By Bethany Turner Is there anything more mysterious to a writer than the concept of voice? We all want ours to be unlike any other in the market. To be distinct and powerful. But how do we go about developing it? More often than not, the top recommendation I see is to spend time reading other writers’ writing, to examine …
Is Age Holding You Back?
By Patricia Bradley How many times heard you heard someone say, “I’d love to write a book, but I’m too old.” And it isn’t limited to writing a book. Mention learning anything new and I hear the same response—“Oh, I could never do that.” What bugs me most is that the person won’t even try. So, is there an age …
Rainbow Bookshelves
by Christa Kinde Nothing showcases a book collection more than creative arranging. In recent years, there’s been a trend to organize your library by color, creating a spectrum that spans the shelves. Rainbow bookshelves. The first time I saw a snapshot on social media, I knew I had to try it. Someday. My chance came with our most recent move. …
A Safe Investment
By Christa MacDonald Recently, one beautiful Saturday, I hit the plant shops with my two youngest kids and bought annuals for the mailbox planter and a few herbs for the kitchen garden. Massachusetts has a short growing season and, although I begin the season planting from seed, I end up buying some to enjoy the color until fall. As I …
Crafting A Great First Line (Hooking The Reader)
By Rachel Hauck In a world where indie and traditional authors are scraping for every bit of shelf space and reader attention, we have to up our game. One of the best ways is to craft a dynamite first line. But it’s hard to craft a first line. Many of us settle for “good enough.” But here’s the power of …
A Story Needs People
by Ann H. Gabhart “I will go to my grave in a state of abject endless fascination that we all have the capacity to become emotionally involved with a personality that doesn’t exist.” (Berkeley Breathed) As a writer I have become emotionally involved with many characters that only came into existence because I imagined them and set them down on a …
Celebrate Independence Day!
By Carrie Stuart Parks Happy 4th of July! My new book, Formula of Deception, will have released yesterday. In it are some historical facts that I researched and I’d like to reflect on as we celebrate our independence. A theme of my writing is to show how events of the past impact the present. Although I may start my research …
Plot Twists: The Paralegal Chronicles
By Kathleen Y’Barbo Next year I will celebrate twenty years of being a published author. This year I surpassed the 90-book mark and reached more than two million copies in sales. Where have the years gone? When I sat down at my Canon StarWriter word processor, I had no idea that someday I would be looking back with a body …
A Virtuous Undertaking
By Ruth A. Douthitt The woman in Proverbs 31 is such an example of how a wife and mother should be, that many women feel threatened by her as if she accomplished all of these tasks in a single day, week, month, or even a year. Nonsense. The chapter provides an overview of what a virtuous wife did throughout her …
To Your Health
By Linda W. Yezak Yesterday, I couldn’t get my eyes to focus. I was trying to read something on the computer screen and none of the three lenses on my trifocals would make the print clear for me. If I brought the laptop a few inches from my nose or used the commands to make the print larger, I could …