by Cynthia Herron Anticipating a book launch is a little like anticipating childbirth, both thrilling and terrifying. We’re excited about our book birthday, but there’s a lot of hard work leading up to that point. In addition to writing the book, launching it takes coordinated effort by the author, the publisher, the marketing team, and so on. Cheerleaders—those who will …
Why Depleted Writers Can’t Lie Down in Green Pastures
By Kristi Holl 2020 has been a long year for me, as for most people. Nearly eight months of isolation, a Covid-19 death in the family, and illness left me in need of rest at a time I wanted to make headway on my work-in-progress. I craved the Good Shepherd’s renewal of “lying down in green pastures,” but could not …
Amish Fiction and Evangelization
By Dana R. Lynn “You’re an author? How exciting! What’s your new book called?” “Deadly Amish Reunion.” When people ask me what I write, I used to feel odd telling them that I wrote Amish fiction, mostly Amish suspense. Sometimes their faces would light up. Other times, it was obvious they were trying not to roll their eyes. People are …
Straddling the Fence
By Donna Wichelman Mathew 6:24 –“ No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (NASB). If you are a Christian and a fiction author, perhaps you have squirmed over marrying the two identities and branding …
It Came Upon A Midnight Clear…
By Allie Pleiter When I set out to write a book about an “imperfect Christmas,” I had no idea how far from ideal the Christmas of 2020 would be. To be honest, it’s probably an overstatement to say I set out to write His Christmas Wish. It never really happens in such a deliberate way. Books reveal themselves to me. …
A Fresh Outlook
By Loretta Eidson Life has a way of clouding our vision. We get caught up in caring for family and long workdays juggling multiple responsibilities. In addition, many of us must get kids off to school or prepare for weeks of homeschooling. Housework, laundry, and yard work. We go through the mail, pay bills, and balance checkbooks. Did I mention …
A Balancing Act
by Shirley Gould Lately, life has been a balancing act as the coronavirus ended life as we know it and we faced major changes. Covid-19 caught us off-balance—totally unprepared. We have quarantined, worked from home, educated our children, and watched businesses close. Now we are social distancing, washing our hands, and wearing masks…and it’s not over yet. As writers of …
The Beauty of Falling Leaves
By Kariss Lynch When seasons change, I celebrate. In general, I struggle with change, but something about nature changing and ushering in something new is exciting and familiar, even as things shift. As an adult, fall has become my favorite season. I love the color of the leaves changing, the crisp mornings and evenings, cozy drinks, firepits, and the permission …
Through Prayer, In Prayer, You Can
By Susan A.J. Lyttek Recently, I found myself doing the impossible. Okay, let me back up. Many years ago, I planned a six-book series. Stories one and two were finished and with the possibility of a contract, I started book three. It wasn’t intended to be a long book—about 30-35,000 words. I got to about 20,000. The contract fell through. …
Inspiring Quotes for Wavering Writers (and Everybody Else)
By Frank DiBianca Writing a novel is not a piece of cake nor is publishing one. And the better we want it to be, the harder it is. But it is one of the most fulfilling and rewarding adventures we will ever embark on. Sometimes it helps to have a bit of encouragement, and our forerunners have provided much of …