By early May, more than 270,000 people have died around the world from the disease attributed to the new coronavirus. First identified in Wuhan, China in December, the virus has infected nearly four million worldwide, including well over a million in the U.S., which now lays claim to one in every four deaths.

I interviewed Lucas Kitchen today about his book Naked Grace. In this book, he tells the story of how he discovered the truth about grace, and why it is so important for you and I to learn these truths as well. If you have questions about eternal life, the message of the gospel, what it means to follow Jesus as a disciple, or how grace helps us defeat sin in our lives, listen to this interview.

Doesn't play well on iPhones, but bureaucrats rushed it out rather than wait months for perfection. Meanwhile serious bug reports have emerged

Australia’s “COVIDSafe” contact-tracing app was rushed to market in the knowledge it would perform poorly on some devices and without agreements in place to let actual contact-tracers use the data it collects. As a result, no collected data has been used in at least 10 days since its launch.…

Bernie Sanders does not have to win the Iowa primary; however, if the gets 35%, 40%, or 45% of the vote, that would set him up nicely for the New Hampshire primary, next door to his state of Vermont. Continue reading →

With the Republican establishment attempting to stop real estate mogul Donald Trump from receiving the GOP nomination, a new anti-Trump ad produced by the Emergency Committee for Israel alleges that Trump supports dictators. But what about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s record on dictators? Earlier this week, Clinton addressed the annual AIPAC conference, seeking to cast herself as a stronger ally to Israel than Donald Trump. We examine her record on Israel and U.S. foreign relations at large with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, co-founder of The Intercept. Continue reading →

Lingmo’s Translate One2One uses IBM Watson Artificial Intelligence technology to translate in natural language.

I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...

Book 3 (YA): ICE, a fantasy adventure about an Arctic research scientist & a talking polar bear. The #booknecklace for this one is an adorable polar bear pendant. At the book launch, a reader asked my favorite question ever: "Do you like bears that aren't polar bears?" Yes, I do.

ICE is a modern retelling of the Norwegian folktale East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon. I was inspired by a picture book illustrated by the phenomenal PJ Lynch -- specifically, the moment when the bear asks the "lassie" if she's afraid, and she says defiantly "No."

I wrote this book as a love letter to my husband. And to polar bears.

I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...

Book 4 (YA): ENCHANTED IVY is about getting into college. And talking gargoyles and were-tigers... It's set at Princeton University so my #booknecklace is a Princeton tiger.

There's a legend at Princeton that if you walk out the front gate before commencement, you won't graduate. That's what inspired ENCHANTED IVY, except I said if you walk out the gate, you cross into an alternate magical Princeton.

I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...

Book 5 (YA): DRINK SLAY LOVE, a snarky fantasy about a 16-year-old vampire who is stabbed through the heart by a unicorn and develops a conscience. My husband tried for a fang #booknecklace, but it was absurdly huge -- the size of actual teeth. So he also got me a unicorn.

I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...

Book 6 (YA): VESSEL is about defying destiny. Liyana is destined to sacrifice herself so a goddess can inhabit her body, but the goddess never comes. There are glass dragons in her world, so this #booknecklace is a glass dragon. I wear this one to book events all the time.

VESSEL is the only book I've ever written that was inspired by a dream. I dreamed about a girl dancing barefoot on the sand beneath the moon. She knew that when the dance ended, she would die. I woke up worrying about her and knew I had to write her story.

I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...

Book 7 (YA): CONJURED is the creepiest book I've ever written. So creepy I couldn't go into our basement while I was writing it. It's about a teen in the paranormal witness protection program. Lots of magic, a carnival, and a serial killer. Here it is with its #booknecklace.

I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...

Book 8 (adult): THE LOST is about a woman who is trapped in a town full of only lost things and lost people. My husband had a #booknecklace made for it that reads "Welcome to Lost," which is what it says on the sign outside of the town of Lost.

I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...

Book 9 (YA): CHASING POWER, an Indiana-Jones-style adventure about a girl with telekinesis and a boy who can teleport. Three magic stones play a key role in the story, so my #booknecklace (and earrings) contain three stones, possibly magical.

This book was so much fun to write! Kayla, the protagonist, has a minor power -- the ability to lift small (and only small) objects with her mind. Her true strength is her cleverness. I loved thinking up ways for her to have a big effect with a small amount of magic.

I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...

Book 10 (middle grade): THE GIRL WHO COULD NOT DREAM is about a girl whose family owns a dream shop where they buy, bottle, and sell dreams, and the adventure she goes on with her best friend, a monster named Monster who loves cupcakes. My #booknecklace is an adorable monster.

Usually my characters develop over the course of many revisions. But with Monster... It felt like he plopped down on my desk fully-formed and said, "Write my story! And feed me cupcakes!"

I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...

Book 11 (adult SFF): THE QUEEN OF BLOOD, Book 1 of The Queens of Renthia, is an epic fantasy set in a world filled with bloodthirsty nature spirits. Only queens have the power to control them. So my #booknecklace is a crown with a tiny blood-red stone.

Writing The Queens of Renthia was such a wonderfully immersive experience. Every day I sat down at my computer, it felt like walking through the wardrobe into Narnia... except it's a Narnia where the trees want to kill you.

I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...

Book 12 (middle grade): JOURNEY ACROSS THE HIDDEN ISLANDS is a fantasy adventure for kids about two sisters, one winged lion, and a LOT of monsters. My #booknecklace is a winged lion!

This book was born one day when I wandered into the kitchen and announced, "I want to write a book about a winged lion." My husband said, "Great! How about plot, characters...?" "Winged lion!" I shouted. And then I wrote it.

I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...

Book 13 (picture book): ROAR AND SPARKLES GO TO SCHOOL is my first picture book, art by the amazing Ben Whitehouse. Roar the dragon is worried about his first day of school, but luckily he has his big sister Sparkles to help him through it. My #booknecklace is a little dragon!

My favorite part of writing this book was inventing the dragon school -- imagining a day in the life of a draconian kindergartner. I knew from the start he'd char his lunch with his breath, play hide-and-seek-the-princess in gym, and ride a dragon bus to school!

I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...

Book 14 (adult SFF): THE RELUCTANT QUEEN, Book 2 of The Queens of Renthia. Bloodthirsty nature spirits, a dying queen, and a middle-aged woman who wants nothing to do with the power she could wield. This book shares a #booknecklace with THE QUEEN OF BLOOD but we added blood-red earrings!

I actually wrote 90 pages of THE RELUCTANT QUEEN (book 2) before I wrote THE QUEEN OF BLOOD (book 1). My editor at Harper Voyager, the awesome David Pomerico, read the pages and said, "Can this be book two?" And now I can't imagine it being any different.

In THE RELUCTANT QUEEN, I wrote my first middle-aged heroine. She's definitely not the last! The protagonist of my upcoming RACE THE SANDS is a badass middle-aged single mom!

I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...

Book 15 (MG): THE STONE GIRL'S STORY is about a twelve-year-old girl made of stone who, when the carvings that brought her and her stone friends to life begin to fade, must go on a quest to save them all. So my husband gave me a #booknecklace made of stones!

THE STONE GIRL'S STORY is, at its heart, a story about stories. I believe that stories are as essential to life as food, water, and shelter. They're how we understand who we are. I wrote this book for everyone who wants to shape the story of their life and choose their own destiny.

It was surprisingly tricky to write about a character made of stone. She can't smell, taste, or sleep. Her stomach never drops, clenches, or feels butterflies. I couldn't use any of the common physical reactions to convey emotions, because stone. Made for a fun writing challenge!