) almost every day. If asked, my book editing buddies would probably agree with me that sometimes putting our fingers on…
In lieu of a Friday post (since I will be out of town for the holidays and unable to respond), I’m posting a book review of my author friend Deb Brammer’s newest book, Edges of Truth: The Mary Weaver Story. Presumed Guilty: The Child Care Nightmare That Could Happen to You By Adam Blumer Edges of Truth: The Mary Weaver Story by Deb Brammer with Steve Brennecke, CreateSpace, November 2013, 350 pages, $13.95. Novelist Deb Brammer and former attorney on the case Steve Brennecke retell the inspiring true story of Mary Weaver in Edges of Truth. Mary, an Iowa babysitter, was accused and convicted of first-degree murder in the mysterious death of eleven-month-old Melissa Mathes on January 22, 1993. Written with effective fiction technique and based on meticulous research of court records, the book traces the story of Melissa’s mysterious death and Mary’s journey to prove her innocence through the legal system—first…
Lately my church has been going through a fascinating, encouraging book during Sunday school called God Is More Than Enough: Foundations for a Quiet Soul by Jim Berg. This book goes along with Berg’s video series Quieting a Noisy Soul; we’ve been watching the videos during Sunday school and then reading the correlating chapters during the week in preparation for Wednesday night discussion. When I come across a real gem, I like to let others know about it—and this is one of them. And in the spirit of “approving excellent things” (Phil. 1:10), I like to share the blessing. I must admit that I read few nonfiction Christian fiction books because so many I’ve read (or tried to read) were so simplistic, I felt insulted. Or they tried so hard to be novel that the content flirted with false teaching or waded into psychobabble. This is not one of them. The…
