Episode Description
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Award-winning Pacific Northwest novelist Cheryl Bostrom joins Jan and Marti to talk about the trauma that shaped her early years, the grandmother who introduced her to God through nature, and the faith that transformed generational dysfunction into a life devoted to storytelling.
Cheryl opens up about her mother's mental illness, the neurodivergent characters she writes with such care, and the concept of "lie makers" — the false beliefs that keep us stuck until we find and release them.
She also previews her upcoming historical novel set on a 1919 Alaskan fox farm. A conversation about forgiveness, healing, and the quiet, redemptive work of a God who "means everything" when He says He works all things together for good.
https://uppbeat.io/t/sky-toes/the-summit
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Music from #Uppbeat
https://uppbeat.io/t/jonny-easton/warming-light
License code: EUXRWYWTFRNQMRXO
00:00 Welcome & Introducing Cheryl Bostrom
02:30 "Give Us a Little Testimony": Cheryl's Story Begins
03:09 An Okie Father, Migrant Camps, and a Tumultuous Marriage
05:01 Rescued to the Pacific Northwest by Her Grandparents
05:41 Meeting God Through Nature Before Knowing His Name
06:43 Salvation at Nineteen and the Long Road of Sanctification
08:02 A Prophetic Word: Isaiah 30:21
09:57 "He Means Everything": Breaking Generational Strongholds
10:28 Writing as Therapy: Sugar Birds and Becoming a Scribe
12:04 What the River Keeps: Forgiveness Beyond What's Humanly Possible
13:48 Writing Neurodivergent Characters With Care
15:16 The Editor Who Kept Burnaby's Story Accurate
17:23 Inside What the River Keeps: Hildy, the Elwha, and "Lie Makers"
20:50 Finding the Lies Planted by Dark Spirits
21:41 Drawing From Her Mother's Story With Gentleness and Care
22:21 On Writing Happy Endings
23:14 "We Become Scribes": Creativity as Worship
24:15 Heaven, Ever-Expanding Joy, and C.S. Lewis
25:09 A New Historical Novel: 1919, Alaska, and a Fox Farm
27:55 Sacrificial Love, a Sister's Sacrifice, and Finding Her Voice
29:23 Holding the New Story With an Open Hand
29:47 Closing Words: "There's Nothing That Can't Heal"
Welcome to Just Talkin' About Jesus.
I'm Jan Johnson, a seasoned believer who loves relationships and, you know, just talkin' about Jesus.
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