By Edie Melson It’s time to quit Social Media. Yep, you read that right. The Queen of social media is telling you it’s time to QUIT social media. NOT permanently (thought you were going to get out of it, didn’t you!), but I’m suggesting you take a break periodically, and re-examine your plan. I used to keep up with social …
Mining Your Life for Stories
By Marta Perry A number of years ago, I taught an evening adult class on journal writing. When the time came at our second session for participants to read their work, I felt a little apprehensive. What if nobody was willing to read? Would I be left with an hour of class time to fill? I shouldn’t have worried. The …
From Russia with Love
By Susan May Warren This year marks the tenth anniversary of my first novel being published. “Happily Ever After” came out in 2003 just as we returned home from the mission field in Russia, and I still remember staring wide eyed at the cover thinking…how on earth did this happen? See the truth is that I never set out to …
Ten Wrongs Don’t Make a Writer
Ten Wrongs Don’t Make a Writer How to Avoid the Top Ten Fatal Flaws in Fiction By Kathleen Y’Barbo We’re a little over a week into the 2014, the time when New Year’s resolutions begin to lose their shine and some of us begin to wonder if we should have resolved NOT to make any resolutions. But what if your …
Write Tight
by Maureen Lang I’ve just finished my current Work In Progress, and I always share my first draft with at least one trusted friend and critique partner before starting my revision process. Fresh eyes have a way of spotting plot twists that fall flat, character traits that don’t ring true or, the subject of today’s blog post, unnecessary verbiage. The …
Researching A Contemporary Novel
by Gail Gaymer Martin A contemporary novel is set in the present, and yet I spend a great deal of time researching details of location, seasonal events, health issues, careers and more to bring reality to the novel. The last two books of the Sisters series revolves around firefighters, and I used the Interent to research the career, but knowing …
Celebrating the Little Moments in Your Writing
by Lisa Jordan I read a brief devotional from Joy for a Woman’s Soul, written by the Women of Faith ladies. The late Barbara Johnson had written a piece titled “Celebrate Joy.” She reminds us “celebrate anything you can think of.” After all, “every day is worth a party-not just the cookie cutter moments.” If we applied that to our …
Amazon Reviews for You
by Eddie Jones Here we are in the midst of the most important shopping season of the year and (perhaps) your book languishes in the lost-but-not-found section of Amazon, B&N.com and Christianbooks.com. Oh what is a poor author to do, Cindy Lou? Get more reviews for you. That’s right, increasingly customers turn to online reviews written to learn if a …
Second Act: When Success Comes Late
by Suzanne Woods Fisher My dentist likes to ask about my writing whenever I come in for my six-month check-up. Toward the end of the last visit, he made a grave error. “Imagine,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief. “Getting published at your age!” I was outraged! Silently, of course, because his tools were in my mouth. First of …
Praying Through the Burnout
by Casey Herringshaw Every writer, at some point, during their novel-creation career will most likely experience some period of burnout. It creeps up like a naughty third-wheel cousin and steals all enthusiasm you might have cultivated for this story. It often doesn’t matter how much you love a story or the characters, sometimes it’s all the emotional energy we pour …