Tag Archives: Canadian authors

Caught Dead: A Dean Constable Mystery, by Jayne Self

Dean Constable is a Presbyterian minister and a former cop. He lives alone with his dog, Hamlet, but as the story opens he has a house guest: his father, who’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

It’s midnight, there’s a freezing rain storm outside, and his father says there’s a car in the cemetery next door.

Caught Dead, by Canadian author Jayne Self, is a cozy mystery and a two-time finalist in the Best New Canadian Christian Author contest. You can read chapter one online at the Presbyterian Record site.  The novel will run as an online serial. [Edit: perhaps the easiest way to keep up with these weekly installments is to start at the Caught Dead page, where you can find each chapter’s listing. Note that the newest one will always be at the top.]

Jayne and I have been classmates at numerous Write! Canada sessions, and I admire her work. If you like mysteries, I hope you’ll check this one out. I think we’re in for a good read.

Review: Mud in Your Eye, by Gord Penner

Mud in Your Eye, by Gord Penner (Word Alive Press, 2009)

The subtitle of Mud in Your Eye explains its meaning: “he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud.”

The book’s back cover warns, “If you don’t see yourself the way God sees you, then you will more than likely see yourself the way you think others see you.” Hmm, there’s a whole lot of truth to that.

In talking about Jesus’ encounter with the blind man and the mud (John 9:1-41), Gord Penner asks, “Are you willing to have mud smeared on your eyes? Do you trust Jesus enough – do you want to see badly enough – that you’re willing to let Jesus have his way in your life, no matter how it looks?” (page 5)

Each chapter of Mud in Your Eye is 3-4 pages long, good for a quiet, reflective pause in your day. What I appreciate most about them is the focus on Scripture and on how it applies to our lives – and the challenge to truly believe it. The word of God has power, and we need to hear – and sometimes speak – what it says.

Canadian author Gord Penner is also a motivational speaker and life coach. His name was new to me, but I’m glad I found his book.

Book source: my personal library

Review: Storm Warning, by Linda Hall

Storm Warning, by Linda Hall (Steeple Hill, 2010)

Nori Edwards doesn’t feel at home anywhere since her husband’s tragic death. In search of a fresh start, she buys a tourist property on scenic Whisper Lake, Maine. She plans to fix up Trail’s End before her teen daughters return from their volunteer stints at summer camp. She and the girls will live in the main building, an old hunting lodge, and rent out the cabins.

Finding workers is only her first problem. Except for the attractive Steve, the local workforce wants nothing to do with Trail’s End. Rumour is, the place is haunted—by the ghost of its original owner, and perhaps by a crazy killer lurking in the woods.

Strange events multiply until Nori begins to think there really is a ghost. Or is it someone very much alive?

Steve Baylor hopes helping with Nori’s renovations will let him find traces of the two teens who vanished there two summers ago. The fact that the new owner is attractive is a nice plus, but Steve has secrets of his own and needs to keep his distance.

As always, Linda Hall’s characters are realistic and their struggles resonate with our own. Both Nori and Steve carry hurts that still need healing and that make it hard to trust and love again. Steve is learning to depend on God, and Nori needs to re-learn the same thing.

Nori is a muralist, another of the interesting careers Linda investigates for her heroines. We don’t learn a lot about it in this book, but it adds to the story’s appeal.

Award-winning Canadian author Linda Hall can be counted on to deliver a good read with strong characters. Storm Warning is her 16th novel, and I think I’ve only missed reading one. Her next novel in the Whisper Lake series, On Thin Ice, releases in April 2010. You can find Linda online at her website and at the Craftie Ladies of Suspense blog.

Review copy purchased by reviewer (from Chapters.ca).

Review: Blooming, by Marian den Boer

Blooming, by Marian den Boer (Word Alive Press, 2009)

Blooming, subtitled “This Pilgrim’s Progress,” is a collection of short, slice-of-life vignettes from the den Boer household. Many were originally published as articles in The Christian Courier. Each one ends with a Scripture and the author’s thoughts as she looks back on the incident.

Marian den Boer writes with a friendly, engaging style, as if she’s sharing these events with a good friend. She’s not afraid to admit when she fails, and she has a keen eye for the humour in a situation. It’s interesting to read the lessons she draws from her life, and although our own experiences will often be different, the lessons still apply.

Marian sums the book up best herself:

The stories… reveal the day-to-day experiences of my sometimes frazzled self as I mothered six children over a period of approximately 15 years. The Holy Spirit subtly, yet dramatically, convicted and convinced me in the nitty gritty of everyday family life… I lived Christianity from my head. As the years progressed God patiently changed me into someone who attempts to live Christianity from the heart as led by His Spirit. (pp. xii, xiii)

Although each chapter is short, I kept turning pages for “just one more.” Watch for Blooming when the short-list comes out for this year’s Canadian Christian Writing Awards.

For more about Canadian author Marian den Boer, visit her blog, Blooming: This Pilgrim’s Progress (and Regress). You can read the introduction to Blooming here, and sample chapters here and here.

Review copy purchased by reviewer (at Miracles Christian Store).

Review: Tooth for Tooth, a novel by Kimberley J. Payne

Tooth for Tooth, a novel by Kimberley J. Payne

Heather Williams is doing okay with the single-motherhood thing, she’s happy in her job, and her attractive boss is a bonus. Life is good—until she discovers her estranged husband has been sexually abusing their young daughter.

Sick with horror, she does her best to get help for Caitlin (Caity-Cat) and to keep her safe. Of course Caitlin’s father denies the truth and wants her weekend visits to continue.

Heather navigates a maze of community service, medical and legal systems, and although she doesn’t always like their methods, she does find some compassionate people who can help. At the same time, she’s dealing with both guilt (Catilin had tried to tell her a few years earlier) and anger at the man who could do this to anyone, let alone his own child.

Supportive family and friends, including her charming boss, keep her sane, and she’s surprised to find even more strength through a local Bible study.

This is a novel I hesitated to read because of the subject matter, but although what happened to Caitlin and her mom is troubling, author Kimberley Payne doesn’t go into traumatic details of the abuse.

The story gave me more insight and understanding into a situation nobody should ever experience but far too many do. It also reaffirmed what I’d sensed from a few people who’ve expressed similar—or worse—experiences: as traumatic as it is, there is hope for healing.

Kimberley Payne deals frankly with questions such as “Why, God? Where were You?” and with issues of anger, guilt and forgiveness.

Her strength is in non-fiction, and there are writing elements of Tooth for Tooth that could be stronger, but she has a keen sense of detail and an eye for descriptions. She also makes Heather’s and Caitlin’s struggle come alive. When I was away from the story for a day, I kept wondering how they were.

The subject matter is dark, but Tooth for Tooth offers insight and hope. The author’s deft use of humour keeps the tone balanced, and this short novel is a good—and fairly quick—read.

Canadian author Kimberley Payne is better known for her “Fit for Faith” books and workshops. Tooth for Tooth is her first work of fiction. It’s available to read (for free!) online at the Tooth for Tooth blog. Those who prefer hard copy can order Tooth for Tooth through Lulu.com.

For more about the author, visit her website, Within Reach.

Electronic review copy provided by the author.

Review: I’m Not Perfect and It’s Okay, by Dolores Ayotte

I’m Not Perfect and It’s Okay, by Dolores Ayotte (Tate Publishing, 2008)

I love the cover design of this book – all these uniquely-marked balloons, all in different places but each adding to the scene.

Dolores Ayotte is a former teacher who loves finding ways to share what she’s learned. Her first book, I’m Not Perfect and It’s Okay, is one of those ways, and in it Dolores reveals the lessons that helped her move out of a serious depression.

I’m Not Perfect and It’s Okay offers “thirteen steps to a happier self,” and they’re all simple, down-to-earth things that we somehow overlook when we’re in distress. Appropriately enough, the first step is learning to love: oneself, others and God.

The author contends that without a healthy sense of self-worth we can’t find emotional healing. Indeed, why would we think we deserve it? If, she says, we can love ourselves as we are, we can then begin to change those things in us that we don’t like.

Dolores speaks of relying on a quiet “inner voice” and it’s clear that this is no mystic “spirit guide” – it’s the Holy Spirit whispering into His child’s life. Healing is, after all, His specialty.

Other key themes in the book are simplicity, relationships, forgiveness, laughter, silence, money management (“live below your yearnings”), wisdom and communication.

I wasn’t comfortable with the book’s reference to God as “him/her” although I’m aware that the Bible does attribute both paternal and maternal characteristics to our Creator. I did find the ingredients in this “Baker’s Dozen” recipe for a better life to be pleasant, helpful and encouraging.

I’m Not Perfect and It’s Okay is an easy book to read, gentle on the spirit, that feels like a personal letter just for you. It includes many inspirational quotes that have encouraged the author over the years. The book comes with a code allowing free download of the text in audio format from the publisher.

To learn more about Canadian author Dolores Ayotte, you can visit her website.  is available through her site and also at Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.

Review copy provided by the author.

Review: Steal Away, by Linda Hall

Steal Away, by Linda Hall

Steal Away, by Linda Hall (Multnomah, 2003)

Steal Away is the first in a series of mysteries featuring Private Investigator Teri Blake-Addison, a vibrant former cop who has recently returned to the Christian faith. Teri is an interesting character in her own right, struggling to balance her independent career within her new role as the wife of a university English professor.

In this story, she is approached by a well-known evangelist to discover the truth about the sailing accident that killed his wife, Ellen, and two of Ellen’s friends five years earlier. The boat—and Ellen’s body—was never found. Teri’s investigations take her to coastal Maine, and to St. Andrews and Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick.

This complex mystery is filled with real people and their real struggles. Readers can nod and say, “Yeah, I know someone just like that.”

As always, Linda Hall writes with an honest and unvarnished view of life and faith. The book deals with choices, redemption, betrayal and mercy, as well as with some of the stumbling-blocks that can cause people to “go off church.” It’s hard to put it down once you’ve started reading. But when you’re finished, it would be a good book to share with a friend—Christian or non.

Steal Away was originally published in 2003 but is now available in audio book format, narrated by Kirsten Potter, at Audible.com and through  iTunes.

From the author’s website: “Steal Away was a Christy Award finalist, a Daphne finalist and was given top honours by The Word Guild. As well, it was the 2004 Beacon Award winner for Best Inspirational Novel, the Winter Rose Award Winner for Best Inspirational Novel, and it was given the Award of Excellence from the Colorado Romance Writers.”

Linda Hall currently writes romantic suspense for the Love Inspired line, and her next release with them is Storm Warning (January 2010). She’s also the author of a number of stand-alone suspense novels, including Sadie’s Song, Dark Water and Black Ice.Each of her novels delivers the memorable characters and struggles that we’ve come to expect from this award-winning Canadian author.

You can learn more about Linda at her website. She also contributes to multiple blogs and maintains a Facebook fan page. Read the prologue of Steal Away here.

Review: Seeker of Stars, a novella by Susan Fish

Seeker of Stars 2005
Seeker of Stars 2013

Seeker of Stars, by Susan Fish (Winding Trail Press, 2005 and David C. Cook, 2013)

Melchi has always been fascinated by the stars’ slow dance in the night sky. Even after exhausting days learning the family trade of rug making, he steals to the rooftop at night to gaze on his “beauties”.

When his father at last permits him to go and study with the astronomers, Melchi plays a key part in discovering the meaning of a new star and joins the expedition to Jerusalem in search of the newborn king of the Jews.

Told in the first person by an adult Melchoir who looks back over the events leading to his journey—and what happened at its end—Seeker of Stars carries an exotic taste as if this ancient scholar had learned English and invited us to hear the tale.

I love the richness of the language, both in feel and in word choice. Susan Fish says a lot in a very few pages, and creates memorable, complex characters.

This novella has become a part of my Christmas tradition. The season’s first strains of “We Three Kings” bring the story to life in my mind, but I save the reading—like a treat—to savour in the days after Christmas. Ideally I’ll read it around the time of Epiphany, when Christians observe the Magi’s visit.

For more about Canadian author Susan Fish, visit her website: susanfishwrites.wordpress.com. [Note, Seeker of Stars has been re-released with an updated cover. The original is featured above.]

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Review: Your God is too Safe, by Mark Buchanan

Your God is Too Safe, by Mark Buchanan (Multnomah, 2001)

In a day where many teachers either speak in “academic-ese” or dumb down their language, Mark Buchanan’s writing is a refreshing treat, comparable with Philip Yancey. What sets his books apart from other life-changing works is the beauty of the language. The images and descriptions are fresh, original and strong.

Your God is Too Safe is subtitled “Rediscovering the Wonder of a God You Can’t Control.” It opens with a candid look at life in “borderland”—that place where many of us get stuck, saved but slow of heart and unfruitful. The second half of the book calls us to life in the “holy wild.” Here Rev. Buchanan offers practical steps to take if we’re willing to risk walking with a God who is not safe but is good.

The book stresses the value of holy habits, often called spiritual disciplines. These are to be God-ward habits, not legalistic rules; practices that develop into new life patterns. Holy habits lead to practicing the presence of God through worship, expectancy, confession, solitude, fasting, reading Scripture, servanthood, prayer and celebration.

I appreciated the author’s honesty about real people’s struggles, his own included. We can all relate to the section on borderland, having been there. We can leave borderland for the holy wild, and Mark Buchanan’s words instil within us a longing to do so.

Mark Buchanan is a pastor in British Columbia, and one of my favourite Canadian authors. Your God is Too Safe was his first book, published in 2001. Since then he’s written Things Unseen: Living in the Light of Forever, The Holy Wild, The Rest of God, and Hidden in Plain Sight. Each one has blessed me as I’ve read it.

You can learn more about Mark Buchanan and his books at his website. Your God is Too Safe is available in trade paperback, audio or e-book from Chapters-Indigo, trade paperback and audio book from Christianbook.com, and trade paperback only from Amazon.ca and Amazon.com. You can also order it through your local bookstore.

— trade paperback and audio book

Daily Devotionals… a good habit

New year’s resolutions… some people make ’em, some don’t. Some keep ’em, some don’t.

For Christians, another aspect to this turning of the year is often “How will I pattern my Bible reading this year?” Will I crack open the next edition of my favourite devotional publication or try something different? Read through the entire Bible in a year? (If so, which reading schedule will I follow?)

My daily quiet times tend to be just God and me, in whatever section of Scripture the day finds us. As it happens, I’ve finished the book of Titus and am wondering where to feed next. And I’m thinking of taking the Bible-in-a-year challenge again. It’s been a few years. I may try RBC Ministries’ schedule in their Our Daily Bread. I like how it has readings from Old and New Testaments each day.

Something else I’m looking forward to is a new series of daily devotionals at the Other Food: daily devo’s site. Canadian author Violet Nesdoly has good insights, and she also has the stick-to-it-ness to deliver a new devotional each day. She did it all 2009 for kids at Bible Drive-Thru. I’ve signed up for email delivery on this one, since I never remember to check blogs daily.

A daily quiet time with God can be short or long, depending on your life. But we need to take some time each day to consciously spend in His presence or we’ll miss the growth He has for us. How about you? Any plans?