Most of us recognize the opening lines from A Tale of Two Cites by Charles Dickens
Supposedly the beginning paragraph intends to emphasize the conflicts between good and evil. Light and darkness, wisdom and foolishness . . . you get the picture. Conflict that is nothing new to us.
I’ll add that right now it feels like we’re living in the strangest of times.
COVID-19 has turned our world upside in too many ways to mention. For those of us on the West Coast, horrific fires and hazardous air quality on top of the pandemic might make some of us feel like we’re in book 2 of an apocalyptic series. Okay, maybe I went too far with that—but truly, it’s surreal.
For months we sat in our home rarely venturing out because we were under mandatory stay-at-home orders, and now we’re warned not to go out because the air is off the charts and hazardous to breathe.
But in the midst of chaos there is hope, and in all of this, we have the Lord. We have each other.
As writers, we already often feel isolated. Writing is solitary work, and add to that, the non-writers around us don’t understand the voices in our heads or the far-off looks in our eyes as an idea starts to form. Nor can we “talk shop” without seeing a non-writer’s eyes glaze over. Am I right?
Today I had two Zoom meetings—one with a group of writing friends I met while living in Minneapolis, and the other with a dear writing friend with whom I connected early on in my career. In both Zoom meetings, we brainstormed, but so much more than that was going on. It was a huge comfort to get together and see each other’s’ faces and smiles. To laugh together as we talked about ideas. Writing is a lonely business and during these strange times of pandemics, quarantines and evacuations, we need each other even more.
"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:24-25 NIV So in these “strangest of times” find a way to connect, encourage others, and secure that reassurance and inspiration you need to recharge your creativity, even if it comes in the form of a Zoom meeting!
But in the midst of chaos there is hope, and in all of this, we have the Lord. We have each other.
So in these “strangest of times” find a way to connect, encourage others, and secure that reassurance and inspiration you need to recharge your creativity...
Covert Cover-Up
Rescuing a neighbor
lands her in a killer’s sights…
Private investigator Katelyn Bradley rushes to help when she suspects a burglary at her neighbor Beck Goodwin’s house—and arrives just in time to save him. The widowed dad is convinced the attack is linked to his wife’s mysterious death, and now Katelyn is a target, too. Trapped in someone’s crosshairs, can Beck and Katelyn uncover his late wife’s lethal secrets…and keep each other alive?
lands her in a killer’s sights…
Private investigator Katelyn Bradley rushes to help when she suspects a burglary at her neighbor Beck Goodwin’s house—and arrives just in time to save him. The widowed dad is convinced the attack is linked to his wife’s mysterious death, and now Katelyn is a target, too. Trapped in someone’s crosshairs, can Beck and Katelyn uncover his late wife’s lethal secrets…and keep each other alive?
Elizabeth Goddard has sold over one million books and is the award-winning author of more than 40 romance novels and counting, including the romantic mystery The Camera Never Lies--a 2011 Carol Award winner. She is a Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery and Suspense finalist for her Mountain Cove series--Buried, Backfire, and Deception--and a Carol Award finalist for Submerged. When she's not writing, she loves spending time with her family, traveling to find inspiration for her next book, and serving with her husband in ministry. For more information about her books, visit her website at www.ElizabethGoddard.com.
