I’m so excited to reveal the official book cover for With Every Letter, the first book in the Wings of the Nightingale series, coming in September 2012! Once again the cover team at Revell managed to capture the feel of the story! The book is now featured on my publisher’s website at Revell Books, and is available for pre-order on ChristianBook.com, Amazon.com, and Barnes & Noble. The Wings of the Ni... Read Article

Imagine going to the store and not finding batteries, thumbtacks, alarm clocks, or paper clips on the shelves. During World War II, metals were needed for military purposes. Ships and planes and jeeps and guns and ration tins and helmets took precedence over civilian products. After the United States entered the war, factories quickly shifted from manufacturing civilian goods to military matériel. Preparation for Wa... Read Article

Conducting research for historical fiction is usually interesting, sometimes dull, but occasionally yields an odd or funny story. I found this little story while reading The Army Air Forces in World War II, Volume 1: Plans and Early Operations: September 1939 to August 1942 by Wesley F. Craven and James L. Cate (Washington DC: Office of Air Force History, 1948). When the Italian army invaded Ethiopia in 1935, they fa... Read Article

On Monday, May 2, I had the privilege of flying in a B-17 Flying Fortress. The Experimental Aircraft Association visited Buchanan Field in Concord, California with their beautifully restored B-17G, Aluminum Overcast. I’ve enjoyed walking through this plane for years and always dreamed of taking a flight. This year one of my readers, who volunteers with EAA, arranged for me to participate in the media flight. W... Read Article

    Few World War II airplanes have captured the imagination like the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Today I have the privilege in taking a flight in Aluminum Overcast, the restored B-17 owned by the Experimental Aircraft Association. This is the second of a three-part series on the legendary Flying Fortress – a starring side character in my novels. Last week I talked about the plane (Part 1), today a... Read Article

  Few World War II airplanes have captured the imagination like the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Next Monday, May 2, I’ll have the privilege in taking a flight in Aluminum Overcast, the restored B-17 owned by the Experimental Aircraft Association. Over the next three weeks, I’ll run a three-part series on the legendary Flying Fortress – a starring side character in my novels. Today I’ll t... Read Article

What could be more American than Hershey bars, homemade cookies, and birthday cake? During World War II these items were hard to come by in the United States. Short on Sugar When the Japanese conquered the Philippines in the early months of 1942, the United States lost a major source of sugar imports. Shipments from Hawaii and Central and South America had to be curtailed 50 percent as cargo vessels were diverted for... Read Article

I’m thrilled to announce I’ve signed a contract with Revell for another three-book series set during World War II! The series is tentatively titled Wings of the Nightingale, and it follows three flight nurses who discover friendship, love, and peril in the skies and on the shores of the Mediterranean. In Every Letter (working title), September 2012: Loner Lt. Mellie Blake longs for adventure as a flight n... Read Article

Here it is! The cover for Blue Skies Tomorrow, coming from Revell, August 2011! And here’s the blurb from the publisher… Lt. Raymond Novak prefers the pulpit to the cockpit, but at least his stateside job training B-17 pilots allows him the luxury of a personal life. As he courts Helen Carlisle, a young war widow and mother who conceals her pain under a frenzy of volunteer work, the sparks of their romanc... Read Article

During World War II, stereotypes were used in posters, newsreels, and movies to demonize the enemy and motivate people to fight. It’s much easier to fight an enemy you hate. Nowadays, these images make us wince. We’re too enlightened to stereotype people. Or are we? Most of us would be ashamed to admit we have stereotypes, but deep inside we classify people. Judge people. Treat people differently. Skin co... Read Article