The Amber Necklace is a story based on the final Christmas of a woman who had mastered the French language; attended symphonies and operas; stitched her own draperies; sculpted and fired figurines of foxes and raccoons; made an elaborate German-themed doll; sewed her own traveling wardrobe; painted flowers on her bedroom wall; sketched and wrote verses for her own Christmas cards; cooked for dinner parties; and loved to dig in the dirt in the early spring.

Totally alive and infectiously passing on that enthusiasm to everyone she met, Claire was truly a remarkable woman whose recipes for Russian tea and Cheese Strata are used even today—not to mention her tips for enjoying an opera or properly pouring tea.

In The Amber Necklace Claire exquisitely describes the natural process by which amber is formed, and, unknown to her, she paints a far greater picture of the golden amber in a person’s live as that life becomes a finished product.

American’s celebrate holidays in many ways.  This book is about many different holidays.  This author has interspersed many Holy Days that he remembers celebrating as a child and the importance for them.  This author being patriotic writes of many patriotic holidays and how they Honor our Veterans and  Military. Also our American Freedoms.  The book contains Holidays from New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day,  Columbus Day, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving  and Christmas.  All of these Holidays were written as a rememberance from this author’s view.

Bursting with humanisms, humor and love of life, "The Christmas Classics" stories will delight, impress and stimulate you, regardless of faith, by making us realize we are all of one family here on this earth.

A lifetime of pleasure is engulfed within this book which will encourage you to share is contents of love with those closest to you. The sparkle of excitement and warmth associated with the most cherished of holiday''s has flourished for thousands of years and all indications imply that it will be more desirous for millenniums hereafter.

Enjoy your reading, have your tissues ready for tears of joy and may mega happenings be yours as you turn the pages.

Bursting with humanisms, humor and love of life, "The Christmas Classics" stories will delight, impress and stimulate you, regardless of faith, by making us realize we are all of one family here on this earth.

A lifetime of pleasure is engulfed within this book which will encourage you to share is contents of love with those closest to you. The sparkle of excitement and warmth associated with the most cherished of holiday''s has flourished for thousands of years and all indications imply that it will be more desirous for millenniums hereafter.

Enjoy your reading, have your tissues ready for tears of joy and may mega happenings be yours as you turn the pages.

When bad things happen to bad people no one is surprised. When very bad things, undeserved and indefensible things, happen to very good people everyone wonders why.

After more than two decades of faithful service, with every measure of success in hand, Rev. R. M. Runyon watches helplessly as the course of his life takes a dramatic turn. He appeals fervently to the God he has loved and served with such devotion, only to find that this time there is no intervention, no band of angels driving back the forces of darkness. As his steps continue down a path he finds difficult to accept, he is faced with loss and mind numbing pain  Losses he didn’t personally know a human could experience. Can the man who has spent his life providing answers and giving guidance to others find answers for himself when everything is gone?

The lowest point comes at Christmas time, and new insight into the familiar Christmas story brings renewed hope and opportunity where he would have least expected it. He learns from Mary that God can birth something meaningful and important in a life even when no one else understands. In the midst of what appears to be utter chaos and pain, he gains a new life, greater insight and unparalleled personal growth. He finds that God reigns in dark unfamiliar places too.

Love can go a long way upon life. Where love is, life is also. It is the fuel that will light your way. It is the comfort upon a lonesome journey – to know you are not really alone. It is the food upon which you survive.

          Through the Love of Jesus Christ, your way will be directed upon much lightness and your burdens will be small. Life will not be buried beneath a pile of debris to be met, but will be an ever-lifting joy. Upon God’s will, your true purpose and the deepest desires of your heart will be ever achieved.

Know you are very loved. Know this, and know God’s peace, strength, and hope everlasting. Let His love remove mountains. Let Jesus lighten your load - so you may soar. A bird cannot fly with weights upon its wings. Give these burdens to Him, and take flight!

I wanted to put God back into children’s lives through story books. Children are our future. Without God there is no future.

I wanted to put God back into children’s lives through story books. Children are our future. Without God there is no future.

Readers of The Gift will find themselves entering into the world of a classic saga of good versus evil. Along the way they will pass through the lands of Elfin Haven Castle, Land of Lakes, Mound-Hill and the Vandalman Land of Nordland. They will meet the family of beautiful Queen Heather, her brave daughter Anree, the fairy Cieli and Heather's brother-in-law Kris von Krinkle. There are heroic quests, supreme destinies and ferocious battles with characters as diverse as Colestream Cardinals, Bull Reindeer warriors and stinking, demonic Slavers.

Set in a time when elves and fairies, plants and animals interacted with all manner of human-kind, this story proceeds to offer an inspiring explanation for some of the most beloved stories and beliefs held by that world and our own. A frozen landscape is the setting for great battles between the spirits of Hope and Despair, and the evergreen trees, which retain their beauty even in the coldest of times, hold the promise of an inspiring Christmas story.

Bill Craig has used his knowledge of military strategy and weaponry, and his love of the details of everyday life from a bygone era to craft this tale. Within the pages of The Gift hope will be renewed in the lives of its characters and perhaps in the hearts of its readers as well.

Readers of The Gift will find themselves entering into the world of a classic saga of good versus evil. Along the way they will pass through the lands of Elfin Haven Castle, Land of Lakes, Mound-Hill and the Vandalman Land of Nordland. They will meet the family of beautiful Queen Heather, her brave daughter Anree, the fairy Cieli and Heather's brother-in-law Kris von Krinkle. There are heroic quests, supreme destinies and ferocious battles with characters as diverse as Colestream Cardinals, Bull Reindeer warriors and stinking, demonic Slavers.

Set in a time when elves and fairies, plants and animals interacted with all manner of human-kind, this story proceeds to offer an inspiring explanation for some of the most beloved stories and beliefs held by that world and our own. A frozen landscape is the setting for great battles between the spirits of Hope and Despair, and the evergreen trees, which retain their beauty even in the coldest of times, hold the promise of an inspiring Christmas story.

Bill Craig has used his knowledge of military strategy and weaponry, and his love of the details of everyday life from a bygone era to craft this tale. Within the pages of The Gift hope will be renewed in the lives of its characters and perhaps in the hearts of its readers as well.

Courage, compassion, sacrifice, redemption and resurrection are recurring themes in the 24 short stories that make up “Stories for the Seasons” -- tales that take place at Christmastime, Easter, Valentine's Day, Halloween, and during the days of summer.

Locales and time periods in these stories range from Southern California, the Middle East, ships at sea and Mexico to Biblical times, post-Civil War Missouri, medieval Europe and early 1900s small towns.

Facing the challenges life thrusts upon them are assorted protagonists, including a Mexican boy and a donkey he rescues from the desert, a quiet cowboy who shows hidden strengths among a group of strangers, a sailor whose love of music reaches across the Pacific Ocean, a former Confederate cavalryman forced to face his tragic past, a simple-minded field worker whose life is enriched by a friendship that lasts two-thirds of a century, a lonely widow victimized by Halloween pranksters, a sidewalk Santa Claus for whom Christmas takes on a new meaning, a European immigrant confronted by town bullies, an over-the-road truck driver who unexpectedly finds love, the shadowy resident of a mysterious mansion, an elderly school cook who offers an unexpected gift at a graduation ceremony, and a pair of animal friends that befriend a miraculous stranger.

The stories in which these characters and others appear were first published in a weekly newspaper column in Fayette County, Tenn. The column, “Country Tales,” focused on various aspects of rural life from the perspective of someone who had lived in an urban environment the first 40 years of his life. The parameters of that column allowed the author to include the 24 pieces of original short fiction printed here.

Discover the characters in “Stories for the Seasons” and rediscover within yourself the strengths they display: courage, compassion, sacrifice, redemption and resurrection.

Courage, compassion, sacrifice, redemption and resurrection are recurring themes in the 24 short stories that make up “Stories for the Seasons” -- tales that take place at Christmastime, Easter, Valentine's Day, Halloween, and during the days of summer.

Locales and time periods in these stories range from Southern California, the Middle East, ships at sea and Mexico to Biblical times, post-Civil War Missouri, medieval Europe and early 1900s small towns.

Facing the challenges life thrusts upon them are assorted protagonists, including a Mexican boy and a donkey he rescues from the desert, a quiet cowboy who shows hidden strengths among a group of strangers, a sailor whose love of music reaches across the Pacific Ocean, a former Confederate cavalryman forced to face his tragic past, a simple-minded field worker whose life is enriched by a friendship that lasts two-thirds of a century, a lonely widow victimized by Halloween pranksters, a sidewalk Santa Claus for whom Christmas takes on a new meaning, a European immigrant confronted by town bullies, an over-the-road truck driver who unexpectedly finds love, the shadowy resident of a mysterious mansion, an elderly school cook who offers an unexpected gift at a graduation ceremony, and a pair of animal friends that befriend a miraculous stranger.

The stories in which these characters and others appear were first published in a weekly newspaper column in Fayette County, Tenn. The column, “Country Tales,” focused on various aspects of rural life from the perspective of someone who had lived in an urban environment the first 40 years of his life. The parameters of that column allowed the author to include the 24 pieces of original short fiction printed here.

Discover the characters in “Stories for the Seasons” and rediscover within yourself the strengths they display: courage, compassion, sacrifice, redemption and resurrection.

Courage, compassion, sacrifice, redemption and resurrection are recurring themes in the 24 short stories that make up “Stories for the Seasons” -- tales that take place at Christmastime, Easter, Valentine's Day, Halloween, and during the days of summer.

Locales and time periods in these stories range from Southern California, the Middle East, ships at sea and Mexico to Biblical times, post-Civil War Missouri, medieval Europe and early 1900s small towns.

Facing the challenges life thrusts upon them are assorted protagonists, including a Mexican boy and a donkey he rescues from the desert, a quiet cowboy who shows hidden strengths among a group of strangers, a sailor whose love of music reaches across the Pacific Ocean, a former Confederate cavalryman forced to face his tragic past, a simple-minded field worker whose life is enriched by a friendship that lasts two-thirds of a century, a lonely widow victimized by Halloween pranksters, a sidewalk Santa Claus for whom Christmas takes on a new meaning, a European immigrant confronted by town bullies, an over-the-road truck driver who unexpectedly finds love, the shadowy resident of a mysterious mansion, an elderly school cook who offers an unexpected gift at a graduation ceremony, and a pair of animal friends that befriend a miraculous stranger.

The stories in which these characters and others appear were first published in a weekly newspaper column in Fayette County, Tenn. The column, “Country Tales,” focused on various aspects of rural life from the perspective of someone who had lived in an urban environment the first 40 years of his life. The parameters of that column allowed the author to include the 24 pieces of original short fiction printed here.

Discover the characters in “Stories for the Seasons” and rediscover within yourself the strengths they display: courage, compassion, sacrifice, redemption and resurrection.