by Shirley E. Gould Christmas is upon us! It happens every year…the food, the search for gifts, company parties, Christmas programs and family gatherings crowd our schedules, devour our finances and sap our strength. We can get overwhelmed in the twinkle lights and tinsel. The lines get blurred. Today, the grinch teams up with Scrooge to divert us from the …
Handling Disappointment & Unmet Expectations
By Donna L.H. Smith If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been disappointed in writing or life — or had unmet expectations — I’d be a rich woman. Because disappointment is a part of life and how we handle ourselves, our feelings, our responses when life throws us a sucker punch… Let me tell you a story. Eighteen …
Writing from the Shadow of God
By Linda Thompson I’ve been asking the Lord what kind of encouragement I could pass on today, and He reminded me of this. A couple of years ago, I met a Bible character who really inspired me on my writing journey. Whenever I get blocked, I come back to his example. And I’d never heard of him before that day! …
The Ultimate Story
By Darlene L. Turner Recently, my pastor did a series on evangelism and spoke on how we need to tell our stories to reach others for Christ. Our mandate is to go into the world and share the gospel. This made me think about why and what we write. Sometimes I get caught up in the writing journey—the pitches, time …
Six Tips for Defeating Self-Doubt
by Kathy Harris Fear. It can paralyze. And no one knows that better than a writer who is filled with self-doubt. We may sit down to put words on the paper, but nothing comes out. Or, even worse, we may not sit down at all. If you’ve ever had this happen, you’re not alone. Almost every writer will deal with …
Learning More
By Melinda Eye Cooper Last fall, I made an important decision about work. Not about my full-time accounting job where my paycheck comes from. But about the work I know God has called me to do. Writing. My first memory of writing a story was in the third grade. I don’t remember exactly what it was about but it made …
Four Observations from an ACFW Conference Newbie
By Lauren Gail The 2018 American Christian Fiction Writers Conference held in Nashville, Tennessee was my first ACFW conference. The amazing Frank E. Peretti and the awesome town of Nashville were two of the main reasons I was compelled to register. Add to those the number of agents, editors, publishers, and authors available to network with and the decision was …
Post Conference Blues
By Dani Pettrey I’m excited to be guest posting today. It’s been a while since I’ve been on the blog and I’m really happy to be back. I gain so much insight and wisdom from the posts here and am just thrilled to be taking part. I hope all of you who were able to attend the ACFW conference had …
5 Things to Do After Attending a Writers Conference
By Beth K. Vogt We writers talk a lot about how to prepare for a writers conference, don’t we? We discuss our elevator pitches and our one sheets and how to polish our manuscripts, all the while planning our travel itineraries and our roommates and our wardrobes. Hundreds of you attended the ACFW conference in Nashville a couple of weeks …
Writing: Still Alive and Well in the Next Generation
By Sarah Hamaker Have you heard the news about the death of words? Every few weeks or so, a story pops up in my Facebook feed about how people aren’t reading like they used to, how texting is obliterating writing, and how the Generation Z will kill off books. But I don’t believe them, and you shouldn’t either. Consider my …