Tag Archives: census

Author Interview: “Surprise Packages”

LDS authors Nancy Anderson, Lael Littke and Carroll Morris recently released the third book in their “The Company of Good Women” series. This much-anticipated volume, “Surprise Packages,” wraps up the stories of Erin, Willadene and Juneau as we see them solve some of the problems that have been afflicting them through the series, encounter new ones, and learn how to trust the Lord for all they need. I had the opportunity to interview these three authors about their writing. In a world where it seems that success is all that matters and money is king, I wondered how these ladies … Continue reading →

SISTERCHICKS Down Under! – Robin Jones Gunn

I’ve never read a book by Robin Jones Gunn before, and I didn’t know what a SISTERCHICK was, either. It’s a copyrighted term meaning a friend who loves you like a sister and tells you things you need to hear. Sounds like the kind of friend we all need. I was very pleased to make the acquaintance with the author and the term—“SISTERCHICKS Down Under!” was a fun read. We start the book by meeting Kathleen and Tony. Tony works for a movie studio and has been asked to go to New Zealand for three months for his current project. … Continue reading →

Lost Highways – Curtiss Ann Matlock

I love finding new authors (well, new to me) and Curtiss Ann Matlock captured my imagination from the first page. Her narrative voice is so friendly and quirky—I was pulled in to the character even before I picked up on the plot. Rainey Valentine is a complicated woman. Complicated in a good way, though. She’s been divorced twice but still believes in true love. She’s taken a little time off from her ‘real’ life to follow a dream—her mother, champion barrel-racer, left her the prize horse and trailer in her will, and Rainey is driving around the country to compete … Continue reading →

Lady Luck’s Map of Vegas

Lady Luck’s Map of Vegas sounds like it would be a book about gambling and Vegas, but it’s not. It’s really about mother and daughter relationships, family secrets, and a search for not only a lost daughter but lost selves. The author, Barbara Samuel, is a multiple RITA award winner and has written over twenty-five books including women’s fiction and historical and contemporary romances. India is a 40 year old web designer involved in a purposefully uncommitted romance. Gypsy, her identical twin sister is a schizophrenic artist. Their mother, Eldora, is still beautiful and flirtatious at sixty something. When their … Continue reading →

Differentiate between External and Internal Issues

Problem-solving is a regular part of running a home business. Most of us find ourselves constantly having to put out fires and deal with issues that come up. It helps to be able to determine which issues are coming from external sources and which ones are developing on an internal level. Which are coming from outside your business and which are problems that you are generating yourself from within? What would be the difference between an internal and an external problem? An internal problem would be something like inadequate bookkeeping software or a time management crunch on your side. If … Continue reading →

Keeping “Family Issues” In Perspective

It’s hard not to look to heredity or family history to explain the myriad of behavior issues that can come up with our kids. After all, we really WANT to have someone or something to blame so we don’t have to live with the ambiguity and the wondering of why exactly they are behaving the way they are. There is a danger, however, in letting “family issues” and family history takeover and not dealing with our children as individuals living in the here and now. I think of those family issues like a comfy old sweater—it’s so hard not to … Continue reading →

Adolescence May Bring Up Ancient History

Just when I think that we have all settled in to a groove and have completely recovered from the trauma of divorce and the crisis our family faced all those years ago–things tend to reappear. I’ve been told by the “experts” that it is perfectly normal and healthy for “old issues” to reappear with kids–especially when they go through big developmental leaps and changes–like adolescence. As kids grow and develop–they tend to get a “new lease” on old issues. There may be things that they just weren’t able to face or cope with when they were younger and as they … Continue reading →

It is Okay to Say Things Out Loud (In Fact, It Helps)

How can we solve problems and face challenges if we don’t even know what they are? Or, if we do know in the deep recesses of our minds what the problem is, but don’t actually say it out loud and get it out on the table, how can we face it, tackle it, and get on with things? It seems that in dealing with our children, or with family issues in general, often the first and hardest step is stating the problem or issue out loud so that everyone can work on it. Unstated problems have a lot of power. … Continue reading →

Expect to Revisit Some Things

I have written recently here in the Single Parenting Blog about the importance of processing unfinished business in regards to divorce, separation, and other unpleasant ways of becoming a single family. I’ve stressed how we need to attend to those unresolved issues and let them go. But, I also realize that when it comes to our children, we can expect them to revisit some of the strong themes and emotions at various times in their growing up years. It never ceases to amaze me when things that I thought we well hashed-out and dealt with years ago, return as something … Continue reading →

Are There Unresolved Problems?

I suppose it is pretty well known that it is not so much the problems and issues we know we need to work on that give us fits, it is the ones that we have nor or are not facing. When it comes to single parent families—there may be unresolved problems and issues coming from divorce, separation, death, or other realities that we haven’t completely dealt with and worked through. As long as those issues and problems are unresolved, we will have trouble getting on with building a healthy family… Putting things off or not facing all of our problems … Continue reading →