By Jill K. Willis It’s amazing how one 30-minute experience can teach so many lessons. Last February, Bob Crittenden, host of the Meeting House on Faith Radio, interviewed me as a debut author at the Christian Products Expo. It was my first radio interview. I have a background in public relations and had a decent idea of what to expect, …
Family History as a Source for Stories
By Glynn Young A single comment by my father nearly six decades ago led to a story idea. “Your great-grandfather was too young to enlist in the Civil War,” he said. “So, he signed up as a messenger boy when he looked old enough to get away with it. And then he had to walk home when the war was …
Treasuring People
By Barbara M. Britton Have you heard the word platform? Authors are told that they must have an electronic connection to readers in order to make their story a bestseller. Authors toil at increasing their newsletter followers, posting on several social media platforms, and are busy gathering these connections for reviews around launch day. There is reason behind this madness, …
Tithing Our Writing
By Susan Lyttek In the spring of 2020, I felt a nudge. Post your margin poems. Share them and expect nothing. It is the tithe of the talent I gave you. Uh, what? Was pretty much my response. My margin poems were personal responses to my Bible reading. Years ago, someone had given me a coloring Bible. Once I had colored …
Trust God’s Timing while Scaling the Mountain of your Publishing Journey
By Lana Christian Let’s face it—we yearn for mountaintops. A clearer view. A broader perspective. A milestone achievement. But we spend most of our life in valleys and on plains. In not-yet times. Working-while-waiting times. Alternately questioning and trusting God’s sovereignty. Especially when it comes to writing and publishing. Sometimes I wish both required less preparation and waiting. Don’t you? …
When Words Bring Life: It’s More than Your Story
By Tara Johnson “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” ~Proverbs 18:21 As writers, many of us crave that elusive book contract. We struggle to learn the craft. We go to conferences. We network, build a platform, grow social media…all with the idea that if our hard work pays …
My Writing Journey
By Diana Wallis Taylor Fifteen years ago, I had not even written my first novel. What I had worked on was an Easter musical. Now I’d written a lot of poetry, and published a book of poetry, “Wings of the Wind” but not songs. As a poet, I had no problem writing the words. Then the Lord gave me melodies …
Worthy Words: Sacramental Settings
By Christine Sunderland Today is Palm Sunday, a major festival in the Christian year. It recalls and celebrates Christ’s humble and glorious entrance into Jerusalem on a colt, to begin the week leading to Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. As Jesus entered the gates of the city, the “multitudes” waved palms in greeting. They spread their garments and …
Celebrating a Book Birthday with Gratitude
By Gina Detwiler This week, Forbidden, the fourth book of the Forlorn series (the fifth if you count the prequel), had its official book birthday. Let me tell you how that feels. Terrifying. Exciting! I mean exciting. Of course. But also, yes, terrifying. Because along with the joy of a newborn novel comes the angst: will anyone read it? Will …
Finding Your Writing Process
By Carol Buchanan, PhD Sometimes the most difficult task in the writing life is to find your own writing process. By writing process, I don’t mean answering one of these questions: Are you a plotter? Are you a pantser? Are you somewhere on the continuum between them? Even if you’re the most determined plotter, who devises every twist and turn …