By Tanara McCauley “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” It’s a verse I know well, and one I’m prone to lean on in trying times or when faced with difficult choices. I’ve only recently realized, however, that it’s a verse I never fully believed. I can do hard things through Christ. I can do good things …
Sharing Your Heart
By Patti Shene They say you should write what you know. These past few months, my life has been draped in sadness and loss. (Please don’t stop reading! I’m not going to take you into a world of gloom and grief!). My mom passed away in February of this year and my husband in June. I was blessed to speak …
A Writer’s Best Energy
By Melissa Tagg Marketing. I think a lot of writers hear the word and do a little scary-movie shudder. Or maybe a full-on horror-flick scream. Me, not so much because a) I’m more of a nervous laugher than screamer and b) I happen to work in marketing at a good-sized nonprofit. And I’ve realized something in the past few years. …
ACFW 2016: Social Advice from an Autistic Author
by Patricia Beal Conference is thirty days away! Can you believe it? I get fired up about our yearly gathering. This will be my third ACFW conference, and I can’t wait because the seeds we plant during ACFW grow for years. Lives change. How can we not get excited about it? My first ACFW conference was in St. Louis in …
My Blogless Summer
By Victoria Buck After eighteen months of blogging weekly, I knew it was time for a respite. I needed to promote the release of my second novel. A novelette begged to be finished. I’d signed the contract for my third novel, and a fourth collection of characters and plots had settled into my imagination. So I felt I needed a …
Am I the Only One Who Struggles?
By C. Kevin Thompson Watch this video, then we’ll talk. Do you feel a little small after watching that video? Insignificant, perhaps? Hopefully awestruck, though, right? Now, read this article, then come back for the finale. I watched this video and read this article within a couple of weeks of one another. Although the article was not quite so factual, …
Becoming a Writer of Excellence
By Donna L.H. Smith This is something we all strive for, but let’s face it. As “excellent” as we can become, mistakes happen in publishing, both on the author’s side and on the editor’s. I recently read and reviewed a book by one of my favorite authors and found at least two instances of POV problems, and at least one …
Fiction You Can Believe
By Lee Carver We are well acquainted with the expression “willful suspension of disbelief.” The story may be total fiction, but we are drawn into it to the extent that we choose to believe it could happen. We want to be so lost in a gripping story that we never drop the book or e-reader to our laps and say, …
Writing to Discover Truth … and Yourself
By Ian Acheson Golly gosh, I’ve struggled writing the sequel to Angelguard. The basic story of Angelguard fell out of me. I was a complete novice (well, I still am really) but the story just kept coming. I’d turn up to the blank page and out it would come. Nine months later it was done. The first draft. Not to …
Balance
By Patricia Bradley Earlier this week I received a call from a non-writing friend who invited me to go shopping. The conversation went something like this: “I can’t,” I said, “I have a deadline. Maybe next time.” “You’ll have a deadline then, too,” replied my friend. I’m thinking, yes, I certainly hope so, but then my friend added, “You need …