I remember sitting in my 3rd grade classroom, letting my mind drift to the stories brought in with the sounds and smells on the early fall breeze. It’s no wonder I nearly failed Spelling that year. In fact, not realizing the importance of Spelling to those stories I was inventing, I came to hate it with such intensity that I intentionally played on the monkey bars until the palms of my hands were massive blisters – just so I wouldn’t have to take the Spelling test. I had to take it anyway.

By the time I was eleven or twelve, I had started my first “chapter book.” If you’ve already read the non-fiction page on this site, you won’t be surprised to find out it was a mystery story. Sadly, I cannot find it.

As I entered my high school years, I began to see that fiction was a very good tool for communicating the things God was teaching me. During those years, I started writing the story from which this site gets its name, Barren Fields, Fruitful Gardens. The first and second drafts, as well as the beginnings of a sequel, had been written by the time I was nineteen. Then, I went to Russia and fiction writing was set aside. Often, when I came back to the States in the summers, I would read through the manuscripts, tweaking here and there, but I never had time to really work on them.

When I returned to the States to care for my grandparents, I found that in just a few evening hours, when the house was quiet and the day was done, I could accomplish much. During those fifteen months, the sequel was rewritten and a third story was plotted.

Then came college. Many late nights led to the first book being rewritten and the first draft of the third being written. Then it happened. My computer crashed. Many of the changes and half of the third story were lost. But I can honestly say, it has made the stories better.

The first story in the series is now available!

So, what’s the story all about? Find out here!