By Loretta Eidson If you’ve ever been parasailing, you know the exhilarating feeling of the wind in your face, the serene solitude of flying through the air, and the breathtaking scenery of the ocean below. If you’re a writer, you envision the many ways parasailing can relate to the creative mind in the development of an intriguing story. Whether you …
Writing Despite Adversity…(Yes, You CAN!)
by Cynthia Herron “Mrs. Herron…We have your son’s lab results back. It’s serious.” There were no preliminaries. No shoot-the-breeze kind of niceties. Just words. Plain, succinct, gut-wrenching words that conveyed the gravity of the situation. I braced myself for the worst and struggled to hold onto some sense of normalcy. This couldn’t be happening. I had a proposal to finish. …
Creative Minds and the Need for Sleep
by Mary Ellis Read any author interview or listen in on any conversation between writers and you will hear one universal theme: There aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. Between day-jobs, spouses, kids, houses that need to be cleaned, and meals to get on the table-how does a writer find enough time to write? Once you’re …
God Provides In His Time
by Martha Rogers Today, June 22, is my 77th birthday, and I am overwhelmed at all God has done in my life. So many times I wanted to give up on this writing journey, but God sent people and events into my life to encourage me and to keep me on track with His Plans for my life. Years ago …
Lessons From Sherlock
by Tessa Afshar The British love their Sherlock Holmes. They love him so much that they have built a flat on Baker Street that supposedly once belonged to this fictional character. So it’s not such a shock that they would come up with another Sherlock Holmes television production. Personally, I can’t get enough of it. There are several reasons for …
Creating Characters Who Breathe
by Robin Lee Hatcher I love discovering the inner workings of my characters. I love it when they come to life and begin telling me their stories. I love it when they become my companions and my friends. Writers often fall into two camps: those who develop their stories around plots and those who develop their stories around characters. But …
Creating Careers for our Characters
by Lisa Jordan Last week I requested career options for the hero in my next book on my Facebook author page. While reading through my fans’ posts, I was amazed by the diverse occupations they suggested-boat builder, hospital administrator, youth pastor, zoo manager, etc. Meeting someone for the first time, one of the first questions you may ask is, “What …
Writing After Sixty
by Diana Wallis Taylor Someone wrote a book about “Geezers”, older guys who love to read books. A friend said, “I don’t consider myself a geezer! I always thought that when we got older, we just got better.” I shared that with my husband and he thought a moment and said, “Well, if older is better, then I must be …
Five Things My Dad Taught Me About Writing
by Rebecca DeMarino I love listening to family lore and studying genealogy. The discovery of threads that weave together to make us unique is a thrill and the fabric for my novels. I like to think that I inherited my love of baking and gardening from my mom’s Horton side of the family. With my dad, I share a love …
Settings
by Dana Mentink Settings! They are one of the things that compel me as a reader and writer. Bring me to a new world, a place I’ve never been and I’m fascinated. My early years found me steeped in Middle Earth, Oz, and Narnia. More recently, the Life of Pi swept me away to a mysterious carnivorous island. Ironically though, …