My Blog
Fear and its Hefty Price Tag
Fear dogs my creative endeavors. Over 30 years ago, I took a design class at a community college in Chicago’s western suburbs. One assignment called for drawing a familiar object. After much sketching and erasing, I transferred to paper the outline of a crumpled...
On Becoming a Finalist in ACFW’s First Impressions Contest
On November 15, I took a quick look at my email before going downstairs for lunch. To my surprise, a new email in bold letters sat in my In Box from American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). I took a deep breath before clicking. I had almost forgotten my entry in the...
A Ball Game, A Snake Head, and Easter
The enemy struck out in a cosmic ball game with eternal significance. “For it's one, Two, Three strikes you're out At the old ball game” — Take Me Out to the Ball Game Once on a family vacation, I found a flattened snake's head baking on the pavement under the Ozark...
Everlasting Father. Jesus? Was Isaiah Mistaken?
One can become fatherless by illness, crime, divorce, or plain old simple abandonment. Unfortunately, it happens every day, at any age. Each is painful. Fathers are not everlasting. I lost my father during college to cancer. As I faced the future without him, I...
Golden: A Review (A Short Story)
James Scott Bell writes suspense thrillers, but his short story, Golden, is a pleasant surprise for readers valuing character-driven fiction.
Action that Makes You Huff and Puff — Review of Framed
Action Packed James Scott Bell writes in fast-clipped, judiciously chosen words, that deliver a punch in his action-packed novella, Framed. If his opening sentence doesn’t grab your attention… “It’s not everyday you bleed to death.” … well, you must be dead. The story...
