Journals
Healing Through the Senses: A Grief Journal:
In times of grief and loss, navigating the emotional landscape can be overwhelming. The act of journaling becomes a gentle yet powerful tool in this journey, offering solace and space for healing. This grief journal, inspired by the senses, serves as a personalized sanctuary to explore and express the many emotions that accompany grief.
Crystal encourages embracing this grief journal as a safe haven, free from judgment or expectation. It's a place to be honest with yourself, to listen to your heart, and to acknowledge the profound journey of healing that grief entails.
Through this sensory approach to journaling, you embark on a path of self-discovery and healing. Each entry becomes a stepping stone toward resilience and acceptance, allowing you to transform grief into a narrative of love and remembrance.
In times of grief and loss, navigating the emotional landscape can be overwhelming. The act of journaling becomes a gentle yet powerful tool in this journey, offering solace and space for healing. This grief journal, inspired by the senses, serves as a personalized sanctuary to explore and express the many emotions that accompany grief.
Crystal encourages embracing this grief journal as a safe haven, free from judgment or expectation. It's a place to be honest with yourself, to listen to your heart, and to acknowledge the profound journey of healing that grief entails.
Through this sensory approach to journaling, you embark on a path of self-discovery and healing. Each entry becomes a stepping stone toward resilience and acceptance, allowing you to transform grief into a narrative of love and remembrance.
The One-One-One Gratitude Journal
A simple yet powerful tool to help you pause and reflect each day. With guided prompts to record one thing you’re grateful for, one thing you’re proud of, and one thing you’re looking forward to, this journal encourages mindfulness, builds confidence, and keeps you focused on the positive. It’s a quick daily practice designed to bring more joy, clarity, and intention into your life.
A simple yet powerful tool to help you pause and reflect each day. With guided prompts to record one thing you’re grateful for, one thing you’re proud of, and one thing you’re looking forward to, this journal encourages mindfulness, builds confidence, and keeps you focused on the positive. It’s a quick daily practice designed to bring more joy, clarity, and intention into your life.
Hush
A gentle invitation to pause, breathe, and find stillness in the middle of a noisy world. Each page pairs my original photography with a “sentering” thought—simple affirmations designed to quiet the mind and center the spirit. This book is a companion for anyone seeking peace, reflection, or just a soft reminder to listen to the calm within.
A gentle invitation to pause, breathe, and find stillness in the middle of a noisy world. Each page pairs my original photography with a “sentering” thought—simple affirmations designed to quiet the mind and center the spirit. This book is a companion for anyone seeking peace, reflection, or just a soft reminder to listen to the calm within.
Novels
The Rhythm in Blue
Mason loves his fiancée, but he’s fed up with the stress of planning and preparing for the wedding. Enough already! He needs a few days away. He knows he should have just checked into the nearest hotel, but instead he finds himself driving south. His destination? Jasmine’s house. Aside from that one night many years ago, he and Jasmine have managed to maintain a strictly platonic relationship. A few days away with a friend, he thinks, is just what the doctor ordered. Right?
See how the lives of Mason and Jasmine will intertwine with those of Jacob, Keisha, Frankie, and so many others in the small southern town of Blue, Virginia.
Blue is full of good food and sweet Southern graces, but it also proves to be filled with a few dark secrets. This is a story about failure, redemption, forgiveness and, above all, love. These characters are stirred by unique passions and colorful pasts. See how ten people become the pulse of this tiny little town; they are, quite simply, the rhythm in Blue.
Mason loves his fiancée, but he’s fed up with the stress of planning and preparing for the wedding. Enough already! He needs a few days away. He knows he should have just checked into the nearest hotel, but instead he finds himself driving south. His destination? Jasmine’s house. Aside from that one night many years ago, he and Jasmine have managed to maintain a strictly platonic relationship. A few days away with a friend, he thinks, is just what the doctor ordered. Right?
See how the lives of Mason and Jasmine will intertwine with those of Jacob, Keisha, Frankie, and so many others in the small southern town of Blue, Virginia.
Blue is full of good food and sweet Southern graces, but it also proves to be filled with a few dark secrets. This is a story about failure, redemption, forgiveness and, above all, love. These characters are stirred by unique passions and colorful pasts. See how ten people become the pulse of this tiny little town; they are, quite simply, the rhythm in Blue.
But Now I See
Jasmine doesn’t care HOW she got Mason, all that matters now is that her dream of becoming his wife is finally coming true. Everything seems to be perfect, until she receives a delivery of dead flowers and a cryptic note on her wedding day. Is someone trying to end her marriage before it even begins? Just as Pastor Jacob’s life seems to have returned to normal, he is sent to Tampa, Florida to help with the rebuilding of a historical church. Jacob is worried how Elm Street Baptist will function under the direction of his temporary replacement: Gabriel Jerome. Gabriel is young, fearless and has a very unconventional way of worshiping. Will this time away from Elm Street be just what Jacob needs? And will the congregation thrive or barely survive his absence?
Jasmine doesn’t care HOW she got Mason, all that matters now is that her dream of becoming his wife is finally coming true. Everything seems to be perfect, until she receives a delivery of dead flowers and a cryptic note on her wedding day. Is someone trying to end her marriage before it even begins? Just as Pastor Jacob’s life seems to have returned to normal, he is sent to Tampa, Florida to help with the rebuilding of a historical church. Jacob is worried how Elm Street Baptist will function under the direction of his temporary replacement: Gabriel Jerome. Gabriel is young, fearless and has a very unconventional way of worshiping. Will this time away from Elm Street be just what Jacob needs? And will the congregation thrive or barely survive his absence?
Children's Books
Gabby Gives Back
Follows curious and big-hearted Gabby as she discovers the joy of helping others. Whether it’s lending a hand, sharing a smile, or giving her time, Gabby learns that kindness is a gift we can all afford to give. This inspiring children’s book encourages young readers to think about the many ways they can make a difference in their families, schools, and communities. With vibrant illustrations and an uplifting message, Gabby Gives Back shows kids that no act of giving is ever too small.
Follows curious and big-hearted Gabby as she discovers the joy of helping others. Whether it’s lending a hand, sharing a smile, or giving her time, Gabby learns that kindness is a gift we can all afford to give. This inspiring children’s book encourages young readers to think about the many ways they can make a difference in their families, schools, and communities. With vibrant illustrations and an uplifting message, Gabby Gives Back shows kids that no act of giving is ever too small.
Gabby Saturday
A delightful story about how Gabby spends her favorite day of the week. From morning adventures to cozy evening moments, Gabby shows young readers that Saturdays are filled with fun, family, and imagination. This joyful picture book celebrates simple pleasures and inspires children to find happiness in everyday routines. With playful storytelling and bright illustrations by Janice Treece-Senter, Gabby Saturday is perfect for weekend reading with the whole family.
A delightful story about how Gabby spends her favorite day of the week. From morning adventures to cozy evening moments, Gabby shows young readers that Saturdays are filled with fun, family, and imagination. This joyful picture book celebrates simple pleasures and inspires children to find happiness in everyday routines. With playful storytelling and bright illustrations by Janice Treece-Senter, Gabby Saturday is perfect for weekend reading with the whole family.
AJ and the Magic Kite
This magical story takes readers on a soaring adventure as AJ discovers a kite with powers beyond his imagination. One windy afternoon, his simple playtime turns into a journey across the skies—teaching him courage, curiosity, and the magic of believing in himself. With colorful illustrations and an uplifting message, this enchanting story inspires children to dream big and see everyday moments as opportunities for wonder.
This magical story takes readers on a soaring adventure as AJ discovers a kite with powers beyond his imagination. One windy afternoon, his simple playtime turns into a journey across the skies—teaching him courage, curiosity, and the magic of believing in himself. With colorful illustrations and an uplifting message, this enchanting story inspires children to dream big and see everyday moments as opportunities for wonder.
Poetry
But You Have Such a Pretty Face
Every time someone said to me, “But you have such a pretty face,” I would cringe and quietly wonder, “But what about the rest of me?”
But You Have Such a Pretty Face is my story told through 43 poems that span the many chapters of my life. I write about growing up in Morristown, TN (Home, Ella’s Tambourine, That Time When My Brother Jerome Was Evel Knievel), about marriage (Before Dawn, Loving Out Loud), about love (Lucky Jeans, Flirt), and about the joys and challenges of motherhood (For AJ at Seventeen, First Bath). I also explore relationships (Twenty-First Morning, Monsters in the Closet), family ties (Welcome Home, The Droopy-Boob Haiku), the importance of fatherhood (The Luckiest Girl on Earth, Disposable Daddy, When Everything Was New), and learning to love my body at every size (Chunk, Beautiful Me).
My hope is that no matter who you are—mother, father, wife, husband, sister, poet, college student, best friend, or just someone who’s ever felt like they were more than what people saw on the outside—you’ll find a piece of yourself in these poems.
Because we are all more than just a pretty face.
Every time someone said to me, “But you have such a pretty face,” I would cringe and quietly wonder, “But what about the rest of me?”
But You Have Such a Pretty Face is my story told through 43 poems that span the many chapters of my life. I write about growing up in Morristown, TN (Home, Ella’s Tambourine, That Time When My Brother Jerome Was Evel Knievel), about marriage (Before Dawn, Loving Out Loud), about love (Lucky Jeans, Flirt), and about the joys and challenges of motherhood (For AJ at Seventeen, First Bath). I also explore relationships (Twenty-First Morning, Monsters in the Closet), family ties (Welcome Home, The Droopy-Boob Haiku), the importance of fatherhood (The Luckiest Girl on Earth, Disposable Daddy, When Everything Was New), and learning to love my body at every size (Chunk, Beautiful Me).
My hope is that no matter who you are—mother, father, wife, husband, sister, poet, college student, best friend, or just someone who’s ever felt like they were more than what people saw on the outside—you’ll find a piece of yourself in these poems.
Because we are all more than just a pretty face.
Doubledutch
My very first poetry collection, filled with pieces I wrote between 1996 and 2006. Some of the poems tell my own story, while others capture the world as I observed it around me. This collection jumps and skips through the everyday things we all know—love, parenting, relationships, poverty, work, solitude, dieting, size acceptance, cheating hearts, and everything in between.
My very first poetry collection, filled with pieces I wrote between 1996 and 2006. Some of the poems tell my own story, while others capture the world as I observed it around me. This collection jumps and skips through the everyday things we all know—love, parenting, relationships, poverty, work, solitude, dieting, size acceptance, cheating hearts, and everything in between.
Coloring Books
The ABC’s of Calm
This coloring books is my love letter to slowing down. In these pages, I invite you to take a gentle journey through the alphabet, where each letter offers a simple way to find peace in your everyday life.
From A: Arrange a personal spa day with a bubble bath and essential oils to Z: Zoom out of your routine and take a day trip somewhere new, each activity is designed to soothe your mind and nurture your soul. Some ideas are as simple as N: Nap in the afternoon to recharge, while others spark creativity like D: Draw or doodle to let your imagination flow.
This book isn’t just a list of activities—it’s a sanctuary you can hold in your hands. My hope is that you’ll use it as a gentle reminder that calm is always within reach. Serenity doesn’t have to be far away—it’s waiting for you, one letter at a time.
This coloring books is my love letter to slowing down. In these pages, I invite you to take a gentle journey through the alphabet, where each letter offers a simple way to find peace in your everyday life.
From A: Arrange a personal spa day with a bubble bath and essential oils to Z: Zoom out of your routine and take a day trip somewhere new, each activity is designed to soothe your mind and nurture your soul. Some ideas are as simple as N: Nap in the afternoon to recharge, while others spark creativity like D: Draw or doodle to let your imagination flow.
This book isn’t just a list of activities—it’s a sanctuary you can hold in your hands. My hope is that you’ll use it as a gentle reminder that calm is always within reach. Serenity doesn’t have to be far away—it’s waiting for you, one letter at a time.