Joy Neal Kidney's Blog, page 44

Novels set in the Holy Land–one Contemporary, one in Biblical Times

Both of these novels would be welcome as gifts:

Into the Room by Steven Rogers

Can a journey across the Holy Land redeem a reluctant pilgrim?

Ben Cahill’s life is an alcohol-saturated mess. After an insincere effort in a rehab facility, he is alienated from his family, out of work, and determined to continue his habit. To make matters worse, he finds himself on a tour of Israel, along with, as he calls them, a bunch of Holy Rollers.

As the trip progresses, Ben experiences the Holy Land’s major historical sites and is exposed to God’s word. He interacts with his fellow travelers, gradually learning about their faith and their lives. Along the way, Ben becomes embroiled in a spiritual war, reinforcing his guilt and, in turn, forcing him to recall his past actions and behaviors. He also begins a different journey, one that leads him to redemption and a place in God’s family.

The Author: Steven Rogers is an award-winning author and novelist. His novel Into the Room was the first place winner in the Spiritual Fiction Category for the 2022 Eric Hoffer Book Awards. In addition, the book has been named as one of three finalists in the Debut Novel category of the American Fiction Christian Writers Carol Awards.

My thoughts: A reluctant and alcoholic traveler, struggling with the mess he’s left his family in, tours the Holy Land with a bunch of “Holy Rollers.” This masterful and conversational story reveals a man who is rotting from the inside out, step by hesitant step, reach a hopeful transformation. It’s a powerful novel demonstrating that at the right time, all stories are worth telling. This one certainly is!

Learn more about Steven Rogers on his website.

The Ninth Hour by Valerie Van Kooten

A reluctant bride. An overbearing mother-in-law. An impoverished scribe. A traveler from far away. A young widow. A servant girl. A homesick Roman soldier. A donkey seller’s son.

Eight lives. Eight people who are barely mentioned in the Gospels, but who will all be changed by an incredible man from Galilee named Yeshua.

As Yeshua follows his path to the Cross, the world is about to change forever. Journey with these ordinary people of the Bible as they come face to face with the ninth hour.

The Author: Valerie Van Kooten is a writer, journalist, and college writing teacher. She has always been spellbound by the people in the Bible whose stories are largely passed over, but who surely added to the fabric of Jesus’ life. She and her husband live in Pella, Iowa.

My thoughts: The Ninth Hour brings secondary New Testament characters to life, characters whose lives were enhanced by the strange man Yeshua from Galilee. Highly recommended!

Here is Valerie’s LinkedIn page.

Books set in the Holy Land–one Contemporary, one in Biblical Times

Both of these books would be welcome as gifts:

Into the Room by Steven Rogers

Can a journey across the Holy Land redeem a reluctant pilgrim?

Ben Cahill’s life is an alcohol-saturated mess. After an insincere effort in a rehab facility, he is alienated from his family, out of work, and determined to continue his habit. To make matters worse, he finds himself on a tour of Israel, along with, as he calls them, a bunch of Holy Rollers.

As the trip progresses, Ben experiences the Holy Land’s major historical sites and is exposed to God’s word. He interacts with his fellow travelers, gradually learning about their faith and their lives. Along the way, Ben becomes embroiled in a spiritual war, reinforcing his guilt and, in turn, forcing him to recall his past actions and behaviors. He also begins a different journey, one that leads him to redemption and a place in God’s family.

The Author: Steven Rogers is an award-winning author and novelist. His novel Into the Room was the first place winner in the Spiritual Fiction Category for the 2022 Eric Hoffer Book Awards. In addition, the book has been named as one of three finalists in the Debut Novel category of the American Fiction Christian Writers Carol Awards.

My thoughts: A reluctant and alcoholic traveler, struggling with the mess he’s left his family in, tours the Holy Land with a bunch of “Holy Rollers.” This masterful and conversational story reveals a man who is rotting from the inside out, step by hesitant step, reach a hopeful transformation. It’s a powerful novel demonstrating that at the right time, all stories are worth telling. This one certainly is!

Learn more about Steven Rogers on his website.

The Ninth Hour by Valerie Van Kooten

A reluctant bride. An overbearing mother-in-law. An impoverished scribe. A traveler from far away. A young widow. A servant girl. A homesick Roman soldier. A donkey seller’s son.

Eight lives. Eight people who are barely mentioned in the Gospels, but who will all be changed by an incredible man from Galilee named Yeshua.

As Yeshua follows his path to the Cross, the world is about to change forever. Journey with these ordinary people of the Bible as they come face to face with the ninth hour.

The Author: Valerie Van Kooten is a writer, journalist, and college writing teacher. She has always been spellbound by the people in the Bible whose stories are largely passed over, but who surely added to the fabric of Jesus’ life. She and her husband live in Pella, Iowa.

My thoughts: The Ninth Hour brings secondary New Testament characters to life, characters whose lives were enhanced by the strange man Yeshua from Galilee. Highly recommended!

Here is Valerie’s LinkedIn page.

Thrillers by Jeff Bailey–Terrorists, Nuclear Power, Nuclear Warheads!

If you like to give books as gifts, here’s a couple for readers who enjoy spine-chilling tales:

The Defect

Terrorists have infiltrated the staff of the Desert Canyons nuclear power station. They want to melt it down and spread radioactive waste all over Southern California. Think it can’t happen today? Think again. At two in the morning in 2013, an unknown hooded person infiltrated a nuclear power plant in Tennessee. Shots were fired. It never made national news. None of what you read here ever happened, the cover-up was too complete. This story is based on actual events.

My thoughts: While frightening, The Defect would make a compelling film. Even though I know nothing about nuclear reactors, the author masterfully leads the reader through the alertness and security involved, while learning about the characters. The good guys and the terrorists are from all over the world, some drawn by America’s freedoms and job possibilities, some bent on destroying them. The reader is drawn into the thought processes of both, while dealing with radioactive meltdown, which is based on actual events. The possibilities for major destruction are haunting.

Not on My Watch!

Two nuclear warheads have been stolen, two guards have been murdered in cold blood, and the only witness has given chase. Unarmed and outnumbered, Lance Corporal Cassandra Sing must use all her Marine training to keep her wits about her as she attempts to thwart a group of men who have no problems doing whatever it takes to get what they want…

My thoughts: If you like reading thrillers, thrillers that include terrorists, Not on My Watch is for you. If you love satisfying stories about strong women, even better! The heroine of this one is a young woman Marine, one gutsy gal!

Author Jeff Bailey

I write nuclear conspiracy thrillers novels for a reason. I worked in nuclear related technologies for forty-five years. My first U.S. Army assignment at nineteen years old was to repair and maintain nuclear weapons. In 2012, I retired from the science staff of a national laboratory. In the years in between, I built, initially started, or operated a variety of nuclear power and research reactors.

While I infuse my nuclear resume into my stories, I base the stories themselves on true events from everyday news items. I based my recent fiction release, The Defect, on the actual events surrounding the meltdown and destruction of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Station and on the lone gunman attack on Watts Barr Nuclear Power Station. The Wikipedia account of Three Mile Island says that the failure of an air pilot valve contributed to the accident. In The Defect, the defective air pilot valve is the hero.

Welcome to my world.

Jeff Bailey’s website.

Leora Frances Wilson: December 4, 1890-December 4, 1987

Leora Wilson at the party for her 90th birthday, with great granddaughters Deni and Christa, daughters of Chris and Dennis Scar. December 1980, basement of the First Christian Church, Guthrie Center, Iowa

“LEORA FRANCES WILSON, daughter of Laura Jordan and Milton S. Goff, was born in Guthrie County, Iowa, on December 4, 1890. She passed away at the Guthrie County Hospital, Guthrie Center, Iowa, on December 4, 1987.

“Leora’s early life was spent in the parental home attending school and growing into womanhood. On February [15], 1914, she was united in marriage to Claiborne Wilson. To this union ten children were born.

Clabe and Leora Wilson, married February 15, 1914, Wichita, Iowa

“The family resided in Dexter, Minburn, and Perry and in 1948, moved to Guthrie Center where Leora maintained her own home until her passing. She was a member of the VFW Auxiliary, The American Legion Auxiliary, Rebeccas, the Christian Women’s Fellowship and the First Christian Church of Guthrie Center.

“Many became acquainted with Leora through the years by being a part of these various organizations, but also seeing her work in her yard and to make trips to town shopping. She took a good deal of pride in her flowers and enjoyed sharing them with church members on Sunday mornings.

“Leora was preceded in death by her parents, her husband in 1946, 6 children, [4] brothers and one sister.

“To morn her passing, she leaves her two sons, Delbert Wilson of Fremont, California, Donald Wilson of Raymond, Washington; two daughters, Mrs. Doris Neal and Mrs. Darlene Scar of Dexter, Iowa. As well, there are 9 grandchildren, 18 great grandchildren, 1 great-great grandchild, one sister, Mrs. Ruby Blockley of Long Beach, California, two brothers, Willis Goff of Redlin, Calif., and Clarence Goff of Omaha, Nebraska. As well, other relatives and friends will miss her.”

Donald and Rose Wilson are on the left, then Sam and Darlene (Wilson) Scar. Leora is in the middle, then Warren and Doris (Wilson) Neal, then Delbert and Evelyn Wilson. Donald and Delbert lived on the West Coast but both came back to Iowa the September of 1976, when this photo was taken at the Scar home in Guthrie County, Iowa.

The Delightful “West River Mysteries” by Jolene Stratton Philo

Both Charming Novels Were Published This Year

It is 1977, and 21-year-old amateur sleuth, Jane Newell, plans to seize life and make it her own as soon as she can get her VW Beetle out of the ditch. Having just graduated from a Midwestern college in elementary education, Jane accepted a teaching position in the small rustic town of Little Missouri, South Dakota. However, she’s not the only subject of local gossip. Round the Bend Bar and Café buzzes with talk of a recent tragedy—a hit and run murder that left one of her new students without a mother and the whole community restless for answers.

Jane’s nose for misadventure pulls her into a humorous tale of mystery among the zany characters surrounding her–from neighbor Merle Laird and his prize cow Snippy to the glitter-hating school janitor, Velma. Amidst the scenic wonder of this quirky little corner of western South Dakota, she begins her new life knowing that someone close to her was undoubtedly a killer, and she is determined to find out who it is.

My thoughts: A plucky young teacher, away from home for the first time, helps solve a who-done-it in small town South Dakota. When a fourteen-year-old student is arrested for murder of another student’s mother, Jane Newell’s problem-solving brain works overtime while she shepherds her class through spelling lessons, hatching monarchs, and glitter projects.

With grit, spirit, a great sense of humor and adventure, she also learns to milk a cow and handle a grumpy cleaning lady, all the while pondering clues. The charge against the student is dismissed, and Jane eventually becomes embraced in the arms of this quirky community. There’s a recipe for Nonskid Pancakes at the end!

—–

With three months of teaching and one solved mystery under her belt, Jane Newell is back. In short order her Beetle plows into a snowbank, her most rambunctious student hijacks the country school Christmas program, and she stumbles over the body of a teenage boy. Though Sheriff Rick Sternquist warns her not to investigate, Jane ignores his advice when she discovers a tangle of clues. They suggest that the murderer lives where Jane does – Little Missouri, South Dakota (population 92), in the northwestern corner of the state. With the help of cranky school janitor Velma Albright, switchboard operator Betty Yarborough, and neighbor Merle Laird, Jane closes in on the killer and sings her way into the hearts of the community she now calls home.

My thoughts: Single young teacher Jane Newell prepares her seven students for a Christmas program with the other grade-school teacher in Little Missouri, SD. A whole cast of townspeople look out for Miss Newell, suggesting suitors for her, as she tries to help solve a murder mystery. A boy from a nearby ranch for troubled youth was killed and clues seemed to show up where she would find them. Having been interested in forensics initially, she got herself involved. What predicaments she ended up in, but the perpetrator was arrested, the Christmas program was a success, and Miss Newell heads for Christmas in Iowa with her parents, driving her VW Beetle. A delightful romp, with a recipe at the end.

Author Jolene Stratton Philo

Before I became an author, I taught elementary school for 25 years. 7 of those years were spent in northwestern South Dakota. Our first child was born while we lived there, and our experiences with him resulted in 6 books for the special needs community. My fiction series, West River Mysteries, draws heavily on my years as an Iowan who landed in cowboy country, who taught country school, and who was adopted and cared for by the locals in the tiny town where we lived.

Jolene was recently interviewed on Hello Iowa, WHO-TV 13, about the first two books in her new West River Mysteries series. Other titles in the works: See Jane Dance! and See Jane Dig! 

 

Christmas Stories by Dan Walsh make Great Gifts

Christmas Stories by Dan Walsh

Dan Walsh is the bestselling author of 25 novels (all available on Amazon), including The Unfinished Gift, Rescuing Finley, When Night Comes, and The Reunion (soon to be a feature film). Over 1.2 million copies of Dan’s books are in print or downloaded. He’s won both the Carol and Selah Awards multiple times, 4 of his novels have been finalists for RT Reviews Inspirational Novel of the Year.

Reviewers often remark about Dan’s rich, character-driven storylines and page-turning suspense (even with his more inspirational books). He’s been writing full-time since 2010. He and his wife Cindi have been married 45 years, have 2 grown children and 5 grandchildren. They live in the Daytona Beach area, where Dan grew up. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, read his blog, or preview all his books by visiting his website.

The Unfinished Gift

Patrick Collins has three items on his Christmas list. He wants the army to find his father. He wants to leave his grandfather’s house. And he wants–very badly–the wooden soldier tucked away in his grandfather’s attic. Set at Christmastime in 1943, The Unfinished Gift is an engaging family story that reminds us of the surprising things that can affect powerful change in our hearts–-like a young boy’s desperate prayers, a shoebox full of love letters, even a dusty, long-forgotten wooden soldier.

My thoughts: The Unfinished Gift is a heartwarming story of generational conflict perpetuated by unreasonable expectations of duty and respect. The characters draw you into their lives, which are all affected and change throughout the scenes of the story. A wonderful Christmas story.

Keeping Christmas

For the first time since their children were born, empty nesters Judith and Stan Winters spent Thanksgiving without the kids and grandkids. It’s looking like Christmas will be the same. Judith can’t bring herself to even start decorating for the holiday; her children always hung the first ornaments on the tree, ornaments they’d made each year when they were kids. Stan had nicknamed them the “ugly ornaments” but Judith adored them. Now she can barely look at them. Can this box of ugly ornaments be the key to saving their family Christmas this year?

My thoughts: An empty nester struggles with holidays without children and grandchildren. Her oblivious spouse is caught up with bass boat dreams. Reliving Christmas tree aliens, skeleton snowmen, and other memories, they both end up reframing expectations into something even better than they’d hoped. Keeping Christmas is a poignant Christmas story.

Remembering Christmas

Rick Denton lives his life on his terms. He works hard, plays hard and answers to no one. So when his mother calls on Thanksgiving weekend begging him to come home after his stepfather has a stroke, Rick is reluctant. He’s never liked Art, despite the fact his own father abandoned them when Rick was twelve. Rick’s attitude sours even more when a couple of days helping at the family bookstore turns into weeks of cashing out old ladies and running off the homeless man who keeps hanging about, Slowly but surely, the little bookstore and its quirky patrons—as well as the lovely young woman who works at his side each day—work their magic on him, revealing to Rick the truth about his family, his own life, and the true meaning of Christmas.

My thoughts: A small bookstore with a “regular” homeless fella for a neighbor, a family crisis, a CPA with a chip on his shoulder from the past, a single mom with a chipper young daughter who’s making up her own catalogue of Christmas ideas. Dan Walsh takes these elements and spins them into a compelling story about reframing the past and discovering what really makes life worth living. Remembering Christmas is a wonderful story.

Twas the Night

In 1960 just days before Christmas, Theresa Dempsey, a young mother from Brooklyn, experiences an unspeakable tragedy. Two years later, she relocates to Black Rock, a small mountain town in North Carolina, hoping to make a fresh start. About that time, in a little cabin deep in the mountainous woods, young Ransom is trying to survive a day at a time, caring for his sister Emma, and an ailing father as a snowstorm approaches. Back in Black Rock, Deputy Bud Ellison is scrambling to catch a serial burglar, the first real crime this town has seen in years—during the holidays no less. On one remarkable cold, snowy night, the paths of all three of these lives will collide, and change them all forever.

My thoughts: I love how characters, so different from one another and with so much pain in their backgrounds, eventually meet in such an unexpected and poignant story.

—–

Dan Walsh’s The Reunion is the only one of the dozens of books I’ve read this year that reduced me to tears. If you like stories dealing with Vietnam veterans, you’ll appreciate this one.

Dan has written several more books, including Christmas ones. Please also check out his Amazon Author Page.

The Jordan House: Son Dan’s Eagle Scout Project

The James Jordan House was the first home in Walnut Township of Polk County, Iowa. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. Our son Dan did Cub Scout and Boy Scout projects there during the years, including his Eagle Scout Project.

It was to restore, using old methods and products, the two east bedroom floors. The project included obtaining donations of the linseed oil, etc., researching OSHA rules and following them, rounding up a few friends to help him scrape old floors by hand, then oil them.

Dan’s project was recently commemorated by a brick on the south side of the stately historic home. Dan and his family, here from the Twin Cities, saw it for the first time over Thanksgiving weekend.

Three generations on the porch of the Jordan House: Kate, Dan, Guy, Joy

Review of “Leora’s Early Years” by Author Elaine Briggs

Elaine Briggs

In Leora’s Early Years, Joy Neal Kidney brings to life the challenges her pioneering ancestors faced and shows how the love of family brought them closer together and helped them survive.

Helping and working hard were just what everyone in the family did. I was amazed that at the young age of seven, Leora took the buggy and team of horses by herself to pick up her Grandpap from the train station. She even milked the cows. Her brothers Wayne and Merl plowed the fields at six and seven. Imagine that!

The children did chores and pitched in without complaining. Growing up through good times and hard times, Leora and her siblings developed strong values and built character.

I especially loved the stories about the one-room school and the interesting details of Leora’s family and their way of life from the late 1800s to the early 1900s.

Like Joy’s first two books, Leora’s Early Years was a pleasure to read.

Elaine Briggs has been such an encouragment to me through all three Leora books, teaching me how to convert all those old photos to 300 dpi for publishing, and just telling me to keep going, that I could see each of them through to actually birthing each book.

Elaine is the author of two books. Joe Dew: A Glorious Life is a biography of her remarkable father.

Her latest is Yes! All Can!: Increase Reading Levels in Weeks, Resolve Conflicts and Build Character, Develop Leadership with a Foreword by John Corcoran, well-known author of The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read.

Here is Elaine’s Amazon Author Page.

Leora’s Early Years: Guthrie County Roots–List of Chapters

During Leora Goff’s early decades, she gathered the tenacity, optimism and hope she would need throughout her long life. When she married Clabe Wilson, they became forged into parents who would shepherd their own family through two more great eras of world and local history–the Great Depression and WWII.

I kept chapters short, in hopes that students will also enjoy reading these stories. Here are the names of the chapters in Leora’s Early Years: Guthrie County Roots:

1  Land of the Santee Sioux (1892)
2  Indians Visit
3  Drought and Dust Storms
4  Pioneer Stock (1850s)
5  1860s
6  A Cow for Her Watch (1890s)
7  Iowa Again (1896)
8  Robinson Circus (1898)
9  Prairie Rural School, First “Talking Machine”
10 Horses, Chores, and the Liza Jane Train
11 Winter Entertainment and Christmas
12 Young Clabe Wilson
13 Grandpap Goff Dies, Goff Reunions (1900)
14 Decoration Day 1900
15 The Jail Escapade (1900)
16 A Baby Sister and the Guthrie County Fair (1900)
17 Two Moves, Two More Babies (1901-1902)
18 Key West, Minnesota (1903)
19 School in the Winter, and Christmas (1903)
20 Georgia Falls Down the Stairs (1904)
21 Another Circus, Another Move (1904)
22 Clabe Wilson’s Family (1903-1907)
23 Home to Iowa (1905)
24 Independence Day 1907
25 Riding a Horse to Piano Lessons (1908)
26 The 1909 Iowa State Fair
27 Clabe Wilson (1908-1909)
28 Mrs. Connrardy’s Sewing School (1910)
29 Wichita, Iowa (1911)
30 Popcorn King of Guthrie County (1912)
31 Grandpap Jordan Dies (1913)
32 Leora Meets Clabe
33 Leora Gets Married (1914)
34 Grandmother Jordan Dies, Willis’s Accident (1914)
35 Delbert Wilson Born (1915)
36 Tragedy for Cousins (1916)
37 Donald Wilson Born (1916)
38 The Great War, Clabe’s Mother Unwell (1917)
39 Death of Clabe’s Mother
40 Three Goff Brothers Drafted (1918)
41 Doris Wilson Born (1918)
42 Influenza and the Armistice (1918)
43 The Goffs’ Victorian Home (1919)
44 A Move to Stuart, Doughboys Come Home
45  The Influenza Pandemic, Stuart
46 Nineteenth Amendment (1920)
47 House Fire, Another Move (1921)
48 Stuart Nightwatchman Killed, Clabe is Hired (1921)
49 Arrests, Twins Dale and Darlene Born (1921)
50 Smallpox (1922)
51 Death of Georgia Laurayne Goff (1922)
52 Danny Wilson Born (1923)
53 Hemphill Place and Eye Surgery (1923)
54 Death of Tessie Goff (1924)
55 Clabe Bobs His Wife’s Hair
56 The Wilson School Bus (1924)
57 Life on the Farm
58 Junior Wilson Born (1925)
59 Dale and Darlene Start School (1926)

John Busbee of The Culture Buzz, Endorser for “Leora’s Early Years”

John Busbee, an effective advocate for keeping family heritage alive, edited Leora’s Early Years: Guthrie County Roots and also wrote this endorsement for the book:

“The reasons why Leora wrote and saved what she did, capturing her life and the lives of so many in her bigger circle of family, friends and experiences, may never be fully known. What we do know is that her granddaughter, Joy Neal Kidney, has embraced the role of caretaker and scribe of these records. Kidney continues to transform these archives into a series of vibrant journeys, one book at a time, beckoning others to join her in these reflective adventures.

“Leora’s Early Years: Guthrie County Roots is the third in this irresistible series. In the wake of Leora’s bountiful passage of memorabilia, Joy’s meticulous research and gifted writing bring universal understandings alive through the magic of memoir, reminiscence and an intimate examination of everyday folks surviving in bygone times. Relevance for today’s generations radiates from each page. Each book in the Leora Series is a stand-alone. Their connective threads bind them together.

“Leora Goff Wilson instinctively knew that her saving of letters, photographs, memorabilia with her journaling would hold special meaning in a future that had not yet crystalized. She would undoubtedly be proud, albeit a little humbled, at how her treasures inspired her granddaughter Joy to reimagine their tellings for new generations. Dive into these pages and experience adventures akin to Little House on the Prairie meets Our Town.”

John Busbee, The Culture Buzz, Iowa Governor’s Award for Partnership & Collaboration in the Arts, Iowa History Award for “Last Measure of Full Devotion.” He is not only a writer, director, musician, actor, and radio host (Culture Buzz, KFMG-FM). John also has a weekly newsletter about anything cultural, writes for Iowa History Journal, and has a monthly column in Cityview.

The Culture Buzz website.

John Busbee also edited Leora’s Dexter Stories: The Scarcity Years of the Great Depression and wrote a review for Iowa History Journal.