Welcome to the web site for my historical novel There is a Wideness, a story of loss and redemption built around one of the most tragic events in Texas history. This site is divided into six sections. Click on the highlighted text to enter a section. (In a hurry? You can read the opening two pages of the story by clicking Here.)

• My late mother, who witnessed the New London, Texas, school explosion of March 18, 1937
• My boyhood in an East Texas oil camp
• My life since East Texas
• Development of the story, and lessons learned
• Read a review of There is a Wideness from Historical Novels Review
• Read about the hymn There's a Wideness in God's Mercy

If you want to learn more about the historical tragedy that anchors my story, an excellent web site is Bill Grigg's www.nlse.org. Mr. Grigg has read my novel and you can see his comments on it at the bottom of: www.nlse.org/mcallister.html.

There is a Wideness was one of three finalists for a 2005 first-novel Christy award.

If you would like to leave a comment on this web site or on the book, or if you would like to own a copy of the book, you can e-mail me at

markmc9"at"austin.rr.com

... Replace "at" with @ ...

Thanks for visiting!

Mark McAllister