Have you ever finished a story and found yourself thinking about it hours later?

Maybe even days later?

You closed the page, but somehow the characters followed you.

You wondered what you would have done if you had been in her position. You questioned whether you would have forgiven him. You recognized pieces of your own family, marriage, faith, mistakes, fears, or dreams somewhere between the lines.

Those are the stories I love.

Not simply stories that entertain us — but stories that make us feel something.

We See Ourselves in Stories

Sometimes we read because we want to escape our lives for a little while.

Other times, we read and unexpectedly find our own lives staring back at us.

A woman trying to determine whether she has stayed in a relationship too long.

A daughter returning home carrying a secret.

A family discovering that an inheritance may have left them much more than property.

Someone sitting quietly in a church pew while carrying a battle nobody around them can see.

A person praying one more prayer after almost giving up.

Different characters. Different circumstances.

Yet somewhere in their stories, we recognize something familiar.

That is the heart behind The Next Page.

Every Person Has a Story No One Else Fully Knows

We pass people every day without knowing what happened before they walked into the room.

The smiling woman may have cried all night.

The successful man may be holding together a family that is quietly falling apart.

The person sitting in the last seat at church may be struggling with the very thing everyone assumes they have already overcome.

The strongest-looking person in the family may secretly be the most exhausted.

And sometimes the person everyone misunderstands simply has a chapter nobody else has read yet.

That idea fascinates me as a writer.

What happened before this moment?

What is being hidden?

What happens when the truth finally comes out?

And perhaps most importantly:

What happens next?

That Is Why I Created The Next Page

The Next Page is a collection of original stories centered around relationships, family, faith, mystery, difficult choices, secrets, consequences, healing, and unexpected turns.

Some stories may make you angry.

Some may make you laugh.

Some may cause you to say, “There is no way she should have done that!”

Others may remind you of someone you know.

And every now and then, you may encounter a character who reminds you a little too much of yourself.

You might find yourself inside stories such as The Day My Daughter Came Home, The House My Mother Left Me, The Last Seat in the Pew, Before I Say I Do, The Other Mrs. Harris, or The Prayer List.

Each story begins with a situation.

But situations have consequences.

Secrets have a way of surfacing.

Decisions create new chapters.

And sometimes one moment changes everything that comes after it.

So Before You Judge a Character…

Keep reading.

Because the person who appears guilty in Chapter One may look very different by Chapter Ten.

The marriage that seems perfect may have cracks nobody has noticed.

The person you believe is the villain may be carrying information you haven’t discovered yet.

And the character you are cheering for may eventually make a decision you never expected.

That is part of the journey.

We rarely understand an entire life from one chapter.

Perhaps that is true outside of fiction, too.

Welcome to The Next Page

If you enjoy stories that make you think, feel, question, wonder, and occasionally stay awake saying, “Let me read just one more chapter,” I think you will feel at home here.

Come meet the characters.

Discover their secrets.

Choose who you believe.

Change your mind if you need to.

And when you think you know exactly where the story is going…

turn the page.

Because sometimes everything changes on The Next Page.

Stories by Deborah

The Next Page — Where Curiosity Turns the Page.