John W. Vander Velden

John W. Vander Velden is graduate of Purdue University a retired farmer living with his wife and their small dog in northern Indiana. An avid reader and life long story teller, he approaches life with open eyes, hearing ears, and a heart willing to feel, striving to put to words the world he observes, in ways that reach deep within others. He has attended Antioch Writer’s Workshop and is a member of Plymouth Area Writer’s Workshop. John, the author of the novel Misty Creek and its sequel Elizabeth’s Journey, also publishes a literary blog titled, Ramblings… Essays and Such….

Stores:

Books Include:

Misty Creek
Elizabeth’s Journey: A Sequel To Misty Creek

My Recent Blogs

Misty Creek

If Dr. Jameson Elders, the only man Elizabeth ever loved, a man of impeccable honor, could abandon her at the altar, then how could she trust any man with her heart.

Driven by the pain and disappointment of her love’s desertion on her wedding day, Elizabeth Beck leaves all she knows behind, traveling west to teach the children of the valley known as Misty Creek. She finds the valley very different than the windblown prairie, the broad land covered with swaying dried up grass of her travels, for it is a vibrant, fertile land alive and green.

Though the valley resembles the familiar countryside of central Ohio, in Misty Creek Elizabeth faces a very different life. Isolated from the all things she has known, she must face difficulties, dangers, and deal with the pain she had hoped to leave behind. But she also builds lasting friendships and finds that the heart yearns for what she is certain it cannot have.
Misty Creek is Elizabeth’s story….

Elizabeth’s Journey:
A Sequel To Misty Creek

Love came to Elizabeth as thief–unexpected, unsought–and she feels for Matthew in ways she has never experienced before. But Elizabeth knows that love, true and deep, demands its price. Her heart is shattered the day she abandons Matthew as he stands alone along the dusty roadside with questions in his eyes. She prays he will one day fall in love with someone more worthy. Someone who can give him what she cannot. So begins Elizabeth’s Journey, following Elizabeth as she travels to places she never expected, for Columbus, Ohio is but the first stop.

The trek exposes Elizabeth to the brutal realities of life, where she experiences pain and disappointment. The miles she travels also offer glimpses of unexpected triumphs, leading her to learn the depth of her strength as well as the full value of love. For though her pilgrimage covers thousands of miles, the most important distance she travels is within herself.