Years ago--almost 20, I think--I wrote a book of meditations on Proverbs, a little devotional for budding adolescents somewhere around the 8th-grade level. I remember the title, catchy--Take it from a Wise Guy....

Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Tim Willard, co-author (with Jason Locy) of a new book called Veneer: Living Deeply in a Surface Society. Rarely does a book resonate so deeply with me that I want to go out a buy a copy for everyone I know, but this one did just that....

I began my writing life as a clandestine affair--meeting the keyboard in secret for many months before confiding my wayward passion to my husband. I wasn’t entirely sure that he would understand—feared he might roll his eyes, or--worse--laugh at this fragile love affair. Of course, he did neither, just nodded his head and encouraged....

When I was a young girl and summer days stretched long before me, I whittled away the heavy heat one page at a time. A favorite thing to do was spread out on a quilt under a shade tree with my latest read....