by Laurel Blount I’ve heard that 97% of aspiring writers fail for one specific reason. They don’t finish their books. It’s a staggering statistic—but after talking with many hopeful writers, I believe it. Even after they’ve pitched the book at a conference and been invited to submit, even when they’ve had an encouraging ‘revise and resubmit’ from an editor, their …
Getting Unstuck after 2020
by Kristi Holl I was sick twice during the pandemic, we lost two family members, plus I had a month-long severe reaction to my second Covid shot. When I resurfaced, practically comatose, I was behind on one book deadline and a book proposal (set in 1850s England.) None of my decades-old “get started” techniques worked, which induced a near panic. …
Writing is a Lot Easier than Editing
By Glynn Young In late December, a story idea took possession of my head, and I began to write. The narrative flowed like it never had before with five previous novels. This one was different; its predecessors had been part of a series, while this one was a completely different story. On Feb. 18, I write this note in my …
The Juggling Act: Working Full-time and Writing
By Amy Clipston People often ask me, “How do you work a full-time job and write books?” I resist the urge to roll my eyes, and instead reply, “I just make it work.” Unlike some authors, I work full-time for a local government, in addition to writing four or more books per year for HarperCollins Christian Publishing. In fact, in …
Blog Humor
By Stephanie Prichard I love making people laugh, so I aim to elicit a chuckle in my blog devotionals too. Here’s an example of how I combine laughter with the seriousness of Scriptural truth: Mistaken Restroom Yep, I did it. Walked smack dab into a men’s restroom. I was in such a hurry I raced straight to a stall and …
A New Novelist’s Journey to Publication
By Frank DiBianca Believing we all learn from our fellow travelers’ writing experiences, I thought I’d outline mine in hopes that they may be useful to other new fiction writers. I remember publishing in my school’s fourth-grade “newspaper” a flash sci-fi story, The Unknown Element, about a new atomic element with mysterious properties. When the teachers said they didn’t understand …
Altar Envy
By Terri Gillespie “When you make for Me an altar of stones, do not build it from cut stone, for if you use a tool on it, you will have profaned it.” Exodus 20:25, TLV Despite my smile and enthusiastic congratulations, the familiar funk of envy settled on me like slime. That adage to “fake it until you make it” …
Resurrecting Righteousness
By Christine Sunderland Angel Mountain is a resurrection story, so I was pleased the novel was released shortly after Easter last year by Wipf and Stock Publishers. One of my main characters is Abram Levin, a Jewish refugee who converts to Christianity in his later years. He spends his last days in a sandstone cave as a hermit, singing, praying, …
Pushing Through Growing Pains
By Kariss Lynch I found out I was pregnant with our first child two months before my fourth book baby was set to launch into the world. Needing mental energy to finish editing Heart’s Cry and having no physical energy in the first trimester was quite a doozy. However, the more I pushed through and the further we have traveled in this …
Finding My Purpose in Writing
By KD Holmberg Over a decade ago, my five children slowly began to drift into their own lives. I knew my time as a full-time mom was coming to an end, but the days passed quicker than expected. Before I knew it, I was helping my baby move into a college dorm. Honestly, I left her school feeling a bit …