Blog & News
Enter the Mistletoe Secret–Tiffany contest!
CONTEST HAS ENDED Make your Christmas even more magic! WIN a signed copy of The Mistletoe Secret and this beautiful sterling silver Star ornament from Tiffany. CONTEST HAS NOW ENDED.
Announcing the MICHAEL VEY Commercial Contest!
CONTEST HAS ENDED Are you a Veyniac? Do you want to be a hero at your school? Do you want to win prizes! Do you want to see yourself on a national network? Then enter the MICHAEL VEY COMMERCIAL CONTEST! Make a YouTube Commercial for Michael Vey and you could win some awesome prizes for your…
Michael Vey 6: Fall of Hades Book Tour
Richard's Book Tour Schedule Thursday, September 8th - Global Launch Party - Murray, UT 7:00PM (Doors Open at 6:00 PM) Cottonwood High School 5715 South 1300 East, Murray, UT Tuesday, September 13th – National Book Release - Dallas, TX Glenn Beck TV & Radio Wednesday, September 14th - Boise, ID 7:00PM Barnes & Noble Boise…
What humans can learn from grapes about life
A few years back I lived just outside Florence, Italy in the Chianti region of Italy where the famous Chianti wines are made. One day I was walking along a trail next to a vineyard when I came upon an elderly farmer standing among his grape vines. Eager to practice my Italian, I said to the…
What I learned in prison about God’s love
A few months ago I posted on Facebook a letter I received from a man serving life in prison for first degree murder. He expressed gratitude to me that my books had helped him through his darkest and most hopeless moments. Though I received more than a thousand “likes” and dozens of comments from Facebook fans…
Crucifying Santa (Or how I found Christmas where there was no Christmas)
Some years ago I read in the New York Times of a strange East-meets-West phenomenon. The Japanese had discovered Christmas and, no doubt aided by enterprising retailers, taken the season to heart. Aware that the holiday has something to do with an overfed man in a red suit and the birth of Jesus Christ, they, not…
Are the dying visited by the dead?
Sitting on the bed next to my grandmother as she lay dying, I witnessed a curious thing. Earlier that day, hospice had put my grandmother on a morphine drip and ever since I had arrived she had seemed unaware of her surroundings and mumbling unintelligibly. Then suddenly she stopped mumbling and looked up to the corner…
Have you ever had a spiritual vision?
There are two men at a BYU – Notre Dame football game. One man said to the other, “Could you please sit down, you’re blocking my vision.” The other man replied, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were having one.” Do you believe in “visions”? Have you ever had one? We live in a world that's…
Stop Whining that Christmas is too Commercial
When I read the title of this blog to my immensely rational wife, she gave me that look–the one that says, “Are you completely insane?” To which I silently replied, No, honey. Not completely. But as The New York Times has crowned me “The King of Christmas Fiction”, I have a stake in this whole Christmas…
My Daughter, Bono and the power of Gratitude
“I’m the luckiest girl in the world,” my daughter Jenna once told me. She meant it. I don’t think it’s so much that Jenna has a great life–which she would be the first to tell you that she does–but the fact that she appreciates her life. It’s been said that people are not grateful because…
The boy who dared to be great.
I had a somewhat traumatic childhood, but 1970, the year I turned eight, was especially difficult. A Tsunami of misfortune hit my family. My father lost his job and couldn't find work and my mother began to exhibit the first signs of severe depression. My Tourette’s syndrome manifested that year and I was ticking like crazy.…
A Father’s Letter to his Child on Graduation
My Dear Child, I am so very proud of you. Now, as you prepare to embark on a new journey–your own journey–I’d like to share one piece of advice I wish I'd learned at your age: Always remember that adversity is not a detour, it’s the path. You will encounter obstacles. You will make mistakes.…
You won’t believe this mother’s heartache
We are going to make a difference in this woman's life. Join us. I don't know why some people have to face as much pain as they do. Wilda Thompson is one of those people–a woman whose suffering seems unimaginable. Wilda’s pain started early in life when her kid brother died in a plane crash. It was a…
Why is this boy happy?
CLICK TO SEE NATHAN HELPING OUT Nathan Glad has the perfect last name. According to his parents he is always glad. Glad and grateful. He is also fragile. He was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, (brittle bone disease) which means his bones have the density of uncooked pasta. He was not supposed to survive childbirth and while…
What my 7-year-old daughter taught me about Love
The task of defining love is one that some of humanity’s greatest minds have wrestled with. Philosophers, theologians and psychologists have all contributed their definitions of the phenomenon. Personally, I found a pretty good definition of love in Italy. One Sunday, while my family was living in Florence, a young Italian woman who had befriended our…
2 Clichés that Smart People Won’t Use
"Avoid cliches," is one of the first things any writing class worth its pencils will teach. Clichés are not only a sign of unoriginality but lazy thinking in general–a truth that applies to speech as well as the printed word. And some clichés are worse than others. Here are two clichés that clearly illustrate the weak thinking of their…
Not my day to die.
Our trip to the Caribbean seemed to be cursed from the onset. I wanted to surprise my wife, Keri, with something she'd never done before and a friend recommended a Caribbean cruise. So that December I gave her the 12 days of Christmas, each day with a new tile letter from a Scrabble game, spelling out…
Yesterday I gave my bike away
This guest blog is from my daughter, and writing assistant, Jenna Evans Welch. (Yes, the same little Jenna from The Christmas Box, only grown up. Enjoy) Yesterday I gave my old bike away. I wheeled it out of the garage and took a long look at its cushy black seat and banana handlebars. I…
The Only Way to Fly
True story. After spending a lovely week in Virginia at an author friend’s lake house (thriller writer David Baldacci), our family was on our way home to Salt Lake, flying out of Washington's Ronald Reagan airport. When we arrived at the gate we were informed that our flight had been delayed four hours. Delayed flights…
Ugly Babies and Grandparent Goggles
I’m the worst kind of grandparent–the kind who will show pictures of his grandson to complete strangers, including people in the Atlanta airport who don’t speak English and look terrified as they nod approvingly. I’m especially annoying because I know I’m annoying and I don’t stop. You see, my grandson is one of the most beautiful…
Why do things go wrong when we’re trying to do what’s right?
Lately I’ve been pondering why it is that when we set out to do something good we face such difficult adversity. Sometimes it even feels like we're being punished for doing the right thing. Last week I attended a board meeting for the Christmas Box International, a charitable organization I founded about fifteen years ago…
You won’t believe what this man did on a flight I was on.
It had been one of those dreadful days of traveling. The airports were slammed and I had taken a crowded flight out of Cincinnati, only to find that my connecting flight to St. Louis had been delayed nearly four hours. As I sat there, tired and bored, listening to the grumblings of disgruntled passengers (some of…
How I Saved My Marriage
(Dedicated to my sweetheart.) My oldest daughter, Jenna, recently said to me, “My greatest fear as a child was that you and mom would get divorced. Then, when I was twelve, I decided that you fought so much that maybe it would be better if you did.” Then she added with a smile. “I’m glad…
What a homeless man taught me about success
A few years ago I was invited to be the keynote speaker at a writers conference in San Francisco. My wife, Keri, wanted to see the city so we turned the event into a quick vacation. At the top of my wife’s bucket list was to ride one of the famous San Francisco trolley cars.…