Homefires is fiction. My characters spawn from composites of folks I know and have known throughout the years of my own glass house journey. The actions and words are pure fiction. These of the church “family” remain tightly bonded to my heart in a unique, enduring way that transcends time and distance. Muses for my Homefires characters include Eleanor Payne Mitchem, Joyce Griffin, Rev. Bob and Patsy Roach, Roger, Mike, and Jimmy Miller, Karen Bradley, David and Susan Harvey and children, Kaleigh, Lindi, Ashley and Trey, Pam and David McCall, Angie Harvey and Angela Callahan, James and Dot Miller, Will and Mamie Stafford, Alice and Mary Latimer, the late Wayne Matthews, Barbara Ann Newell and daughters Desiree, Lou, and Cindy, Fay, and Cynthia Wiggins, Nathan and Kay Stafford, a passel of kin and a host of others, too many to name. These are the ones who made an indelible impact on my life in my best and worst of times. Each of you loved your parsonage family unconditionally and validated us.

I took the liberty of using fictitious names for settings such as Solomon, South Carolina, as well as other upstate towns. Same with church and school names. I loved every minute of dipping into a smorgasbord of fantasy places and people.

I also love that, in writing, I can reach out and offer hope to those who have “blown it.” I can, through my characters’ examples, let them know that there is no “hopeless” situation and that anyone who has the remorse, repentance, faith, forgiveness, and determination to hang in there through the devastation, will soon rise above those black clouds into a glorious world of sunshine. Help is always there, dear ones. One must only reach out for it.

Be blessed, reader. Sit back and enjoy the warmth of Homefires.