Ollie’s Bargain Outlet is a fever dream incarnate. From one aisle to the next, there’s no rhyme or reason to what’s for sale. It’s not unusual to find protein Poptarts stocked next to the curling irons. I had just placed three bottles of sugar-free coffee syrup in my shopping cart when I ran into a little old man who could have been Ollie himself. Liver spots dotted his balding head, and wisps of snow-white hair sprang from his scalp. He smelled of mothballs. “Young lady, I h

The seventh draft is done, and it’s time to stop making excuses. I’ve been writing a book, Called from Darkness, since I was about sixteen years old. It started with a nightmare I had while visiting my grandmother on her farm in rural North Dakota's Great Plains. I shelved it for a decade and came back to it about two years ago. I kept the characters and the major plot elements, but I fleshed it out into something deeper and darker than my sixteen-year-old brain could have

The living room windows framed a group of college students gathered on threadbare couches, in armchairs, and on the floor. They sat shoulder to shoulder, filling every square foot of the room, and worshipped with their voices. The strum of an acoustic guitar accompanied their off-key, heartfelt song. Several lay prostrate, their faces pressed into the Persian-style rug. Most had their arms raised above their heads or their hands open in their laps, ready to receive. Prayers