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Good News Shelbyville Magazine

Good News Shelbyville is a community magazine dedicated to telling the stories that make Bedford County feel like home. Each issue highlights the people, places, and everyday moments that remind us there’s still good in the world — and plenty of it right here in Shelbyville.

Good News Magazine (across Middle TN, VA, KY & AL)

The Exchange Media Group is a regional publishing network dedicated to telling the stories that strengthen communities across Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and Alabama. Through their Good News magazines and local partnerships, they spotlight the people, places, and everyday moments that remind us of the good still happening around us. *Each market is linked below

"I Heard the Bells" by: Amanda E. West

"What's been your favorite part of our little town so far," the innkeeper asked. When I replied, "the church bells that played all of my favorite hymns," the innkeeper's mouth dropped open. "You couldn't have heard bells coming from that old church. They haven't worked in years!" But I did hear them, and God sent them just for me.

"Roses From Heaven" by: Amanda E. West

Not even COVID-19 could stop Ms. Lillian's 90th birthday celebration. When three long stemmed red roses are delivered by a mysterious stranger on a motorcycle, they could've only come from one place—heaven.

"Riding the Thunder" & "Angel in the Atlanta Airport." by: Amanda E. West

Coming soon.

Coming 2027...

Stay tuned for FIVE more angel stories in 2027!  *Links coming soon...

Four Stories · Coming in 2027...

Amanda's four stories will be featured in Guideposts' The Wonder of Christmas edition, debuting in 2027. Links coming soon!

Contemporary Fiction · Novel  Set in Small Town, Tennessee *FIRST PLACE: Sonshine Awards at the Florida Christian Writers Conference 2025

Embracing Esperanza

Five years after losing his wife, Brody Cooper has abandoned firefighting—and his faith—to hide behind the desk as an E-911 operator. Grief has hardened his heart, and he's erased every trace of his wife, Joseline's, Mexican heritage from their daughter Esperanza's life. When Brody rescues Moreya Reyes Morales, Joseline's estranged twin sister, from a plunge into an icy river, Moreya moves into a primitive apartment at Brody's ranch, where he raises Tennessee Walking Horses. With Esperanza's 15th birthday approaching, Moreya plans to honor her late sister's wishes to ensure her niece's rite of passage—her quinceañera. When Brody and Moreya decide to work together, the cultural differences that once separated them draw their community together.

Historical Fiction · Novel Post World War I (1918-1928) *Second Place: Sonshine awards at the Florida Christian Writers Conference 2024

Hidden Heirlooms (book 1)

After losing her fiancé, Lexandra Dupree clings to her family's farm near a Louisiana bayou. But when a cyclone touches down, rendering the home unlivable, Lexandra is forced to accept lodging and employment with the man blamed for her fiance's untimely death. Decades of secrets begin to unravel when she discovers heirlooms hidden within the walls of her family home, leading her on a journey to Cades Cove, quietly nestled among the Great Smoky Mountains. Plagued by past mistakes, Dr. Benjamin Jefferies made a vow to undo the wrongs he committed against Lexandra Dupree and the citizens of Cypress Grove during the Spanish Influenza Epidemic of 1918. When tragedy strikes again, will he finally be forgiven, or will the woman who changed his life for the better flee to the mountains of Tennessee and into the arms of a moonlighting minister?

Historical Fiction (Reconstruction ERA: 1866)

Bramble Wood

Will their futures be in bondage to their past forever? Just before Georgia Haley is forced to marry Colonel Hawthorne MacLennan, her father's indiscretions—and Georgia's true heritage—are revealed to the congregation. Jilted, ridiculed, and torn from her place in genteel society, Georgia must help her people—even if they never accept her as one of their own. Captain Lanrick Kimball witnessed hundreds of 'contraband' forced from St. Catherine's Island off the coast of Savannah, Georgia. Seeking reassignment as an agent with the Freedman's Bureau, Kimball vows to bring order. After following the Drakes to Bramble Wood, an almost deadly encounter with Thornton Haley's daughter alters his life forever. Toby-Sue Drake unwillingly bore a daughter for Master Haley and his invalid wife, and now her husband, Elijah, is plotting revenge as they seek refuge at their former home. Like Moses, will Georgia Haley lead her people to true freedom? Or will the Yankee scoundrel Kimball derail Georgia once and for all?