by Eva Marie Everson

Many years ago, just before I walked into this crazy business of writing and publishing, I happened to walk the aisles of a local Walmart. Naturally, I found myself in the literary section. (I just thought I’d throw that in . . . the phrase “literary section” probably hasn’t ever been associated with Walmart.) Anyhoo—while the hubby scanned the latest in technology (and who can remember what that might have been back in 1998), I happened on a book titled Front Porch Tales by Philip Gulley.

I was initially intrigued by the cover, so I took it off the shelf. I read that part we call the Back Cover Copy and thought, “Well this looks good.” And it was. Short vignettes of hometown stories told by this humble, gentle Quaker pastor that had me giggling in the aisle, then on the drive home (hubby was driving, not me), and then curled up on my sofa.

I have since read just about every word by Mr. Gulley, including his delightful “Home to Harmony” series. In fact, I may have read the series more than once. Okay, more than twice.

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Everyone who knows me knows that I love scanning the book titles at garage sales, estate sales, thrift stores, and the like. This, for me, is like a treasure hunt. In fact, many (many) years ago, I had tried to find a particular book that I’d read as a child. I couldn’t quite remember the title, but I knew that if I ever saw it, I’d know it. These were the days before the internet—way before “the Google”—so I couldn’t look it up. I couldn’t remember the author’s name either. But, again, I knew that if I saw it, I’d know it.

One Saturday morning, my husband and I spotted an estate sale in a rather fine and manicured part of town so we decided we’d stop to see what might be outside of our price range. As soon as we walked into this grand house, I spied a table absolutely stacked with books. Books, books, everywhere! An, glory! Every one of them was hardback and each one for sale . . . and for only a quarter. A quarter! I began to go through them. Within a minute, I found it—the book I’d been searching my brain for the title of. A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich was now mine . . . and for the low, low price of twenty-five cents.

So it was that, just a few weeks ago, Taryn Souders (my favorite sidekick) and I were thrifting in the quaint bedroom community of Mount Dora, Florida. What should my wandering eyes rest upon but a book by Philip Gulley I hadn’t seen before. And, for the low-low price of a dollar, I walked out with this little hardback treasure titled, Home Town Tales.

Home Town Tales weaves together two concepts. The first is the author’s typical style of writing short pieces that spin a complete story. As an author myself, I’m not sure just how he does this. I only know that he does and that he does it well. The second is that each piece is listed under nine headings: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Sound familiar?

While I enjoy a well-crafted novel and occasionally find myself sucked in by a work of nonfiction (which I suppose this is), there are times when we writers who are also readers simply need to be entertained.

And so I am.

 

 

Eva Marie Everson is the CEO of Word Weavers International and the director of Florida Christian Writers Conference. A multiple award-winning author, her latest book, Ahoti, A Story of Tamar, co-written with Miriam Feinberg Vamosh released from Paraclete Press in May 2024. A wife, mother, and grandmother, she makes her home in Central Florida where she and her husband are owned by a cat named Vanessa.