By Darlene L. Turner “Stay focused; do not lose sight of mercy and truth . . . ” (Proverb 3:3a VOICE) You know what they say . . . “A picture is worth a thousand words.” But what if the picture was blurry and out of focus? It’s worthless. Or is it? Have you noticed when you first press the …
Christian Fiction-No Wimps Allowed
By Cynthia Herron For readers not familiar with Christian fiction there’s the preconceived notion that if it’s Christian it must be wimpy. Or boring. Or something. For example, a friend once asked why I wanted to write for the Christian market and not the secular one. It was actually something I’d thought about a lot. “Well, a Christian is who …
Please Don’t Get Out of My Head
By Victoria Buck When I was a child I had an imaginary friend named Lobby Lou. She seemed real. After a year or so I outgrew her and she stopped playing with me. But did I lose the ability to concoct a friend? I’m sure I didn’t because a transhuman lives in my head now. Or at least in my …
Never Too Old to Learn
By Martha Rogers Since I began writing from Deep POV, my writing has become tighter and much more efficient with much less telling and more showing. This proved once again that I’m never too old to learn more effective techniques for my writing. I refuse to be bound by “I’ve always done it that way” because a closed mind to …
Every Day Acknowledgements
By Sara Ella I’ve been thinking about acknowledgements lately. My debut novel is with my editor as I write this, so I’ve been working on that little section the goes at the back of the book. You know, the one that’s supposed to be short and sweet. The one in which I am expected to fit all my thank yous. …
Two are (a lot) better than one
By Ian Acheson I read recently about a Christian author whose first novel had won a number of accolades. On being asked whether such success had surprised them, they indicated that it hadn’t. They went on to explain that from the first days of writing the manuscript they had marveled with surprise and some disbelief that they had been able …
What Inspires Us
by Kim Gilliland I’m making an assumption here, but I believe we all need to be inspired by something when we first put pen to paper – or fingers to keys, as the case may be. Whether it’s a deadline looming, the proverbial sunrise making it’s entrance on a new day, or simply wanting 30 minutes of alone time with …
God can use anything-even amnesia!
By Allie Pleiter It would have been amusing, had it not been so scary. The romance author getting amnesia. Amnesia is such a romance “staple” that my editor joked about issuing a press release. It’s an amusing story now, the tale of my episode of Transient Global Amnesia in June of 2010. Back then it was one more layer to …
Writing What You Know…Emotionally
By Martha Rogers From early on in my writing days, I was taught to write what I knew most about. During my college days, that didn’t amount to a whole lot in my opinion. In looking back at those days and some of the manuscripts, I find stories about high school romances, college days, and perfect families. I was writing …
Does a Newsletter Scare You? Five Ways to Rock It!
By Cynthia Herron As social media networks continue to limit our visibility (unless we buy their ads so they, in turn, will promote our posts/statuses), what’s a writer to do? How do we reach those we care about? Well, there are two things we can do (and yes, you’ve heard this before): blog and build our email lists-engage through our …