Author Archives: Janet Sketchley

About Janet Sketchley

Janet Sketchley is an Atlantic Canadian writer whose Redemption’s Edge Christian suspense novels have each been finalists in The Word Awards. She's also the author of the devotional collection, A Year of Tenacity. Janet blogs about faith and books. She loves Jesus and her family, and enjoys reading, worship music, and tea. Fans of Christian suspense are invited to join her writing journey through her monthly newsletter: bit.ly/JanetSketchleyNews.

Review: The Good Girl, by Christy Barritt

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cover art: The Good GirlThe Good Girl, by Christy Barritt (WhiteFire Publishing, 2013)

I wouldn’t have picked this one up based on the title, but as a fan of Christy Barritt’s Squeaky Clean Mystery Series, I know her non-Love-Inspired novels include some off-the-wall-but-lovable characters and more than a splash of humour. The Good Girl does not disappoint.

Tara Lancaster is a 20-something woman who essentially runs away from her Florida home to dog-sit for her sister in Minnesota. Their father is a high-profile preacher, and while her sister inspired his book The Wayward Daughter, Tara has spent her life learning—and living by—”the rules.” She’s not legalistic in a judgmental way, but she’s had this idea that living the “perfect” Christian life will keep her safe, earn approval and blessing, and be the right thing to do. And that if her thoughts don’t always line up with the externals, that’s okay.

Tara had the textbook Christian life and was a role model for her generation, until false allegations stripped away her job and her marriage. Now she’s ashamed, disgraced, and not sure what she thinks about this God who may not even exist.

Hiding out at her sister’s sounds ideal until she arrives to find a menacing note—pinned by a knife—in the kitchen. The house may be haunted, but good Christians don’t believe in ghosts, do they? Or there may be a more human explanation, but that’s still pretty scary. On the plus side, she meets a helpful and charming neighbour, Cooper. And her sister’s friend Candy adopts her for the duration. Candy is the main quirky character in the book, and she’s genuine despite her look-at-me exterior.

Tara’s an over-thinker, wounded and perhaps a bit neurotic, but she makes a good narrator for the story. With all that’s going on in the house to scare her, and with her rebounding from “Good Girl rules” to redefine her life, she doesn’t always make the right choices. But she’s on the way to finding herself and maybe even finding another chance at life, faith and love. If whoever’s trying to scare her to death doesn’t succeed.

Here’s a link to an excerpt from The Good Girl—check out the snappy, first-person writing style. Or visit award-winning suspense and mystery author Christy Barritt’s website to learn more about her series and stand-alone novels. Her newest novel, Home Before Dark, released in April 2013.

[Review copy from my personal library.]
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What’s the key ingredient of prayer?

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The best part of prayer is the human soul’s communion with the Divine Presence, and that usually happens when we stop talking and rest in Him. Listening. Abiding. Worshiping.

Of all the words we offer in prayer, most of them fall into the ACTS categories:

  • Adoration
  • Confession
  • Thanksgiving
  • Struggles/Surrender (traditionally Supplication)

All are important, all have their place, and individuals may be called more to one area than the others. We need them all.

But I suspect the single-most important ingredient is adoration.

When we quiet ourselves before God and concentrate on Him: His character, attributes, will, purposes, His activity in our lives, something changes inside us. In the stillness, the peace, we find a gateway into the rest of what we need to say to God and to listening to what He has to say to us.

Adoration sets the tone.

God is exalted in our prayer, and this leads to each of the other areas: confession, thanksgiving, and requests for His help. It also strengthens our faith as we remind ourselves Who this God really is.

If time is short and I slip into just praying for needs, especially if those needs are overwhelming, I start wearing them like a burden. My perspective skews, and they look even bigger than they are. I lose hope, even while continuing to plead for God’s intervention.

Those are more wishes than prayers.

Grounding myself first in God keeps intercession true, because no matter how big the issue, I’m secure in the knowledge that God is bigger and that He has a loving plan. It reminds me that even when life is tough, God is tougher.

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Our Source of Strength

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May [the God of peace] equip you with all you need
for doing his will.
May he produce in you,
through the power of Jesus Christ,
every good thing that is pleasing to him.
All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.
Hebrews 13:21, NLT*

The Christian life is about learning what it means to walk by faith, to let the Holy Spirit’s power in us be our source of strength.

This has become my quest in the past few weeks. I’ve realized part of the reason there’s been an invisible cloud over my head is that I’ve felt overwhelmed by the “stuff” of life. I’ve been trying to handle it on my own again.

The more I commit each day to God’s leading, including what goes or doesn’t go on the agenda, the more I pray “Lord, You direct me, strengthen and keep me focused,” the better it is.

I’ve been praying daily for protection from fearful and negative thoughts, and reminding myself in Whom I put my confidence.

Check out the credentials ascribed to God in the verse before our focus verse:

Now may the God of peace—who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood— Hebrews 13:20, NLT*

This God, we can trust.

I don’t need to be anxious or to overcompensate. If there’s potential for something to go wrong, either God will help me do it right, or He’ll work within the fallout. If someone else is angry with me about it, God will still be with me.

And I don’t need to think ahead and try to hold everything together. My times are in His hands.

I’ve seen a few changes to my default reactions—all good! And my spirit, lined up with His Spirit, has more peace.

God of peace, You are so good to us. You rescue us when we can’t help ourselves, You prepare good works for us to do and give us people to love… and You provide the power to do it because on our own we can’t do much of value. Forgive us for the times we try life in our own strength, and help us learn to rely on Yours. Because of Jesus, Amen.

∞

Here’s one of my favourite Cliff Richard songs, a worship song I remember singing many years ago to help me focus: “Be in My Heart.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rla4-zsJYI8

*New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Review: Stress Test, by Richard Mabry

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Stress Test cover artStress Test, by Richard Mabry (Thomas Nelson, 2013)

On his final night of hospital duty before taking up a less stressful medical teaching position that might allow him to marry and settle down, Dr. Matt Newman is kidnapped and barely escapes with his life. Waking up as a patient with a head injury is bad enough, but as he’s trying to piece together what happened to him, his car is found… with a dead body lying on top of Matt’s own wallet.

Suddenly the police think he’s a villain instead of a victim, his prospective fiancée cuts him off, and his new boss can’t finish the hiring process. And there’s still someone out there who wants him dead.

Matt is a likeable man doing his best to figure out what’s going on and to stay alive. His lawyer, Sandra Murray, just broke off a relationship with another doctor because he didn’t share her faith. Matt’s faith has been on hold for quite a while, but there’s something about the attack and false accusations that get him praying again. Sandra and Matt sense a growing attraction that they need to resist until he’s cleared of charges—or arrested.

Most scenes are from Matt’s or Sandra’s point of view, but we also see what’s going on with Matt’s enemies, even though we’re not really sure who’s calling the shots. And there are shots being called, sometimes literally. Matt’s the victim of a complex conspiracy that isn’t fully clear until the story ends.

Stress Test reads like a medical tv drama, with enough facts to flavour the atmosphere but not to bog down the story. I found the opening abduction scene intense enough to not read at bedtime, but the rest of the book carries more of a “mystery” suspense level than that of a thriller.

Award-winning author Richard Mabry is a retired M.D. and his knowledge adds a layer of realism to the hospital scenes—whether Matt is working or being a patient. You can learn more about Richard Mabry and his novels at his website, and you can read a preview of Stress Test at the Thomas Nelson site (scroll down the page). To read an interview with Richard Mabry, visit A Christian Writer’s World.

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[Review copy provided free from the publisher through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze® book review bloggers program in exchange for an unbiased review.]

Where Do We Focus?

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As an example of the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus told the story of a shepherd who left 99 sheep and went in search of the one that was missing. It’s not that the wayward sheep was more valuable than the rest, but the man was responsible for them all and didn’t want any to be lost. At that moment, the need of the one was more urgent than the need of the many.

The shepherd made the right choice, to focus on the one.

Sometimes we don’t choose as wisely.

There can be 99 good things in our lives, and one negative, and how often do we focus on the one?

The failure. The fear. The imperfection.

One thing takes on more importance than 99 others and tips us from gratitude to despair.

It may be an area of weakness where God would like to make us stronger: a temptation we need to resist, or a responsibility we haven’t been meeting very well. Something we need to acknowledge and then prayerfully cooperate with God as He continues shaping us into the reflection of His Son.

God brings it to our attention to help us. The enemy of our souls points, mocks, accuses and demeans. We know which voice is healthy, but too often we listen to (and agree with) the poison.

Or maybe the “one thing” is something we can’t control or change: our smile, our shape, the pitch of our voice. Something we think makes us less than we long to be.

The Bible says we’re God’s handiwork and that His “workmanship is marvellous.” Our enemy says we’re defective. And fear makes us believe the liar over the Lover.

You are not defective. You’re designed by the Creator of the universe, and He loves you. (Click to tweet this.)

In the good things and in the bad, we need to keep our focus on the God who rescues and restores. Let’s remember His power and His character, and trust His plans for our lives. Let’s learn to walk in His strength and to recognize and reject the lies of our enemy.

Cloudy thoughts block the Light

Photo credit: Janet Sketchley

Knowing Who We Are

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Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Romans 12:2, NLT* (emphasis mine)

“When you know who you are in Christ, there is less room for the spirit of rejection to take root.”

I heard this recently, and it got me thinking. Some people are self-aware. They have a healthy view of who they are, and are secure in their own identities.

Others, myself included, are self-conscious. We have too sharp a view of our failings or weaknesses, and a clouded understanding of our good points.

Reject a self-aware person and they’ll know it’s really your problem. Reject a self-conscious person and they’ll take it personally. And agree with you.

Better than either of these is to be God-conscious. The Bible tells us who we are in God’s eyes: loved but condemned without Him, loved and accepted with Him. If God accepts us, knowing and redeeming the very worst of who we are, why is it often so hard to accept ourselves?

God says we are: loved, saved, accepted, adopted, delightful, clean, equipped. And more. Feel free to add to the list in the comments.

God who formed and redeemed us, when we feel or think or fear we are less than You say we are, help us take control of those thoughts. Help us reject them with the sword of the Spirit: Your Word. And help us raise the shield of faith by choosing to believe Your Word.

∞

The David Crowder*Band‘s song, “Shadows,” reminds us to keep our confidence firmly in God.

*New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Review: Star Wars: Scoundrels, by Timothy Zahn

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cover art: Star Wars Scoundrels, by Timothy ZahnStar Wars Scoundrels, by Timothy Zahn (LucasBooks 2013)

Remember the reward Han Solo earned in the original Star Wars movie (A New Hope) for his part in the Death Star’s destruction? The money that would have let him pay off Jabba the Hutt? Well, he lost it to pirates, and now he’ll take just about any crazy chance to make some cash.

So when a stranger offers a fortune to recover an even larger fortune in stolen credits, Han and Chewie are in. They’re smugglers, not thieves, but they have connections. Counting their employer, Eanjer, Solo’s team numbers 11.

The challenge: infiltrate the estate of a major crime boss, recover the credits with equal shares for each. Why is Eanjer so generous with his money? He claims it’s as much about revenge as about cash. But Lando is quick to point out Han’s history of not always trusting the right people.

The complication: Imperial Intelligence wants access to the same estate, and if they can manipulate Solo’s 11 into taking all the risks, so much the better.

Risks? It may be impossible.

Because it’s a heist novel, the first quarter is setup—interesting rather than action-heavy. Once the team begins to act, there are chases, explosions and plenty of danger in true, over-the-top caper style. And there’s a bit near the end that takes on extra significance when you remember that in the films, Han Solo was played by Harrison Ford, who also played Indiana Jones.

Scoundrels is a satisfying puzzle novel with plenty of adrenaline, and you don’t need to know more than the basics about the original Star Wars trilogy. I was expecting Han, Chewie and Lando, and was pleased to see Winter as another team member. Apparently Kell will also be familiar to those who’ve read more of the Star Wars Expanded Universe novels than I have. The other characters are new for this novel, and they’re worth meeting.

It’s a plot-driven novel, but the characters are well-developed, with their own struggles, tensions and interactions. It’s interesting to see Han in a planning role here… shades of General Solo in days to come. And the setting is impressive: the heist is to go down during the planet’s annual Festival of Four Honorings, amid the crowds and lavish displays. Characters, technology and setting never upstage the plot, but support it and enhance the experience.

Timothy Zahn is an award-winning, bestselling author known for both his original science fiction and his work in the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

[Review copy from my personal library. Amazon link is an affiliate link for The Word Guild.]

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Writer’s Block

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Thoughts on faith and fiction.

That’s what I write here, in non-fiction form, and it matters to me. But I love writing fiction. I’ve had some short stories published and hope someday to introduce you to some of my imaginary friends in a novel.

One Christmas, my characters “bought” me one of the novelty shirts from Signals.com:

Writer's Block

My youngest son, who shares my fiction habit, wrapped it on their behalf. This is the tag he wrote:

From the voices

(If you can’t make that out, it says “Yours, from the voices.” With a heart.)

This Weapon Changes Hearts

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But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.
Romans 8:13b, NLT*

In our spiritual armour, the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God [see Ephesians 6:10-20]. The armour lets us stand our ground against attacks. The sword may even be for taking enemy territory if we’re doing battle for someone.

Today’s verse suggests we can use the sword to cut free of existing bonds or snares, not just to deflect new blows.

I’ve been wielding the sword when I use Bible verses to counter deep-set lies I’ve accepted, but somehow I hadn’t seen it in terms of battle. I just knew I had to use the light of God’s truth to burn away the deception.

God’s been nudging me lately about some attitudes that have to go—attitudes that date back to my early school years and that I thought were pretty well in hand. It turns out they’ve inserted themselves into deeper cover than I’d realized. Prayer and confession and surrender have made a start at eradicating them, but I see now that the truth of the Bible is the single-most effective tool or weapon I have.

Our God, You are holy and just, merciful and abounding in grace. You are so faithful in keeping Your promise to conform us to the image of Your Son, even when we’re slow and even when the stain runs deep. Thank You for the Holy Spirit within us and for the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Make us alert to the individual battles we face. Show us the precise verses to use in our defence. And help us stand firm in You.

∞

Choosing a song for this one was hard! I found a good “change my attitude” song with the Newsboys’ “Breathe” and a good “don’t buy the lies” song with Jonny Diaz’ “More Beautiful You.” If you need one or both, have a listen. They speak to my heart.

But I think the heart of this message (pun intended) is “Change My Heart, Oh God.”

*New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Review: Shaded Light, by J.A. Menzies

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Shaded Light, by JA MenziesShaded Light, by J.A. Menzies (MurderWillOut Mysteries, ebook version 2013)

It’s the July long weekend, and there’s a house party at George and Ellen Brodie’s new mansion in an exclusive Toronto community. Expected guests: their son, his close friend, Ellen’s country cousin, both of George’s lawyer business partners and their wives.

But there are also unexpected guests, three to be exact: a black sheep nephew, an ex-wife, and a wallflower sister.

Add in two household staff to complete the picture.

At least one of the fourteen will die before the party’s over. Because at least one other among them a murderer.

Shaded Light reads like a contemporary Agatha Christie novel. Instead of Hercule Poirot, readers meet Detective-Inspector Paul Manziuk (man’s-hook) and rookie detective Jacqueline Ryan. He’s experienced, old-school and white, she’s young, female and black.

Manziuk’s under pressure to catch a serial killer who leaves no clues, and now he’s handed the Brodie case too. He doesn’t have time to find out if Ryan can do the job… or if she’s just a political appointment.

To solve the case, Manziuk and Ryan must pierce the suspects’ outer facades and untangle the secrets within. It’s fun to watch them learn to work together along the way.

Shaded Light is book one in the Manziuk and Ryan mystery series, originally published by St. Kitts Press in 2000. The newly-issued ebook includes the author’s original prologue, omitted from the print book. The prologue works well to set the tone, and I think it’s an improvement.

I read the print version years ago and was curious to read it again. The story holds up well to a second reading. As it happens, I only remembered a few details and none of them spoiled the ending. Even if I’d remembered whodunnit, it would have still been a good read to watch the case set up and the unfold.

J.A. Menzies is the pen name of N.J. Lindquist, a Canadian author, speaker and teacher who writes fiction and non-fiction for adults and young adults. She’s a founding director of The Word Guild, co-editor of the Hot Apple Cider anthologies, and she’s usually juggling two or three projects at a time. With such a diverse list of activities, you can see why she chose to use a pen name to minimize reader confusion. To learn more about the author, visit Canadian Mystery Author J.A. Menzies.

Shaded Light and its sequel, Glitter of Diamonds, are both available as ebooks, and J.A. Menzies is working on a third in the series. I look forward to spending more time with these two detectives.

Purchase links for Shaded Light: Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, Kobo, Ganxy.

[Review copy provided by the author. Amazon links are affiliate links for The Word Guild.]