Author: JOY journal

After a long career writing for local newspapers — and, on rare occasions, for publications such as The Washington Post — Nora is enjoying a second wind as an innkeeper. She still blogs and does writing projects of special interest. She lives in Appalachia with her husband and a dog named Finn, who is beside himself with joy when the family's daughters have college breaks.
family life, spiritual life

A trail of book crumbs

JOY journal

I thought I knew all the juicy family "secrets." The marriages, the not-quite marriages and, well, the one about the many-greated uncle -- a farmer who was shot to death on a dirt road I have actually walked. The story is that my relative discovered someone was stealing his chicken feed and he poisoned the… Continue reading A trail of book crumbs

books, spiritual life

New book alert :)

JOY journal

My newest book is a non-fiction history of First Presbyterian Church of Wheeling, W.Va. While this June 2023 release would be of most interest to residents of the Ohio Valley, this 200-year-old church also provides an interesting point of view in terms of American and church history. The story begins inside a log fort just… Continue reading New book alert 🙂

family life, spiritual life

A Year of Grieving Comfortably

JOY journal

The first time I put on a piece of my mother’s clothing – excepting for frequent try-ons of a pair of metallic gold dress shoes that lured me into her closet when I was young -- was the night she died. A sudden stroke last Easter weekend became an instant, irreversible coma. She lingered only… Continue reading A Year of Grieving Comfortably