By Lynn Hobbs Writing your story is just that; your story. If you are making a point using a situation as an example or attempting to show a lesson learned; readers will decide for themselves if it could be applied to their daily lives. As a Christian fiction author, writing about a fictional family, town, or one main character should …
Ten Things I’ve Learned in Ten Years
by Sarah Sundin Ten years ago, my first novel released. In many ways, I still feel like a wide-eyed debut novelist, stunned to have my books out there. In other ways, I feel like a mentor mama, passing out hugs and advice. Let me put on my mentor mama hat today and share ten lessons I’ve learned in the last …
Bad Reviews Aren’t Fatal
By Suzanne Woods Fisher A few weeks before my first novel was due to release, I received an advance review from Publisher’s Weekly. That moment is seared in my mind: I remember the time of day it was when I received the email, where I stood in my house, how it felt as I read it. Because it was terrible. …
Are you Courageous?
By Molly Jebber Are you courageous? Are you struggling to find the courage to do something Jesus Christ is asking you to do? I can empathize. Courage is hard sometimes. I was a Director for Pharmaceutical Research, and I needed a change. Jesus Christ had been pricking my conscience to seek a new job for many reasons. But I was …
Write Where You Are
By Kathryn Haueisen “I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2 I live in one of the flatter regions of the country, and prefer to lift my eyes to the horizon across a lake or ocean, yet I gravitate to these verses …
“Check Your Battery!”
by Kristi Holl Remember the scene from Sister Act when Whoopi Goldberg is training her nuns to sing on key? The oldest (nearly deaf) nun is joyfully pounding away on the piano, oblivious to how far she is out of sync. Whoopi stops the rehearsal, stomps her foot to gain the nun’s attention, and yells, “Alma! Check your battery!” Clearly …
Writing Over Speaking
By Cindy Patterson This summer I took the trip of a lifetime … a mission’s trip to Israel. Before the trip, our team of twenty met on several occasions to prepare and discuss what to expect. At our last meeting, the leader asked if anyone would be willing to give a devotion. Speaking in front of people is not my …
I Have a Voice!
by Kathy Harris If you’re going to get heard, you can’t just raise your voice. You’ve got to set yourself apart, showing you have something special to say, and that you have a unique way of saying it. — Jeff Goins, author, blogger, speaker I could barely squeak out my words much less raise my voice over the holidays after …
A New Year’s Prayer
By Elizabeth Musser Dear Lord, As 2020 opens like a blank manuscript before me, please hear my heart. May the words I write this year be well-chosen and crafted to the best of my ability. Oh, I know the first draft won’t be a thing of beauty. But please renew my desire, my zeal, to spend the time thinking about, …
What We Experience Affects What We Write
By Kimberley Woodhouse Write what you know. We’ve all heard it. But is that always the best advice? It worked for the character Anne in her vignettes of Avonlea, and it worked for Jo of Little Women, right? But what about all the adventurous and exciting stories they wrote and longed to write? Just like those fictional characters, our inquisitive, …