Hello from Forfar, Scotland … Edinburgh Castle in background Just a brief preview before the official launch of my remodeled website. The plan was to launch Saturday but having some difficulties & hope to tomorrow. Left Edinburgh this morning. Visited Scone Palace on the way to Angus country … home of Angus beef — and that’s no bull. Will be visiting an Angus farm tomorrow to learn how they raise the cattle here as opposed to Texas. Figured I better learn as my Scottish hero was born in these parts in 1922 and his “fither” raises Angus. I packed myRead more “Nan’s Blog #1”
Main Content
The Choice
The Series

What Voices Influence Your Choices?
Do you hear voices? I do. If we’re honest, we’ll admit we all hear voices—those conflicting inner voices inside our heads. They whisper or SHOUT. And, even have names. Sometimes they sound like your mom or dad repeating messages of Encouragement or Ridicule. Or maybe scripture you had to memorize speaks Wisdom. Conscience usually takes on a still small voice. Culture booms so loud in our minds making its messages impossible to ignore.
On this site we’ll learn more about the voices from people who know how to defeat or welcome them. You’ll have an opportunity to share your struggles and solutions. It’s our choice, who will we listen to? Join me. You never know whom you might meet.
Book 1 of the Choice Series
Faced with your greatest choices, how do you know which one is right?
It is 1952 Britain. The war is over, but not the personal battles for beautiful Lily Whitely; brilliant Phila Claiborne; blueblood Hugh Claiborne; brave Ollie Ogilvie; and beguiling Dan McCauley.
But they have an enemy more insidious than they could ever have imagined, one bent on destroying their dreams – and their souls.
They find themselves tangled in a web of personal crises and deception, in London and Oxford, where they encounter angels, dark whispers, and choices that will change their lives forever.
Infused with the influences (and appearances) of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, Nan Rinella has crafted a powerful tale about the decisions we make (and where those decisions take us) that will delight readers far beyond their expectations.
Want to get a sneak peak of the 2nd book?
Sign up for the latest blog posts and receive a free pdf prologue of book 2, Hopes on the Horizon
Did you miss the first book book, Dreams in the Distance?
If you sign up you will have a choice of downloading either or both prologues.

I respect your privacy. I will not share or sell your information.
Nan Rinella
A Hobbit in Narnia
What? If you’re a J. R. R. Tolkien & C. S. Lewis fan, you get the gist. Once upon a time (2004), this petite down-to-earth journalist ventured into “The Fantastic Worlds of C. S. Lewis & J. R. R. Tolkien” (a C.S. Lewis Foundation, CSLF, event)— my own personal Narnia (a world inhabited with academic scholars—elves, so to speak). I went forth in fear and trembling after reading the academic tomes of some of the speakers. Once there, I found a home-away-from-home. In 2009 the CSLF president invited me to direct its Texas retreats.
Meantime get to know them. The two English ingénues (love the definition: innocent, unsophisticated young women). The giant Scottish hero. The cultured Royal Navy Intelligence operative. The cocky California scholar and former fighter pilot.
The Dublin Press journalist Nan Rinella will be interviewing Dreams in the Distance and Hopes on the Horizon author Nan Rinella and her characters.
Special Features

LOTR to The Choice andConception
Learn MoreThe Making of The Choice

A Writer's Rolemodels
Learn MoreC.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien

Watch Song Videos withPowerful Messages
View HereSongs about Voices & Choices

Tips and Tricksfor Globe TrottingWomen
Learn MoreThe Turquoise Traveler
Quotes
It will take more than affronts from a little person with a big opinion of herself to influence those with whom I choose to… Read more “”
You ask, what is our aim? . . . It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no… Read more “”
Who let me brother in me… Read more “”
When people tire of the forty-eight-minute television novel, they will yearn for a substantial book within whose covers they can live imaginatively for weeks. The eighteenth-century, discursive-type novel will enjoy a vigorous rebirth, because readers demand… Read more “”
To construct plausible and moving ‘other worlds’you must draw on the only real ‘other world’ we know, that of the… Read more “”
“To be exact, Eve wanted to be equal to God. We only want to be equal with men.” She gazed at him,… Read more “”
Phila hated the way the war lingered on the edge of all of life’s… Read more “”
Oh, precious little Kit and her book about the wardrobe. If only I could enter a magic place where the last few months hadn’t happened and be happy again. But make-believe doesn’t happen, there are no magic wardrobes, and one can’t undo the… Read more “”
“So, should I desire tae court ye, milady, I would hae to ride up to your castle on me white stallion an’ fight another knight frae ye?” “Indeed, Sir Knight.” O. C. hooted. “Weel, milady, I fear I left me stallion an’ armor back in me castle.” He said it so matter-of-factly, she almost believed he meant… Read more “”
Literature is a luxury; fiction is a… Read more “”
“They do prepare tea properly at the embassy, but outside they just throw a bag in a cup and pour on hot, but not necessarily boiling water.” “Roughing it are you, son, in the colonies?” “Tough duty,… Read more “”
Make your choice, adventurous Stranger, Strike the bell and bide the danger, Or wonder, till it drives you mad, What would have followed if you… Read more “”
Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as… Read more “”
History often resembles myth, because they are both ultimately of the same… Read more “”
“Guid gear comes in sma’ bulk.” Ay, Nana, good things do come in small packages. She’s a bonny… Read more “”
Coming Soon in 2020
Hopes on the Horizon
Book 2 of The Choice Series
It’s the New Year 1953. The Second World War has been over for eight years. But the war for the souls of Hugh Claiborne, Ollie Ogilvie, and Dan McCauley rages on. Dreams in the Distance revealed that this enemy has a range of weapons so insidious and deadly—and, oh so very subtle—aimed at infiltrating their minds intent on defeating their hopes. In Hopes on the Horizon the battle continues for these veterans and the young ingénues, Lily Whitely and Phila Claiborne.
-From Hopes on the Horizon prologue
Sign up for Nan's lastest posts and receive the full prologue of this book.
Recent from Blog
From the LORD OF THE RINGS to THE CHOICE
· by Nan Rinella · In: The Choice
Mark Batterson wrote that God doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called. The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears Isn’t it amazing how God knows what He’s going to call you to do and actually prepares you for it ahead of time? So, I got this really cool idea for a book from a C.S. Lewis book. And I knew that Lewis and Tolkien would influence it. I first read the LOTR in 1971 while my husband was serving in Vietnam. I fell madly in love and wanted more of Tolkien, reading most ofRead more “From the LORD OF THE RINGS to THE CHOICE”
6 REASONS WHY TOLKIEN’S WRITINGS ARE RELEVANT TODAY
· by Nan Rinella · In: Lewis and Tolkien

C.S. Lewis said, “myths can open the heart’s back door when the front door is locked. ”When the veil of the familiar is lifted in Fantasy it reveals a glimpse of underlying reality or truth. J.R.R. Tolkien is the author of the book voted the greatest of the 20th century. “Here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold iron; here is a book that will break your heart,” wrote Lewis of the Lord of the Rings. Are you fond of fantasy? I am an unabashed, unashamed, unrepentant fan of the Lord of the Rings. Fantasy’sRead more “6 REASONS WHY TOLKIEN’S WRITINGS ARE RELEVANT TODAY”
6 REASONS WHY C.S. LEWIS IS A ROLE MODEL
· by Nan Rinella · In: Lewis and Tolkien

Christian Writers Today Should Take Note C.S. Lewis’ works have been translated into over thirty languages, and millions of copies have been sold worldwide. Even fifty years after his death, the majority of his forty plus books are still in print and his words are still leading souls to Christ. 1) Why not? Who is the most popular Christian author apologist of our age? Who do preachers of all Christian persuasions quote the most? Who wrote the classic children’s series, The Chronicles of Narnia? Whose book, Mere Christianity, has led so many souls to their savior?Read more “6 REASONS WHY C.S. LEWIS IS A ROLE MODEL”
Traveling with children: #1 Preparation
· by Nan Rinella · In: Turquoise Traveler

The world is a place of wonders and dangers. When you travel you take your children on their first steps toward discovering these wonders and, of course, you need to take steps to protect them from the dangers. “In America there are two classes of travel—first class and with children.” Robert Benchley According to the National SAFE KIDS Campaign accidental injury is the leading cause of death among children 14 and younger in the U.S. and 90% of those can be prevented. Motor vehicle crashes lead the list, followed by drowning, pedestrian accidents and fire. At home & abroad ConsideringRead more “Traveling with children: #1 Preparation”