I have to admit that I’m not a speed-reader like my wife Sharon. It’s downright scary how fast she can zip through a book. Me, I read just like I write–the way I speak. I can read faster if I have to, but it’s like recording a dramatic reading and playing it back at high speed. The words are there, but it loses something. SO, when I read a book, particularly with the schedule I’ve been keeping lately, it can be a long-term commitment.

Then along came a copy of Lightning and Laceby DiAnn Mills.

I started to read this book just like I’ve read many books before. A chapter over lunch. A chapter when I’m too tired to write but too wound up to sleep. Then yesterday at lunch, something almost magical happened. I had been reading for almost an hour when I realized that they had never brought my sandwich. In fact, I think there was a shift change somewhere around chapter ten. After a polite but firm inquiry they made me another Thai Chicken Wrap and delivered it apologetically. I hope that whoever ate the first one enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed the chapters I had for an appetizer.

When I got home from work, I headed straight for my favorite chair with book in hand, pausing only long enough to answer the door and eat. I’m not sure what was on TV last night. It was on, and Sharon watched something, but I wasn’t there. I was in Kahlerville, Texas, wishing I could reach out and choke the daylights out of Lester Hillman . . . in Christian love, of course. I went to bed sometime after midnight, and then only because I could no longer keep my tired eyes open.

One of the things I’ve had hammered into my head as a fiction writer is the importance of “hooking” your reader, drawing them into the story so thoroughly that they can’t stop flipping pages and can’t wait to see what happens next. DiAnn Mills knows how to do it. I just finished reading Lightning and Lace a few minutes before starting to write this review. I read most of the book within 24 hours. It may be a new personal record.

Did I enjoy this book? You betcha. I laughed, I cried, and on several occasions I did both in the same breath. DiAnn’s characters came to life in my mind, almost as though I were watching the story rather than reading it. Not every author has that ability. I can tell you from my own experience that it can be a lot of hard work. DiAnn Mills did it masterfully.

If I have any criticism, it is that it took me a little while to figure out that the story takes place in the past. There’s nothing on page one that smacked me in the face and screamed “Hey, Dan! This is historical!” Of course, that may be because I wasn’t bright enough to notice that this is the third installment in the “Texas Legacy” series. Duh. Legacy = “from the past.” Apparently, the publisher expects readers to pay attention to such things. Between the train, horses, one-room schoolhouse and the lack of cellular service, I did eventually figure it out.

Perhaps the best thing about Lightning and Lace is that it is a story of restoration, healing, and renewal. The themes of grace and forgiveness are skillfully woven throughout the story without being “preachy” (except for the parts where the preacher is . . . well, doing what preachers do). It’s a warm, wonderful romance that explores not only the love of man and woman, but also of the perfect love of our perfect God and His imperfect people.

Even if you don’t think you like romance novels, you ought to read Lightning and Lace. Click here to buy your copy!

I’ve been biting my tongue and slapping my hands ever since the flap with Don Imus and his comment about the Rutgers women’s basketball team hit the news. Well, okay, I haven’t been biting my tongue, as my wife will surely attest. But, the time has come when I’ve got to speak my mind through my fingers–so here it is.

I don’t agree with or approve of Don Imus’ put-downs, either of the Rutgers team, or fat people, or any of his other targets. His radio show isn’t (make that wasn’t) on in my market, and if it were, I wouldn’t listen to it unless it was on one of my stations and I was working out a problem that required me to listen.  After thirty-five years in the radio business, I know that’s the most effective way to deal with offensive radio hosts–don’t listen.  When people don’t listen, radio programming changes. It’s one of the laws of the broadcasting universe.

Should Imus be fired? I don’t think so, at least not for this particular infraction. It was fairly mild compared to some of his shtick.

But, now that Imus has been fired for racially insensitive remarks, does this mean that other radio hosts who make racially insensitive remarks are on the chopping block? For example, the well-known, nationally syndicated black guys whose programs routinely contain insensitive racial slurs toward white folks? Probably not. It seems that we live in a land that openly supports racial double standards. It’s okay for a black radio host to make fun of white folks. If white hosts make fun of black folks, that’s different. If a white person complains about the racial slurs made against them, we’re told that our complaint is racially insensitive, and we are called racists. I speak from experience.

The other day I heard Harry Smith of the CBS Early Show interviewing a representative of the National Association of Black Journalists. He asked a fair question–the term “ho” is common in Hip-Hop culture, so how do we define who is permitted to say that and who is not? The NABJ representative non-answered the question–twice. Why? It was a legitimate question, and as a journalist the interviewee should have been prepared with an answer.  My question is even deeper:

Why do we even have a “National Association of Black Journalists” in the first place?

It is by definition a racially discriminatory organization. If someone formed a “National Association of White Journalists,” it would be branded as a racist organization before the ink was dry on their charter. Why is it that the “National Association of Black Journalists” isn’t considered a racist organization? It’s simple, really: it’s a racial double standard. Apparently, some people are allowed to be racists in America.

Jesus had simple, straightforward attitude about racial discrimination: He would not tolerate it in his disciples–period. Racism in any form is wrong. What Don Imus said was wrong. Treating any person in a different manner than someone else because of their race is wrong.

Racism in any form is wrong.

Period.

In any direction.

D.