By Loretta Eidson Pressing the send button for that first submission can be the most nerve-racking, push-of-the-button feat ever tackled. Why? Writing thrusts the writer’s reputation into the world. It shouts from the inner corridors of the heart, “I have something to write about, but will the editor think it is worthwhile?” It unveils a hidden desire to communicate with …
Where Do You Get Your Ideas?
By Mary Connealy Fired Up, Book #2 of the Trouble in Texas Series releases in September and I want to talk about how I got the idea for this seris. I have a character in my Kincaid Brides Series, the youngest brother Seth, the hero of Over the Edge, who spent time in Andersonville Prison during the Civil War. So …
Encouragement for the Discouraged
by Lindsay Harrel As most of us know, this writing journey can be filled with a lot of valleys. Experiencing writer’s block. Being stuck at home when everyone else is attending the big conference. Feeling like you’re on the outside of publishing circles. Receiving rejections. Trust me, I’ve been there! But I also was blessed enough to receive some great …
A Sense of Style
by Michelle Arch Anyone who has been engaged in the craft of writing for any length of time has developed a uniquely personal style. During the last several years in Chapman University’s dual Master of Arts in English and MFA in Creative Writing program, my own narrative manner has been described in workshops as meticulous, high, ornamental, tedious, lovely, distracting, …
Lesson Learned
by Lynn Hobbs Humbled to have my work accepted in a writer’s anthology, I dove into the edits they required for my three short stories. No problem with edits. With the third book in my series scheduled for publication later this year, I appreciate and value constructive criticism. I am a firm believer in attending workshops, conferences, and local writer’s …
In God’s Waiting Room
by Sarah Sundin “Wait.” We don’t like that word, do we? But a writer’s life is filled with waiting. Most famously, we wait for that first book contract. But the waiting doesn’t end. We wait for our editor’s approval. We wait for reviews. We wait for readers’ reactions. We wait for sales figures. And many published authors go through another …
Bugged by the Ladies
by Dana Mentink Consider the humble ladybug, fellow readers and writers. She’s less than a quarter of an inch long, silent and stoic and more than likely unnoticed in your yard. Truth be told, she’s a powerhouse, a dynamic dame that can teach us a lot about the wild and wacky world of writing. Let’s take a moment to look …
Those Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer
By Donna Schlachter I keep promising myself that one of these years, I’m going to enjoy summer. Instead of spending the months of June, July, and August cooped up indoors writing and revising and researching, I’m going to spend the time in a mountain retreat, on the front verandah, surrounded by trees and a babbling brook. Writing and revising and …
Subtle Set-ups and Powerful Pay-offs
by Christine Sunderland Life is a journey from choice to choice, an exercise of free will. When we choose, a genetic component changes, and we become slightly different people. We have chosen a direction that informs our genes and colors our future choices. As readers we follow this journey in stories. We wonder where the choices will take us. But …
Critiquing Suggestions for Transitioning to Published Author
by Carrie Fancett Pagels I’ve posted elsewhere about not despising the day of small beginnings, as the Bible also tells us. One of the blessings of working on three “smaller” publications in the past several months is what I’ve learned about my writing life. For example, how can I best work with a Critique Partner (will abbreviate as CP henceforth.) …