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My starting point for the Friendship Trilogy novels was a series of short stories about my mother and me that is now published as Caregiver Stories and Stress Solutions (click for audio summary) After it was honored with AARP’s Social Impact Award as “a simple mind-body-spirit program for seniors, adults and teens of any faith… or no faith,” I was motivated to write more.
“…Just the thought of forgiveness made me sick.”
My writing went well for the first six months. 
Then I read that Pope Francis had visited the September 11th Museum at World Trade Center. While there, he viewed a Bible found fused to molten metal in the rubble of the Twin Towers. It was open to Christ’s “turn the other cheek” message of forgiveness.
“What?” I thought. “Forgive the terrorists who killed thousands that day? No way!” I was so shocked that just the thought of forgiveness made me sick. My characters in The Friendship Trilogy feel the same way.
In my original outline, I had planned to address the terror attack with a smug (but true) little scene “about choosing love over fear” when – after the horrible shock – we proceeded to plan our daughter’s wedding on that terrible day. But, now, I (and at least some of my characters) understand that “turn the other cheek” is good advice. It encourages us to choose “clear vision” (i.e., seeing both the good and the bad to make better decisions) by using each of the Satisfaction Skills (awareness, appreciation, action/assertiveness, acceptance). Forgiveness is introduced on page 21 of Caregiver Stories, and is the theme of two stories: Grace and The Liturgy Nazi.
Over the past ten years, that jolt about forgiveness, and some related soul-searching, stimulated my story to grow into three novels: Friendship (available now); The Power of Love (available in December, 2026); and The Epidemics (June, 2027).
The Friendship Trilogy focuses on two questions: “How did that Bible get there?” and “What does it mean to forgive yourself, others and God in an era marked by civil rights, the Vietnam War, same-sex marriage, polarization, racism, terrorism and pandemics?