June, 2026 Author Update
New Release!
Whispers Across the Prairie
If you enjoyed Emeline in A Journey and Finding Strength, you’ll love this new story of when young Emeline was ten years old and still living with both parents. It’s my debut middle-grade novel.
Many thanks to my professional team, all of whom spent a great deal of time on this story.
Beta Readers: Teachers & Students of the Kansas School for the Deaf
Editing: Erin Dionne
Illustrations: Claudia Gadotti
Audiobook: Ellen Quay
Cover & Interior Design: Andrew & Rebecca Ardel, Author Elevator
Printing: Ingram Spark
Availability
The softcover print books are schedule to arrive by Wednesday, June 3rd! Hardcovers will probably be here next week.
This audiobook is submitted for publication and has passed extensive quality checks. But, it takes a few weeks for distribution to reach all audiobook retailers.
If you read it, please do me the favor of writing a review on Amazon, Goodreads, and/or Barnes & Noble.
Your honest review (even if only a star rating) helps like-minded readers find this book. Thank you!
Now What?
The KSD students helped me improve the story with their feedback for Whispers Across the Prairie. They told me they didn’t want Charlie’s story to end. That’s when I realized Charlie’s journey was only beginning.
I’ve started drafting another story called Becoming Charles Sawyer: Connection, which follows his early years at the school in 1887 and beyond. What began as a side thread in the Emeline series has slowly become one of the most meaningful writing projects I’ve worked on, and is developing into a series: a trilogy.
I’ll keep you posted. All I can say right now is that Charlie is alive and well in my imagination. Writing about him is challenging, since his world is without sound, but just in the last month, his story has expanded exponentially. And I’m excited!
June Chickadee Cheer Winner
Congratulations to Rosie! Check your email for my invitation to choose a softcover book of your choice from my shop.
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Creature Feature: The Lion
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The “King of the Jungle” doesn’t really live in the jungle. Lions live on the plans and in grasslands.
They weigh 300-500 pounds, are about 8 feet long, can run up to 50 miles per hour for short distances, and can jump up to 12 feet.
Lions can go 4-5 days without drinking water.
Like elephants, there are Asiatic and African lions.
A lion’s roar can be heard up to 5 miles away.
For 16-20 hours a day, they sleep or nap. They walk for about 2 hours a day (or about 6 miles)
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The largest cat in the world is a liger.
It’s a hybrid cat born from a male lion and a female tiger. They can weigh up to 900 pounds, and live only in captivity because in the wild, lion and tiger habitats do not overlap.
Another hybrid cat, the tigon, is the result of a male tiger and a female lion, but they are actually smaller than either parent species: about 400 pounds.
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Lions live in groups called prides. Each pride can have up to 3 mature males and a dozen or so females.
All the females are related to each other. They help care for each other’s cubs and even nurse cubs that aren’t their own. Babies are called cubs, whelps, or lioness.
The females are the primary hungers for the pride. They hunt as a team—one will chase the prey to where the other lionesses are waiting to attack.
The males are extremely protective of their pride and territory, which is up to 100 square miles. They walk it every few days, marking it to keep strangers out.
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Those teeth! Just in incisors can measure 2 1/2” long.
Talk about bite force:
The Mastiff dog has the most bite force of any dog @ 500 PSI
The lion’s is 650 PSI
But the hippopotamus’s bite is 1800 PSI. WOW!
When the lion eats, their jaw slides, which causes their teeth to rub against each other like a pair of scissors to shred meat.
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They can hear prey moving up to a mile away.
Not only can they smell nearby prey, but they can also tell how long it’s been in the area. That’s a super power!
They have specialized eyes, which are more powerful than ours.
Cubs are born blind until day three. They’re blue-gray until about 3 months when they turn orange/brown.
Their pupils are 3x bigger than ours to let in more light.
They have 5x more rods than ours which allows them to see better in the dark.
A reflective coating on the back of the eye helps reflect moonlight, too.
They have a second eyelid, which helps clean and protect the eye.
Have you noticed that lions have a white patch of fur below their eyes? That helps reflect even more light back into the eye.
Creature Feature is a new addition to my Author Update each month and is inspired by the books by Reasons for Hope. The Hippopotamus is from the book called A Pocket Guide to the Zoo: Fascinating Facts, Volume 1: Africa. If you’re interested in learning more about God’s design in animals, please check them out. (Next month: the Rhinoceros!)
