The Divide Wins Award!
This week, I found out that The Divide, sequel to The Alliance, won the 2018 multi-reader nominated, multi-reader judged INSPY Award for Speculative Fiction! The judges explained why they chose it: The Divide by Jolina Petersheim is a post-apocalyptic wonder that concludes
What If I’m Wrong?
My two eldest daughters and I stood in line for free popcorn while we waited for dusk to settle enough to watch the movie at the park. I smiled as I watched pre-adolescents in front of me: their summer tans
My Rainbow Baby
On May 21, 2017, my three-year-old became my middle child. She has been an incredible big sister—never once showing jealousy toward our new arrival—but recently this transition has revealed itself in other ways. For 2.5 years, we have known our three-year-old
How the Story’s Going to Turn Out
The girls and I read Little House in the Big Woods and Farmer Boy last year, so I was delighted when I discovered Little House on the Prairie and On the Banks of Plum Creek in the audio-book section of
Mud Pits & Walls
Nursing my baby like clockwork at four a.m., I rested my head back against the glider and groggily thought how wonderful it would be to have a child born at two years old, so she could sleep twelve hours and
Being the Hands of Jesus
My three daughters and I took a walk this week to look at a nest I’d found on a hike the week before. It was a simple nest, woven around such a spindly branch, it seemed impossible it could support the
Laughing in Life’s Storms
They released my six-year-old early from school because the forecast predicted a storm. My daughter mentioned it as soon as she came home, but then she forgot. She went outside to play in the sandbox. Five minutes later, she tore across
The Older Woman I Want to Be
This morning, I took my two eldest daughters to swim at the YMCA because I did not want to spend the rainy day all cooped up in the house. My girls squealed and splashed as they entered the water. My six-year-old
“I Miss You!”
Our eldest daughter is, hands down, the most affectionate child I’ve ever known. If my husband and I are cuddling on the couch, she is not content until she’s dropped everything and sprawled herself across the pile. If we’re hugging
My Seashell Finder
Last week, a friend sent a picture from the newspaper showing my six-year-old daughter’s kindergarten class of 2030. Out of eleven students, three wanted to be veterinarians, three police officers, two teachers, one a firefighter, and one a scientist. Only one wanted