by Nikki Arana If you are struggling with your writing, continue reading . . . People are always surprised to learn that I have sold everything I ever sent out. From that first magazine article in 2003 for Writers Digest, to my current novel, The Next Target. Yes, God was blessing my socks off and assuring me that He had …
Focus Your Premise
What’s at stake? What’s the story question? by Rachel Hauck Premise Every story needs a basic start: a premise. It’s the foundation for your idea. The premise defines what’s at stake? What the story is about? “What will the protagonist overcome to achieve her goal?” A great premise is the “hook” that grabs the attention of an editor, agent or …
The Story is in the Details
By Margaret Daley We all know that character and plot are important elements to writing, but I’m here to remind you of the importance of the details in your story. I had a friend tell me she sent out her book for endorsements. When one endorser emailed her with her endorsement (a good one), she casually asked my friend what …
Energy…the better-than-caffeine kind
by Melissa Tagg Marketing. I think a lot of writers hear the word and do a little scary-movie shudder. Or maybe a full-on horror-flick scream. Me, not so much because a) I’m more of a nervous laugher than screamer and b) I happen to work in marketing at a good-sized nonprofit. And I’ve realized something in the past few years. …
Life With Lily Recipes
On yesterday’s blog, Suzanne Woods Fisher talked about how the Life with Lily series came about. She mentioned some mouth-watering recipes that we thought would be fun to share. Mama’s Pumpkin Pie 1 1/2 cup pumpkin 1 1/2 cup white sugar 1 1/2 cup brown sugar 4 1/2 Tbsp. flour 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp nutmeg 1/4 tsp cloves 1 …
Life with Lily
By Suzanne Woods Fisher “Your big opportunity may be right where you are now.” Amish proverb I’ve often heard that there is no better childhood than an Amish one. Mary Ann Kinsinger had such a childhood. She was raised in a happy Old Order Amish home in western Pennsylvania. A born storyteller, Mary Ann started a blog, A Joyful Chaos, …
Inviting God In
by Becky Wade “Work, work from early till late. In fact, I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” -Martin Luther Every time I sit down to work on my novel, I’m acutely aware that I’ve taken on something so big that I’m going to fail. I know it, down to the …
Four Spies that Every Writer Needs and Why
by Sandra Orchard “Spies?” you say. “But I don’t write suspense.” I’m talking about spies that will give you the inside scoop on the things you don’t know, and on the things that you don’t know that you don’t know. Why? So you can write believable fiction, and give readers unexpected insider details. SciFi and Spec writers don’t stop reading. …
Writing the Author Bio
by Laurie Alice Eakes One thing authors are often asked to create is an author bio anywhere from 50 words, to 150 words. We need to introduce ourselves to a new listserve. We need to place one in proposals to editors and agents, we need one for the copy in our books, we need one on our web sites… In …
Memories of the ACFW Conference
by Sherri Stone Last year I watched the awards gala on the live feed from St. Louis and wondered if it would be just as cool to be there in person. Nope. It was so much better! I arrived Thursday feeling like a kindergardner dropped off for the first day of school who didn’t even know how to stand in …