The ten stories of Our Abiding Heritage are adventures that will take you to places you have never been. They are as diverse in technique and theme as our previous years’ writings; nevertheless, they are united in the fact that a heritage element is common. We invite you to take notice of the techniques used by this array of talented authors to weave those heritage-related appearances into their stories.

C.D. Sutherland’s Enough takes you to Golgotha and the crucifixion of Christ as witnessed through the eyes of Stephanus Longinus, a young Roman soldier. Priscilla Adams’ debut short story, Generational Curse, drops you into the chaos of a fast-paced love affair, where the soon-to-be bride discovers her fiancé’s family curse. Jann Franklin’s The Backup Beauty Queen pulls you into small-town Louisiana festival culture, where family, enthusiasm, and talent collide with laughter. Marguerite Martin Gray’s The Thread Uncovered examines a tendril through Sophie Lucy Marteen’s life, revealing how family relationships do not always require blood ties. Carole Lehr Johnson’s Heritage of Hope takes you to seventeenth-century England to show how Melior Olford, a character in her 2022 release, The Burning Sands, came to be married to Radigan Atwood. Beverly Flanders’ Katherine's Table plunges you into a mystery as a family heirloom reveals its secrets to Katie and her cousin Laura. Tina Ann Middleton’s Lord of Time places you on a time-traveling adventure where a good-intentioned man named Chad strives to rescue Jesus from the cross. Should he succeed, what would be the ramifications of that? Calvin Hubbard’s debut fiction, The Handoff, takes you on Tom’s nostalgic journey where he realizes specific events from key players in his life gave him precisely what he needed to run the race set before him. Mary Lou Cheatham’s Crossing Cohay Branch ventures into the recesses of a childhood memory, generating as many questions as it answers. Finally, Susan Hiers Foster’s Out of the Dark follows an author’s quest for inspiration in Maine, where she meets a famous author who needs something from her.

Release Date: August 1, 2023
10% of each book sold will be donated to American Christian Fiction Writers, Shreveport Chapter, and Local Churches.