From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek 🔥 Faith-forged Fiction 🔥 Dear Reader I'm still catching my breath from our whirlwind trip in England. Our family had business in England and we have been away from home for 3 weeks. Besides the conference and meetings we were at, we were able to visit sites of the following books or authors: Wuthering Heights & Jane Eyre (Moors, Bronte Parsonage Museum)<--very sad place Pride and Prejudice (2005 film location: Chatsworth House in Derbyshire-Pemberley!, Peak...
7 days ago • 5 min read
From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek 🔥 Faith-forged Fiction 🔥 Hey, Reader! I've been in the UK over the past couple weeks. Today, for example, in Cambridge, I took a break at the Pickerel Inn, which is one of the later places where friends J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis had their famous Inklings gatherings. I'm anxious to share with you some of the places I've seen, which may also soon show up in some of my stories. For example, where we were on Thursday and Friday was like time-travel into a...
22 days ago • 1 min read
From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek 🔥 Faith-forged Fiction 🔥 Sound of the Sirens Yesterday our family went on an Odyssey cruise. As you most likely know, I live in Izmir Turkey, and we live about 30 minutes away from the islands that gave both Odysseus and St. Paul all sorts of trouble. We cruised on a large tour boat, sailing around from sea cove to sea cove, where we dove in and swam in the Aegean sea. Sigh. So refreshing here mid-summer! One of our stops were the Siren Rocks. I've known the...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek 🔥 Faith-forged Fiction 🔥 When to Quit. Vera Morales (from the Return to Me book 2) reminds me that it's easy to give up. Even when we have a great vision for what we want for our lives, sometimes we reach the tipping point where throwing in the towel seems so much more preferable. But in Vera's Story, though she's an optimist, life situations just gets to be too much for her. Some countries encourage suicide in hopeless situations. There's a case right now,...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek 🔥 Faith-forged Fiction 🔥 Hey there Reader-- I use and heartily recommend the M'Cheyne Bible reading plan. This morning I read a life-changing passage in Mark 7:23-30. Phoenicians, Dogs, & the Character of God The story takes place in Tyre. Jesus is brought into a house secretly to give him a bit of a pause amidst all the crowds. But the word is spread, and a young mother discovers that he has come. She rushes in and falls at his feet. The woman was a...
about 2 months ago • 6 min read
From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek 🔥 Faith-forged Fiction 🔥 Hey there Reader-- THANKS 😊 if you answered the 3 minute survey in our previous email. The results were so helpful and I aim to bring delight to your reading pleasure through the upcoming emails. You're here for the stories. You're here for the encouragement. You want it to feel like an actual update from an actual person. 👍 I'm on it! In pursuing your reading preferences identified in the survey, I have been in a holding pattern,...
2 months ago • 4 min read
BOOK 🚌 MOBILE! 🚌 Sharing clean & Christian stories to entertain, educate, and excite. Hey Reader, I forgot to share this exciting book on Tuesday. You don't want to miss it-- Plus, if we get ONE more backer, all backers get an audiobook! This deal ends today!! 👈 Maximus: The Way of Truth Ben-Hur meets Gladiator in this revenge vs mercy action tale with heroic sacrifice, faith in fire, and found family. Hardcover edition! Christian | Historical Fiction | YA | Action-Adventure | Kickstarter...
3 months ago • 1 min read
From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek 🔥 Faith-forged Fiction 🔥 Reader**-- Research can sometimes put you in a worse place. Let's talk about the Earwig. The other day friends and I were discussing how REPULSED we are by earwigs. And we asked the common question--Do earwigs actually crawl into ears? Then we made the interesting observation. The earwig is called kulağakaçan in Turkish. That means the-one-that-runs-into-the-ear. We wondered why both Turkish and English uses practically the same word...
3 months ago • 4 min read
From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek 🔥 Faith-forged Fiction 🔥 I have an IMPORTANT question for you Reader-- Do you want these emails? I send these emails out every week with a double goal. To 1) UPDATE you and to 2) PROVIDE access to curated books 👉 I also shape each email as "faith-building" and encouraging. This resonates with people on this list, based on replies I get. Recently, I added interactive features like polls and the Theme Song tournament. All this is based on what I think is of...
4 months ago • 2 min read