Book Review: Never the Bride

I won Never The Bride by Cheryl McKay and Rene Gutteridge from my writing friend Melanie Dickerson.
From the title, it was obvious this book would be relevant to my life.
Jessie Stone is 34 and never married, a fate worse than death. She is engagingly realistic, a romantic short on romance. Yes, she can change her [...]

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Review: Snow Melts in Spring

I knew I’d like “Snow Melts in Spring.” How could I not, it is written by one of my first “writing buddies,” Deborah Vogts.
I met Debbie at Called To Write, the first writing conference I ever went to in Girard, Kan. At the time, she was working on marketing Seasons of the Tallgrass, a contemporary [...]

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Blessed by the Good Shepherd

In a recent Bible study, we have studied the Beatitudes. We looked at what these mean to us and I discovered how much they relate to Psalms 23. I wrote these descriptions linking the two.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when you are so bankrupt, you [...]

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Margin Call: Take this job and hang on to it

Imagine if everyone in the St. Joseph area lost their job.
If the entire work force in Andrew, Buchanan, Doniphan and DeKalb counties — and then some — were out of work.
It happened on Monday, so to speak.

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Margin Call: How did I call 2008?

Can anybody tell me what’s ahead in 2009?
Predicting the future is nearly impossible in the business world. It’s probably something only a complete idiot would attempt.
Recently, I ran across a column where I laid out a forecast for 2008. With perfect hindsight, let’s take a look back and see how they played out.
Gas prices will [...]

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Margin Call: So long, Sunday Business

If something bad happens to someone else, it’s a tragedy.
When it happens to you, it’s a crisis.
When it happens to a journalist, it’s news.
After the ice storm several days ago, I awoke to a cold, dark house and the dreadful fear of another widespread power outage. I called upon the skills developed during last year’s [...]

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The lights are back on!

About 5 a.m., I was awakened by an ominous sound: The furnace running full blast then clanking to a stop.
Then the crack of a transformer blowing in the alley.
“Not again,” I groaned and pulled the covers over my head.
This ice storm must have gotten worse than forecast. No way did I want to relive [...]

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Margin Call: Santa myth falls to economic truth

Dear Virginia, if you’re reading the business section of the Sunday newspaper, you’ll want to stop right now.
Because, first of all, what 9-year-old reads the business news? But also because what you’ll find on these pages will burst your little bubble. It will dash childhood dreams that if you just eat your vegetables, memorize your [...]

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Margin Call: Score me some recession vaccine

So far, I’ve escaped the flu.
It’s not because I’m lucky. In October, I got a flu shot.
Used to be, I didn’t bother to get the shot. I’ve always been pretty healthy. Even though the News-Press offers shots for employees at a deep discount, it didn’t seem worth the hassle.
Then one winter, a nasty virus attacked. [...]

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Margin Call: Feeling haggard

This could be a Merle Haggard kind of Christmas.
It was The Hag who sang the depressingly optimistic tune “If We Make it Through December.”
The song played on the radio the other day and although it was recorded in 1973, it didn’t take any leap at all to relate it to 2008.
Many families across our region [...]

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