Hello, everyone! I know according to the schedule I should be posting a book review today; however, that will not be the case for two reasons. 1., I unfortunately have not had much time for reading this month, so I don’t really have a book review to share, and 2. I have something more exciting (or at least I think so!) to share. I am officially a published author!

The King’s Daughters Writing Camp has recently published their Peace anthology, a collection of short stories, poems, and devotionals centered around the theme of peace. My short story, “I Heard the Bells,” is included in this collection! Here is a little bit more about Peace–

Official Blurb

What is true peace in our lives?

In this collection, twenty-one Christian authors explore the many faces of peace through stories, poems, and reflections. Is peace the absence of conflict—or the calm presence of Christ amid it?

Meet a variety of characters who encounter peace in surprising ways: a detective grappling with grief, an unlikely pair of spies encountering betrayal, a fearful wife dreading Colombian violence, a young lady searching for both a job and her life purpose amid a wrong turn, a sibling duo caught in a treacherous river, an uncle recounting a holy experience in the midst of war, and a Christmas-avoiding veteran caught in the most unlikely place on Christmas Eve. Can peace dwell in loss? In waiting? In loneliness? In a wedding where something new goes wrong every few minutes? What might a singing phoebe, an eager author, or third-place pie teach us about the Prince of Peace?

Above all, this anthology points to the true and lasting source of peace—the One who stills every storm and whispers, “My peace I give to you.” Step into these pages and rediscover the serenity, surrender, and steadfast love that only Jesus can bring.

Add on Goodreads – Buy on Amazon

There are a lot of lovely stories and poems in this collection! I hope you will check it out! Now, I would like to share a little more about my story, “I Heard the Bells.”

This short story was inspired by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” The main character, Bennett Mitchell, is a young Army veteran who was released from duty after a traumatic incident at Christmastime that resulted in the injury of his leg and the death of his best friend. Now, Bennett, battling PTSD, avoids all things Christmas and is angry at God. However, a blizzard and a broken-down car leave him stranded at the place he is avoiding most where he rediscovers the true peace that comes from the Lord.

I actually came up with the concept for this short story over five years ago. It was originally going to be a novella that chronicled more of Bennett’s Army life, but that didn’t really go anywhere. A couple years later, I decided to pick up the story concept again, but this time as a short story with Bennett already out of the Army. This time, the story flowed a lot better for me, and I completed a very rough first draft. However, life got busy, and I didn’t touch it again for another year or two. When I signed up for the King’s Daughters Writing Camp in July 2025 and they announced that they were compiling a story collection centered around peace, I knew this story would work great for that theme! After a lot of polishing, and with a lot of help from my beta-readers, I finally got the story ready to submit.

It was encouraging to me to dig deeper into the theme of peace and what the Bible teaches about peace as I was writing this story, and I hope and pray that it will be an encouragement to you, too!

One last thing before I go: The King’s Daughters Writing Camp is hosting an online month-long writing camp this March! KDWC is a virtual writing camp for Christian ladies and is run on Slack. This March will be my 4th time attending KDWC, and I have greatly enjoyed it each time! It is a great opportunity to connect with other Christian authors and encourage each other in writing.

I will be back on Monday for another special post, this time as part of a blog tour for author Hannah E. Griggs’ upcoming release, Remember My Royalty!