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?

Last night was our Monday Night Bible Study. We filled up the room where it’s held, each one of us coming there from a different church denomination, different parts of the UK – and me – all the way from the US. Different accents, different backgrounds, different educational levels, different occupations and life experiences – and the same God, the same Jesus, the same Holy Spirit. We are one in the Spirit; a true family in God.

When you think about it, it proves the existence of God. How could all of us – especially me, having grown up some 3,000 miles away in another country – be one family? How could we praise God, read the Bible and share testimonies and prayers with the same belief structures and in one accord? Totally family. Totally God. Totally Jesus. Totally Holy Spirit.

There are several writers in our group, a fantastic musician, and at least one great artist. Every one of us brings special gifts and talents to the Lord. In one accord. Without God, it simply wouldn’t be possible. Even with God, it’s almost too awesome to believe. Yet, because God is, it is.

Praise Jesus!

God is in control. That gives me confidence for 2013. Not only is God in control, He is good. And He has been good to me today!

Amazingly, it was the same temperature here in Scotland today as it was in Bandera, Texas, and in Montgomery, Alabama! That made me feel so loved! Yes, it was cold – into the 30s, but other places have winter, too. The winter here is just a bit long – meaning it lasts all year.

But today was a lovely day to take Angel Joy for a ball-chasing run down the beach and back. It was a lovely day just to smile at folks and wish them Happy New Year. And that’s what I wish and pray for all the “Bridge/Miz Mike” fans: have a blessed and joyful New Year. A new Miz Mike, “Bridge Beyond Betrayal” should be out soon. I don’t have a release date yet, but I’ll keep you posted. Meanwhile, Alan has done all his preparation for next Sunday’s preaching and we’ve been out visiting folks…I think we get the next two days off! For Alan, that will probably mean finishing up book three of his time-travel, adventure “Scent” trilogy. For me, I’m hoping to get back to Miz Mike in Book Six of the “Bridge” series. I left her in a whole heap of trouble and I reckon she could do with a bit of rescuing!

God Bless, y’all! Happy, happy, joyful, blessed New Year!

Wish I could say that I’ve only had one moment of weakness. Sadly, it happens all too often. Today’s moment of weakness was one of the worst because it was a lack of faith in God. I lost one of my gloves on the beach while husband Alan and I were walking our rough collie Angel Joy. Three times I re-walked our path along the beach, unable to find the glove. Alan put his faith in God into action. He prayed. He asked Jesus to help find the glove. Me? I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t have enough faith. My attitude was, “you can pray but we won’t find the glove. We’ve already looked.”

Without faith, it is impossible to please God. I wasn’t pleasing to God today. The worst shame? He’s already answered my prayers and made all my dreams come true with the publication of “Bridge to Nowhere,” the first in a series of mystery-romance-suspense books set in Three Prongs, Texas, and featuring the lively, impulsive “Miz Mike.” And even more to my shame? About a week ago I actually stood in a parking lot in Inverness, Scotland, and prayed for Jesus to shrink my right foot so it would fit into the boot I was wearing. He did. He’s a big God, a mighty, miracle-working God. Since my right foot is bigger than my left, and since my American feet are too big for Scottish shoes, and since they don’t have half sizes here or my size…I had been greatly suffering with every pair of shoes or boots that I had bought over here. Today, I wore my Wellies for the first time since that prayer. It’s rained and snowed since I last wore the Wellies, but truthfully, I was afraid to wear them again because the hurt my right foot so dreadfully when I do. Today? Pain gone. Right foot fit…it even felt like it had a bit more room in it than the left foot! When Jesus does something, He does it right!

And yet…how did I repay the great and mighty and awesome Lord God Who had answered prayer and made my feet fit the shoes because the shoes wouldn’t fit the feet? I doubted that He could help find my glove.

Forgive me, LORD.

Now had I been on a stand in court today testifying, I would have confidently affirmed that I had written a new post on WordPress yesterday. I remember that I thought about putting a new picture on it, but decided to just write something. What? I don’t remember. That’s part of the mystery. The other part of the mystery is…where did it go? Because, it isn’t here!

Every day that God makes is a good day. He makes every day – so every day is good! Today was no exception. First we had a special “Back to Church” service in Avoch. Members of the congregation shared special hymns, songs and Scripture passages that were special to them and explained why they were so special. Then on to Rosemarkie. I know that as Alan’s wife, I might be a tad prejudiced. Still, the LORD had given him a brilliant message and he did an awesome job of preaching it. That was evidence of the LORD’s strength after all Alan’s been through the past few days with criticism of him for having written a really great time-travel, adventure book, The Scent of Time. The problem seems to be that people expect a pastor to write a dry, dusty study book that will decorate a few shelves for a few years until it gets chucked out because it’s outdated and no one wants it any more. Instead, Alan wrote an exciting, thrilling, heart-rending book that will make a great movie! So when the headlines proclaimed, “Pastor writes sexy book…” among other less tasteful headlines, Alan had a bit of a come-apart. Must say, his Amazon UK numbers are great and Amazon has sold out of paperback editions of The Scent of Time. So I guess the object here is, dare to go for your dreams. Dare to be a writer if that is your dream. Just makes sure that you can handle the pressure when your book suddenly takes off!

Now about me…not so good. It’s something that’s never happened to me before. I was supposed to do the children’s talk, which I love doing. I had my props, had my Scripture passage, had rehearsed the lesson. Then I looked out into the church and saw sparks of anger and hate flashing out of one person’s eyes – the one and only person to have launched a hate campaign against Alan over The Scent of Time, and I lost it. Yes, I gave the talk and I read from Luke, Chapter 2, but I could feel that I was trying to do it in my strength and not the LORD’s. It was like Peter when Jesus was walking on the water. Peter got out of the boat to go to Jesus and was walking on the water just fine until he took his eyes off Jesus and started looking at the storm. That was me today. I took my eyes off Jesus and looked at the storm.

So, friends, take heart. No matter what sparks of difficulty life throws at you, keep your eyes on Jesus. He will see you through. Even if you’re a writer!