🥵 🥊 Punch in the Face

by | Mar 10, 2026 | ScrollKeepers Community News

From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek

Faith-building Sci-fi Fantasy Stories

Greetings and Salutations Reader–

Sometimes, when you’re trying your very darndest to do well at playing the game of life–the softball hits you in the face. ⚾️

🤷‍♀️ Shrug. That’s the way life is.

I was horrified when two beta readers pointed out a blaring plot hole in Vera’s story (Me, Myself, and IT). One beta reader was so kind as to speak harsh-honestly about this. Reading his evaluation, I was so very sad. I hadn’t seen that glaring error–which was an essential character element. But because of that beta reader’s honesty, I’ve been working tirelessly on improving Vera’s story to become the very powerful tale of redemption it’s meant to be.

That’s one reason why beta readers are so essential.

Monica’s Story (That Beautiful Shore) is nearing the end of its beta read. The completion of the beta read stage means between now and May I’ll be finalizing the Return to Me volume 2 and 3 manuscripts about heaven, hell, and the invisible Kingdom of God.

Coming soon! Can’t wait to share them with you.

In July of last year, I broke my ankle in five places. One second of carelessness has led to nine months of recovery (so far). I’m not back to normal yet, with physical therapy 3x/week. But considering how I was that first moment with a backwards foot–I’m walking on air now!

We don’t like mistakes like these in our lives. But sometimes one error keeps a larger one from happening. One fall/pivot can change the world for us, leading to better things. This goes for any kind of jarring life event.

Learning to bend with the wind can help us to be a stronger tree. Here’s what Spurgeon says (Morning and Evening devotions)

God be with you. I’m praying for you.

Darlene

BOOK

🚌 MOBILE! 🚌

Sharing clean & Christian stories

to entertain, educate, and excite.

Welcome to your mobile book delivery service…

March 2026 BOOK SUGGESTIONS

Featuring:

Dante Lupinetti’s Forty-Three Days

⬆️ FIND OUT about this exciting Christian author! Free Short Story download.

⬇️ Also Don’t Miss…

Please make sure to follow this Kickstarter ⬆️ . Follows on the site gives me a sense of how eager you are for this series and that number will help me gauge my publication calendar.

🚌 beep beep 🚌

See related content:

More from Darlene

📚 Herupu short story (Free) ✏️

📚 Herupu short story (Free) ✏️

From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek Faith-building Sci-fi Fantasy Stories Hello to March! And hello to you Reader! I have a special treat for you today–a short autobiographical story I wrote about a life-changing experience I had as a little girl in Japan. It’s a bit sensitive, showing parts of my character I sure can’t shake. But it was quite formative. If I hadn’t survived, you wouldn’t be getting this email today. Click for a free pdf download of HERUPU May you feel Gods’ grace and mercy…

📚 The End ✏️

📚 The End ✏️

From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek Faith-building Sci-fi Fantasy Stories Hi again Reader! I’m not sure why, but I have trouble using the word “The End” at the end of a story. First of all, it should be clear that the story is over, right? The last lines of a book should already reflect an ending without those two words. But when I write a story, the character and I form a bond. Maybe the reason I have trouble ending a book with “The End” is that for me neither they nor their story is truly…

🕊️ Hope and Hope Again 🕊️

🕊️ Hope and Hope Again 🕊️

From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek Faith-building Sci-fi Fantasy Stories Greetings Reader! We’ve been in the midst of a torrent of rain here in Izmir–great for the olive trees, apricot trees, and grapevines, but terrible for the dogs. This is the second greatest rainfall in 88 years of recorded measurement. I calculated the other day to learn that there has been a total of about 1.5 Olympic-sized swimming pools full of water dumped on our farm since the beginning of the year. Wet and rainy,…