By Judy Christie Many writers start terrific stories by asking a simple question: What if? “What if?” leads novelists down the merry story path, scene after scene, chapter after chapter. Those words ignite fiction magic. Anything can happen. As you assess your writing for the year ahead, “what if” can also bear fruit in a practical career way. That question …
Letting Go…
by Katherine Reay You’re suffering from a double dose of me. When I signed up to be today’s blogger, I didn’t know I’d be yesterday’s interview. So if you want to know more about me, I think I am lurking in the archives from yesterday… But today, we chat writing and letting go. In fact, as of about an hour …
Island Girl
by Jennifer Sienes Almost seven years ago, I quit my “day job” as a middle school teacher to write full time. I’m well aware that it’s a blessing to be able to devote entire days to my writing endeavors when so many of my contemporaries must snatch an hour here or there between work, kids and life. Or as Monk …
Do We Judge a Book By Its Cover?
by Jill Elizabeth Nelson When we are choosing our next novel to purchase, how much of our decision is influenced by the cover? For me, covers certainly play a part in first attracting me to pick up one book over another. However, I like to read the back cover copy and perhaps sample a bit of the contents before I …
From Russia with Love
By Susan May Warren This year marks the tenth anniversary of my first novel being published. “Happily Ever After” came out in 2003 just as we returned home from the mission field in Russia, and I still remember staring wide eyed at the cover thinking…how on earth did this happen? See the truth is that I never set out to …
Ten Wrongs Don’t Make a Writer
Ten Wrongs Don’t Make a Writer How to Avoid the Top Ten Fatal Flaws in Fiction By Kathleen Y’Barbo We’re a little over a week into the 2014, the time when New Year’s resolutions begin to lose their shine and some of us begin to wonder if we should have resolved NOT to make any resolutions. But what if your …
Tell the Story
by Shirley Gould Scripture tells us in John 21:25 in the Message Bible… There are so many other things Jesus did. If they were written down, each of them, one by one, I can’t imagine a world big enough to hold such a library of books. Though I would never be in favor of adding one ‘jot or tittle’ to …
Write Tight
by Maureen Lang I’ve just finished my current Work In Progress, and I always share my first draft with at least one trusted friend and critique partner before starting my revision process. Fresh eyes have a way of spotting plot twists that fall flat, character traits that don’t ring true or, the subject of today’s blog post, unnecessary verbiage. The …
The Act of Creation
By Michelle Arch My office is in chaos – again. After finishing my course thesis on the parallels between Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man and Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground last spring, I spent a Saturday clearing the disarray of books, critical essays, notepads and Post-its with my jotted thoughts and references, my highlighted and dog-eared MLA Handbook and dictionary, half-empty water …
Patriots, Politics, and Powerful People
by Stan Crader In an effort to draw a fictional narrative closer to reality, I wanted to drop the name of a real famous person into the periphery of my novel. So, I began making a list that first came to mind. Try it and see what you come up with. Make a list of the greatest names that come …