By Laurel Blount Sometimes God uses unlikely people to teach us valuable lessons. For example I learned most of what I know about resilience from a seven-year-old boy who knew only three words of English. Resilience is usually defined as “the ability to recover quickly from difficulties,” and as every author knows, that’s a much-needed trait in the writing business. …
Do’s vs. Donuts
by Kathy Harris To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time. ~ Leonard Bernstein After several years of neglecting exercise, I joined a gym. Life had come between me and something I actually enjoyed. I didn’t have time. Or so I’d told myself. With family, office work, and “home” work, the day didn’t …
Have We Slept Through a Harvest?
by Terri Gillespie Have we slept through a harvest? He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son. Proverbs 10:5, TLV Crops and harvests. Commitments. Follow-through. Seeing a writing project through to completion. Sowing into our craft and reaping success in publishing. When we live these guidelines we are …
Writing What You Don’t Know—Research
By Gail Gaymer Martin Writers are so often told ‘write what you know.’ Yet sometimes ideas hit us that encompass things we do not know. This happens to me, and though I always research details in my books even if I have some knowledge, sometimes story ideas are far from my usual story line knowledge. Recently moving from Michigan to …
Lots of Digging…
by Kimberley Woodhouse I’ve talked a lot about research on my blogs for ACFW before. But as an author, that’s a huge amount of what we do isn’t it? I teach at a lot of writer’s conferences and groups about research and I get asked a lot of questions about it. How to streamline it… how to do it faster… …
In Praise of Reading
By Glynn Young I was an early reader. I don’t recall how early, but I do remember riding my red bicycle to the dime store when I was six, to spend 59 cents to buy Trixie Belden and the Secret of the Mansion. It was the first of many such trips, for more Trixie Belden mysteries, Robinson Crusoe, Treasure Island, …
When to Invest in Your Writing Career
By Carol Alwood Writers have far too many decisions to make. I’m not saying we’re the only professionals bogged down by options and the pressing need for results. Other professions have too many choices to make too. Besides being a writer, I’m an elementary school teacher. They say teachers make 1,500 decisions in a day. This turns out to be …
Look Up!
by Elizabeth Musser Often when I see a musical, one song will resonate with me so that it replays itself ad nauseum in my brain for days and weeks and months afterwards. Such was the case when I watched the wonderful film Mary Poppins Returns back in February. Here we are at the beginning of May, and I’m still singing, …
What Not to Do at a Book Signing
By Terri Gillespie You finally made it! You’ve spent weeks of preparation: posts on social media, e-newsletters, flyers everywhere, radio interviews, reminders to family and friends, sandwich boards on your dogs. There’s a table and chair set up just for you at the local bookstore. Soon you’ll be meeting, greeting, and signing your name and special Bible passage inside your …
Switching Horses in Mid-Stream
By Suzanne Woods Fisher After more than thirty novels about the Old Order Amish, all set in the same little fictitious town of Stoney Ridge, Pennsylvania, my editor called and asked if I would be interested in writing a contemporary women’s series. “Pick a spot on either coast,” she said. “And think of summer. Think of a place that calls …