Ascent: A story of danger, adversity, and love by Cathie Dunn

Empires are rarely born in triumph. More often empires rise from ruin — the smoke, broken walls, the lives abruptly unmade and forced into new shapes. But history and human nature also suggest otherwise. I’ve been exploring a remarkable group of historical voices lately and discovered what lies beneath quiet surfaces. When the world is remade around us, do we shape it in return… or are we shaped beyond recognition?

Included in our historical fiction anthology Courage: Tales of History, Mystery and Hope is a story by Cathie Dunn.

16/04/202617/04/2026

Even truth becomes blind when it refuses to look – When Secrets Bloom

Some stories are not built all at once. They gather in fragments. A line that refuses to loosen its grip. An image formed at the edge of thought. A truth that waits until it’s the right time to be released.

In When Secrets Bloom these fragments came first. This series of book quotes gathers those glimpses.

14/04/202613/05/2026

Their Castilian Orphan by Anna Belfrage: Keeping Secrets

Power rarely announces itself with noise. More often poser moves in silence: through lineage, allegiance, and the dangerous secrets of what must remain hidden. But history and human nature also suggest otherwise. I’ve been exploring a remarkable group of historical voices lately and discovered what lies beneath quiet surfaces. Is it blood that defines us… or the secrets kept to protect it?

Anna Belfrage contributes a powerful story to our historical fiction anthology Courage: Tales of History, Mystery and Hope.

12/04/202612/04/2026

Are Not Two Sparrows… on Easter Day

a sparrow taking a bath in dirt, garden birds

Today we celebrate the Orthodox Easter. I was reminded of these simple words: “Are not two sparrow sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father.“(the Gospel of Matthew 10:29) – the sparrow does nor fall into emptiness, but within a world still held by God.

11/04/202613/05/2026

To Be A Queen by Annie Whitehead: Forged in Duty

History does not crown its queens gently. It tempers them: through loss, through expectation, through demands of survival. But history and human nature also suggest otherwise… I’ve been exploring a remarkable group of historical voices lately and discovered what lies beneath quiet appearances. Is resilience something we possess… or something we are forced to become?

Daisy Chain, a short story by Annie Whitehead, appears in our historical fiction anthology Courage: Tales of History, Mystery and Hope.