By Sharlene MacLaren “Hey, God, why am I doing this?” Tell the truth now. Haven’t you asked this very question? Writing is hard work, and it’s no sin to expect some recompense. Right? After all, we spend months crafting our novels; first, researching; second, plotting; third, drafting outlines and constructing storyboards; and, fourth, drawing up character sketches, always striving to …
Requested Material
By Lorraine Beatty It’s the end of October. Two months since the ACFW conference and the point at which editors are back on track with reading submissions. How many of you sent in the proposals or full manuscripts that were requested? If you have, three cheers. It a scary thing to do but you can’t get published if you don’t …
An Expectant Heart
By Ian Acheson Late last year a pastor spoke a word over me about the Lord wanting to give me a new book, a new optimism and referenced Habakkuk 2:2-3 which talks of waiting on a new vision. I stored it away and got on with life. Over the last couple of years I’ve felt an increasing urge to start …
Words of Wisdom
by Mary Manners “If you’re going to do something, then do it right.” Those words, spoken by my father, came to me the winter of my thirteenth year as I delivered newspapers along my route on the streets of Elmwood Park, a suburb of Chicago. It was the winter of 1976 and we were in the clutch of a terrific, …
Precious Endurance
By Tanara McCauley This month marks the one year anniversary since we rescued our dog Charlie from an animal shelter. Having grown up with dogs, I thought Charlie would be a perfect addition to our family and a source of great memories for our kids. He would play with them, rest his head on their laps whenever they felt down, …
October!
By Martha Rogers October! How I love this month. To me, October ushers in the holiday season with the most gorgeous display of colors nature could provide. Orange, gold, red, yellow and burnt orange burst forth in an array only God could design. Several of my novels take place from summer into fall or fall into winter simply because it’s …
Plastic Flowers
By Shirley E. Gould I hated the plastic flowers that were popular when I was young. They looked cheap, artificial and were hard to the touch. I informed my family that when I die, I don’t want any plastic flowers. My brother-in-law, bless his soul, made it his mission to find plastic flowers to give me every Christmas. It made …
Writing in the Valley of Discouragement
By Connilyn Cossette Writing a second book, under contract, and after you’ve actually written most of the third is a daunting prospect. But that is what I was faced with when delving into Shadow of the Storm, the second book of the Out from Egypt series. I spent weeks writing things and deleting them. I spent weeks asking myself if …
Every Author’s Headache
By Norma Gail Life gets harder once your book is published. I will admit I thought little beyond seeing my book on store shelves and waiting for the royalty checks. However, life after publication is nothing like I, or probably any other writer in the current day anticipated. Let’s face it, marketing and social media are every author’s headache. Traditionally …
Take It
By Tomi Leslie Yogi Berra, a Hall of Fame baseball player, contributed much to the MLB. But I remember him more for his contribution to our American language? Berra was a sportswriters’ favorite mainly because he had numerous expressions and twists of phrase that were memorable. Many of his comments did not make any sense. At the same time, though, …