Hoosier Wordsmith

Spring Cleaning for the Spirit

This post previous appeared in the Plymouth Pilot News Hoosier Habitat column.

Though I used to scoff at the idea of spring cleaning, nowadays it makes more sense to me. In the dead of winter, all I want to do is hibernate and drink hot beverages. When the sap starts to rise, though, look out—I’m ready to clear away the cobwebs!

It’s no coincidence that the Christian observance of Lent occurs during this transition from winter to spring. As we notice new life poking through the soil, we emerge from our dens. Our spiritual lives respond to the return of the light in rhythm with the changes around us. Cleaning house can be a kind of moving meditation, “cleaning house” for our spirits.

De-cluttering. Before I clean, I declutter. The whole family goes through our dressers to collect used clothing for local charities. We cut up old towels into rags and donate gently used housewares, appliances and other household items. As I sort, I meditate on this: What other clutter in my mind or my schedule slows me down—activities, attitudes, relationships, habits? What do I need to release so that I can take care of the things that matter? What do I need to keep that brings my life meaning and purpose?

Airing Out. One of the things I love to do in early spring is let the breeze blow through the house, whisking out dusty indoor air and pollutants. I also repot, fertilize and dust off my houseplants, my natural air fresheners. I meditate on this: Are there creative corners of my life where dust has piled up? What have I done lately that really refreshes me or my family? When I take time to rest and rejuvenate, I get my work done more efficiently.

Deep-cleaning. Armed with homemade cleansers, a pile of rags, and plenty of elbow grease, I get to work. Sometimes I tackle a whole room by itself. Sometimes I concentrate on one task, such as vacuuming off the cobwebs or washing all the drapes or bedclothes. The kids get involved—polishing glass and mirrors, vacuuming carpets, and scrubbing tubs and showers (their favorite!). Cleaning house can be exhausting, boring, and annoying, though I’m glad when it’s done. I meditate on this: Who do I know who has ongoing struggles in their life, who could use encouragement? My cleaning will be done eventually. But who do I know whose struggles never seem to end, and how can I be their friend?

Rearranging. Rather than buying new stuff for spring, I like to rearrange the things I already have, packing winter décor away and pulling out spring and summer items. Even just a different set of sheets on the bed can be a lift.  I meditate on this: What do I need to do differently this season? What change—even a small one—would lift my spirits and enable me to live more mindfully or deliberately?

Is your sap rising yet? Go with it! Clean house and refocus for a new season.

Here’s a great recipe for an all-purpose cleaner:

In a 16-oz. spray bottle, mix together 2 tablespoons of white vinegar and 2 teaspoons of Borax. Fill the bottle with very hot water, then add 2 teaspoons of regular dish detergent and 10-12 drops of lemon essential oil (optional). Great for surfaces in the kitchen and bathroom!

Want more recipes for natural cleansers? Check out the Eartheasy website for recipes and tips.

Living La Vida Local

This post originally appeared in the Pilot News Hoosier Habitat column.

Whether it’s grapes from Chile, strawberries from Florida, seafood from China, or beef from somewhere out West, we’re used to globe-trotting food. Watermelon and asparagus sit on our store shelves in February, though their actual Midwest growing seasons are long past.

So what does this have to do with living green?

Steven Hopp, in the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (co-written with Barbara Kingsolver), points out that “Americans put almost as much fossil fuel into our refrigerators as our cars.” He claims that “each food item in a typical U. S. meal has traveled an average of 1,500 miles.”    

In 1986, Carlo Petrini founded the Slow Food Movement. Its members (80,000 worldwide, according to their website) reject fast food culture that standardizes tastes, and instead they celebrate local cuisine, encourage community and family ties, use the earth’s resources wisely, and provide social and economic justice for growers and workers. 

 My Aunt Betty made one of the best meals I have ever eaten. She served dishes with ingredients from Uncle John’s garden: chicken served with summer tomatoes, fresh sage dressing, corn just off the cob, homemade applesauce, and pie for dessert. I remember the rich, varied flavors of each dish and having time to savor them.  When I’m short on time, good bread, good cheese, and some fruit—if shared with family and friends—can be similarly satisfying.

Want to live la vida local? Here are some ideas:

Buy seasonal produce. Grocery stores will often stock locally grown produce in season, and it’s cheaper that way, too.  Freeze and can summer vegetables, fruits, and other foods from farmers’ markets or your own garden to eat other times of year. Don’t know how? Now is a great time to learn, before August tomatoes are stacked to the ceiling in your kitchen!

Visit nearby farmers’ markets. During the summer, my local Farmers’ Market is my favorite Saturday morning stop. Are you unfamiliar with markets in your area?  Visit www.localharvest.org. This amazing website lists local food sources all over the nation—the number of family farms and markets around central northern Indiana is jaw-dropping.

Buy from local food producers when you can. Food safety (or the lack of it) is all over the news. I buy meat locally when I can just for my own peace of mind.  At the supermarket, check package labels; some brands of meat may be grown locally.

Support local restaurants. Mom-and-pop restaurants make our community unique, and some also patronize local food producers: Opie’s Deli in my town of Plymouth, for instance, prepares their food with as many local ingredients as possible. Big restaurant chains specialize in the kind of standardization of tastes that the Slow Food Movement rejects, leading to widespread sales of “chicken fingers.”  If you go out to eat, go local.

Seeking out local foods, like many green habits, is a deliberate lifestyle choice. The difference it makes to our community makes it an easy choice for me. How about you?

Growing My Own Food

This post originally appeared in the Plymouth Pilot Hoosier Habitat column 2/6/2012.

 

At my house, February conjures up images of ground hogs and gardens.

Last month, on the heels of the holidays, the seed catalogs arrived in my mailbox. Such a sight for sore eyes in the midst of winter after all the tinsel is swept away. I spend my spare moments in January thumbing through the pages, indulging my delusions of grandeur for a few weeks. When February arrives, however, it’s time to get serious.

One of my 2012 New Year’s resolutions is to grow at least a portion of my own food. I love fresh fruits and vegetables, and the use of pesticides on some of my family’s favorites has inspired me to seek out organic sources where I can. If I can grow my own, I’m reaping the health benefits and saving money, too.

Is it work to grow my own food? Yes. No doubt about it. Don’t let anybody tell you differently! However, the rewards are substantial: more nutritious food, exercise and fresh air, less exposure to pesticides and herbicides, a lower-carbon lifestyle (since you are eating locally), and the emotional and spiritual satisfaction of producing (and eating!) something yourself.

You can grow as much or as little as you are able. And with the lovely new varieties of veggies and fruits that can be grown in containers, even someone with very little space can enjoy growing food.

Planning will take a bit longer this year because the Peters garden looks very different this year. Instead of nearly an acre of land and a raised veggie plot, our new “urban” site is less than an 1/8^th of an acre. This means I can’t come home with armloads of seedlings every time I drive by a nursery! Instead of loose, fertile soil, our existing beds (while beautifully landscaped!) need an organic boost if they are to support vegetables. Pun intended: I’ve got to lay some groundwork before I put in my plants! So I’ll be putting together a new compost bin and digging some aged manure into the border beds around the house.

And I’ll be drawing up some plans before I plant. I’m a firm believer in living somewhere for at least a year before making any major changes in the landscape. It’s good to let the site “soak in.” You make less mistakes that way, too, if you spend some time observing how the sunny and shady places in your yard shift with the seasons: where the snow drifts, where the leaves pile up, where the moss grows.

I have some help this year. Mother Earth News has kindly offered to let me review their garden planning software. This week I went out with a tape measure, graph paper, and a pencil and drew a detailed map of my backyard. I made a list of the Peters family favorites, plus a few vegetables I want to try just for fun. I can’t wait to transfer my plan to the computer. It’s almost time to start seeds!

Are you starting seeds? They’re available at local hardware stores now! Or check out a few of my favorite catalogs: Seed Savers Exchange (www.seedsavers.org), Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (www.rareseeds.com), Renee’s Seeds (reneesgarden.com).

Reusing and Recycling Clothes

As you may recall, in last week’s column I shared about my process for shrinking my wardrobe. My wardrobe was not gigantic, but I wanted to make it work better for me. I was tired of digging through a crowded closet of clothes I hardly ever wore. I wanted to be a better steward of the clothing I had purchased. And I wanted to take a greener approach to clothes. Instead of buying cheap, imported clothes on impulse, I wanted to reduce the amount of clothes I was buying, buy quality-made clothes less often, and quit contributing to the 5% of landfill waste that includes clothing and other textiles.

That’s the first R—reducing. I think if we all tried to reduce first, we wouldn’t have to spend so much time reusing and recycling! Can clothes be reused and recycled? Of course!

Reusing - An Ancient Practice!

Clothing has been reused since time immemorial. (Think animal skins!) As a child, I would occasionally receive a big box of hand-me-downs from a cousin in Colorado. I had never met Dana, but she was a bit older than me, and getting that surprise gift of clothes was a thrill. Now my daughters pass their clothes down to my niece.

Friends can organize clothing swaps with their friends or for their children’s clothes. Nicer clothes can be donated to local charities or sold to consignment shops. If you have access to a computer and a camera, you can sell your clothes on sites such as eBay or Craigslist. Or have an old-fashioned garage sale.

Upcycling

What if your clothing is torn, worn, and basically un-wearable? Don’t toss it: consider reusing, or “up-cycling.” Websites abound with creative up-cycling DIY projects, available with a simple Google keyword search. I searched under “no sew t-shirt pillow” and found a video showing me how to do just that. (The link is currently on my Hoosier Habitat Facebook page). The idea is similar to creating those cozy two-sided fleece blankets: cut out the material so that there is a front and back square, make 1-inch cuts all around, tie them together on three sides, insert your stuffing, and tie up the rest. Even I can do that!

If you can sew, there are numerous projects for turning t-shirts into halter tops, tote bags, headbands, and quilts—great if you have lots of sentimental t-shirts you want to hang onto, but not wear. I was inspired by projects that repurposed old sweaters into scarves and purses. Want more projects? Check out this website: www.green-blog.org/2010/12/05/how-to-reuse-or-repurpose-old-clothes.

Recycling

What if your clothes are in such bad shape that they can’t even be up-cycled? They can still be donated to charities such as Goodwill and Salvation Army.  Donate your rags in a separate bag from your useable clothing. Make sure that they aren’t wet, mildewed, greasy, or stained. Charities can sell the rags to textile recyclers, who will use them to make polishing cloths, car insulation, seat stuffing, fibers for upholstery, and building materials. Natural materials, such as cotton, can be composted.

I have lived with a reduced wardrobe for several weeks now, and I love the simplicity. Ironically, limiting my selections has had a freeing effect. With just enough clothes, I always seem to find something to wear. A good thing, since I’m no longer receiving boxes from the mysterious Dana!

This post appeared previously in The Pilot News.

 

Downsizing My Wardrobe

Lugging the hefty heirloom dresser up the stairs to our bedroom was no picnic, but I was thrilled with the storage potential. Opening the top drawer, I found a white box containing what seemed to be a linen tablecloth. I held it up and realized I had found a pair of my grandma’s bloomers, tucked in the dresser for safekeeping! My daughters roared with laughter when they saw those undergarments, which were probably hand-stitched around the time our house was built in 1928.

Whittling Down my Wardrobe

I think I’ll keep Grandma’s underpants for posterity. However, this year I resolved to pare down my own wardrobe. Enjoying clothes isn’t a sin; in fact, I love to shop for clothes, and I’m fascinated by costume design. But when I can’t stuff another tee shirt into my bureau, something’s got to give.

Remember the three R’s: reduce, reuse and recycle? In my next column I’ll tackle the second and third R’s, but today’s column is all about reducing. When I reduce the size of my wardrobe, I focus on what I really need and love. Limiting my choices paradoxically adds freedom to my life because I don’t have the hassle of sorting through clothes I don’t or won’t wear that I might have purchased impulsively.

Make a List

Last week I started my purge by making a specific list of the clothes I wanted to keep. I thought back to times in my life when I had a limited wardrobe: when I was pregnant, for instance, I survived on just two pairs of maternity pants. For the winter, could I manage on just three pairs of jeans? What about just four turtlenecks and six tee shirts? If I hadn’t worn the item in at least a year, I set it aside for donation.

Key in on the Classics

I also identified “classic” clothes that fit me well, those items that never seem to go out of style, such as a black suit, khaki pants, black jeans, a white blouse, or an Oxford shirt. Most of my classic clothes are simple, but they can be worn in different combinations and with different accessories. I also narrowed down my shoe collection. Several of the pairs I kept had been a little pricey when I bought them, but they held up well and had even been re-soled. I’d say I got my money’s worth!

Gather for Donation

It took most of a morning to dig through my closet, and I ended up with two garbage bags full of clothing I’ll donate to a charity. If anything, this exercise has made me look more closely at why I buy clothes: most of the time it isn’t a genuine need, but an attempt to give myself a boost. I’m discovering that a long walk, a nap, or coffee with a friend is more fulfilling than shopping for a new outfit.

It’s funny how old-fashioned it seems to own less of something. In a consumer-oriented society, having just enough is as current as my grandma’s bloomers. Here’s an interesting fact: textile waste in this country added up to 13.1 million tons in 2010, according to the EPA. In my next column I’ll relate some ideas for reusing and recycling clothing so that it doesn’t end up in a landfill.

This blog post originally appeared in Hoosier Habitat column in The Pilot News.

DIY - Why?

I was a teenager in the 1980’s, a decade known for its excess and artificiality – remember shoulder pads and big bangs? The last years of the twentieth century were comparably prosperous, and someone coined the bumper sticker “The one who dies with the most toys wins.”

Economy

Nowadays, however, times are more challenging, and rather than excess, there’s a new fad sweeping the nation: Do It Yourself, or DIY. I’m no sociologist, but it doesn’t surprise me that during a recession people are re-learning the skills that our parents and grandparents knew. My knee-jerk reaction to almost any household need is to go buy something. Learning to DIY forces me to seek handier, cheaper, more creative solutions first.

Since I’ve started writing this column, the one most people mention to me is my foray into homemade laundry soap. I’ve been making my own soap for months now, and in fact, it’s such a habit that I don’t think twice about it anymore. I can mix it up in five minutes with four ingredients: Fels Naptha soap, Borax, washing soda, and water. It costs me next to nothing, which is a good thing, since I have both a teen and a pre-girl in the house!

Empowerment

It’s economical to DIY, but it’s also empowering. By doing things myself, I feel smart and thrifty. Doing things myself also makes me feel connected. It’s fun to learn how to solve my problems using skills that have been around for years. Sure, there are some things I don’t tackle around the house – plumbing, for instance. And doing things myself takes longer, as well as trial and error. I suppose my inner child still loves an opportunity to say, “I did it myself!”

I’ve learned to knit recently. My kids learned at the Boys and Girls Club in Plymouth and taught me. I love scarves, and I love that I can now make my own (because no one else will want one of my amateur creations!). Knitting is actually quite trendy these days, along with other handcrafts such as felting, sewing, crocheting, and quilting. For someone who got a D in home economics in high school, I’m amazed that I can even knit a straight line. Sitting down to knit while watching TV or listening to the radio is relaxing, even satisfying – as long as I don’t drop a stitch.

A Resource

Recently I picked up a magazine called ReadyMade: Instructions for Everyday Life. The whole aim of the magazine is to pass along trendy DIY tips and projects. Many of the projects include reusing and repurposing objects – “upcycling” is the new term. It encourages me to look around and see what I have that could be transformed.

I’m not kidding myself. I have a long way to go before I’m living off the grid, carding my own wool and churning my own butter. However, slowly I feel as though I’m reversing the mindset I learned in the 1980’s, when buying new stuff solved every problem. Now I try to DIY!

Tomorrow I'm helping with a #Toastmasters Speechcraft workshop at our local Assisted Living facility. It's humbling to give these ladies a chance to tell their stories. I'll keep you posted!

Author Sibella Giorello Stops By

All right, booklovers, let's welcome Sibella Giorello!

Sibella has penned three books about Raleigh Harmon, FBI agent, and this is her fourth, published this year: The Mountains Bow Down.

Raleigh's one tough cookie, but she's had some definite struggles: in her career, in her love life, and most importantly, as caretaker for her mentally unstable mother. She's a woman of faith, but also a deeply flawed person shouldering a lot of burdens by herself. Not to mention bustin' perps!

I've been provided a copy of the book for a review, and I'll get to that in a moment. First, let's meet Sibella. She was kind enough to answer some questions ...

Q&A with Sibella Giorello

 

First, some questions about character ...

HW: Raleigh is smart and resilient, but she seems sad. What is eating this woman, beyond the obvious things such as her mentally-ill mom and her romantic hesitations? How do you imagine her growing as the series continues?

SG: You're right: Raleigh is sad. She's the walking wounded. If you've ever lost a parent, you know what she's feeling: a little bit orphaned. Her father was her favorite parent: and he died violently. She has nothing in common with her sister except blood. And while other women her age are having children, she's left taking care of her mother who has never been "all there." It's a lonely life.

Maybe some women would want a knight in shining armor to come rescue them, but Raleigh's stronger than that. I'm glad she's walking the suffering road without giving into self-pity. She does lose her temper, she does get frustrated. But she never tells God that He's made a mistake. The simply fact is: her heart aches, still. Yet with each book she's growing more self-aware, and more tender. And she's very honest about her flaws.

 

Mountains is set aboard a luxury cruise ship touring Alaska.  Some thoughts about setting ... 

 HW: Place seems important in your novels. How do you get a feel for your settings so that your readers can "inhabit" that place throughout the book? You might speak to the cruise ship setting especially.

SG: I like reading those books that put me right there, in another place, another time. I want to give that to readers. So when I'm researching a place, I pay close attention to the details, such as accents and attitudes. Or even how a place smells -- what is peculiar about it. Raleigh's also a geologist, so the landscape comes into play, how it was formed, and as a believer she sees God in the natural world. She sees heaven and earth declaring His glory. All of that goes into creating a sense of place for readers.

As for the cruise ship research, it was done aboard the Princess line. That was my first cruise and I took a lot of notes. Some details carried over to the novel -- the food, the lounges, some passengers -- but many details were changed to fit the characters or situations. For instance, we certainly didn't stay in that penthouse suite (I wish). And I never met our ship's head of security. Things were created pretty much from whole cloth. Or whole sea.

 

This series deals with violent crime, violent people, mental illness, back-stabbing office politics (usually not in Raleigh's favor), and a Glock-packing protagonist who struggles to manage her relationships. Not your usual novel about Amish housewives.

HW: What kinds of challenges does it pose to write suspenseful crime novels from a Christian perspective and for a primarily Christian audience?

SG: I'm convinced that writing keeps us honest.Whatever's inside our souls, it will eventually splash onto the page. So if my faith is weak or false, no way can I write about Jesus or God or Raleigh's walk through the shadowed valley in a way that reads authentically. I have to continually re-evaluate my own heart. That's painful and wonderful and challenging. It literally kicks me in the rear end every single day!

I don't write with curse words because they're cheap and stupid and we've got too many everywhere else. And I don't write about sex outside of marriage because it's also cheap and stupid and portrayed everywhere else. But aside from those two things, the world is up for consideration. My subjects have been described as "gritty." And they are. Because that's what Jesus was: gritty. He spent time with the people in need of a physician.

But I dislike the term "Christian fiction." I can't figure out if we believers can ourselves this label, or whether it was foisted upon us by the mostly anti-Christian world of secular publishing. I suspect the latter because that "Christian fiction" label turned us into an insular world. Christians read Christian fictrion. But hardly anybody outside the faith will pick it up on purpose. We're like some literary leper colony. And that's the exact opposite of what we're called for as disciples.

My goal as a writer is to offer readers a great mystery with a struggling Christian protagonist. But I never think of my books as "Christian fiction."

 

Why Sibella Giorello writes fiction ...

HW: What drew you to writing fiction after a successful career in journalism?

SG: Journalism was great; and journalism really frustrated me. I would interview people and they would say something that sounded almost perfect. Almost! But no way could I change what they said, and I could never get inside their minds. As good as any feature story was, it always felt incomplete to me. There was another truth waiting to be told. The parable version of the story, which went beyond who, what, when, where, why. That story would include the other W: wonder.

 

But what about the men in Raleigh's life?

HW: I'm thinking that Raleigh is going to give up on DeMott [her fiancee] and decide that Jack [the FBI agent she works with on the cruise] is more her type. At least I hope so. Am I right? (You don't have to answer this!)

SG: Oh, this makes me laugh! I cannot tell you how many people have asked this same question. And do you want the truth? I don't know! It's been both difficult and joyful to work through Raleigh's love for DeMott, alongside her increasingly warm feelings for Jack, though she still carries a seed of resentment toward him.

All I can say is this: she's got some work to do! And these guys are NOT going to wait forever for her to make up her mind. So stay tuned.

  

The Mountains Bow Down: A Review

A bell rang when I opened the door on the first floor. I smelled the unmistakeable odor - Eau de Funeral Home. They all smelled like this, like rose petals marinating in formaldehyde. But the receptionist was something different. Green tie-dye shirt. Long white hair cascading over bony shoulders.

She lowered the paperback she was reading - a murder mystery.

I introduced myself.

She smiled wickedly. "He's dying to see you."

Before I could reply - if I could reply - she leaned back and threw her voice at the ceiling. "Bobby! She's here about the body!"

 

The Mountains Bow Down was my first introduction to Sibella Giorello and her protagonist, Raleigh Harmon. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm not a huge fan of thrillers unless I love the writing and I'm captivated by the characters.

 

A Bit of Background

In this case, Giorello scored on both counts. A seasoned journalist, she writes like a person with words under her belt. A native of Alaska with a geology background, she literally knew her scenery inside and out, and her detailed descriptions of life on a Princess cruise liner put me on board. We encounter life in the nightclubs and at the poolside, as well as the seemier action in the bowels of the ship. Warning for you gentler readers: Giorello accurately portrays crime and criminals with an unflinching eye.

Giorello's characters also don't disappoint. We see the world through the eyes of Raleigh Harmon, who has to be the only Christian FBI agent in literary history. This makes her interesting -- how does one balance a religious faith while packing a Glock? In this case, Raleigh's urge to seek justice has emerged from the senseless death of her father, whose shooting remains unsolved and whose death has left Raleigh bereft. Her unrelenting grief is the key to Raleigh's character, a hole in her heart that keeps others at bay -- even her fiancee, DeMott.

 

The Plot Thickens

Hoping to sort out her feelings about her upcoming marriage, Raleigh accepts two tickets for a cruise to Alaska from her Aunt Charlotte, a New Age guru who happens to be traveling with a movie crew filming on board the ship. Though Raleigh is supposed to be relaxing along with her mentally unstable mother, a much-needed break for both of them, Charlotte has gotten her a consulting job with the movie crew on the ship, helping the leading man, Milo Carpenter, accurately portray an FBI agent. Raleigh is annoyed to discover, however, that she's also sharing digs with her aunt's fellow mystic, Claire the Clairvoyant, a very silly character who is really the only mis-step in this novel.

The novel opens with the death of the leading man's wife, quickly ruled a suicide by the ship's head of security, but Raleigh is immediately suspicious of murder. She manages to get herself assigned to the case, and the complications pile up. Is the ship's head of security her ally or her enemy? Why was Judy Carpenter murdered and who did it -- her philandering, alcoholic, movie star husband, or somebody more sinister? How will Raleigh continue to shelter her faltering mother -- who's supposed to be having a quiet vacation -- and hide her real occupation from nosey Claire, who, like her mother, thinks she's just a forensic geologist?

And what about Jack, another agent assigned to the case? Raleigh encountered him in a previous novel and is none too happy when he shows up to assist her. However, Jack appears to have warmed up to her, and her respect for him grows as they work together to solve the crime. It doesn't hurt that he's a good-looking charmer, either, and that they make a great team. He's also there when her mother suffers a psychotic break, for which Raleigh blames herself.

 

Just a Few Questions

Giorello's economic use of language and spot-on dialogue make this novel a rapid read, and her characters make it a page-turner. Raleigh, especially, is a sympathetic character, tough and resilient, not afraid to mix it up with some intimidating antagonists, but suffering from palpable emotional pain as she watches her mother unravel. Giorello has done her research and made her main character a convincing member of the FBI, a by-the-book agent who still tries to write her own rules sometimes and pays for it. I only wish I knew more about her relationship with DeMott, who seems to get short shrift in this book. From Raleigh's perspective, he seems to be interfering in her life, but she's engaged to marry the guy. What gives?

Giorello also adds a wealth of interesting secondary characters to her story, from the taciturn head of security (my favorite!) to the over-the-top Hollywood movie cast (hey, some stereotypes are true). The only character I couldn't connect with was Claire. She plays a crucial part in the story, but her unrelenting goofiness didn't ring true for me. Was she supposed to be comic relief? I think a more nuanced portrayal of her might have helped ... crazy or not, she seriously believed she had a gift.

 

In Conclusion

I hate to admit this, but I do not read "Christian fiction" much. Most of it I find to be formulaic and preachy. That wasn't the case with Sibella Giorello's novel. Her portrayal of a woman trying to sort out herself and her circumstances and see through the eyes of her faith compelled me from beginning to end. I will read the next installment in Raleigh's life when it appears next year. It's refreshing to read a book about a Christian protagonist who isn't perfect, preachy, or -- forgive me -- Amish or aristocratic!

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Meet Sibella Giorello, Author of The Mountains Bow Down

Meet Sibella Giorello, author of the book The Mountains Bow Down and our guest on March 25th. I'm looking forward to some great Q & A with this author, who has written several books in this series about tough but conflicted Raleigh Harmon, FBI agent.

Sibella started out in journalism writing features for newspapers and magazines -- her stories won numerous awards, including two nominations for the Pulitzer Prize. Her first novel in this series, The Stones Cry Out, received a Christy award.

Originally from Alaska, Sibella has also lived in Richmond, VA and Washington State. Her readers will recognize all three of these places as settings for her novels.

Find out more about Sibella at www.SibellaGiorello.com.

See you on March 25th!