By JPC Allen There is a difference between writers and people who write. One of my favorite writers, Patrick F. McManus, brought this home to me in his humorous essay, “People Who Hunt”, from the book Kerplunk! Mr. McManus writes that hunters and people who hunt are two different species. People who hunt love the sport, but they have other …
What’s Your Season?
By Kathy Parish My birthday is May 29th. I’ll not mention the year of my birth, but be assured that for all of those Facebook posts about “Share if you remember this” or “Do you know what this is?” I can answer affirmatively. (I don’t share, though. After all, who needs to know that I remember days pre-microwave and DVD …
The Miracle of Hope
By Catherine West Today I’m celebrating the release of my sixth novel! My third published book through Harper Collins Christian Publishing, and since the title is Where Hope Begins, I thought hope would be the perfect topic for today’s post. “Hope begins in the dark. The stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right …
Goals You CAN Achieve
By Cindy Patterson I’ve been thinking about Goal Setting and how it could change the success of many aspects of our life. Especially writing. But where do you start? Where do you WANT to see yourself tomorrow, in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years? The biggest challenge in setting goals is Fear Of Failure. What if it doesn’t work? What if …
Genealogy of Faith
by Marianne Evans The genealogy of my faith life begins, like most people, at the feet of my mom and dad. They raised me to embrace my faith, but make it an individual, personal matter. They didn’t spoon-feed me doctrine or theology. Instead, they led by example, showing me integrity, heart, service and love in all that they do. Nothing …
7 Qualities to Look For in a Writing Mentor
By Beth K. Vogt Almost every writer I know is looking for a mentor – or was looking for a mentor at one time in their writing career. And yet, when asked what we’re looking for in a mentor, how many of us go beyond “I want someone to help me become a better writer” answer? We all want to …
Were You Called to Write?
by Kathy Harris How can I really know if I’m called to write? Haven’t we all wondered from time to time? Your answers to the following questions may help you decide. Do you write because you can’t not write? Do you love to play with words—to spin stories? Do characters and plots and scenes fill your head, sometimes to the …
Into the Unknown
By Kathleen Denly In 2012 my husband and I submitted our first application to adopt. After years of prayer and planning, we believed God had led us to pursue the adoption of a specific young girl in Russia. In December of that same year, Russia closed to adoptions by American families. To say we were heartbroken to be unable to …
By Faith
By Loretta Eidson Hebrews 11:1 is called the faith chapter in the Bible. The New International Version (NIV) states that “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” The passages following that first verse go on to expound on people in the Bible who exercised their faith in God. By faith, …
Writing Through the Valleys: The Painful Truth
By Christa MacDonald Pain, the emotional sort, is a killer of creativity. It’s hard to get the words out when your heart is breaking. Grief, angst, fear, whatever it is, nothing shuts off the faucet of inspiration like suffering. It’s tough to get motivated to write a light-hearted romance when your heart is broken. It’s equally challenging to write about …