![Hurricane Katrina as seen from a satellite](https://naomikryske.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Hurricane-Katrina-satellite.png)
Storm Child: How The Witness Came to Be Written
I never intended to write a book. I lived in a small town in South Mississippi. I read books and reviewed books, but I never thought I’d write one.
![Naomi at work on The Mission](https://naomikryske.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Naomi-at-keyboard-e1436833691809.jpg)
The Self-Help Novel: An Idea Whose Time Has Come
Note: This month’s blog is being guest written by my husband, Larry, who is President of Your Finest Hour Leadership Programs. He was a career naval officer, private school administrator and teacher, and for the last seventeen years
![Chenies Manor Gardens, Hertfordshire](https://naomikryske.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Flower1.jpg)
The Journey of Traumatic Grief in The Mission
Traumatic grief illuminated in The Mission gives new understanding to a form of grief due to sudden, unexpected loss.
![Hampstead Heath Pond](https://naomikryske.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Heath-Pond.jpg)
Summer: In London and in Life
Most consider summer a season with a slower pace. After a busy spring, we catch our collective breath. We look back and
![Parliament: A witness to a rule of law and not of men](https://naomikryske.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Blog-Parliament.jpg)
Principles
Not too long ago, I had a dream in which I was preparing to speak to a group about my novel, The Witness. While I was gathering my papers, an argument broke out between
![Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his Four Freedoms](https://naomikryske.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/FDR-Four-Freedoms2.jpg)
A New Look at FDR’s Four Freedoms
Jennifer Jeffries, the protagonist in The Witness, was the victim of a brutal attack during a visit to London. Her physical injuries healed slowly, but the emotional damage she suffered was even more difficult and enduring.
![Sherlock Holmes observing Baker Street Station, Central London](https://naomikryske.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/P1010546.jpg)
A Writer’s ABC
All writing begins as a shadow, a faint image, a specter without substance. Then something steps out of the mist and engages a living mind. What is
![Naomi at work on The Mission](https://naomikryske.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Nomi-at-Royal-Marine-Museum.jpg)
Writing is a Relationship
Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “‘Tis the good reader that makes the good book.” That’s an eloquent way to voice the belief that writers and readers are
![Roses in Christ Church, Chorleywood, UK](https://naomikryske.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Roses-Chorleywood1-scaled-1.jpg)
Time Past, Present, and Future
According to Sir James Barrie, author of Peter Pan, “God gave us memory that we might have roses in December.” He viewed memory as a gift, something meant to