Only something as important as cleaning out her deceased parents’ house could prompt Marin Henderson for an extended stay at her childhood home. Too many bad memories and secrets resided there, things the widow intended to keep hidden from her adult children at all costs.
Her daughter Slade and son Reed arrive to help, but they have wounds and secrets too.
But secrets can create their own scars.
Relatable, wounded characters quickly drew me into the story. There were many unexpected twists and turns. It’s a story about family, of growing apart and denying each other the strength that can be found together.
This contemporary novel was a page-turner for me. Highly recommend.
Fellow author and friend Shelia Stovall shares about a family cemetery with us today. Welcome back to Historical Nibbles, Shelia!
by Shelia Stovall
Thank you for inviting me to share a story that might interest genealogists. Judy, my mother-in-law, loved genealogy. One of my deepest regrets is that I didn’t record her family stories. She said her ancestor received a land grant for our property for serving in the Revolutionary War. Unfortunately, we have no documentation to prove this because the Simpson County, Kentucky Courthouse burned in May of 1882.
A couple of years ago, my husband visited our neighbor’s farm and discovered a cemetery, hidden in a grove of trees, about five hundred yards from our property line.
We’d never crossed the fence line and had no idea the cemetery existed. Later, my husband took me to his find. Judy grew up on our farm, and I am sure she knew the cemetery existed but failed to mention it. Perhaps it is something she took for granted that we knew.
Simple stones mark many gravesites, and others are very ornate. Sadly, the cemetery needs attention. One tombstone identifies the grave of the Revolutionary War soldier, William Lowe. I couldn’t help but wonder if this might mark the resting place of my husband’s relative who received the land grant. We’d never heard anyone mention the last name of “Lowe” in the family history. The surname of Johns, Peden, and Snider are the familiar family names.
We scanned Judy’s many scrapbooks in search of her genealogy work. Ready to give up, I put away the albums,but my father-in-law said, “Let’s look inside her desk.” The first folder I pulled out was labeled, “For Evan Leslie’s D.A.R.” (Evan Leslie is my daughter.) It seemed Judy knew that someday, someone would be interested. It took mere seconds to locate the name I hoped to see, William Lowe.
I am thankful Judy took such care to document her family ancestry. We’ll never be able to prove the farm has been in my husband’s family since the land grants, but I feel confident the trails I walk with my grandchildren are the same as their ancestors from ten generations back.
To me, the most special place is by a tiny stream that branches into Drake’s Creek. I need this quiet place where no one speaks to me but God.
We are blessed by our inheritance, but a better inheritance awaits us because we are to be co-heirs with Jesus Christ. “And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ, we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.” Romans 8:17.
My prayer is that you too will share in this glorious inheritance.
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Readers can download three free novellas from my website under the media tab and be introduced to my make-believe communities of Weldon and Sassy Creek. My novel, Every Window Filled with Light, can be purchased from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
About Shelia
Shelia Stovall is the director of a small-town library in southern Kentucky, where only strangers mention her last name, and the children call her Miss Shelia.
Shelia and her husband Michael live on a farm, and she enjoys taking daily rambles to the creek with their three dogs. Spending time with family, especially her grandchildren, is her all-time favorite thing. The only hobby Shelia loves more than reading uplifting stories of hope is writing them. Connect with Shelia on her blog.
Every Window Filled with Light
Welcome to Weldon, Kentucky, where the only things the locals love more than fried pies are gossip and match-making.
Librarian Emma Baker, a young and childless widow, believes her dream to build a family is over. It’s been two years since a student accidentally stabbed Emma’s husband to death, and her grief has stifled any interest in romance—until she meets Pastor Luke Davis. But when Emma learns Luke is counseling her husband’s killer fresh out of jail, her temper gets in the way.
Meanwhile, Emma discovers twelve-year-old Harley, abandoned by her drug-addict mother, hiding in the library, and takes the girl in as her foster mom. Then a young mother is made homeless by an apartment fire, and Emma opens her home again. One person and one prayer at a time, Emma begins to discover hope.
Fellow author and friend, Bettie Boswell, shares historical inspiration for her debut novel. Welcome to Historical Nibbles, Bettie!
by Bettie Boswell
Setting is important to any story, and though my debut novel is a contemporary Christian romance, a historical backdrop plays a major role. My heroine in On Cue has written a musical involving her town’s involvement in the Underground Railroad, in order to save the local historical museum from financial ruin. One of the featured homes in the story was inspired by a real station on that road to freedom for many people escaping slavery, the Lathrop Home in Sylvania, Ohio.
For many years family lore claimed the home as part of a lesser used route to freedom in Canada but there was no actual proof until a renovation took place in the late 1930’s. The new construction uncovered a hidden room next to a brick oven in the basement of the Lathrop’s home. Lucian and Larissa Lathrop, the original home owners, held strong religious beliefs that led them to support the Underground Railroad despite laws that forbade their involvement. They along with their neighbors, David and Clarissa Harroun, helped the runaways by hiding them in that secret room or in the Harroun barn (now part of the Flower Hospital complex) and then made arrangements for the travelers to head north to Detroit where they could cross the river into Canada. David Harroun had a wagon with a false bottom so he could transport former slaves up and down the trail to freedom. There was a known slave catcher in the nearby Maumee area so the Sylvania families did face danger in their endeavors. Making the choice to save the life of a former slave proved their dedication to aide a fellow human.
In On Cue I renamed the home, Woodson House, but the spirit of the Lathrop house lives on as my inspiration.
Back Cover Blurb
When a college sweetheart used Ginny Cline’s dreams for his own glory, he stole her joy of composing music and her trust in men. Years later, encouraged by prayer and a chance to help the local museum, she dares to share her talents again. Unfortunately a financial backer forces her to place her music and trust into the hands of another man.
Theater professor Scott Hallmark’s summer camp benefactor coerces him into becoming the director of Ginny’s musical. The last thing he needs is another woman who uses him to get what they want, especially an amateur who has no idea what they are doing.
As Ginny’s interest in Scott grows, her confusion arises over Honey, a member of Scott’s praise band. Mix in a couple of dogs and quirky cast members for fun and frustration as the couple work together to discover that forgiveness and trust produce perfect harmony.
Bettie Boswell is an author, illustrator, composer, teacher of music and second graders, who lives with her minister husband and tuxedo kitty. She adores her two sons and her grandchildren. On Cue is her debut full length novel. She has published shorter works in anthologies, magazines, and the education market.
Charlotte Graves is the new director of the local historical and genealogical society. She’s back in Loblolly after eight years but old hurts die hard. Or are murdered.
Before she knows what’s happening, Charlotte is arrested for the murder of Boopsie Sweets, a childhood enemy. Worse, she’s arrested by Roan Steele, the man who’d broken her heart back in high school.
There’s mystery afoot that only a genealogist can decipher!
Lovable, realistic characters invited me into a small Alabama town in the 1960s. Williams does a fantastic job giving an authentic feel with details such as music, clothing, decorations, and furniture. The characters seem to step off the page from an era 50 years ago.
Written in first person so the story drew me in immediately. I couldn’t put the book down!
The story is well-written with escalating tension that kept me turning pages. I’ll look for more books by this author. Recommend!
Tori Pendola, artist and student of Art History at the University of Pennsylvania, will soon graduate. She has already been offered a good job but longs for love. She finds it in Jebuni Kalitzi.
Jeb is an African exchange student and son of a tribal chieftain in Ghana. The economics major falls in love with Tori, a white woman that his tribe would not approve of him marrying.
It’s 1959 and the couple faces apartheid in Africa, prejudice in America. They face societal barriers, threats, rejection, and insults.
I was quickly pulled into their struggles, which mounted as the story progressed. The author does a great job showing the prejudice on both sides. Recommend.
Chelsea Chambers recently separated from Sawyer, her NFL celebrity husband, and is trying to make the coffee shop that her mother left her a success for her two children. Business crawls. Her only employee quits. Manny shows up the same day. He’s a real godsend and she hires him on the spot.
Then the IRS delivers a huge tax bill that her mother neglected to pay. Sawyer can’t help—he’s somehow managed to go through millions of dollars. Chelsea has to close the shop and sell the property.
Then someone delivers a router that she can try out for three months. Free. She jumps at the chance to increase her business.
But there’s a catch. Internet access is limited to one blog—the God Blog.
And there’s something special about Manny…
I loved this book! The reader sees early on that Manny is really Chelsea’s guardian angel. We’re given glimpses into his conversations with Gabriel.
I particularly loved how the author shows the behind-the-scenes battle between good and evil. Can our prayers for our loved really live on past our death?
Thought-provoking. An enjoyable multi-layered story. Recommend!
A tragedy leaves a hole in Mac’s heart and a mountain of debt. He can’t stand the raw grief in Sophie’s eyes so he does the only thing he can do for his wife—sign up as a contractor in Afghanistan. The dangerous work pays well.
Guilt fights with grief as he travels across the world. The miles apart don’t heal his relationship with his wife. They both mourn Little Mac’s death in their own ways.
This story is told entirely from Mac’s point of view as he faces danger in Afghanistan and the turmoil of his heart. He meets other men battling their own issues in the Afghanistan heat.
Believable story. Believable, flawed characters that touched my heart.
Sandra Merville Hart 