The Cubicle Next Door by Siri Mitchell From the Back Cover: What if God has more planned for your life than you do? Jackie Harrison is a civilian who loves her job at the U.S. Air Force Academy. That is, until she is forced to divide her office into cubicles and share the space with a new history instructor, Lt. Col. Joseph Gallagher. A charmer in a flight suit, Joe wants to explore both Colorado and a growing relationship with his new cubicle mate. The office was bad enough, but Jackie’s beside herself when Joe shows up in her home and church, even turning her grandmother’s weekly bridge game into poker night! Jackie goes online to vent, but she eventually finds herself admitting her conflicted feelings about this office neighbor who drives her crazy and makes her heart flutter. But when her blog—The Cubicle Next Door—is featured on TV, everyone begins to read it, including Joe. Will he figure out the anonymous confessions and frustrations are written about him? And how will Jackie e...

Captain's Log, Supplemental Call for submissions: I got an e-mail from Rachelle Gardner (my faboo editor) about a book she's working on: Girlfriends! I have a request. I’m working on a book and I need your stories. Tell me of a time you made a mistake in your Christian walk -- you found yourself judging someone, gossiping, spending money foolishly? Maybe you damaged a friendship by saying the wrong thing, or maybe you became addicted to overeating. We all fall short of the Glory of God (Rom. 3:23) -- but as Christians, we have a hard time talking about the ways we fall -- and so when it happens to us, we feel so alone and singularly "bad." I'd love to hear how you recovered from your mistake… or if you are still trying to recover from it. This is sensitive, so feel free to email me your story (email address is in the sidebar). If I can use it in the book, it will be completely anonymous and we’ll change any identifying details. Following is a brief summary of th...

Captain's Log, Supplemental Call for submissions: I got this note from Hannah Faith Notess: I'm currently soliciting creative nonfiction for an anthology; its working title is Growing Up Churched: Young Women Writers on Life, Faith, and Being Raised Evangelical. I'm looking for personal essays in the 3000-5000 word range, narratives centered around this theme. Please pass this call for submissions on to any writers you may know who might be interested in contributing to this project. I'm looking for essays about growing up evangelical that break the mold. Most of the memoirs out there about growing up evangelical either end up fitting the formulas "wasn't life awful and, boy, I'm glad I escaped the church" or "wasn't life awful and, boy, I'm glad Jesus saved me." I want essays that don't fit these formulas, that tell surprising, fresh, unique stories. My hope is these essays will be both narrative and reflective in some way, whe...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.06.2006 Today I’m joined by ACFW President and chick-lit author Rachel Hauck ! Rachel's latest chick-lit novel is  Lost in NashVegas . Last week, I stocked groceries in Freedom, Alabama. This week, I live in Nashville, Tennessee, about to take the stage at the famous Bluebird Cafe. Sounds fantastic, doesn't it? Only one problem, I 've got stage fright. But after years of being ruled by fear and hiding from my dream, I confronted my limited reality and left home. Forget the hometown hunk who wants to make me queen of his doublewide. Forget Momma's doubt-inspiring tirade. I can make it in Music City...can't I? So I took a leap of faith, gathered my old guitar, my notebook full of songs, and packed up my '69 Chevy pickup. Look out NashVegas! With the help of some new friends, especially handsome Lee Rivers, my dream is about to find the light of day. But as I face my first night at the Bluebird Cafe, I realize...I might just...

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Blog Bible Study in Isaiah: I am lovin’ this study book already. This first week dealt with an overview of Isaiah, putting things in historical context and going over a few selected passages. This is the first time I’ve studied Isaiah and had the context explained to me, and it’s very helpful. From the passages we studied, God’s word was so clear—repent or the land will be destroyed, don’t ally with Egypt because they’ll humiliate you, Syria won’t invade and Israel will be destroyed in 65 years. It amazes me that the rulers didn’t listen to Isaiah’s prophecies. I suppose it all depends on if the person hearing the prophecies truly, whole-heartedly believes in the Source of the prophecies, and if they believe that God is speaking through the prophet. Even for someone godly like Hezekiah, maybe he starts to doubt in Isaiah’s ability to accurately hear God in the face of other human arguments against it. It makes me glad God can speak directly to us. But it’s ...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.05.2006 Leave any prayer requests in the comments and I’ll be praying this week. You don’t have to be Christian to leave a prayer request. If you’d rather not advertise to everyone on the blogosphere, just leave an unspoken prayer request or e-mail me. If I forgot your prayer request, e-mail me. Not to be mean or anything, but if you don't e-mail me or comment to update your prayer request, I'm only going to pray 3 Sundays. Lord, thank you for today. Father, I pray for favor for Case with his sentencing judge. Please let everything turn out well for him and his family. Continue to uphold them in your righteous right hand. I pray Robin gets elected President. And Pammer gets elected VP. And Eileen gets elected Volunteer Officer. (You said we could pray for anything, right?) Please comfort Jaen and her family and provide for them. Speak clearly to Heather as she steps out in new spaces. Open doors so she knows without a doubt it is your will. Please pro...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.04.2006 Asian doggy: Got this cute pic from my friend Mary DeMuth . Mark Goodyear gave me some link love. Please give some back to him and tell him he’s not stupid. He’s one of the friendliest people I’ve “met” on the internet.