By Elizabeth Ludwig Scarlett O’Hara. Katniss Everdeen. Michael Hosea. Jane Eyre. Do you recognize any of these names? Obviously, they are all characters from books. And yes, they are all heroes. But before they were heroic, they were flawed and fallible. These frail, imperfect, unlikely paragons struggled with weaknesses in their character-like serious flaws-vanity, envy, fear, jealousy, and pride, just …
Who’s your Ultimate Audience?
By Ian Acheson “It’s in the struggle that the story is written.” Yes, yes, I said as I read those words from a fellow author just before I sat down to draft this post. Golly gosh, I’ve struggled writing the sequel to Angelguard. The basic story of Angelguard fell out of me. I was a complete novice (well, I still …
Was Today Really Necessary?
By Mary Manners My dad has always been my hugest inspiration. Long ago, when I was barely a teenager in the early days of my middle school journey, I came home following a particularly rough day to find him sitting on the front porch waiting for me so he could ask about my day. I joined him on the concrete …
The Luby’s Listener
The Luby’s Listener Or Where Do Writers Get Their Ideas? By Kathleen Y’Barbo This year I am celebrating fifteen years as a published author and ten years with my fabulous agent, Wendy Lawton. In April of 2016, I will celebrate twenty years since I purchased that Cannon StarWriter and decided I might be able to write a book. Just one. …
When God Winks
by Elizabeth Musser I love it when God gives me a wink. I don’t mean that to sound disrespectful. But perhaps you’re like me, finding that, in the ordinariness of a day, the Lord just gives a ‘wink’-He shows up in a way that is small and insignificant perhaps on a large scale of world problems but which is oh, …
Writing Something Different
By Victoria Buck “Write something different, but keep it the same.” This was one of those perplexing statements made by a teacher addressing a group of novice novelists at a conference. I don’t remember what the class was called or who did the teaching. It was over a decade ago. I only know I latched on to the “different.” I …
Target Your Marketing
by Ane Mulligan As we have to do more promotion for our books, whom should we be trying to reach? Readers, of course. Okay, but exactly who are these readers? Writers. They’re voracious readers. Book club members. Senior citizens; they have more time now. Women buy 80% of all books Where do we find these people? I use the Big …
When Fiction Becomes Life
By Cynthia Ruchti Decades ago when I wrote radio drama and devotions for a daily broadcast, I created a script in which two voice-over characters discussed a new program at their church. Those within the church who were devoted to prayer were given pagers so they could be alerted immediately, even if they were far away from their home or …
Five Life-saving Steps to Writing a Novella
By Davalynn Spencer I recently turned in my fourth contracted novella and I’ve learned a thing or three about writing these delightful little gems. Emphasis on the word “little.” My first novella developed from my traditional pantser perspective. It was a stand-alone and I could have all the words I wanted just so I didn’t end up with a full-length …
One True Fan
By Sara Ella Target audience. That’s a phrase we hear a lot in this biz, isn’t it? We’re supposed to find our target readers. Gain them as followers. Get their emails so we can add them to the list. Check, check, and check. As if writing a novel wasn’t work enough. I’ve spent hours building platform, ready to pull my …