I have started a newsletter on Substack! It’s called Letters by Rae Botsford End, and I hope it feels exactly like that. If you subscribe, you’ll receive a monthly email with a mix of my well-written thoughts, personal and professional updates, and links or other content that I think others would find useful or beautiful. […]
Writing from the Heart: Authentic vs. Didactic Stories
I’ve been stuck for a while on a short story I’ve been writing, and I think I’ve finally found a path forward. It seems the problem was that I was trying to use story to explain something to a non-specific audience. This created a few problems. The most obvious issue was that art tends to […]
When the World is Chaotic and I Feel Small
In December 2016, I wrote a blog post called, “Now What?” that listed things I felt were important at a time when the world seemed particularly dark and chaotic. I recently ran into my list again, and it still seems like good advice, even though I was much younger when I wrote it, so I […]
New Photos by Matthieu Picard
You may have noticed, if you follow my writer page on Facebook, that I’ve recently updated my profile photos. This is the post that gives credit to the artist! Our young and gifted friend Matthieu Picard took the time to walk all over the Butler campus with me looking for backgrounds I liked. He does […]
Memento Mori
We were in Florida recently for my brother’s wedding, staying at a friend’s house, and I wound up in the emergency room with tremendous chest pain the night before we flew home. It was just inflammation in my lungs from the virus I’d had all week (and, I believe, my failure to rest like I […]
Greece Mission
I’m excited to announce that this April, God willing, Ed and I will be going on a mission trip to Greece! We’re joining a group from the Indiana House of Prayer and Equipping (IHOPE), some of whom we know from church and some of whom we’re getting to know for the first time. This is my first […]
Eyes to the Hills
Do we understand what is meant by the psalmist who lifts his eyes to the hills? I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. – Psalm 121:1-2 (ESV) I have heard Christians declare that God, our help, is coming from […]
Now What?
About a month ago, I almost posted here about a better voting system for our country. The post is finished. All I have to do is hit the publish button. But posting it felt wrong. I was scrolling through Facebook a LOT right after the election, and it was a deluge of vitriol, fear, sadness, defiance, and chaos. Most of […]
Why I’m Planning to Vote for Gary Johnson
I have come to the conclusion that I cannot, in good conscience, vote for Donald Trump, vote for Hillary Clinton, or not vote at all. I am disillusioned with the idea that our elections are a game where my vote is a strategic way to stop the “other” party from winning, rather than a vote […]
The Nakedness of Publication
The short story I published earlier this month was not published under the illusion of wealth and sales. Seldom can a single, disconnected, self-published short story by an unknown author make it into the hands of anyone but her own friends and mother. I know this. Rather, I published it as a beginning, as a dare to myself to […]