Powers of Death Is Almost Here…
Editing is complete, and Sabina’s next mystery is back with my publisher. Fingers crossed for November!
Powers of Death is getting closer! 📚
My editing is officially complete, and Powers of Death is now back with CrossRiver for its final once-over. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a November release—and I can’t wait to finally put Sabina’s next mystery into your hands.
This month, I’m giving you a closer look at what awaits Sabina in Book III of Secrets of Ephesus, where murder, imperial intrigue, and faith collide in the uneasy hours following Emperor Domitian’s assassination.
But there’s more than Roman intrigue this month! I’m also sharing the return of a rather impressive visitor to our yard (who brought friends this year!), a beautiful faith-filled book from Robin Melvin, and an invitation to come see me at the Novel Lattes Book Festival in Sioux Falls.
So, from ancient Ephesus to giant puffball mushrooms, there’s plenty to share this month. I’m glad you’re here!
A WRITER’S JOURNEY
Here’s the ‘Back Cover Blurb’:
Powers of Death—Book III of Secrets of Ephesus—is a swift storm of murder, imperial intrigue, and unwavering faith.
Behold the shadowed hours after Domitian’s fall, when empire reels and every oath is weighed in blood.
Roused from sleep by frantic footsteps, Sabina—quiet disciple of the Way and daughter of a powerful Roman magistrate—learns her childhood friend has been found murdered, floating in the moonlit waters of an elite bathhouse. The city murmurs of conspirators, imperial agents chase whispers of the slain emperor’s assassins. One drowned woman matters little amid such upheaval. Yet Sabina hears a summons deeper than politics. Tracing the dead woman’s final steps, she descends into the fetid darkness of Ephesus’s prison, threads the incense-thick corridors of Isis’s temple with its eunuch priests and midnight rites, and confronts a stranger whose silken words hint at palace intrigue at the highest levels.
Every clue tightens Rome’s net around the clandestine church she loves, her freedom and her family’s survival. Each witness is silenced or bought. Sabina herself becomes the quarry of forces that kill without conscience or creed. To bring truth to light, she must brave the “powers of death” proclaimed in ancient psalms—powers now stalking Ephesus in flesh and steel. Will her faith endure when the final gate closes and the waters that claimed her friend threaten to claim her as well?
Powers of Death—the third Secrets of Ephesus novel—plunges readers into a tempest of murder, imperial intrigue, and unshaken faith.
A LITTLE SLICE OF LIFE
🍄 The Puffball Is Back!
My beautiful Puffball mushroom has returned! And it brought friends—two more have popped up nearby, each about half its size. We may soon have our own mushroom village!
My friend MaryJo, mushroom extraordinaire, tells me our area is one of the premier places for mushrooms—both edible and poisonous. Judging by our yard, I believe her!
Before anyone grabs a frying pan: THIS IS NOT MUSHROOM-EATING ADVICE! I’m an enthusiastic 
observer, not an expert. Apparently, some puffballs are edible when correctly identified, as are several other varieties growing in our yard—although “edible” and “tastes good” are two different things!
I find mushrooms fascinating. Some have gills (lamellae)—the ridges you can see in the bottom photo—while others have pores, teeth, or other spore-producing structures.
But there is no simple rule that gills mean poisonous or another surface means safe to eat. Mushroom identification is complicated, so leave the eating decisions to someone who truly knows their fungi!
For now, I’m enjoying my magnificent puffball and its two new companions—and wondering who will pop up next. 🍄
AUTHOR HIGHLIGHT
Robin Melvin has written a beautiful and inspiring book about living a life grounded in faith, joy, and peace—even in the midst of life’s struggles.
In these unsettling times, it’s easy to be overwhelmed and feel a bit lost—to forget who and Whose you are. And you’re not alone. At our soul’s core, we know we’re made for more. So we ask, “God, who am I and what do You want me to do?”Somewhere on this zig-zaggy journey, our pain and our people defined us. We formed toxic mindsets and habits that hide our our divine design.But while our history reshaped us, our Creator restores us to the women He already sees—healed, whole, and free. So a better question is, “Who did God create me to be?”
And so our healing begins.
BLOG POST HIGHLIGHT
Rome’s Gardens of Eden: Beauty, Temptation, and Betrayal Part 1
Behind the fountains, exotic plants, shaded walkways, and breathtaking views, Rome’s magnificent gardens were also places of ambition, temptation, political maneuvering—and betrayal.
Their beauty could hide a much darker story.
In Part 1 of my newest historical blog, step inside some of ancient Rome’s most spectacular gardens and discover the people, power, and intrigue hidden among the greenery.
