autobiography From Silence to Sacramental Moments

  

From Silence to Sacramental Moments

Kay Anderson

St. Croix River Press

September, 2026

Autobiography\

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About the Book

Spanning sixty years, Kay Anderson shares her story of a childhood framed by the stifling silence of family dysfunction and alcoholism to her nursing career, grief in faith matters, and eventual sacramental missionary work in Haiti.

Born in the 1960s to dairy farmers, Kay learned of hard work and the cycle of life and death. As a storied high school basketball player, she discovered where talent and ambition could take her. As a nursing professional, Kay chose the most difficult and heart-wrenching aspects of medical care. As the spouse of a cancer survivor, she prayed for miracles. With a keen desire to embrace grief and loss at its core, these stories from home, hospitals, and mission trips to Haiti come alive across the pages.

Kay's desire to "be" amid silence and in every Sacramental Moment led her to found a justice-based nonprofit, where even today, Haitian medical staff manage their own health clinics in rural mountain villages.

From Silence to Sacramental Moments will show every reader what a life of commitment to family and home, career, and faith can overcome and "be."

My Review: 

Beautiful story of a life of sacrifice and service. Laying claim to her true self, author Kay Anderson shows readers how resiliency and a life of giving gives back. From her difficult childhood as "afterthought" kids in a huge farming family with an unfortunate dysfunction, to choosing nursing school despite less than stellar grades, to working with the youngest and most frail medical patients, to filling a need in a third-world country, Kay is a stellar role model. For readers who love stories of true-life nursing with some salt in their faith.

Radical sequel to Tiny Tin House L Maristatter

 

Radical

L Maristatter
Book 2
NiftyCat Press, 701 pp
September 15, 2026
Dystopian
Ebook $7.99
Paper $27.99
Harcover: $41.88

 
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About the Book

MERYN FLINT BEAT THE ODDS.

She lives quietly now in her tiny tin house at Shady Dell under the protection of close friends. She’s holding down a good job, dating a wonderful man—and happier than she’d ever imagined a low-caste woman in the Christian States of America could be.

But the Reformation Directorate’s ever-changing roster of laws continues to tighten like a giant noose around the theocracy’s women. And every day, increasing numbers of women are punished and brutalized by the Sanctioned Church . . . in the name of God.

Reeling at the impact on her friends and desperate to bring about real change, Meryn speaks out. Her ideas catch fire among the nation’s women, making her very popular. Very visible.

AND VERY DANGEROUS TO THE REFORMATION DIRECTORATE.

 

My Review

Reminding me of the firemen in Fahrenheit 457 who burn books, Guardian angels in the Christian States of America protect the pure faith of those living in dystopian future by killing those who don’t follow the law. God isn’t questioned; the manner of acting in His mercy, is. Meryn, now safe and in her own home, is haunted by nightmares of her past capture and torture, and in frightful awe of her amazingly vicious will to survive, while still dealing with a powerful man who wants to control her. When her friends begin to die, Meryn must answer her underground church’s pastor’s question of whether her understanding of being a “good girl” might differ from God’s. Along Meryn’s journey of discovery, hard truths begin to redefine her beliefs and understanding of the reformation directorate. Growing up is hard to do in the CSA, and when all feels lost, Meryn comes to appreciate more than ever the truth of her true family. Recommended for those who aren’t bothered by questions of faith matters, exploring religion, and the harsh grittiness of what the future could look like should women give up our hard-won civil rights. I am reading and reviewing a copy I received from the author.

 

About the Author

L Maristatter has published fiction in The Saturday Evening Post and Persimmon Tree journal. Her poetry has appeared in the journal Defuncted. Maristatter is a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, The Author’s Guild, and Realm Makers. She loves cats, books, and chocolate, in that order. Usually.

New addition to the Uncharted Series

 

Uncharted Blessing
Keely Brooke Keith
 
#16 in the Uncharted Series
 
Edenbrooke Press, June 1, 2026
Ebook $7.99
Print, 239 pp
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About the Book

Charlotte Cotter finds purpose in caring for others while burying her broken dream of a family of her own. When she leaves home to tend to a village matriarch, Charlotte never imagines the household she enters will change her life forever. But when a dying friend needs her help, Charlotte faces a daunting promise and a fragile hope she scarcely dares to claim.

Josiah Roberts never expected trouble at the family mill, nor to share a home with the village baker’s quiet, selfless daughter. Still haunted by past rejection, Josiah is determined to keep control of his life—in business and in love. But as Charlotte nurtures his mother, his home, and now an orphaned baby, Josiah sees true strength lies not in control but in compassion.

Meanwhile, as Caleb’s missionary journey continues, he discovers the dangers of life outside the Land.

My review

Keith’s latest addition to the Uncharted series takes us outside of the Land once again, this time for a more in-depth look at dystopian life after a decimating war. Sheltered over generations, the Land has been isolated from news of the outside world, two hundred years after their accidental arrival in the mid-nineteenth century. Uncharted Blessings opens with a charming visit between friends, a contentious episode at a local business, and a shift to an island in the South being restored to habitability after the war.

Uncharted Blessing pairs another unlikely couple in a potential romance. Josiah Roberts, thwarted in his desire for his father to see him as a responsible adult ready to assume control of the family business, has shielded his heart after a broken engagement. His frustration with his parents occasionally gets the better of him, and the absence of his younger brother Silas on a dangerous mission to the outside world has his parents neither willing nor ready to hand over the reins and retire. Charlotte Cotter has a secret known outside the family only to the community’s physician: she won’t be able to bear children and thus sees herself as unfit to marry. She’s always pretended invisibility, but this time she can’t hide when her friend, Josiah’s mother, has a stroke and Charlotte is asked to stay and help care for her.

The in-between adventures of Silas and Caleb’s missionary journey to an island in the South Atlantic add a little tonic to this tale and I’m curious what they’ll report if and when they return to the Land.

Although I understand the reasons for this society to act as it does—so conservative that it hurts my heart—I am so sad for Charlotte that she sees her worth of a man’s love only as a breeding animal. She feels she is worthy only to be a servant to others, which of course is honorable, but she is so reserved that she purposefully watches the ground as she walks so she doesn’t accidentally meets anyone’s eye. Charlotte does find herself a bit by standing up for others who have been damaged, and her family and friends love and support her, so there is growth. As a Christian I do understand the society stuck in 1860-American conservatism Protestantism, but with the current abuse and mockery of our precious faith in the regime of today, even this fiction is a bit painful. As always, Keith’s writing is beautiful and characterization lush. Readers of faith-based fantasy fiction will enjoy this next addition to the series.

Author

Keely Brooke Keith is the author of the beloved Uncharted series—inspirational frontier-style fiction with a slight sci-fi twist. Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, Keely was a tree-climbing, baseball-loving 80s kid. After a 15-year career as a homeschool teacher, she now enjoys exploring the hidden gems of small-town America on road trips with her husband. Wherever the journeys take her, Keely always returns to her hilltop home south of Nashville, Tennessee, where she dreams up stories about a hidden land.

Great Line up of series starter books and giveaway!

 

I’m so excited to be a part of N. N. Light’s Book Heaven Book Series Starter Bookish Event. Check out all the featured books and enter the giveaway to win a $50 Amazon gift card

 #mustread #bookseries #giveaway

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Open Internationally. 
Runs January 12 – January 20, 2026.
Winner will be drawn on January 21, 2026.

 I will be featured on Friday, January 16, 7 a.m.

Join all of the authors all week long at the Bookish Series Starter event!

 

 

 

new concept Bible Study guide from Barbara Britton

 Across the Lake: Traveling with Jesus
Fiction-based Bible Study
January 6, 2026 by ScrivInspire,167 pp
ISBN 9781649175588 (ISBN10: 1649175582)

$15.99 paperback, $24.99 hardcover

Across the Lake: Traveling with Jesus Around the Sea of Galilee by Barbara M. Britton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm a fan of Barbara Britton's fiction. I was curious about this new-to-me form of Bible study, so agreed to check it out. Britton's cross-genre Bible study guide based on fictionalized stories of scriptural events is interesting. She chose six familiar stories from the book of Mark, with support of other scriptures, to briefly expand in compelling and realistic fiction on those stories. They are the story of the demon-possessed man among the tombs; the woman with bleeding who touched Jesus's cloak; Jairus and his daughter; Peter's experience when sent out to evangelize; the feeding of the thousands; and Peter's experience when Jesus interacts with the Gentile woman believer who wanted healing for her daughter. Britton chooses names and adds contextual details to "flesh out" the stories of the passages in several brief chapters in each section, some from different points of view of the observing or involved characters.

Each segment includes an author reflection mostly based on a trip to the area. Following is a several-question study guide that includes questions and comments from other similar and related scriptural references in other books. I personally am glad to see supporting scriptures especially for this study.

I am honestly not sure that creating a Bible study with fictionalized accounts of Biblical stories is for everyone. Britton's creation leaves little room for too much conjecture and is thoughtful. It's an interesting concept and will make for good discussion among people who are already familiar with the Bible.

The book is due out for sale January 6. I received an advanced copy for review.

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