By Sarah Sundin Book releases can be the most exciting times! Seeing our books released into the wild is the fulfillment of our writerly dreams. But they can also be hectic and taxing. This week my thirteenth novel, When Twilight Breaks, releases. Here are a few tips for navigating your release month with grace—tips I’ve learned the hard way. Plan …
The Wait
by Loretta Eidson The moment months of character building, plotting, and creativity end, anticipation builds. The novel is complete. With outstretched arms, take in a deep breath, shout for joy, and celebrate the success of a long writing journey. The sense of accomplishment feels grand. The next step is writing a lengthy synopsis and proposal. You tap away at the …
The Triple: An easy way to add a hit of humor during revision
by Teresa Crumpton Some time ago, I braved a network of freeways to visit my grown son. He met me at the door with a toddler in one arm and a naked baby in the other. He stood back, welcomed me in, and said, “Can I get you something, Mom? Coffee? Tea? Diaper? That was my first taste of the …
In Everything Give Thanks—Even in “Plot Twists”
by Linda Thompson As authors, we love to hand our characters plot twists. And we expect them to face them with resilience and fortitude. But what about those times when life hands us our own wild cards? Something we expected doesn’t turn out like…we expected. 2020 has dished out plenty of those. Amen? For many, this past Thanksgiving weekend epitomized …
God’s Whispers in Theme
By Suzanne J. Bratcher “Do you know the theme of a story before you write it?” When a reader asked me that question, I answered “yes.” While I don’t always know the exact passage that will surface as the key verse, I know the theme will be an invitation to a deeper faith. Even though my answer seemed to satisfy …
The Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow, and the Lion
By Julia Kay Being a women’s fiction writer, I’m a big fan of spiritual leaders who teach and champion other women. Specifically, Lisa Bevere is one of my favorites. I recently read a comment on social media from someone saying that her hand motions were annoying in one of her videos. As writers, we’ve been there, right? Rude comments. Random …
How Long Do You Write Before Writing It Down?
By Glynn Young I spent almost four years writing my first novel before I put a single word on screen or paper. Writing a novel wasn’t intentional. A song had captured my imagination, a single image formed in my mind, and gradually a story unfolded to accompany that song and image – all in my imagination. I mentally nursed the …
How Do Book Launch Teams Help Authors?
by Cynthia Herron Anticipating a book launch is a little like anticipating childbirth, both thrilling and terrifying. We’re excited about our book birthday, but there’s a lot of hard work leading up to that point. In addition to writing the book, launching it takes coordinated effort by the author, the publisher, the marketing team, and so on. Cheerleaders—those who will …
A Balancing Act
by Shirley Gould Lately, life has been a balancing act as the coronavirus ended life as we know it and we faced major changes. Covid-19 caught us off-balance—totally unprepared. We have quarantined, worked from home, educated our children, and watched businesses close. Now we are social distancing, washing our hands, and wearing masks…and it’s not over yet. As writers of …
The Beauty of Falling Leaves
By Kariss Lynch When seasons change, I celebrate. In general, I struggle with change, but something about nature changing and ushering in something new is exciting and familiar, even as things shift. As an adult, fall has become my favorite season. I love the color of the leaves changing, the crisp mornings and evenings, cozy drinks, firepits, and the permission …