Get your sharpened pencils ready — Yesterday afternoon, my twin sister interrupted my attempt at a nap with the news that we had to go rescue Ryan, whose car had broken down in Fayetteville. My sister was sheepish as she spoke, as well she should have been. For context, Ryan is her son’s friend, and Fayetteville…

Or maybe it already exists? — The last two books I wrote were easy because they were set in a world where stories shaped reality — so if, say, two characters had been locked in a basement, they could escape by telling a story about a secret tunnel that led from the basement to freedom. …

Read my list — then write your own — I used to start the school year by having my students make a poster called “50 things I love.” It was a nice beginning of the year activity because it was an easy A and because it helped me get to know them. This story is a similar exercise, only…

A story of how my sister and I solved a mystery — Last Monday evening, my twin was bored. She wanted to go fishing, but we didn’t have any bait — and couldn’t find any worms in the yard — so we got in her car and headed to town. We had gone less than a mile — thankfully — when the…

A true story about dealing with customer service — My twin sister and I recently turned 47. For our birthday, our mother gave us each a $100 gift card. At least, that’s what she intended. Instead, what she bought us were reloadable bank cards. In order to activate these cards, we had to provide our name, address, social security…

Why I am moving back to Illinois — There’s a church back home that’s dying. It’s been in decline since the founding pastor died, leaving the church to his son. At first, the son — whom we’ll call Gary — did an okay job of being a pastor. He was humble, and God honored his humility. …

I didn’t need another cat, but here we are — My nephew sent his kitten Frankie to live with us. She was peeing outside the litter box and tearing up his wall, so he thought maybe she could be our barn cat. That was the plan anyway. Plan A. My sister’s old cat Rags lives outside — he, too, likes…

How I got a scammer to block me — This morning I awoke to a Facebook friend request from my cousin Faye. Of course, I knew it wasn’t really Faye because she’s been dead for months, and I am absolutely certain that the dead don’t bother with social media. There was only one thing I could do: I accepted…