By Cheryl Wyatt Writers excel at wrangling words. For most of us, condensing the gist of our story into one line proves challenging. However, we need to be able to say in one sentence the plot summary of our story, the hook that sets the book apart, and provide potential readers (editors and agents included) a picture of who the …
Epistemology of Collective Individualism
by Stan Crader I’m working on two books simultaneously; aren’t we all? One project is non-fiction and the other fiction. Non-fiction is new to me. While I’m passionate about the subject, a biography of the people instrumental in establishing the Stihl brand in America, I find the research and accountability to fact tedious. As for the novel, I love the …
Rediscover the Wonder
By Sarah Hamaker I rushed along, hurrying through my errands and worrying about my ever-lengthening to-do list. I had things to do, places to go, people to see, and it all had to be done right this very minute. This scenario wasn’t uncommon in my life a few years ago. Like many of us, I packed as much into one …
Go For a Walk
by Judythe Morgan Walking is a great, easy form of exercise. No additional athletic skill, no training, or special equipment required. Well, you do need a good pair of walking shoes, but then you need good shoes anyway. I walk because I enjoy placing one foot in front of the other and taking in the sights around me. I love …
Three Ways to Distance Your Reader From Your Novel
by Becky Wade #1: Give your character an unsympathetic goal. In one of my early manuscripts, my heroine’s story goal was to become an outlaw. Yep. I gave her all kinds of backstory to support this goal. She was an outlaw’s daughter. She’d been raised on the run. She loved the freedom of an outlaw’s life and chafed at the …
Change is a Good Thing
By Shelley Shepard Gray A funny thing happened on the way to writing my twenty-fifth Amish romance for Avon Inspire. I became rejuvenated. For a variety of reasons, I had to switch editors after I finished my last contract. When I started working with Chelsey, I must admit I was a little nervous. I write four books a year for …
ACFW New Releases: February 2015
February 2015 New Releases More in-depth descriptions of these books can be found on the ACFW Fiction Finder website. Amish Romance: Keys of Heaven: A Healing Grace Novel by Adina Senft — Apprentice Dokterfraa Sarah Yoder grows herbs for her tinctures and tries to ignore her matchmaking relatives, but she can’t ignore her budding friendship with her neighbor, Henry Byler. …
When Life Gets in the Way of Writing
By Kathy Harris So you dare call yourself a writer… when you haven’t written anything other than a grocery list or the occasional blog post in a few weeks? Or even a few months? Your intentions have been to write, but somehow you’ve not found the time. Or the inspiration. What now? Maybe it’s time to quit. It would be …
Are you at the table?
By Karen H. Richardson It started with an email that thousands of other writers received. It was an invitation to participate in the ACFW First Impressions contest. Of the ten or eleven criteria for entry, the most distinctive was that you had to be an unpublished author. That’s me. I have a manuscript that is very rough. It is a …
A Mission-Field at the Tip of Your Pen
by Hannah Conway I never equated writing stories with mission work. I had big plans for my life. Writing was for fun-just stories and nothing more. I scripted a multitude of tales throughout my childhood surrounding these huge life plans. People seemed to rather enjoy hearing and reading my creations. Yes-sir-ee. Feeding babies in Africa. Educating and reading to children …