Author Archives: karenjonesgowen

About karenjonesgowen

I love to read and I believe in the power of books to change lives. After raising my very large family, it's a joy and privilege to have time to write books. My published works are Farm Girl, Uncut Diamonds, and House of Diamonds. Lighting Candles in the Snow is scheduled for 2012 release by WiDo Publishing.

And Speaking of Adventures….

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Yesterday Bruce crossed over the Mexican border with our son in law JC, driving a loaded truck and trailer filled with equipment– tools, mountain bikes, paddle surf boards– for JC’s tourist hotel on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala.

I knew traveling in Mexico would be tricky.  As recently as July, 2013, the U.S. issued a traveler safety alert for Mexico; not even U.S. officials and their families drive in certain areas. So there’s Bruce and JC, having to cross at a different border station than originally planned due to complications at the Brownsville, Texas crossing. And then to get to the safest Mexican toll road they had to travel 90 miles on an off road. Continue reading →

Give Me Adventures Any Day!

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One of my daughters-in-law said something cute to me the other day. She said, “I like how you call your trials ‘adventures.'”

When I was young I wanted to have adventures. I read lots of books and envied all the Karen 15excitement experienced by the main characters, especially considering how humdrum and boring my small town routine was.

Then as an adult, I learned there wouldn’t be adventures after all. Instead I’d have “trials” and “difficulties” and “struggles.” Continue reading →

Tender Mercies

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Last week my husband suggested an idea. He said, “How about every day we talk about God’s tender mercies that come to us.” So we began. And we couldn’t think of anything. It was a stressful day at work and neither of us felt particularly good or energetic or joyful. Tender mercies? Couldn’t name a single one. Continue reading →

Happy Birthday, Mom. I will always miss you most in January.

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Mom died on New Year’s Day. She had a severe stroke in October from which she never fully recovered, hanging in there through the holidays, just long enough to welcome in another year but not long enough to see her 94th birthday. She would be 96 today if she were still alive. Continue reading →

And Then What?

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My novel, Lighting Candles in the Snow, is now out. Reviews are coming in, and gladly they are positive. And then what? Which is the big question really, about all kinds of things that one might look forward to with great anticipation.

And then what?

There are the people who look ahead with excitement for the next big adventure, like Toad in The Wind in the Willows: Continue reading →

The Three D’s: Divorce, Dieting and Dating

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Sometimes you don’t realize what your book is about until someone tells you.

When Uncut Diamonds came out, the marketing director at WiDo called it “Steel Magnolias with Mormon characters,” which I’d have never pegged but it was exactly the right description. (Even though it takes place in the Midwestern United States not the South, and the main characters are young parents not older ones preparing for a daughter’s wedding.)

But all that’s not the point. It’s that I find it amazing when someone can tell me exactly what my book is about, and do it better than I could have myself. Continue reading →