When I posted a photo of an 1800s building on Facebook, people loved it. Had so many questions about it and comments on it that I’m reading a book called Roseaugh, A House of its Time to answer the questions.

Today was the first time it was warm enough and had quit snowing enough to go back for more pictures. The first picture I wanted was a closeup of the round-towered building I had taken through the trees last time. It looked like a fantastic mansion; a mysterious building inviting romance and intrigue. Imagine the disappointment when we climbed to the top of the hill and discovered that it had been…a stable.

Rosehaugh House, finished in 1893, was unbelievably opulent inside and out, with some 60 rooms. More incredible and unbelievable, an insurance company purchased the property in 1959 and demolished the mansion. No one seems to know why. The stable, which goes back to the mid-1800s, has been converted into a private residence and is still being used.

Don’t believe the evidence of your eyes. Your eyes can play tricks on you. From a distance, the stable looked like a mansion. From a distance, worldly pleasures look inviting, harmless and fun. The Fletchers poured millions into a splendid mansion that could rival any castle. In fact, the Queen Mother considered purchasing the property. Yet now, a mere 54 years later…it’s a stable, not a mansion, that is still standing.

When we die, it will be our riches in Heaven that last: riches that can’t be robbed or stolen and that will not rust, corrode or be demolished. What we have accumulated down here on earth will be left behind for someone else to control: to treasure or demolish.

Jesus said “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Don’t let the false evidence of your eyes trick you. It’s fine to be successful and enjoy this life. But don’t forget that life doesn’t end here.

We passed the high, solid, window-less walls of a prison yesterday. Just looking at it made me shudder. There was no way to breach those walls, no avenue of escape.

Behind those rock walls live people who have been convicted of crimes. They were put there to protect others. If I had to guess, I’d guess that anyone looking at the picture of those prison walls is saying, “No way! I’d never want to get stuck in a place like that!”

Sadly, many people today trap themselves behind hard, ugly, impenetrable walls from which they have no hope of escape…invisible walls. Drug addicts and alcoholics sentence themselves to a life of hell on earth inside a prison most people never see. Mental illness shuts people away in rock-less, wall-less prisons.

Jesus died today, Good Friday, to set us free from invisible prisons. Jesus’ death wasn’t a defeat. It was a victory. Death couldn’t hold Jesus. The rock tomb couldn’t hold Jesus. Three days later Jesus arose from the dead! He lives! He’s alive!

Jesus died to set us free from sin, judgment and death. He won the victory for us. He can knock down the prison walls and set us free. It’s up to us.

We wondered what would happen when two hawks moved into a tree at the crow’s nesting place along the beach. The crows had owned that tree grove for years.

Would the hawks gradually wipe out the crows? Would they eat the young? The predators perched on the top of an evergreen tree slightly higher than the hardwood trees that held the crow nests. They seemed to mock the crows, emitting their high-pitched hunting cries. The predators’ shrieks scattered the crows and sent them frantically searching for lower limbs, flying out over the water, or seeking shelter in other clumps of trees. For days, the crows appeared frantic and frazzled to have predators as unwelcome neighbors.

We can’t be sure of what happened. We weren’t there. But we found one of the hawks on the ground. It was dead. From the wounds on its back, it appeared that the crows had grouped together and attacked it. Then the other predator left and the crow grove regained its peace–if rousing crow “caws” can be called peaceful!

That’s a good lesson for Christians. Satan is real. He’s God’s enemy and he’s your enemy. He came to steal and kill and destroy. He’s a ruthless, heartless predator. He will hunt you. He will mock you. When you knowingly and deliberately engage in sin, you give him permission enter your life.

But here’s the good news. Stand up to him in the power of Jesus’ name and he will flee! When Christians bind themselves together in love and prayer in the name of Jesus, they have the victory. Every time. We have the power to put Satan under our feet. We can render him as harmless as the dead hawk.

If people were collies. If people were collies, the world would be a better place. Collies are unique dogs. They are highly intelligent—which can be a hardship. You must be smarter than your dog to train it. Collies are usually smarter than me. That means I wind up well trained for them. They continue joyfully on in life just like they started out!

Collies are gentle. They are usually non-aggressive, friendly dogs. They won’t bite humans or fight with other dogs. You can walk them off leash without worrying that they will hurt someone or something. You don’t cringe when strangers approach to pet them, or when babies suddenly launch themselves at them.

Collies are curious. Because they are smart, they want to understand everything. Because they are gentle and non-aggressive, they will almost never attack other animals. They make friends with cats, deer, birds, opossums…anything that will stay still long enough to foment friendship.

But the thing that I love most about collies is their desire to please. They would rather have love and praise than treats. Our dog Angel Joy goes out to the garage and brings in wood with us. She doesn’t do it for treats. Just praise. Just to help.

So if people were collies, the world would be a better place. Everyone would be friendly, affectionate and eager to please. That’s how we should live before God. Praise, prayer, and an inward desire to please Him. When the Bible states that, “Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,” it is saying that we need to love God so much that we are afraid to sin and break our fellowship with Him.

The most important reason I write books like Bridge to Nowhere, Heart Shadows, Until the Shadows Flee and Shadow Chase is to offer readers books that are entertaining and fun to read, but that honor God. Other authors will outsell me, have more speaking engagements than I do, gain more fame. I’m glad for them. I hope they enjoy their success. My earthly rewards from writing might not match theirs, but each Christian mystery-romance-suspense book I write is another jewel of praise, prayer and sacrifice in the crown I’m creating for my Creator. When I get to Heaven, just being able to bow before Jesus and place it as His feet will be reward enough.

Hey, thanks, Angel Joy! I’m learning a lot from you. You’re collierizing me already!

As Jed on the “Beverly Hillbillies” liked to say, “Well, Doggie!” I’ve done figured me out a way to be a best-selling author!

I am reading Annie Seaton’s best-seller, “Promotional Tips and Tricks for Aspiring Writers in a Digital Landscape.” Great advice, but I believe I accidentally discovered my own way to fame today. It involves a dog. Perhaps any dog would do, but our dog happens to be a sable and white rough collie like the dog of “Lassie” movies and TV shows.

My first Christian mystery-romance-suspense, “Bridge to Nowhere,” doesn’t have a dog as one of the main characters. My mistake. The third “Bridge” book has a borrowed collie that plays an important role in the book. But by book four, five and six—I have it made! I hit the jackpot! All of them have a dog as a main character. Now, here’s how I know that will sell books.

The car was still in the garage today, or I might never have made this monumental discovery! The freezer was empty and the refrigerator was bare because we’ve been without a car for over a week. Then we ran out of Diet Coke and chocolate. That’s when we declared a state of emergency. We snapped the leash on the dog and hoofed it up to the store. It started snowing. Hard.

By the time we had walked a mile in the snow, we were plastered with snow. All three of us. Alan shook off the best, so he went into the store to get the emergency supplies. I stayed outside with Angel Joy. Now, remember…I was plastered with snow. My green coat was white. My blue wooly hat was white. I could barely see for the wind-whipped snow darting around in front of my eyes. But Angel Joy was also plastered with white and only a few patches of honey-brown fur showed through the snow.

People passed us on the way into the store. And what did they say? “Oh, look at that poor dog!” Poor dog! What about the poor human with the dog! But, no, they ALL said, “Look at that poor dog!”

That’s when I figured it out. Most folks like dogs. Most folks like collies. Annie Seaton talks about building your own “brand” as a book promotional tool. Being from Bandera, Texas, brands are one thing I understand. I already have my own brand for book signings: Texas Flag boots and shirt and a western skirt. But now I know how to brand my books. I’m a’fixin’ to collie them in!

It is one of those little mysteries in life that we will never be able to solve. We use only one open fireplace to heat our house. Yes, the rest of the house is freezing – but that’s a different story! In any event, we’ve discovered that the only way to keep at least one room in the house warm – which happens to be the room we use for everything including writing – is to use coal. A lot of coal. We order it every week. All we have to say to get our rough collie Angel Joy to growl and say “Woof” is to tell her, “Andy’s bringing more coal.” For some reason, the huge friendly man lugging huge bags of coal across his shoulder frightens her. But that’s another story. Back to the mystery. The tongs we used to put coal in the fire disappeared. How could a large pair of metal tongs simply…vanish? I would say it might be a case of Brigadoon and they had been Brigadoonized. But we’re still here. Only the tongs are gone. We did find one tip of what looked like tongs in the fireplace when we were cleaning it out. But how did the tongs get there and why would the fire have burned the thickest part of the tongs and left only one little end piece? They were metal, for heaven’s sake! In any event, they were borrowed, stolen, Brigadoonized, or burned or…it’s a mystery!

So…out to buy more tongs. But the first and only pair we could find were labeled, “Not for use. For decoration only.” Talk about mysteries! Now I ask you: how many homes do you enter and the person says, “Oh, before you see the rest of the house, you must come see my tongs! We hung them up on the wall here in the center of the room so everyone could see them. Aren’t they cool?”

Remember, I’m from Bandera, Texas, “Cowboy Capital of the World.” We decorate everything from our homes to our businesses with Texas Flags painted on barnwood, metal…anything that sits still long enough to take paint…and with old saddles, rattlesnake rattlers, sets of horns off Texas Longhorns, barbed wire, stuffed roadrunners and armadillos, branding irons. Really cool stuff. But fireplace tongs? Get real!

Anyway, the mystery remains and I can’t complain. I love mysteries! If I didn’t love mysteries, I could never have written Bridge to Nowhere, released by Sunpenny Publishing. Nor could I have written the three older mystery-romance-suspense books available on Amazon: Heart Shadows, Until the Shadows Flee and Shadow Chase.

So…I hope you’re in the mood for a good mystery and you’ll buy one of my books. If I sell enough, we might consider another heat source besides just the fireplace. As for me, I’m on the way out the door to get a pair of those “for decoration only” tongs. I figure it must be a trend in the making!

The great thing about my Bridge to Nowhere character Miz Mike is that she’s courageous. It’s easy for her to be brave. The people in the books who come after her – even with guns, arson, car crashes and fighting dogs – aren’t real. It’s pretty easy to face down make believe characters, even at their most nefarious. Oh, why couldn’t it be as simple in real life as it is on the written page!

Just yesterday, I flubbed it. It was a small, simple step in being brave and I blew it. I commented on the dying oak trees in Auburn, Alabama, that an irate Alabama fan had poisoned. The trees were living creations of God. It is terrible that spite drove that person to kill those lovely, historic trees. But what I neglected to say is that 1.6 billion beating hearts are stopped every year in the U.S. for the sake of “convenience.” Abortion murders children. Even one child’s life is worth more than all the live oak trees in the world. What if Abraham Lincoln had been aborted? Thomas Edison? Agatha Christie? You?

I didn’t put this on Facebook immediately, as I should have, in case “Friends” de-friended me. How inane is that? Real friendship allows freedom of choice and thought between friends. Real friendship is big enough to overlook differences and keep the connection. In this day of social networking, Facebook and Twitter are important to authors. They are places an author can showcase his/her work and keep others informed about new releases. But nothing in the world, including any book present or future, is more important than making glad the heart of God. Plus I really believe that all the Facebooking, Tweeting, and PR releases in the world won’t bring success without God’s blessing. He is the key to promotion.

I’ve apologized to God. Now I’m apologizing to my readers. I’ll try to be brave and courageous and always do the right thing in the future. Miz Mike would expect that. More importantly, God demands that. We are to fear Him, not other people.

Okay, Miz Mike. I’ve got your back! Where are we going today? Back to the Nevada desert with the wild horses and tumbleweed circuses in the air? Great! I’ll just grab some chocolate for the road…uh…Mike…aren’t there a lot of rattlesnakes in the desert?