My Best-Selling Books

My traditional publisher doesn't send complete sales reports, so I'm not including those five books in these statistics. I'm just listing the books published by my small, independent publishing house and by me. The first five have all earned royalties well within four digits, and the others are close to getting there. Here is the list in order with the first one selling the most:

1. Mountain Mishap
2. Mountain Storms
3. When Winter Is Past
4. Dust Storms
5. Past Storms
6. Walnut Cake by Wylene
7. Second-Choice Bride
8. Sterling Orphans
9. Poor Relation
10. Returning Neighbor

(They all are on Kindle, KU, print, and Audible.)

Link to my books

My biggest month of sales ever came in April 2020. People were staying home due to the COVID quarantine, and they read more, but I've also worked hard to market my books.  All this has helped put sales on a firm foundation. All my profits go to a scholarship fund for missionary children, and I try to be able to pay for as many tuitions as  possible. So far, I've been able to do as many as two in one year. 

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 Embroidery Lesson

Behold, I will do a new thing . . . (Isaiah 43:19a)

I learned to embroider when I was five years old. The doctor told me to stay in bed for a week, and Mother gave me a simple piece of embroidery to help me pass the time. Many pieces followed, and this began a long line of arts and crafts.

If you looked on the backside of an embroidered item, it would be a mess with threads running all over the place in  no discernible order. They are tangled and unattractive. But in the hands of a skillful needleworker, the front of the piece becomes a beautiful design,  showing position, pattern, and colors that work together to form a lovely image.

The Lord does the same with our lives. He takes the tangled mess we've made and makes something beautiful from it, one expert stitch at a time. He changes us and turns our lives inside-out so the best side shows -- the side that He sees because of Christ. The more we surrender to Him, the more of a masterpiece we'll become.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).

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 The Miracle of Becoming an Author

The Bible shows many incidents of God doing remarkable things in astounding ways with ordinary, flawed people. With hindsight, I can look back and see how God was training me to become a Christian writer all along, but I couldn't see it for a long time. 

I think it all started when I was almost three years old. I was an only child, and I'd developed this vivid imagination. I had an imaginary younger brother that I looked after and talked to. I embarrassed my mother several times by talking to him in public, but I was making up a story in my mind even then. I also learned to love stories early. True to the Appalachian tradition, my mother told stories and recited poetry to me for as far back as my memory goes.When I started to school, I was ready to read the stories books held.

However, I grew up learning Appalachian speech patterns. It's the way most people around me talked. These language patterns were about as far from standard English as a native-born American can get. However, as I progressed in school, I liked the mechanics of the language and diagramming sentences made sense to me. I found that I sounded much better on paper than I did orally, and I began writing my own stories in the third grade. I've been writing ever since, although I've only been a published author for about seven years. However, in that time, I've published almost 50 books. God has blessed.

Some think of only pastors or missionaries when they think of God calling people, but He calls others. He calls us for short-term projects and for life goals. I think God has called me to be a professional writer as my second career, and I thank Him for it every day as I ask for His guidance and direction.

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 Yield

As I was doing my morning Bible study one day this week, something came to me that I'd not thought of in quite the same way before. The word yield has two distinct definitions and both can deliver strong spiritual messages. The word can mean to bear fruit or have a harvest, and it can mean to surrender. 

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that bearth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit (John 15:2).

Jesus speaks of bearing fruit, something that we can't do unless we abide in Him. He also says if we don't bear fruit, we'll suffer the consequences. He wants us to have a good yield for the Kingdom, and that's something that we should want too. 

...but yield yourselves unto God (Romans 6:13b).

We are also to yield or surrender to God. This the key to obedience and living the life He wants for us. Yet, it's hard for us to submit to anyone. We like to think we're in control.  However, always yielding to God's will is what brings us true, lasting joy. 

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My Characters Talk to Me

Before I write a book, I live with my main characters in my head long enough to get to know them well. They come to me at different times during the night and day to tell me about themselves and show me what's happening to them. Some of the scenes play like a movie in my mind. At other times, a character will just talk to me, giving me information I need to include in the book.

On several occasions, secondary characters come to me after I've written a book and tell me I need to write their story. This happened with Emma in Sown in Dark Soil, and I had to back up to tell her story. Therefore, Cleared for Planting became the first book in the Appalachian Roots series. Then Hawk said I needed to conclude his story, and he comes back in Uprooted by War.  Readers often say they'd like to see another book in a series, but, if I feel the series is over and don't have a character telling me otherwise, I won't try to write another one. However, I'm glad that readers love the characters enough that they want to see more of them, and I understand that.

I planned for Off the Streets to be a standalone, but Gwen's son Brandon, wanted his story told, so I wrote Without a Dream. The same thing happened with the In from the Storms series. I first meant to only write two books. Mountain Storms would tell Aileas's and Ian's story, and Past Storms would tell about Ian's sister, Jeannie. However, Brady, Aileas's stepbrother, convinced me to add his story to make a trilogy, and Dust Storms finished the series.

These characters become so real, some of them return after I've published the books they're in. They tell me more things, even though I can't go back and add them to the novel. However, it's like meeting with a good friend. It's always good to see them again and catch up a little. It sounds a bit crazy, right? Of course, I know this is just my imagination, but that doesn't keep me from appreciating it because it makes my books come to life for me, and hopefully for my readers as well.

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Bethsaida

I find biblical history and geography fascinating. I like to know where things mentioned in the Bible were located and how they fit into the lives of the important characters. Perhaps you can guess that one of my college majors was history. I like anything that gives me a clearer view of these ancient times because it helps me better understand the Bible.

The town of Bethsaida is mentioned seven times in the Bible. The name literally means a town of hunters and/or fishermen. We don't know its exact location, but most researchers believe it was on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee because Pliny the Elder wrote of it being there. There are three sites in that region that could be Bethsaida's location, however. Three important biblical figures in the New Testament called it home: Peter, Andrew, and Philip (John 1:44). Herod Philip II gave Bethsaida the status of polis and called it "Julia."

Jesus was near Bethsaida when He fed the 5,000 with just five loaves of bread and two fish (Luke 9:10-17), and he was just outside the town when he restored sight to the blind man in Mark 8:22-26. Depending on its exact location, it might have been close to where Jesus got into the boat with his disciples to rest and escape the crowds. Recent discoveries have unearthed buildings that could have been at Bethsaida but nothing to indicate with certainty that archaeologists have definitely found the town.

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 A New Trend in Book Covers

Have you noticed the new style of book covers that are becoming quite popular? They have drawn or painted graphics that appear flat or bland instead of the photographic illustrations I'm used to seeing. At one time, they were used mainly in juvenile and young-adult fiction, but I am seeing them used more and more in adult genres today. Their popularity among cover designers and authors seems to be growing

I may be old-fashioned, but I don't like these new covers as well as the ones that look more realistic. I guess I equate it with the stories not being very realistic either or perhaps being juvenile. I certainly don't find them appealing, and they don't make me want to read the book. However, I may be in the minority because surely there's been market research done on them, and I don't think authors would be using them so often if they didn't sell.

What do you think? Which style of cover do you like better, and which one makes you want to buy and read the book? I'd love to hear what you think.

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Standing on the Promises or Sitting on the Premises?

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8: 12).

Most Christians would agree that the world today needs God's light. However, we should ask ourselves what we're doing to shine His light to others. Are we carrying His Word like a high-powered spotlight to lead people out of the darkness? Are we looking for ways we can show His love, especially to the destitute?

Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few (Matthew 9:37-38).

If each person who professes to be a Christian would get off the sofa, develop a servant's heart, and follow God's commandments in obedience, the Christian faith wouldn't be declining, and our churches would be packed each time the doors opened. We need workers for the harvest. Where are they? Where are you?

Wherefore take unto you the whole amour of God, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, and having done all, to stand (Ephesians 6:13).

Christians need to be willing to put on the armor of God and move to the front lines instead of remaining on the sidelines. God didn't mean for us to sit but to serve. Faith demands action. Love for our fellow man requires that we get involved. When we come to the end of our lives on earth, what we've done with Christ and how well we've served God in obedience will be the only things that matter. How's your heavenly report card looking? Are you working for his kingdom on the front lines or are you sitting on the sidelines?

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Forget-Me-Not Cookies by Fern

The last book I'll be publishing in the Old-Timey Holiday Kitchen series is now ready for preorder. It will publish on October 25. In Forget-Me-Not Cookies by Fern, Fern Russell gets caught disobeying her parents and seeing a man they don't approve of. They send her off to a private school in the little-known place of Big Lick. Fern is surprised to discover she likes the family where she's assigned to stay. Their shy, older son touches her heart, but she won't be disloyal to the beau she left behind. Waiting is hard, but that's exactly what she'll have to do to find out what the future holds. She bakes both men forget-me-not cookies. Which one will end up not forgetting her?

Big Lick Academy was a real place, close to where I now live. It's been fun researching the history and the time period. The headmaster of the school wanted the students to participate in the many community events, so they would stay busy and hopefully out of trouble. The out-of-town students roomed in private homes in the thriving community of Big Lick, named for a salt lick nearby. Dr. Black not only opened and ran the academy, but he was also the minister of a Big Lick church.

An interesting side note is that I used to sponsor a junior history club when I taught school. Each year, my students would do projects to get to go to the state convention. One of my students did a large model of the early town of Big Lick, which won an award and is now displayed at the local history museum. Little did I know at that time that I would be using his model as part of my research for a book.

I love how this book came together and how Fern comes to realize what her heart has been trying to tell her. How she conveys this epiphany involves her forget-me-not cookies, which are a type of macaroon. As a bonus, the recipe is included in the back of the book. I think you'll enjoy both the story and the cookies. It will be available in paperback, KU, Kindle, and Audible.

Link to book

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