A Logical Fallacy Toolkit

by Roseanna | Jan 29, 2026 | Hard Topics, Thoughtful Thursdays

A few years ago, when my son was beginning high school and we were debating what electives he should take, I did something dangerous.

I bought a Logic curriculum for him. I knew that Rowyn already valued logical arguments–I hear him regularly chatting on Discord with his gamer friends, so I knew he took perhaps too much joy in dismantling their statements when they didn’t satisfy his logical mind, LOL. So I figured, let’s make sure he’s doing it right.

Feeding the beast? Well, maybe. 😉 But as the textbook arrived and I was flipping through it, I realized that my own education in spotting logical fallacies is sorely lacking. My husband is better at it, but me? Not so much. I had no idea what the names were for those things that frustrated me in conversation, or why sometimes something felt “off” in a response, or manipulative, but I didn’t know why.

And of course, as I learned a bit more about these fallacies, I also learned where I tend to fall into them as well. Sigh. Don’t you just hate it when you set out to learn why others are wrong and instead learn where you are? 😉

Given how many of these I see in my own social media feed every single day, I figure either I’m not the only one who doesn’t just “get” these things intuitively…or people are doing it deliberately. Because I’m always a “give them the benefit of the doubt” kind of person, I’m assuming the first. And so…maybe you could benefit from this list too. And I know I need it!

Please note that I am using examples from BOTH sides of the political aisle; sometimes examples I’ve seen from both are provided for the same Fallacy; sometimes I alternate and will use a Conservative statement in one and the a Liberal statement in the next. Sometimes just general examples that easily apply to both. Cuz we all do these, friends!)

(This list is based on one from Grammarly, with a couple extra thrown in. They all have my take on them and, where it didn’t require too much time spent digging on my part, examples from my own social media feed.)

Ad Hominem

Tell: Attacking the person instead of the argument.
Example: “You’re wrong because you’re just a [label],” instead of addressing the actual claim.
Why it’s wrong: The truth of a position doesn’t depend on who says it.

Red Herring

Tell: Distracting from the argument by bringing up something irrelevant to the current discussion.
Example: “I think parents should have more say about school curriculum” is answered with “If Conservatives really cared about kids, they’d want to talk about gun violence in schools.”
Why it’s wrong: It sidetracks the discussion with a separate topic instead of engaging the actual issue being discussed.

Straw Man

Tell: Misrepresenting someone’s argument to make it easier to attack.
Example: “Schools should admit systemic racism as part of history” is met with “You want to teach kids to hate America.”
Why it’s wrong: It argues against something they didn’t actually say. Thing to remember: if you have to exaggerate someone’s argument in order to defeat it, then you haven’t defeated it.

Equivocation

Tell: Using a word in different ways to mislead.
Example: “Freedom” is a common one where meanings get misinterpreted in the conversation. Examples from both sides: “Freedom means people should be free to live without discrimination” is met with “Freedom doesn’t meant freedom from consequences.” Or “This government mandate on gun control overreaches individual freedom” is met with “I think our kids should have freedom to live safely.”
Why it’s wrong: The word shifts in meaning mid-argument.

Slippery Slope

Tell: Predicting extreme outcomes without evidence.
Example: “If we don’t deport everyone, next thing you know borders won’t exist” or “If we allow this speaker on our campus, the next stop is fascism.”
Why it’s wrong: It assumes progression without causal proof.

Hasty Generalization

Tell: Jumping to a broad conclusion from too little evidence.
Example: “There are three examples of this people group committing crimes, therefore they’re all criminals.”
Why it’s wrong: Too small a sample to justify the conclusion.

Appeal to Authority

Tell: Claiming something is true just because an authority said it.
Example: “A famous person said it — so it must be true.”
Why it’s wrong: Authorities can be wrong or irrelevant.

False Dilemma / False Dichotomy

Tell: Presenting only two options when more exist.
Example: “Either we deport everyone or let rapists stay” or “If we don’t ban guns our kids will be gunned down in schools.”
Why it’s wrong: It ignores the real range of possibilities.

Bandwagon Fallacy

Tell: Saying something is true or right because “everyone believes it.”
Example: “Everyone thinks X, so X must be true.”
Why it’s wrong: Popularity ≠ truth.

Appeal to Ignorance

Tell: Claiming something is true because it hasn’t been proven false (or vice versa).
Example: “This regulation won’t help the economy” is met with “You don’t know it won’t, so let’s pass it.”
Why it’s wrong: Lack of evidence isn’t proof.

Circular Argument

Tell: Using the conclusion as the premise — no real support.
Example: “He was justified because he had to do it,” without independent evidence.
Why it’s wrong: It goes in a loop instead of reasoning.

Sunk Cost Fallacy

Tell: Staying committed just because you’ve invested time/effort.
Example: “I’ve already argued this position for years; changing now would be admitting defeat.”
Why it’s wrong: Past investment doesn’t justify continuing.

Appeal to Pity

Tell: Using emotional sympathy instead of logic.
Example: “You must agree because it’s heartbreaking.”
Why it’s wrong: Pathos can highlight stakes but not prove a point.

Causal Fallacy

Tell: Assuming causation just because of correlation or timing.
Example: “When X happened, Y happened, so X must have caused Y.”
Why it’s wrong: Correlation ≠ causation.

Appeal to Hypocrisy/Whataboutism (Tu Quoque and Tu Quoque Adjacent)

Tell: Dismissing someone’s argument by calling out hypocrisy.
Example: “You criticize this policy but your side did the same.”
Why it’s wrong: Hypocrisy doesn’t make the original argument incorrect.

Poisoning the Well

Tell: Using a preemptive move that makes further discussion socially unacceptable
Example: “If you agree with that, you’re not a Christian.”
Why it’s wrong: It admits no nuance in an issue and assumes that there is only one issue that defines “good.” It stops discussion rather than engaging with it.

Why Now?

by Roseanna | Jan 29, 2026 | Hard Topics, Thoughtful Thursdays

I’ve had several people ask, either privately or in a comment on my posts lately, a very kind version of “What are you thinking, crazy lady? You’ve got enough going on, fighting cancer. Why are you deciding to talk politics now??”

And they have a point, LOL. (And no one put it that way, I’m being tongue-and-cheek and funny…)

But also…this, too, is important, and I’d like to explain.

I already talked about the year-long journey I’ve been on, and how a year ago, I was just angry and wanted to hold people accountable. How now, I want to understand and heal. Not to talk politics, but to talk about real issues, hard topics that matter. In that “A Time to Speak” post, there was one thing I didn’t go into on this journey.

October 2025.

If you’ve been following me for long, then you know that in 2024, I battled breast cancer. The fight took me into 2025, when I completed radiation treatments in January and then my “blocker” treatments in May. In July, I had my final reconstruction surgery after my bilateral mastectomy. I thought I was done. I thought I’d won.

Then came October, when a brain MRI for an unrelated pituitary issue revealed a tumor in my brain, in the right cerebellum. I know I’ve talked both here and on social media about how hard it hit, and my journey through that. But there are some things I didn’t get into, largely because they were too painful for my family.

I’m going to talk about them now because they are a big part of this.

In those two weeks between the discovery of the tumor and when we had definitive test results, my doctors were sure–SURE–I was in Stage 4 cancer. They were sure it was in my lymph nodes and all through my body. They were sure that palliative care was going to be my fate. They assured me they could keep the cancer in check and still give me years (probably), but let me try to put words to what was going on in my heart and mind.

In those two weeks, I was staring death in the face. Maybe not an immediate death–but that didn’t make it better. I was asking myself, “What if I only have two years left? Or five? Or even ten? What if I don’t get to see my kids get married? What if I spend those years sick and miserable? What if I can’t write the books God’s laid on my heart? What if this is the thing that kills me, and it happens soon?”

Even thinking these questions now makes me cry, guys. Because it’s no less present, just because the scans are clear. It’s no less a real question for me. And it comes with more questions too.

“What really matters?”

During those two weeks, I’ll be honest. I couldn’t read the news. I just…couldn’t. And it wasn’t because I didn’t care about the events or think they mattered. It was because I couldn’t handle the hatred I saw. Every time I glimpsed something, I just wanted to cry, “Don’t you understand? Don’t you understand that you are wasting time on hatred that could be spent on love? On tearing down instead of building up? Why? Why are you spending your precious minutes and hours and days and weeks and months on this? Don’t you see what a tragic waste that is?”

Because when you realize how finite your life is…you are keenly aware of how you’re spending it.

I’ve always given a lot to my legacy, to what I want to be remembered for. When I talk to authors about time management and marketing, that is in fact one of the things I invite them to consider as one of the guiding factors to how they prioritize their time and what governs their outreach.

I want to be remembered as someone who loves, not someone who hates.

I want to be remembered as someone who builds, not someone who tears down.

I want to be remembered as someone who listens, not someone who shouts.

I want to be remembered as someone who uses stories to speak Christ to hurting hearts, not to profit.

I want to be remembered as someone who focuses on others, not just herself.

And as I faced the very real possibility of a short life before me, I realized something else. It’s not enough to just not do the negatives. I have to actively do the positives. Because love isn’t the absence of hate–it’s something more than that, something that requires me to do, to act, to live it out. Similarly, building isn’t just the lack of tearing down. Listening isn’t just the lack of shouting. Not being greedy doesn’t mean working for Christ. And not focusing solely on me doesn’t mean I’m focusing on you.

It isn’t enough to not do. We have to do as well.

As someone who haaaaaaaates conflict (I literally feel sick to my stomach whenever conflict arises, and sometimes migraines even follow), it’s easy for me to just keep my head down. Simpler.

But this is only peacekeeping. And Jesus didn’t say the “peacekeepers” were blessed. He said the peacemakers were.

Making is also an action. This is something I’ve written about before, in a post called “Peace: Keeping or Making?” in which I observe the following:

We’re called to CREATE that soul-deep, “all is well” peace. We’re called to create it with love, with faith, with sacrifice, and with hope. Not with lies, compromises, insults, and division.

The peace of Christ is when you would rather die than deny Him–and rather be killed than kill.
The peace of Christ is when you help those who hurt you.
The peace of Christ is when you love the unlovable.
The peace of Christ is when you welcome the outcast, not cast out the one who has offended you.
The peace of Christ is when you greet an insult with a compliment.
The peace of Christ is when you seek to understand rather than to be understood.
The peace of Christ is when you answer a demand with a gift.

And do you know what happens when we do that? Jesus tells us, right there in the Sermon on the Mount.

We are called sons of God.
Heirs of the Kingdom of God.
Brothers and sisters of Christ.
We are given authority in Heaven and on Earth.
We are made like Him.

Peace, my friends, is something not just to seek, not just to preserve, but to make. It’s an active practice. And it doesn’t rely on pleasing people–it relies 100% on pleasing God by our interactions with them. On remembering that He loves them every bit as much as He loves us. And on treating them like they, too, are a son or daughter of God.

That ought to change everything.

So why am I tackling this now, in a year when I’m getting more chemo infusions (I really want to call these “blocker” treatments too, but the fact is that my team calls them chemo. Not full chemo. But they’re chemo.)? In a year when I’ve been promised I’ll be exhausted? In a year when I already have too much on my plate, given that?

Because this is the time I have. This is the time God stirred my heart to speak. This is the time the world is hurting for these conversations so, so much. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. I don’t know where the world will be in a year, when I’m (hopefully and prayerfully) better again. I don’t know if I have another day or another century left on this earth (how’s that last part for optimism?).

But I have now. And so now is the time I will use for the most important things.

The stories He gives me. The people He gives me. The opportunities He gives me.

I will obey, and I will trust Him to provide where I lack. Maybe nothing will come of it. Maybe it’ll take off and I’ll have to bow out. Maybe it’ll just be me talking into what feels like empty space.

Or maybe it will take a cancer patient doing the work to convict other people to do it too. I don’t know.

I just know that I don’t want to be remembered as someone who was silent when God asked her to speak. I don’t want my legacy to be burying my head, just like I don’t want it to be shouting at people. I want it to be modeling a better way. Showing my children that we can still engage with people, whether we agree with them or not. We can still love. And we can also exhort–from that place of love. We can seek to learn and pray that others will continue to do the same.

We can do better. But it starts with each of us. And when I stand before God–whether that’s soon or not–I want to be able to say, “I obeyed. I loved. I built. I served.”

Why now? Because I am so keenly aware that we’re never guaranteed “later.” And I don’t want to waste whatever time I have giving anything less than my whole heart to the world.

Health Update Post Infusion 1

by Roseanna | Jan 21, 2026 | Cancer Journey, Thoughtful Thursdays

I had my first infusion for what I’ve been thinking of as my “cancer blocker treatment” on January 7, so today, over two weeks later, I figured it would be a good time to update you on how I’m doing.

These infusions are NOT full chemo. They’re somewhat similar to treatments I had after surgery in 2024, going into May of 2025, and with those, I had zero side effects. So it’s been my hope and prayer that I would respond similarly with these. These, however, are not quite the same and do include a sizable list of possible side effects–most of which are things like stomach issues and thinning hair, but the serious one is a lung condition. (I DEFINITELY appreciate prayers that I don’t experience any serious ones!)

I’ll admit I got a little emotional when I went in on the 7th and my doctors were refilling my anti-nausea meds…and when the infusion had pre-meds for anti-nausea as well. Because I know that when I was on chemo, I felt nauseous every day. Every day from mid-May until the end of August. And y’all, I do not want to feel sick every day for the next year, so that hit me hard. Hopefully I won’t, but I did definitely get some of that belly-upset in the days immediately following the infusion. No vomitting or anything, so praise God for that…but about 8 days of feeling crummy, and seriously exhausted for the first 2 or 3. As in, sit down to read after dinner and fall asleep instead, which I never do.

The bright side was that I went in with a cold, but the steroids they gave me opened my nose up and helped me get over it, LOL. I’ll take my wins wherever I can!

I was also warned that I’m very likely to feel more tired than usual in general. Which isn’t great, given that I have 7-8 books to write this year, so prayers are VERY much appreciated for me on the energy front. One of my big goals for the year is to figure out how to rebalance my schedule to allow for more, better time for writing, which will likely mean taking time from my design schedule. Prayers for wisdom in how to juggle all those things greatly appreciated too!

They do also consider me to be immune-compromised while on this treatment, so I’ll be going back into “careful” mode, masking in crowds and avoiding anyone I know is sick.

But my oncologist did also make it VERY clear that his goal is to get me off this treatment as quickly as possible. It will still likely be a year of infusions (though likely with a break in there for my next reconstruction surgery), but he does NOT want me to be on this indefinitely, and that’s music to my ears.

As for that next surgery…so my initial reconstruction isn’t doing so well, and radiation is no doubt to blame. It can (and clearly did) damage the whole area, not just the skin but the muscles and everything else in there. In my case, my right side has tightened, meaning daily pain. The area itself is still always sore and sometimes outright painful, and even my neck/shoulder muscles have been effected. When I last saw my PT and told her that my hand was tingly, we quickly determined it was from the muscles in my neck and shoulder. When we finished the diagnostic exercises that verified that and she got to work on it, it earned a “Dang, girl!” LOL. So…yeah. I’ve been doing the exercises she gave me, but I still get a tingly hand every couple days and frequently either wake up or end my day with super tight neck/shoulder muscles that result in a splitting headache.

On Monday, I had an appointment with my surgeon, who agrees that our next step should be to remove the current reconstruction and do the deep-tissue method, which uses belly fat/skin to reshape the breasts. This is where I wanted to end up eventually, I was just hoping to defer it to “down the road.” Because I’ll be honest–I’m tired of surgeries, LOL. And timing this one is tricky. My oncologist will have to clear it, and when I spoke to him about the possibility on the 7th, he said that if my scans in March are clear, then he will be comfortable pausing the infusions while I undergo and recuperate from surgery.

Because it’s a big one. It’s long and complicated, and that means recovery is too, requiring a solid eight weeks, from those I’ve spoken to who have had it. My oncologist (a) wouldn’t want me dealing with side effects from infusions while also dealing with this recovery and (b) chemo can in fact slow and interfere with recovery in general. So there we go.

As of today, I feel good. But the cycle begins again next Thursday…so prayers are very much appreciated, and I thank you all so much for them!

Given to Tears

by Roseanna | Jan 15, 2026 | Thoughtful Thursdays

In my P&P groups, we have several members who “process through tears.” A phrase I’ve always been familiar with, because I have many friends and family members who do the same.

I’ve never been much of a crier. When I was a young teenager, we got the news that my grandfather had cancer, and while the rest of my family cried, I…couldn’t. Instead, I went back to my room and wrote a poem called “Why Do I Smile?” This is, in a nutshell, very typical of me. I don’t process through tears. I process through words. Not the speaking of them, but the writing of them. It’s not to say tears don’t ever come–they do. But through most of my adult life, I cried maybe twice a year. Sometimes in grief, from a loss. Sometimes in emotional pain. Once in a while in frustration.

Cancer has changed that for me. Specifically, this second round has changed it for me. Since last October, I’ve cried more than in the last decade combined. I cry when I feel my friends’ pain. I cry when I’m struck by the beauty of our Lord. I cry when I think about the future. I cry when I’ve disappointed someone. I only have to open my spirit to the Lord, and tears fill my eyes. On the one hand, this is very unlike me.

On the other, to exist in this state of emotional rawness is its own kind of blessing.

I’ll be honest. 2026 got off to a rough start for me. 2025 was ending well in a lot of ways, I thought. I’d spent Christmas week writing a fantasy novella as a sort of vacation, and I had a blast with it. I started it the Monday before Christmas and finished the Tuesday following. I felt so alive with story that I thought something along the lines of, “I can just do this every day. Just pour it all out in writing, get all those books on my calendar done in no time.”

Then came New Year’s Eve. The day ended with an email that hurt. That made it clear we’d disappointed someone, let them down, that we had failed. That was my final note of the year, and I’ll admit it. I wasn’t just hurt–I was angry. Why, why did this person have to send this email at 5pm on New Year’s Eve? Why couldn’t it have waited for Monday? To be clear, I’m not contesting her points. They were valid. But to send it at that moment felt spiteful to me.

And I crashed. I woke up on New Year’s Day upset with the world and everyone in it. I woke up crying tears of frustration. I tried to pour it all out to God, and I sounded like a whiny toddler, proclaiming, “I hate everything!” This is very unlike me. And to give myself a little grace, I’m sure it was due in large part to the migraine that struck, and the fact that I felt close to vomiting all day. I took an unplanned two-hour nap, cancelled the day’s dinner plans (because even smelling the bread I’d made for it made me feel nauseous), and curled up with a book.

And I cried. That day, and into the second. I cried because this wasn’t how I wanted to start my year. This wasn’t how I wanted to feel. I dug around inside myself and just couldn’t grab hold of the grace I knew I needed, the forgiveness, the peace. All I could find was the hurt. All I could find were the tears.

But you know what? That’s okay. There have been so, so many times over the years when I wished I could cry. When I longed for that emotional release, but I couldn’t dig it up. When whatever it is in my makeup that makes me tend toward smiles and optimism no matter what just wouldn’t let go, even when I needed to deal with emotions.

Now, I found those tears. And I let them come. I let out the frustration, I let out the hurt, I let out the disappointment in myself. I still didn’t process through tears like my friends do. I still needed the words to really work through it.

But the tears…they’ve become a sort of magnifier for me. Through them, I can see the world a little differently. They’ve become a sort of reminder of baptism, an anointing almost. A reminder that He cleansed me. He made me anew. He made me whole. He washed away my sins, and He’ll continue to work in me. Continue to wipe away those smudges.

Will the tears continue for this veteran-non-crier? I have no idea. Maybe so–maybe the rest of my life, I’ll be one of those people who cry whenever I’m moved. That would be fine. Or maybe as I put cancer behind me again (my prayer!), my usual way will reassert itself. That would be fine too.

What I know is this: In this year that began with tears, my prayer is that they water my heart. Soften the soil of it. Nurture the seeds that the Lord has planted inside me, so that I can bear whatever fruit He wants to bring forth. I pray that these tears make me more sympathetic, more understanding, more generous, more kind. I pray they make me a better friend. A better person. A better Christian. More like Him.

Sometimes, we’re told that Jesus was moved with compassion. But we’re also told that Jesus wept. Even when He knew what He was about to do, even when He knew that this death of his friend would be reversed in glory, He still felt it. He still mourned it. He still cried.

Maybe, like “classic” me, you’re not given to tears. Maybe, like “new” me, you are. However you tend to process your emotions, I pray that in the year to come, as the world becomes ever more divided, ever more given to outrage, ever harsher, that we can become softer. Gentler. More loving. And always ready to grow in Him, like those seeds buried in the ground, just waiting to spring forth once they receive that life-giving water.

Four Years of Patrons and Peers!

by Roseanna | Jan 8, 2026 | Thoughtful Thursdays

AWhat is Patrons & Peers?

Four years ago, I decided to start a patron group. It was something my husband and I discussed briefly on a walk, and the thought just burrowed down deep and wouldn’t let me go, so I did that thing I do, which boggles my husband’s mind. I put my nose to the grindstone and developed it in the next week, then launched it. Without testing, without surveys, without anything but a vague hope of making some new friends, I launched Patrons & Peers on January 6, 2022. There are two levels: the Patrons, who can come in for as little as $5 a year and have access to all the community aspects and digital stuff; and the Peers, who come in at $15/mo or more and get all the physical stuff, like all my books when they release, without having to order them.

I remember the excitement when the order came in for the first subscription–a young woman named Hannah. Then I remember the laughter when, not long after, another order came in–another young woman named Hannah. For a couple hours there, I thought we were going to be the Hannah-Roseannas. Then others started joining too.

By the end of the first year, we were 30 strong. Now, at the end of the fourth year, we’re 52 strong. We’ve had some ladies who had to bow out. We’ve had some who stepped away for a season and returned. We’ve had new members who faithfully renew but don’t have the time or energy to engage with the community. But the core of the group–this amazing group of women–is something I hoped and prayed for, but which I’m still so in awe of.

Because this group has become a family…the sort that’s always excited to welcome in a new sister, a new friend.

The Dream

In 2020, my husband and I read Dream Big by Bob Goff and did the study (twice, actually–once with an in-person group and then we led a group via Zoom). Part of this program is writing down your big, crazy, out-there dreams. The things you wish you could do but don’t necessarily know how. The things you can’t control. The things that you certainly can’t do alone.

One of mine was “build a community.”

I didn’t honestly know what I meant. Was I thinking about a physical community? An online one? Something else altogether? I wasn’t sure, but I knew that the dream of it burned in my heart. I’d tried, in other ways. With my #BeBetter group…with my Seeing the Story site. Both of which flopped. So when I started a patron group, I really didn’t know what to expect. Would it work? Would it not? Would it just be me talking into the ether, no one paying attention? Would they take me seriously when I invited them to share their dreams, their passions, their lives? Would that be too weird?

But they did take me seriously. And maybe it was because some of the first ladies to join were our resident Extroverts, LOL–but they jumped in with both feet, opened up, shared their lives with us–their struggles, their concerns, their loves, their passions, what fueled them. And as others joined, they followed suit. And guys, when you have a place where vulnerability and openness is the norm…something amazing happens. It becomes a place of love. Of friendship. Where judgment cannot penetrate. Where friction is quickly smoothed over by genuine compassion and a desire to understand each other.

Looking Back

In our four years of P&P, we’ve gained some nicknames, like when Bonnie F from NC dubbed us “her Roseanna Girls,” and it stuck. In there, we also have subsets, like “the Houston girls,” “the Cali girls,” and “the fantasy girls.” While I have the easy definition of being able to refer to them as “my patron group,” they have a harder time trying to convey to outsiders what this awesome family is, so they usually end up calling it something like, “my book group” or “my group of reader friends” or “my book club.”

We’ve gone on three different retreats together–one to Georgia that first fall, where only five of us ended up making it after another got sick and had to cancel; one to the Outer Banks, where we had about fifteen total, but largely in two groups as people came and went midweek; and then this past November in Colorado Springs, to see the ballet of Christmas at Sugar Plum Manor, where there were seventeen. The first two were creative retreats, so during the day we’d write or quilt or paint or read or watch those classes we’d purchased but hadn’t had time to do yet, then we’d fellowship in the evenings. This last one was pure fellowship. (Also, after the Outer Banks trip, I was “fired” from planning them, LOL, when I made a mistake that totally stressed me out, and my darling husband decided that I should just show up and enjoy it. He’d planned on taking it over, but member Candice begged to be the one to do so, so we happily let her! The awesome CO Springs trip was thanks to her and the ladies she recruited to help, and it was AMAZING.)

We’ve discovered that quite a big percentage of our members are from the Houston, TX area, so the “Houston Girls” get together several times a year. They’ll go out to dinner, go to a bookstore, have book exchange parties…

Whenever one of us travels to an area where another lives, there are lunches or dinners arranged so they can meet in person, and they always send photos. There for a while, Cali-Hannah (one of those first two members, who lives in California) had met more of the ladies in person than I had!

We have added every form of communication imaginable, LOL. We have an address database, for cards and letters and gifts. We have the Marco Polo video chat app, which was one of our first methods of communication (and seeing each other’s faces and hearing voices does SUCH amazing things for connecting us!). We have an email list, which is where announcements and links go, as well as updates and prayer requests. We have a traditional text group. And when we got too big for that, most of us migrated to the GroupMe app.

Which means that we are chatting every day. Seriously. There isn’t a day that goes by without P&P communication, and I love that so much!

We have subgroups–the fantasy readers started by creating a fantasy sub-group on Marco Polo. Those who were lured into reading The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Nicole (ALL YOUR FAULT! LOL) now have a GroupMe group called Whereabouts Lane (the street where Emma lives in London), where we chat about Emma and the books and the merch we find. We have a pen pal group started recently for those who want to send physical letters to each other…which was started because the kids of the group wanted to write to each other! (It’s becoming multi-generational! I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!!)

Every time I have a book release, we schedule a “tea party.” These are inspired by my public Tea Party Book Club chats, but I don’t send out packages, and they’re only open to P&P members. We get together on Zoom, we talk through the book, and we spend usually 2+ hours at it, first focusing (mostly, LOL) on the story and then just chatting. And as of yesterday, we’ve decided to add a regular monthly Zoom chat where we’ll talk about a backlist book.

We also love to send out “encouragement bombs,” as I’ve taken to calling them, when a member is sick or going through a hard time or has just lost a loved one. They might be care packages, a deluge of cards, monetary donations, or meals. They might come in the mail, they might be delivered by another nearby member. I put the first one or two together, but since then, it’s been other members reaching out and saying, “Hey, I think we need to bless ____. I’m happy to spearhead the effort!” And I LOVE THIS SO MUCH!!! I love that this group is not only generous but so tuned in to the struggles of each other and so quick to want to help.

We also have an annual ornament exchange through Elfster, organized by another of the Houston ladies, Caroline. This is always a highlight to kick-off the Christmas season!

Looking Forward

What’s coming for this group? Much of it will be a continuation of what we already do and love so much. We’ll keep chatting. We’ll keep Zooming. We’ll keep reading books together. We’ll keep meeting up whenever we can. And as I just mentioned above, we just decided yesterday to add a regular Saturday meet-up on Zoom once a month, to chat about one of my backlist titles, and everyone is SO excited to have that regular time to hang out on the calendar!

We’re for sure planning another beach retreat for our FIFTH year, this fall. Thus far, we’re leaning toward Pensacola Beach in October.

But we’re planning way ahead, too. We’ve decided that for our TENTH anniversary retreat, we’re going to Europe. We haven’t decided where, exactly. Maybe the Isles of Scilly. Or maybe Northumberland (where the manor house I based Fairfax Tower on is an actual Air BnB! But, sadly, no circus is in residence, LOL). Maybe Paris. Who knows? We’ve got a few years to figure that part out, but we’re already saying it’s a for-sure thing, so everyone has time to save up and get or renew their passports. =)

What These Ladies Mean to Me

I get teary when I ask myself this question. Because these ladies, these friends, these sisters have become part of my daily life. They have been there, supporting me and praying for me and encouraging me, through the hard chapters of cancer. They never tire of hearing about my stories. When I need someone to take a look at something before I turn it into my editor, they’re the ones I reach out to. Deanna read Yesterday’s Tides for me, to help me with the sign language. Lee Anne read A Noble Scheme for me, to help me work through an editorial suggestion that was frustrating me. Danielle, Pam, and Marisa read The Spy Keeper of Marseille to weigh in on pacing concerns. Nearly the whole group reads my fantasies before they release, in Alpha (as soon as I finish, before I edit at all), Beta (after my big edits), and Gamma (final proofread) shifts.

Their generosity astounds me. Their support holds me up. Their love for each other inspires me. I cannot imagine, now, life without this group. When we get together, in person or online, it’s like walking into a room with your best friends. When I met some for the first time this last November, I couldn’t quite believe I’d never hugged them before, because we know each other so well. We’ve done so much life together!

And it’s certainly not just about what they do for me. It’s about how I see them building such strong friendships with each other. It’s when one member reaches out because she knows another in going through a hard time, and she asks what we can do. It’s the care packages they spearhead sending. It’s the soup and flowers we send to members who’ve lost loved ones. It’s the meet-ups they arrange. And it’s the fact that one sister can get on in tears, afraid she said something to offend another, and the other is so quick to hop on too and reach out with love. We’ve had some disagreements here and there–but they’re always handled like the Church should handle them, with grace and affection and the certainty that the other meant only the best.

It’s the bridal party we threw via Zoom. It’s the school-supply drive we all pitched in on for a church in Texas. It’s the friend who will drive four hours to visit someone before a hospitalization. It’s the fact that when one of us gets hard news, we come and share it there FIRST, often before even talking to family, because we all know this is a place of love and safety, where we can work through things in vulnerability before we have to be strong for someone else. Where we know we’ll have prayer warriors supporting us as we have those hard conversations with our loved ones.

It’s the fact that these women are the Church.

What These Ladies Mean to Each Other

And that’s enough of my musing. I asked them to pipe in too, with their own thoughts on the group. So I’ll let them take it from here.

Patrons & Peers is such a special place. Within the group I have found laughs, prayer partners, camaraderie. They understand me when I stay up all night reading and we pray together when dealing with life’s hurdles. When we get together—whether that be online or in person—it feels like a family reunion and is literally a time full of love and laughter. I’m so grateful to Roseanna for starting such a thing. Cheers to the past two years (for me) and onward to the next two and beyond!

Bethany A.

Currently living in Missouri, but her heart is still in Indiana..., Member since 2022

This is a phenomenal group of women – the sisters I never had growing up. We laugh with each other, pray for each other, and surround each other with support when life gets hard. The friendships we have formed are incredible. At our retreat this past November, it wasn’t like we were meeting everyone for the first time – even though most of us had never met in person before. It was like going to a family reunion with people you hadn’t seen in ages. This group has challenged me to grow my faith and allowed me to be a book worm in the best possible way!

Deanna D.

from Pennsylvania, Member since January 2022

This group has been such a blessing. These ladies not only pray for one another but truly care. We can share as much or as little as we want. Everyone is so encouraging and kind. Its been so neat to see how the group has grown. I love the tea parties when we get to see each other. Group Me and Marco Polo have been a wonderful way to get to know each other as well. As someone who is not in Social Media this group is nothing like that. I am so thankful for all these ladies who have become my friends. It’s amazing to see how the Lord has brought us together with a love for Roseanna’s books and now we all have gotten wonderful friendships.

Melessa

from California, Member since 2023

P&P is a true treasure! This group is the community that I prayed for and one that has become so dear to my heart. God blessed this group in a special way and I look forward to growing in faith-filled friendships with the amazing ladies that have become some of my most cherished friends.

Colleen Marie

from Maryland, Member since 2024

I joined this group to support Roseanna and her writing, but I have found that I am the one being supported. This community is so precious. I love that we can talk about books and baseball and send photos and silly memes—and then seamlessly switch over to serious prayer needs and personal concerns. I can be really active and present in the group at times, but other times I get busy and can’t participate so much—but always, always, coming back is so easy. There’s no awkwardness when I get back, no “resettling in”; I know I’m still welcome and still belong. I also really treasure the openness of all these ladies. We come from many different backgrounds and denominations, but we are really just here as simple sisters in Christ. It is such an uplifting, encouraging, and…I’m searching for the word…spiritually valuable?…group to me. My heart, mind, and spirit are always refreshed here.

Nicole D

from Texas, Member since 2022

Roseanna was already a favorite author of mine, and my cover designer, so when she opened up P&P, signing up was not a question for me. What I didn’t expect was the impact of this community. These women have become some of my dearest sisters-in-Christ. We celebrate and pray for one another. And getting to meet in person feels like seeing an old friend I’ve known for ages. I’m incredibly grateful Roseanna created such a welcoming place. It has blessed me more than I can express.

Danielle Grandinetti

from Wisconsin, Member since January 2022

I joined P&P because I was intrigued with what lay behind the curtain in Roseanna’s writing world. What I didn’t realize, is that I would quickly gain a sisterhood. We bonded over our love of books, but Christ has truly given us all a gift of deep friendship with one another!

Hannah Allen

from Texas, Member since January 2022 (one of those first two members)

The Patrons and Peers group has been a lifeline for me emotionally and spiritually. These women are amazing encouragers, gracious in giving grace, so generous with their time, their talents, and even their finances. Each woman brings a wisdom from their individual experiences with God and with their communities that gives so many wonderful perspectives and ideas. I am blessed to call each one of these ladies my friend and have been priviledged to grow beside them for the past several years.

Laura Heagy

from Kansas, Member since 2022

That first year, I thought it would be fun to try supporting Roseanna for a year, get copies of all her new books that year, and see how it went. After the first year, there was no question – P&P had become such a wonderful family of sisters who all love the Lord Jesus and love Roseanna’s books, and as we got to know each other through Zoom book discussions, prayer requests shared and prayed for, pictures, etc, we all loved each other too! How could I turn my back on such a great group of gals! This year, being able to attend the retreat in Colorado and meet in person so many of those dear people, I kept pinching myself to make sure I was really there, and really getting to hug, laugh with, eat with, talk with, and play with these special women! Despite sharing 3 bathrooms for 15 or so people, (mostly women), all from different parts of the country and from different paths to following Jesus, there was no major complaining, no arguing or fighting (except the fun kind), just enjoying time together. It’s a foretaste of heaven!

Margaret N

from Northern California, Member since January 2022

I struggle to adequately define Patrons and Peers (P&P) to people who are not part of the group. It is, on the surface, a funding tool for an author I love—but that description feels far too impersonal. It is perhaps like an online book club, yet that comparison also leaves out so much of what makes P&P so dear to me. It is a collection of women from different parts of the country, of different ages and backgrounds, united by a love of books and of God—and still, it is difficult to put into words how much I value their place in my life.

I initially joined the Patrons and Peers group because I enjoyed Roseanna’s books and thought it would be a fun way to receive a free copy of each new release while learning a little more about the stories behind them. I am not a writer—just a self-professed introverted book nerd who loves Christian historical fiction—and the P&P perks seemed like a good deal. What I have actually received over the past four years, however, is far more than I could have ever imagined. I have learned so much about the process an author goes through to turn an idea into a story, and then to craft that story into the novel I eventually hold in my hands. I’ve gained insight into editorial processes and publishing details I never knew existed, and I’ve even been given opportunities to participate in story development and editing. I’ve been introduced to genres I never would have tried otherwise, and I now appreciate far more deeply the love and effort behind every book I read—not just Roseanna’s.

Yet insight into the background of books is only a small part of the impact this group has had on my life. In my fellow P&Ps—or “Roseanna Girls,” as I affectionately call them—I have found a sisterhood of kindred spirits: fellow book lovers, prayer partners, encouragers, and friends—a bookish sorority of sorts. I never imagined such meaningful relationships could grow from an online community, but through the various platforms we use to connect, I have come to know not only their names, but their voices, their families, their pets, their jobs, their joys, their hopes, and their fears. We share book recommendations, recipes, advice, and burdens. We pray for one another, encourage one another, and walk alongside each other through both life-changing events and the ordinary struggles of daily life. In short, these Roseanna Girls have become treasured friends, and our in-person retreats in various locations are now much-anticipated delights.

I understand that, from the outside looking in, joining a group like this may feel intimidating. Please don’t worry—there is no pressure to participate beyond what you are comfortable with. You will benefit from P&P even if you simply sign up to receive the books and updates from Roseanna. You can choose to connect with the other Roseanna Girls through email, text, GroupMe, Marco Polo, Zoom parties—or you can remain happily in the background. This group has a place for you, no matter how interactive you choose to be.

Bonnie F

from North Carolina, Member since January 2022

Join the P&P Community

2026 Word of the Year – WORD

by Roseanna | Jan 1, 2026 | Holidays, Thoughtful Thursdays, Word of the Year

Okay, Roseanna. You’re getting a little too literal here. Last year you chose the word choose. And this year, your word is WORD?

Yeah, I know. A little too on the nose, as my husband laughingly said. But bear with me, LOL.

I sat down last Saturday to prayerfully consider my word, and I decided to start the day with the liturgical readings. December 27 is the feast day of St. John the Apostle…as in, the Gospel and Letter writer. John, known for his poetic opening lines that we all know so well:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. … ¹⁴And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Other options on my shortlist were rejoice, peace, light-bearer, and reflect. All things I saw in that scripture reading, all things which resonated with that pivotal word: the Word. The logos, as it is in Greek–a word with so complex a meaning that its entry in the lexicon is pages long.

Word. We might think of it as something simple–but it is far from it. It’s a creative force, the thing by which, the person through which, the entirety of the universe was created.

Words. Those things as critical to me as air. The things through which we communicate not only with each other but with God. The things by which I make my living.

I love words. This is no surprise. I am a self-proclaimed “word nerd.” I love the history of words, those etymologies I bring you every Monday. I love playing with them, finding new turns of phrase, using them to bring people and places and events to life for my readers.

But as I considered choosing such an obvious word as WORD for my “word of the year” (see how many times I had to use it just in that sentence? LOL. RIDICULOUS!), I nearly dismissed it for its lack of subtlety…but couldn’t, because it summed up what I want my focus to be this year.

I plan to write a LOT. I plan to read a lot. This is a given.

But as I’m writing and reading, I don’t want my focus only to be on my words. I want my focus to be on the Word I’m striving to reflect. The Word who shone in the darkness and who made me to be His light-bearer too, casting His light into all the dark places in our own hearts–in my heart. I want to cling to the Word who breathes peace into my heart even through troubles and travails and hard seasons. I want to shout the Word who puts joy in my heart and encourages me to rejoice in all things.

He is the Word of joy, of peace, of light that we are to carry forth and reflect.

So yes, for a writer, choosing WORD as my “word of the year” might seem like overkill. But as I write at least 7 books in the next calendar year (quite likely more), there are going to be a lot of words spilling out of my mind, through my fingers, and onto the page. Words that I hope entertain you, yes. Words that I hope keep you company and make you smile.

But this year, as I’ll yet again be going through cancer treatments, I’m keenly aware of how important each word I speak, write, pray, read, and think really are.

Our words are how the world knows us. Our words are how our thoughts are shaped; and those thoughts become our beliefs and our actions. Our words are forceful, creative things–and they can also be destructive things.

I want to remain aware of how I’m using all of mine. I want to be sure that all my words are worthy of the Word.

I have long claimed as one of my guiding verses 1 Samuel 3:19, where it says that the Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and “none of his words fell to the ground.”

That has always been my prayer as a writer. That none of my words fall to the ground, useless or destructive. I want my words to edify. To glorify Him.

What better word to guide a year that may well rack up more words in my count than any before?

Lord, let my words be a reflection of Your Word (the Bible) and Your Word (Jesus). May this year be one in which I remain always aware of the power you put in each of our hands with this gift of speech, of writing.

May 2026 be a year of light shining in the darkness. A year in which He speaks peace into our lives and hearts. A year of praises sung to Him, with shouts of the words “Glory!” and “Hallelujah!” May each word we choose to let into our lives be ones of edification…words worthy of the Word.

Have you chosen a Word of the Year for 2026? I’d love for you to share it with me!

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