Terry Barnes won the 2005 Christian Writers Guild Operation First Novel contest for his first novel, "In Everything Give Thanks." His second novel, "Whispered to the Heart," also explores the fundamental questions of life and faith. His latest novella, "As the Leaves Kiss the Stream," is a story of conflict and grace between a father and his seventeen-year-old daughter, in the context of fly fishing in the Ozarks. His writing shows the quest for meaning in the swirl of life, a struggle common to humanity. As for literature, its purpose is to illustrate truth with such words that will capture the heart and soul of the reader.