by Marianne Evans My family has this thing about homemade, fresh-baked onion bread. It’s a staple that’s been passed from my grandma, to my mom, and now, to me. I love being the one to carry on the tradition of baking bread because, as I’ve often joked with my kids, it’s a sure-fire way to get them to pay a …
Stepping Out
By Tomi Leslie I questioned within. Me, take a line-dancing lesson? But I do love Country music. And so, I decided to try it. Then, I shopped for the perfect boots. Soon, I entered a resale store and on the shoe rack, I glanced at pumps, flats, sandals, and high-heeled shoes. I eventually asked the middle-aged saleswoman. “Do you have …
Don’t Quit Your Day Job–Part II
by Elizabeth Musser A year ago (October, 2015), I wrote a post called ‘Don’t Quit Your Day Job‘. Here’s the second part of that post, giving a very personal account of how my day job inspired my newest novel. In the summer of 1984, I, along with dozens of other missionaries working throughout Europe, gathered for a conference in an …
Love the Labor
By Liz Curtis Higgs Being published is a blessing, but I think the writing process itself is the real reward. The discoveries unearthed while doing research, the time spent on character development, the crafting of the story, and the fine-tuning of each sentence–that’s what makes my heart sing. I bet that’s how it is for you as well, my friend. …
World Creating for the Earth-bound
By Lee Carver Fellow authors, I’d like to share with you a thought which has helped me visualize and therefore write my fiction. Fantasy and sci-fi writers are accustomed to creating worlds, defining them well enough that the reader “sees” the setting, right? Doing that without an “information dump” is part of the challenge. It has only recently occurred to …
LIFE HAPPENS – But what about your deadlines?
By Pat Bradley If you are a writer, published or unpublished, you have deadlines. True, they might be self-imposed, but they are still deadlines you take seriously. And since you can’t schedule emergencies, what do you do with those deadlines when you have to deal with a serious illness or something unexpected that can’t be put off? I found myself …
Unpublished and on Social Media as an Author? Why?
By Tamela Hancock Murray It’s hard to get through a week without seeing at least one article on platform. Well, here’s yours for the week! We agents ask authors for a platform, but I have found that unpublished authors wonder how and why they should show a professional presence on social media. That question is understandable. Without a book, what …
Five Smooth Stones
By Darlene L. Turner Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. 1 Sam 17:40 (NIV) Dawson lost his footing and fell backwards. The towering figure sneered, crooked teeth protruding. He crossed his arms …
The Power of the Word…
By Kathy Parish “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1 (NIV) You know how your mind sometimes gets hold of a concept, an idea, and you can’t let it go, but you can’t really put that thought pattern into a coherent sentence? I think I’m there, folks. It …
Writing a Novel for Film
By Lenora Livingston Typically, a book is written prior to being adapted to a screenplay. However, I chose to do the reverse because of how my story developed. When I experienced the greatest miracle of my life, it triggered a long series of flashbacks about certain events that occurred during the three preceding decades. It was if I was watching …