Jencey's Corner

When I was diagnosed with cancer my hashtag was #ToFightStrong.  So how do you fight strong?  Last summer I was invited to take part in the Lifeway Women’s Ministry summer bible study on their website. This study was Priscilla Shirer’s Armor of God.   It focuses on the Ephesians 6:10-20 describe the armor of God. “10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we[d] are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace t

Today we will visit The Fifth Avenue Artist Society by Joy Callaway.  It is her debut novel.  I had the honor of meeting Joy back in October.  Her novel reminded me of such novels like The Paris Wife by Paula McLain and Z by Therese Anne Fowler.   So I loved the premise for this novel.  Synopsis:  Virginia Loftin is anticipating a proposal from her friend Charlie.  e.  So what happens when he doesn’t propose to her?  She shuts herself in her room and starts to write.  Her family has concern for her well being. Her brother Franklin tells her to stop mopping and come to this meeting of artists at a friend’s house.  These artists also include writers, musicians, and others.  Virginia soon finds two other writers to work with.  Will her writing flourish under their tutelage?  Will this other John Hopper persue a relationship?  One night at the society a death occurs. What happens when it   implicates her brother?  Will their family survive? My Thoughts:  I liked this debut nov

This time of year, most of us are thinking about family—whether we’re excited to be together for the holidays, dreading it…or maybe a little of both. I spend a lot of time thinking—and writing—about family. It’s such a rich emotional mix of the deepest, most primal kind of love and attachment and the sort of five-star frustration and nerve-plucking that only those who’ve known us all our lives can really excel at. Despite the title of my Breakup Doctor series, the stories are, at the heart, very much about family. Breakup Doctor Brook Ogden helps her brokenhearted clients through the end of their rocky, difficult relationships—but her own are far from perfect, as she’s struggled across four books in love, with friendships, and of course, with her mom. Brook and her mother have always had a complicated, often prickly relationship, the way we often do with those who are most like us. In Out of Practice , the fourth and final title of the series that released this fall, her