When I set out to write a secular cozy mystery, I was surprised to find I couldn’t do it. My characters were either running from a relationship with God, didn’t know they could have one, or giving wisdom as to how a person could find peace with God. While I don’t avoid secular reading, I can’t seem to write my own works apart from my faith. 

There have been times in my life when hard things have happened and I haven’t responded at all as a person of faith should. Times when death struck the young and innocent, or tore apart a marriage. Times when financial loss was overwhelming. It was as a result of those experiences that I moved from railing at God to realizing that he will not be manipulated, that he does not owe me or anyone else an explanation for what he does. He is God. 

And then there’s hope. God is a God of hope, and every one of my stories includes this essential element of faith. God’s mercy reaches us in our situation, no matter who we are, no matter if we are asking for it or denying it. It’s offered. This is the hope I cling to as I move through life, and the one that pops up in the hearts of my characters, and which I hope translates to your heart.