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Is where we introduce listeners to people who have found their way out of the dark shadows of life and back to light and those who lead others on their journey from darkness to light.

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The Over Fifty Writer (1^st and 3^rd Friday)

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Meet seasoned authors, learn about new books and find inspiration to help you along your journey. No matter how far you’ve come or where you are going, I’d be honored to travel with you. If you like what you see, please subscribe to avoid missing updates.

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Step Into the Light Blog Talk Radio Show

Latest Show

2024-04-11
Episode #255 - Featuring Jenn Mosier

For years, Jenn imagined herself as a writer, but never quite developed the confidence to call herself one. Jenn has spent the last year finding her writing voice and is amazed at what God has shown her. Join us as Jenn talks about her writing journey and how she overcame her feelings of low self-esteem, the heartbreak of a miscarriage, and the misery of migraine headaches through the healing power of Jesus.

Recent Shows

2024-03-28
Episode #254 - Featuring Gordon Saunders

2024-03-14
Episode #253 - Featuring Antony Barone Kolenc

2024-02-22
Episode #252 - Featuring Farrah Adkins

2024-02-08
Episode #251 - Featuring Brnady Mincer

Recent Posts

THE ALOHA PEOPLE by H. L. WEGLEY
4/18/2024 11:45:00 PM BY Patti Shene

FEATURED BOOK: Facing the Darkness (Against the Darkness 1)

AUTHOR: H L Wegley

PUBLISHER: Trinity Press International

GENRE: Medical Thriller

SERIES OR STAND ALONE: Book 1, Against the Darkness

TARGET AGE: College age and up

IT IS MY PLEASURE TO WELCOME AUTHOR H. L. WEGLEY TO THE OVER 50 WRITER. H. L. SHARES INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE POLYNESIAN PEOPLE AND THE CHRISTIAN FAITH.

THE ALOHA PEOPLE

H. L. Wegley

When my wife and I retired and spent six weeks in Maui to wind down from stressful jobs, I became interested in the Polynesian people, their history, and culture. After reading several books and observing the people firsthand, I’m providing my nutshell description of the breathtaking history of this special group of people.

First, a principal: regardless of what modern anthropologists say—anthropologists whose findings are often tainted by inadequate theories of human sociology, psychology, and evolution—cultures grow darker the more the knowledge of God is removed from them. “Pristine” cultures are not always beautiful. Some are horrifying. If you don't believe me, read Spirit of the Rainforest: A Yanomamo Shaman's Story by Mark Andrew Ritchie, a real eye-opener.

According to Daniel Kikawa, in his well-researched book, Perpetuated in Righteousness, the Polynesian people migrated eastward from the Middle East, the cradle of civilization, eventually reaching the Pacific. They became great navigators and, a little before 400 A.D., using the stars, they made a miraculous journey in small boats, hitting a minute target in the middle of the Pacific, the Hawaiian Islands. They brought with them much of the Old Testament in story form, including stories of the flood, Joseph, Moses, and much more. In fact, their word, aloha, derives directly from this retained knowledge of God. “Alo” means Divine Son of God in their high priestly language. “Ha” means spirit of life. So, to say aloha is literally to say, “May the spirit of the one true God go with you.” Aloha is much like “shalom” used by the Jewish people.

For nearly 1,000 years, the “spirit of aloha” and the stories of God they preserved characterized the culture of this Pacific paradise. But around 1,300 A.D., Pa’ao, a pagan priest, arrived from Tahiti and began to rule with force and fear, introducing evils such as gruesome methods of human sacrifice and perverting God by characterizing Him as a violent god of war. The priests of this religion controlled the people, demanding from them what the religious leaders needed to live in wealth and luxury, enslaving the people and forcing them to fight in their armies to conquer more territory. But the stories of God were hidden in the hearts of a few people who refused to forget them.

Eight hundred years later, in the early 1800s, several things happened that prepared the islands for a return to God. King Kamehameha unified the islands, freeing them from the former system of rule, kapu. The people openly defied the laws of the kapu system.

A new priest began quoting an old prophecy announcing the imminent coming of the Prince of Peace, who was supposed to arrive on a ship with white sails and give them back the knowledge of the God of peace. He would come by way of a small black box. At that very time, the first missionaries were onboard a ship on their way to the Hawaiian Islands. When the ship landed, the first thing the missionaries brought to the people was a black Bible box.

The Hawaiian people’s hearts had been prepared for this event and the gospel spread in a huge revival beginning in 1837 and lasting more than 20 years. By 1860, the island population was 90% Christian, and it had the highest literacy rate in the world because people wanted to read and study the scriptures.

I chose to end the story on this high note because the last 40 years of the 19th century were a sad time in Hawaiian history. I pray that the people of the Islands will return to their historical beliefs in the one true God, that they will be made whole again, and that their many wounds will be healed.

Back Cover Blurb for Facing the Darkness

She scuttled the CCP’s biowarfare plans. When they catch her, she will pay.

Dr. Meiling Chen, a brilliant young virologist from the Hong Kong Medical School, is on the verge of a major breakthrough for manipulating the entire class of RNA viruses that would make gain of function hardly more than child’s play. She is offered an attractive postdoctoral fellowship at the Wuhan Institute of Virology to complete her work, and she accepts.

Knowing the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) plans to use her work to create deadly bioweapons, she memorizes her important findings, deletes all her files, and tries to escape to America with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) agents in pursuit.

Escaping China with its surveillance and social credit system is not easy. And even if Meiling is successful, can she find someone she can trust in the U.S. who will allow her to continue her work, using it only for good? But treachery is a capital offense to the CCP and PLA, and it never goes unpunished.

Ryan Adams, a meteorologist at a Bend, Oregon TV station and a self-taught Christian apologist, said he’d give his right arm for a reliable source of info on China’s bioweapons program. He might get his wish, but it could cost him more than just his right arm.

Set in Wuhan China, Hong Kong, Oregon, and Colorado, Facing the Darkness is a clean medical thriller that paints a picture of the cost of Facing the Darkness.

Purchase Link for Facing the Darkness

Available on KU

H. L. Wegley served in the USAF as an Intelligence Analyst and a Weather Officer. In civilian life, he was a weather forecaster and a research scientist in atmospheric physics. After earning an MS in Computer Science, he developed computing systems for Boeing before retiring in the Seattle area, where he and his wife of 57 years enjoy small-group ministry, grandchildren, hiking Olympic Peninsula beaches, visiting Maui whenever they can, and where he writes inspirational thrillers and romantic-suspense novels.

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THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY OF THE NOVICE RANCH HAND by JUNE FOSTER
4/9/2024 1:10:00 AM BY Patti Shene

FEATURED BOOK: The Story Behind the Story of The Novice Ranch Hand

AUTHOR: June Foster

PUBLISHER: Winged Publications

GENRE: Contemporary Romance

SERIES OR STAND ALONE: Series, book #1

TARGET AGE: 20-90

IT IS MY PLEASURE TO WELCOME AUTHOR JUNE FOSTER BACK TO PATTI’S PORCH. JUNE SHARES THE INSPIRATION BEHIND HER LATEST NOVEL.

THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY OF THE NOVICE RANCH HAND

June Foster

As I wrote The Novice Ranch Hand, I enjoyed a sentimental journey into the past. The idea for this story, which takes place on a sheep ranch, was inspired by my life as a young child.

My father was heir to a large sheep ranch in west Texas. So, after my parents married, they made the ranch their home. My father raised sheep and sold the wool to the local coop in his town. For years, the business was profitable. Later, however, the foreign wool markets made sheep ranching less lucrative.

In my early years, I have memories of playing with my cousins, riding horses, and exploring the bunk house which was empty at that time.

One recollection I'll never forget is going swimming in the water storage tank behind the house. My father loved to don his swimsuit and take me with him to splash around in the rock structure. The tank was filled with rainwater and not used for much of anything else at the time.

My grandmother lived in a larger house on the ranch property. I always loved going to the big house for a visit. Often, she would fix a delicious Sunday lunch after church.

Unfortunately, my parents divorced when I was six so my experience of living on a ranch didn't last long. Nevertheless, my childhood recollections were a valuable inspiration and starting point for writing The Novice Ranch Hand.

Blurb for The Novice Ranch Hand:

Peyton Langley must escape the haunting memories of the past. He can no longer dwell on what he left behind in the jungles of Peru. Seeking a new life, Peyton answers an ad in the Texas Rancher's Journal for a job at the prominent Ford Sheep Ranch in Central Texas. Only problem, he knows nothing about ranching.

Erika Ford runs the Ford family sheep ranch in the hill country of Central Texas along with her father and two brothers. She wants to keep the legacy of the ranch alive when her father retires and her brothers move on. When a new ranch hand shows up, she pulls a gun on him believing him to be an intruder.

Can Erika prove to her father that she's capable of managing the sprawling sheep ranch which has been in the Ford family for four generations? Will Peyton find a new beginning in the springs, stony hills, and steep canyons of Central Texas.

An award-winning author, June Foster is a retired teacher with a BA in Education and a MA in counseling. June began writing Christian romance in 2010 as she and her husband traveled the US in their RV. Her adventures provide a rich source of information for her novels. She brags about visiting a location before it becomes the setting in her next book.

To date, June has written over thirty contemporary romance and romantic suspense novels and novellas. June uses her training in counseling and her Christian beliefs in creating characters who encounter real-life difficulties yet live victorious lives. She's published with Winged Publications.

June is active in her church and her ladies' fellowship group. She enjoys writing devotionals as well as fiction. She frequently attends writers' conferences such as Blue Lake Writers' Conference and Florida Christian Writers Conference.

Her novel, The Inn at Cranberry Cove, won the 2021 Selah award for Romantic Suspense. It is available on Amazon in paperback, hardback, and eBook format. In 2023, June won the Ames Award for her book Christmas at Cranberry Cove, book three in the same series.

Visit June at her website to see a complete list of her books.

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IS THIS YOUR SEASON TO WRITE? by SALLY JO PITTS
4/5/2024 12:30:00 AM BY Patti Shene

FEATURED BOOK: Sweet Deceit

AUTHOR: Sally Jo Pitts

PUBLISHER: Elk Lake Publishing, Inc

GENRE: Romantic Suspense

SERIES OR STAND ALONE: Book one of a series, but can stand alone

TARGET AGE: 25-65

IT IS MY PLEASURE TO WELCOME AUTHOR SALLY JO PITTS TO THE OVER 50 WRITER. SALLY JO CHALLENGES WOULD BE WRITERS TO SIEZE THEIR WRITING SEASON.

IS THIS YOUR SEASON TO WRITE?

Sally Jo Pitts

When I was four years old, my favorite book was At Daddy’s Office, by Robert Jay Misch and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin. I still have the book. The story is about a dad who takes his little girl, Mary, to visit his office in the big city. As my mom read out loud, I experienced Mary’s excitement getting to ride the bus like her daddy did every day.

Mary cranes her neck to see buildings several stories high, observes the lampposts, cars, and a little dog running along the street while Daddy reads his paper. They go inside a big building and enter an elevator that “whoo-ooshed” them to the 22^nd floor. She describes everything on her daddy’s desk, observes the secretary type her name, gets water from a giant water bottle that burbles into a cup from a spout, watches the switchboard operator push wire into little holes on a board with flashing lights, then goes to lunch where lots of people sit at little tables and she has chocolate ice cream for dessert. At the end of the story, she declares that she wants to work in an office like Daddy when she grows up.

Why did I love that story so much? It wasn’t so much the content but the excitement of putting myself in that little girl’s shoes and experiencing what she did through the magic of words and pictures in a book. I didn’t actually ride the bus and take the elevator, drink from the water cooler, or see the flashing switch board lights, but the author’s words took me there. This ability to offer transport and escape to another place by using words sparked my desire to write.

I graduated to reading Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and Alfred Hitchcock mysteries and enjoyed writing simple little stories and plays. After taking creative writing in high school, I toyed with becoming an English major, but life choices took me in a different direction—home economics teacher, guidance counselor and private detective. My writing in this season of life was relegated to lesson plans and factual reports.

But when I retired to keep up my teacher certification, I took a creative writing class which rekindled my love for writing. In 2011, I discovered a Christian writers conference and subsequently writing workshops, retreats and a local writer’s group. Rubbing shoulders with real authors, publishers, editors, and agents opened up a whole new world to explore.

Could I actually write a book? Authors much younger than me were conducting workshops and had scads of books under their belts. But hey, Grandma Moses who began her art career at the age of 78 said, “You are never too old or too young to start something new.”

For me, this verse in Job 32:18 (NIV) fits. “For I am full of words and the spirit within compels me.” In 2018 at age 72, my first novel was published, and I continue to write and work to learn the craft of writing. And here is another quote from Grandma Moses that resonates with me. “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”

With words, we as writers of varying ages and seasons of life paint pictures scene by scene and share our unique perspectives, inviting others to embark on journeys of discovery.

At this writing, I have published two novellas and just released my eighth novel. The latest release is Sweet Deceit, first in a three book series. So with two more books to write, I am gearing up to learn more about this writing craft that has fascinated me since the book that vicariously took me to Daddy’s office.

Are you a would be writer? Don’t feel you must know “everything” before you start. There is always something new to learn. The most important thing is to start.

Blurb for Sweet Deceit:

Someone will stop at nothing to keep the secrets of Sweet County hidden.

Public Relations consultant ANNIE MCAFEE hopes to spend a quiet summer in Sugarville waitressing, housesitting, and job hunting. But her plans are upended after she’s run off the road and narrowly escapes with her life.

Rookie state investigator WILL BRICE is looking forward to a bright future with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement until the governor removes the Sweet County Sheriff and appoints Will to take his place.

Propelled into the middle of Sweet County’s dark secrets, Will and Annie find that deceit hides beneath its sugar-coated façade, and the townspeople prefer to turn a blind eye to wrongdoing.

Confronted with a web of mysterious threats, life threatening crises, and the death of a teenager, the two must work together with the help of an unusual sidekick to expose the corruption.

Can this unlikely crime fighting trio crack the town’s sweet cover?

Sally Jo Pitts is an award-winning author who brings experience as a private investigator, licensed lie detection examiner, high school guidance counselor and home economics teacher to the fiction page. Having worked thirty years alongside her late law enforcement husband in his private investigations agency, she learned to teach by day and snoop by night. Currently, she draws on real-life experiences to pen faith-based stories of romance and mystery. Her works include the Hamilton Harbor Legacy romance series and the Seasons of Mystery detective series. Sweet Deceit is book one in the new Secrets of Sweet County series.

Connect with Sally Jo at her website or linktree

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