Taryn R. Hutchison's Blog: The Glorious Muddle, page 7

Judging a Book by its Cover

Announcing the imminent arrival of my baby and revealing my new cover . . . The cover of a book is crucial to the success of that book. And I couldn’t be happier with the one designed for One Degree of Freedom! I had such a specific image in my mind that it took me […]

What’s it mean to be a Christian Writer?

Now that I have a new book coming out (and my last one was a memoir of a missionary’s life), I have found that many people assume this new one will be a Christian book. If that is what you expect, you may be disappointed. My novel is not filled with Scripture or lessons on […]

Significance of the Right Name

My novel now has a name! Instead of a gender reveal, this post will be a name reveal. Choosing just the right name is important. When my parents named me, they didn’t want me to be confused with anyone else so they invented a new name. I’ve never been able to look up the meaning […]

Quarantining: who are you with?

Have you read the interesting statistics coming from China post-lockdown? Many people expected a baby boom after the quarantine; instead, they have a divorce boom. Before I read that, I’ve been thinking a lot about who people are forced to spend their time in seclusion with. The bottom line is: Do you like the person […]

Heartache and Hope

We are in the middle of the most difficult week to date. With the coronavirus, officials predict this week we will have more heartache, yet at the same time, renewed hope. The death rate will climb but the curve will begin to be flattened. Heartache will slowly begin its turn toward hope on our collective […]

Giving Up

It feels like ages ago when Lent began on February 26. In the five weeks since then, the world has changed. Our daily lives have altered. Of course, I didn’t know any of this when I decided what to give up for Lent. I chose dessert. Every year, I question my motives with what I […]

Do Not Fear

People across the globe have a lot to be anxious about these days. Worrying quickly turns into fear, which becomes panic. Besides the obvious pandemic coronavirus, we have the worldwide economy to be concerned about. Cancer, illness, money problems, job problems, relationship problems . . . the list is endless. Yet, none of this has […]

Settled or Open-Ended?

I like to plan. I live by my to-do lists and my organized calendars. I never clean my house, but I must have everything orderly, put away in its rightful place. I like having decisions made, tasks completed, plans settled. Everything in my life right now is unsettled and disordered. This does not make me […]

Crazy or Called?

The timing couldn’t have been worse. Ten days before Christmas, and smack dab in the middle of publishing one novel and revising its sequel, I was asked to write another book. This one couldn’t be more different than the YA historical novels I’ve been working on the last few years. Curtis Roberts, recently released from […]

A Day I’ll Never Forget

I’ll never forget December 21. Two times in my life, it has proven to be a significant day. 1989 On December 21, thirty years ago, I sat glued to the television news. The revolution in Romania was under way. First Poland, then Hungary, then East Germany, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia had shaken free of their Communist […]