TJ and I are Christians. That being said, we aren’t perfect people who are never mean and who never speak out in anger. We occasionally use language/words unbecoming our calling… Even with one another. But as the Doobie Brothers once sang: I don’t care what they say! Jesus is just all right with me.
Everyone was singing this song in the 70’s, right in the middle of the Jesus Movement. I dare say, millions of young people joined into the Jesus Freaks. That is when I joined them, realizing the life I lived had little meaning. Of course, I was barely 16 years old, but the deep change in my life grew and grew until, wow! Now I write a lot of Christian or cozy fiction.
TJ’s and my life hasn’t been easy. We were literally poor as church mice. We sold our possessions at Park n’ Swap to make our rent and feed our kids. We took awful jobs. I once worked as a janitor in a pool hall. Worst job ever. Gross and filthy. We worked our way up to better jobs over time until we got some education, TJ in electronics, and me as a licensed practical nurse. Once we began working in those fields, life was easier. That being said, our marriage almost imploded until we both committed to Jesus full-on, and we recommitted to one another. Hawkeye, from the TV show, Mash, called it terminal marriage. Which is pretty much until death do us part. We’ve been married for over 50 years now. People see Jesus in this. Our marriage, even through the crappy times, is a witness to the power of God.
A lot of people won’t read what TJ and I write. That’s okay! But, in most of our books, our faith is fully intertwined with the words and feelings we are trying to convey. TJ wrote the Mirror Gate Chronicles with the idea that his hero, Shaméd was searching for something. The trips he and his team took were to look for documentation and artifacts in this search. TJ told these stories to our children as bedtime stories.
My brain doesn’t work like TJ’s brain (nor should it). I trend more towards spiritual issues, but historical and romance fiction. I don’t want to write theology or non-fiction. Except for Miriam’s Story, which is a biography, although novelized, my stories are all Christian fiction. My story, The Dirty End of the Needle, is an homage to the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32. The story [in the Bible] talks about two sons. One is the good son, who stays at home to work for his father; the other is the “bad” son, who asks for his inheritance, and leaves to live a life of decadence. My story is a current culture story, but the same one as Jesus told. But this manuscript is set in our culture, our timeline. The topics covered are rough. They are difficult. But just like Jesus’ parable, there’s redemption, grace, and God’s love.
We hope, TJ and I, that you like our books. We hope you are inspired by our faith, which isn’t always perfect. Please send us a comment or two. Let the peace of Jesus fill your hearts (that’s our continued prayer for you). Thanks for reading.
Mirror Gate Chronicles 