My Blog

We spend a lot of time in life hoping and waiting for the quintessential open door, and have no idea how many we have actually walked through to get to where we are.

I’m grateful for the many open doors that I’ve walked through in my life, and the people who I have met behind some of them. Their stories have inspired me more times than I can count. And a few of those chance encounters have changed me.

Life is filled with the stories of people, both true and fiction. Those stories have both challenged and motivated me to be a better person. Some have encouraged me to action while some have simply entertained. To me it was time well spent.

Personally, I believe that their is spark of the divine hidden, often in plan view, in every human and once found it becomes a treasure to inspire us. I find I get to know myself better by listening to the words of others. And when I meet that person who lives their life consistent with their words it provokes powerful emotions within me.

Yes, I’m aware that some doors are nothing more than entry ways or exits. I’ve walked in plenty, and out many with no change at all. Some I’ve merely passed through on my way to somewhere else. But every once in a while, a door is so outside the bounds of normal that it will inspire imagination. That’s how stories are born.

Even in the strangeness of this year the image of this door sent my imagination racing through ideas and possibilities. I’m convinced there’s a story waiting for me behind this door.

Author interview with Iona Morrison

Hello Iona

Tell us about you and your books.

Do you plot or let your story unfold as you write? 

I’m not a plotter. I let my characters tell me where they want the story to go. If I go a certain direction contrary to their personalities, they seem to let me know it’s not working. It works best when the lead the way.

Are your characters based on real people?  Some are. One is based on a custodian at the church where I worked as an office manager. On the first day I went to work there she told me a story about their church ghost. Her story was the basis of my first book, The Harvest Club. She is in most of the books after she told me you can write me into your book. Melinda is the character lovingly called Red in my books. Sadly, she died before the book was published. Her family loved the book, and I dedicated it in her memory. Radar the bloodhound is in all my books and he is based on a real dog and his handler. 
When did you decide to become an author?   I came to write later in life. I took a writing class called Breaking into Print. I thought when I started the class that I wanted to write non-fiction, but soon found out I loved writing fiction. The teacher encouraged me to try my hand at writing a novel because my stories had legs. My first attempt at it was The Harvest Club. That was a little over six years ago. My favorite so far is Key To The Past, it’s a blast from my past. 
Who is the biggest influence on your writing?  My teacher Mary Rosenblum. She had a way of critiquing me while making me laugh the entire time. She was killed in a plane crash two years ago. I miss her and her steady guidance. I still can hear her voice inside my head when I head hop or don’t give it my best shot.


Is there a message in your novels that you want readers to grasp?  I do write about subjects that are important to me, like human trafficking, or organ harvesting. But the big take away from each of my books is love always wins.
and to get a little personal…
Who do you see as a heroine in your life?   My mother will always be my heroine. She is the one who taught me the love of reading. She also was one of the kindest people I know.
Have you ever found true love?  I can answer with an emphatic yes to this question. He was a hippie and I was a straight girl when we met at a protest rally. We went on our first date on April 12, engaged by May 15, and married three months and five days later. His big, blue eyes, and his smile won my heart. I still love him forty-eight years later.
What makes you cry?  True stories about people, some happy and some sad. I’m an equal story crier. This pandemic has intensified that.

What makes you laugh?  I love to laugh and I’m never quite sure what will set it off. Hanging with family and friends is when it happens most. Sometimes I simply laugh at myself. As the saying goes, ‘blessed are those who can laugh at themselves for they’ll never cease to be entertained’. 
Do you laugh at your own jokes?  I’m sure I probably do, especially if I found the joke extremely funny. I can’t usually get through telling one to the punch line without breaking down in laughter.
Where can we find you online? Website:     http://ionamorrison.com/ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Iona-Morrison-Author-534319506628681/ Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ionacrv Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/ionammorrison/boards/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morrison.iona/ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8605155.Iona_Morrison Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/iona-morrison Download Key To The Past on Amazon and other online retailers https://www.amazon.com/Iona-Morrison/e/B00N39NJIA?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000

I watched the 2020 graduation ceremony on TV last night. The one takeaway of the night among many highlights was how the pandemic upended this year’s senior class. They missed proms, spring sports, and had no opportunities to have yearbooks signed or hang out with their friends. As a matter of fact, most of us watching could relate, never imagining when 2020 began that we would be watching graduations by video either.

Listening to the speeches got me thinking back to the day when I waited impatiently to hear my name read on graduation day. I don’t remember any of the words spoken or songs sung. They were forgotten quickly. All I wanted at the time was to be done, to get to the family party, and out for a night with my friends. Sadly, outside of ZOOM, this year’s seniors were denied that too.

As hard as it is to believe when your young, life rarely goes as planned but it does often work out for the best. If I could have written a detailed future for myself all those many years ago, I could have never imagined all the places my life would take me. That well ordered plan was limited at best, and would be altered by new dreams, as well as disappointments. I’m often still surprised by where life leads me and the new experiences that await me there. Life is wonderful, sometimes sad, but also curiously fun, and challenging.

Since your senior year ended in such a strange fashion, I can’t begin to imagine what awaits you. Ready or not you are on your way. Not as a child anymore, but new to the whole adult thing, I can only offer the sound advice that was given to me many years ago. Strap yourself in and hold on because life is quite a ride. Enjoy the trip and make your mark. More than ever the world needs your new and fresh ideas.

January 20th, saw the release of my eighth book. I’ll start by saying, the feeling of seeing my name on the cover never gets old. I’ve always dreamed about writing a book, but eight wasn’t even in my wheelhouse. One seemed like an amazing task to me. Especially, as busy as life can get and as fast as time seems to fly by, it’s easy for life to crowd out our dreams.

I started writing later in my life, after raising my three boys, and working beside my husband in the churches that he pastored. Our life had settled into a comfortable routine until circumstances brought several major changes into our lives. The need and desire to reinvent myself grew, and the dream to write a book began to surface again. I’m here to reassure you it’s never too late and an ‘old dog’ can really learn new tricks.

I began an online writing class through the University of Connecticut called Breaking into Print. The coarse took me through the elements of fiction and non-fiction. I thought for sure I would write a non-fiction self-help book of some sort. What I found was that I loved writing fiction. This gal who never watched or read a mystery found herself in a genre where she had never dared to go before. It fit with my personality and who I’ve always been as far back as I can remember. A friend, not long ago, introduced me to her book club as the lady who went from teaching Sunday School to murdering people on paper, which still makes me laugh. I guess she was right on some level.

I was told my stories had legs and the teacher recommended that I try the Novel writing class. So I did. Mary Rosenblum, my teacher, was there for me through the process of writing The Harvest Club. A story idea handed to me by the custodian on a new job when she told me. “You know we have a church ghost here.” My imagination went to work and the element of the paranormal seeped into my mystery. I was off and writing, with Mary Rosenblum instructing me about head hopping, and grammar all the way. My editor will understand what a task that was. My only excuse is, punctuation has changed a bit since I was in school. As for head-hopping I’m trying hard not too.

Mary had a way of encouraging me while slapping me upside my head. She could criticize my writing and have me laughing at the same time. Now that’s a real gift. Encouraged by her, when the book was finished, to query it. She gave me the name of a few publishers. The Wild Rose Press was among them. I will forever be grateful to her. I love my publisher and have had a great experience working with The Wild Rose Press. Mary was killed a few years ago in a plane crash and I still miss her.

I love my latest book Key To The Past. It was a fun one to write and a blast from the past for me. I hope you, my readers will enjoy it as much as I did writing it.

Bullets fly and sparks ignite—as the past and the present collide.
A missing girl’s ghost, an antique key, and an unsolved murder take her on an improbable journey.

With the holidays upon us and a another year coming to a close I’m reminded once again of how quickly time is speeding by. 2019, had its high moments, but it also came with loss, reminding me once again how fleeting time can be. In thinking about my family members and friends that died this year, I realize just how powerful and impactful a single life well-lived can be. They touched areas in my life that I’m still discovering. Missing them is like a constant limp and hole where they used to be.

Every day I’m alive is not a given but a gift. Another chance to get it right. A simple smile or a kind word can brighten a day. Joy can be found wrapped in the ordinary, like relationships, creation, or the peace of the familiar. Laughter is refreshing and tears a necessary release. There are profound moments, down moments, and some silly ones. Some days are filled with awe and an almost magic like quality when life and special events cross paths.

May your holidays be filled with sweet memory making moments and love. To love and be loved is the most precious gift of all. Those who strive to make the world a better place through kind deeds do make a difference. L’Chaim! To Life!

I love Thanksgiving. It gives me time to pause and think about my life. From my great grandparents, to my parents, my husband, and sons and their families I have been blessed to know love in my life. It is a cause to celebrate and be reminded that it is people not belongings that make life worth living.

Every picture tells a story, every life is a song to sing, we are the legacy of time. One generation gives way to another, but our lives are built on the foundations left by those who have loved us. There are some missing this year. Gone too soon, but etched in our memories, we limp along with the ache of where they used to be.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. May you be filled with love, kindness, and generosity as you share in the blessings of the day with those you love both family and friends.

In memory:

“Patience is the calm acceptance that things can happen in a different order than the one you have in mind.”
― David G. Allen

Life often throws a few curves at us. It’s something everyone experiences several times in a lifetime. We can make plans, but still, things often happen out of order. I have found learning to be flexible, and to roll with what life dishes out is definitely an acquired knowledge needed for survival.

At times, out of order can actually be what’s best for you. All of sudden, events come together like a melody, or a perfect rose, and for one single moment life takes on new meaning and direction. You know the kind of moment I’m talking about; events that take you by surprise and make an ordinary day special. A gloomy day takes a turn for the better when a person smiles at you or encourages you along the way. What a difference they can make in an otherwise nominal day. An autumn day filled with gorgeous colors can leave you in awe, or one single moment of understanding can burst upon you and change your life for ever. I can still remember one occasion when it hit me that all people are made in His image and have a deposit of him within them. It matters not who they are, just that they are! People are amazing and sharing life with them (or a shoe) is what gives life significance.

During another out of order moment, I found writing or writing found me. Either way it rescued me at a hard time in my life. I have so much to learn about the process which keeps me interested every day that I sit down at my computer. What is the best way to say it, which word will show it better? How can I take the characters from being flat to alive using descriptive words? I’m grateful for something so simple yet complex that it challenges me on a daily basis; something to grow in, and to improve at, and in the process it changes me.

Out of order doesn’t necessarily mean not working. It can simply mean a new direction

Life isn’t always easy, and sometimes I feel a tad wobbly at best. But I’m also a bit of an optimist. You know the type; a this to shall pass kind of person. I find if I focus on the good that the good I see gets even better. If I look for the best in people, most of the time I find it. No I’m not totally naïve, but I’ve always had an amazing hope that at any moment any situation could get better. It could happen! In spite of the roller coaster ups and downs, life can be quite awesome.

Hope is my inner voice that keeps cheering me onward. On some days it is faint at best, but on other days it shouts loud and clear telling me to keep dreaming, and yearning for something just beyond my reach.

Hope is my family, and friends. Hope is found in the wisdom I’ve learned from experiences, some good and some hard, that are woven into my life like footprints leaving their marks. They are my reminders I can make it if I don’t give up. Hope is the still small voice that tells me to put one foot in front of the other and to keep, keeping on. I march on to the beat of time grateful for every day I get in this crazy, wonderful life.