Janet Sketchley's Blog: Tenacity, page 97
May 14, 2014
Choosing to Trust God
In God, whose word I praise—
in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
Psalm 56:4, NIV*
Did you ever struggle with this verse? David repeats it twice in this psalm, so we know it’s important.
Maybe it’s my fiction-writer’s imagination. Maybe it’s some of the books I’ve read, or the news footage I’ve seen, but whenever I’ve seen the question “What can mere mortals do to me?” my mind started making a list.
We know that our fellow humans can do some terrible things. How could w...
May 12, 2014
Free for Kindle: 3 Days Only
To celebrate Heaven’s Prey being short-listed for Canada’s The Word Awards, my publisher is running a promotion. (See the short-list here)
Click the image to go to Heaven’s Prey at Amazon.com (not an affiliate link) For other Amazon sites, see below.
Heaven’s Prey will be free* for Kindle May 13-15.
Amazon.com:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GAE9QMS
Amazon.ca:http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00GAE9QMS
Amazon.co.uk:http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GAE9QMS
Amazon.au.com:http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00GAE9QMS
Help me...
Review: Uncle Bob’s Red Flannel Bible Camp: from Eden to the Ark, by Steve Vernon
Uncle Bob’s Red Flannel Bible Camp: from Eden to the Ark, by Steve Vernon (Stark Raven Press, 2014)
Author Steve Vernon is a storyteller, and what richer source of tales than the Bible? With biblical literacy ebbing, a fresh delivery of the classic stories may be just what people need to spark an interest.
Uncle Bob is the flannel-shirt-wearing narrator, telling his nephew about the action running through what the youngster thinks of as a dry book. (Bob nabs him escaping from Sunday School.)Unc...
May 9, 2014
Lee Brandt from On the Pineapple Express
Today we meet Lee Brandt, one of the characters from H. L. Wegley‘s suspense novel, On the Pineapple Express.
Janet: Welcome, Lee, and thanks for taking time to join us. I’m writing these questions before reading your story, so forgive me if I blunder over something that should be obvious. This way I can’t accidentally toss out a spoiler. Let’s start with the basics: tell us what you look like, and what you do for a living.
Lee: Here’s a picture of me. 
I’ve never been very good at descriptions....
May 7, 2014
Is God Enough?
“Why are you crying, Hannah?” Elkanah would ask. “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me—isn’t that better than having ten sons?”
In a culture that measured a woman’s worth by her fertility, Hannah was barren—and her husband’s other wife twisted that knife as often as possible.
This verse always made me want to smack Elkanah. He loved Hannah, but how could he be so clueless? How could he not understand the pain of Hannah’s lon...
May 5, 2014
Review: Sidetracked, by Brandilyn Collins
Sidetracked, by Brandilyn Collins (Challow Press, 2014)
Life looks like it’s finally coming together for 30-something Delanie Miller. She’s living in a nice Kentucky town, she has friends and her boyfriend is giving signals that he’s ready to propose. With no family of her own, Delanie has assembled one by inviting a few other loners to share her home.
When a friend is murdered, Delanie has to find the truth—or an innocent man will go to jail. That’s something she absolutely can’t allow. Even i...
May 2, 2014
Guest Post: My Identity is Broken
By Jessica Everingham
Insignificance. Failure.
Few words chill me like those two. I hate them even more than doing my taxes.
Why?
I’ll tell you, though I know this story won’t put me in the best light.
I’ve always enjoyed that there was something a little different about me. In school, it was simply that I was bright and everything came easily. After school, it was my job as a journalist. Everyone thought that was interesting.
Now I’m a boarding school mistress and aspiring aut...
April 30, 2014
How to Thrive
But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God.
I will always trust in God’s unfailing love.
Psalm 52:8, NLT*
What’s the context of this psalm? David is warning an enemy that the man will get what’s coming from God for his evil deeds. Not in the sense of retaliation, but cause and effect: Doeg’s crimes will meet justice.
David isn’t sound bitter about the betrayal—if he were, he wouldn’t be thriving in God’s presence. Instead, David is trusting in God’s unfailing love to care for him.
W...
April 28, 2014
Review: Stella’s Plea, by R A Giggie
Stella’s Plea, by R A Giggie (Amazon Digital Services, 2012)
A Canadian Forces wife whose husband is deployed overseas, Stella Brigg’s life wraps around their three-year-old daughter, Alexis.
One clear autumn day, the unthinkable happens. Alexis disappears from the local playground, with no witnesses.
Stella had only turned her back for a minute, but now she’s full of self-reproach—and full of blame for her friend, Joni, who suggested the park play date.
Alexis has no fear of strangers, which hel...
April 25, 2014
Character interview: Pam Lake
Pam Lake is the heroine in the newest novel inThe Women of Valley View series by Sharon Srock. Pam’s story releases this month.
Janet: Pam, thanks for visiting us today. It sounds like you have a great group of friends in Valley View. You’ve given your support to Callie and Terri in their stories, but how does it feel to be in the spotlight yourself?
Pam: Janet, thanks for having me. Being in the spotlight is not something I would have chosen for myself. It was tough to share the secrets of my...
