Anna Henkens Schmidt

If you rip enough paper into tiny fragments and toss them out the window of a car traveling down a Nebraska highway at 55 mph, for a brief moment, it can resemble a blizzard. It’s mesmerizing how the wind practically sucks the papers from your hand and carries them around the contour of the car. Then for a moment, they swirl and dance, like snowy confetti, before littering the road and the ditch and leaving a brief, but beautiful blight on the environment.  I don’t recommend doing this. And not only because of the damage it causes to Mother Nature. Don’t do it, because you might get caught.  True, my friend, Melissa, and I had already performed this destructive act half a dozen times, but now we were down to our last notebook. Our previous attempts were a paltry two or three pages at most. But what if we used an entire notebook this time? Could we release it just as another car passed by on this two-lane highway through the Sandhills of Nebraska? Would the driver believe they’...

My apologies to Herbert James Draper, may he rest in peace, and to altar boys everywhere. Not all of you are ding dongs. Our cover design choice for The Ding Dong Altar Boy has garnered attention. We received one particularly nasty text asking, “Did you really do this?” Yes. We absolutely did. Most of the attention has been positive. It’s an arresting image. It’s funny. And it raises questions. All things an author would hope for in a book cover. I stumbled upon the 1909 painting one day while scrolling through Pinterest. The painting is entitled The Light of Faith, and it radiates a quiet reverence, capturing a moment of innocence, tradition, and spiritual solemnity. Of course, none of these things describe my brother, the voice behind The Ding Dong Altar Boy. Still, something about the painting drew me in. Herbert James Draper, a British artist, lived from 1863–1920 and came from the late Victorian/Edwardian art movement, often associated with Romanticism and Classicism. One internet...

Why Chadron, Nebraska Might Be the Best Vacation You’ve Never Considered Everyone goes to Europe. So much so that on June 15, 2025, citizens in major European cities blasted water guns at tourists and greeted cruise ships with banners that read, “Tourists, Go Home.” Tourism to EU countries has surpassed even pre-COVID levels. Housing shortages, price inflation, and environmental impacts top the list of concerns for residents. But the news isn’t great for travelers either. That perfect Instagram shot of “holding up” the Leaning Tower of Pisa? You’ll be sharing the moment with three million other tourists angling for the exact same pose. Why not take a trip off the beaten path? Visit a place few have ever heard of—and fewer will visit. Why not visit Chadron, Nebraska? Called the “Florence of Nebraska” by absolutely no one, Chadron boasts French fur-trading roots, two historical museums, hometown goodness, and a canvas of scenery that stretches all the way to the sky. An occasional Angus ...

There’s a reason I hire an editor. In one of the short stories featured in our upcoming release, The Ding Dong Altar Boy, Donald mentions a memorable fried baloney sandwich he once ate. Our editor texted me: “Do you really not know how to spell bologna?” Apparently not. But I couldn’t take full responsibility for my mistake like a mature, honorable person. “Just so you know,” I texted back defensively, “I’ve had four beta readers, and none of them pointed it out. Spellcheck didn’t flag it either.” I shared the exchange with my 13-year-old daughter. “Well, duh,” she said. “Baloney is a word, but it’s spelled differently than the lunch meat.” “My 13-year-old is smarter than me,” I lamented to my editor. “I mean, she’s usually smarter than me too,” my editor responded. “But baloney means false. Bologna is a food.” “By that definition, lunch meat is also false,” I said. “’Cause there ain’t nothing real about bologna. I stand by my spelling.” (I changed the spelling immediately.) But I did ...

I read Psalm 16 this morning and immediately thought of The Lion King. In this psalm, David offers a prayer of confidence to God. He praises the Lord for safety and protection, for being the source of all good things.  Then David says this: “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed I have a beautiful inheritance.” There’s an iconic scene in The Lion King where Mufasa leads Simba to Pride Rock. They look out over the Savannah and Mufasa says, “Look, Simba. Everything the light touches is our kingdom.” He goes on to tell the young lion cub that one day, Simba will inherit the kingdom. Jesus says something similar in Matthew 25. “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” When Simba learns of his coming inheritance, he gives a simple one-word answer. “Wow.” It’s hardly an adequate response, but I can relate. Knowing that “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit, that we ...

Guilt and I are well acquainted.  It doesn’t even have to be my own guilt. I’ve read crime thrillers which left me walking around in a shameful haze, sure someone would discover the murder weapon in my possession. I’ve woken up from nightmares dripping with sweat over horrific mistakes made by my subconscious. Certain movies and TV shows leave me feeling as though I’m keeping a terrible secret, even though the secret is entirely fictional and not even plausible in real life.  This could mean I’m empathetic. Or, at the very least, catastrophically prone to secondhand shame. Whether real or imagined, I know I’m not the only one who suffers from a guilty conscience. I recently learned the United States Government has something called the Federal Conscience Fund. Like most government entities, the Federal Conscience Fund collects money, but this one is quite unique. The fund, established in 1811, accepts voluntary, anonymous payments from people who feel guilty about having commit...