The Luby’s Listener Or Where Do Writers Get Their Ideas? By Kathleen Y’Barbo This year I am celebrating fifteen years as a published author and ten years with my fabulous agent, Wendy Lawton. In April of 2016, I will celebrate twenty years since I purchased that Cannon StarWriter and decided I might be able to write a book. Just one. …
When God Winks
by Elizabeth Musser I love it when God gives me a wink. I don’t mean that to sound disrespectful. But perhaps you’re like me, finding that, in the ordinariness of a day, the Lord just gives a ‘wink’-He shows up in a way that is small and insignificant perhaps on a large scale of world problems but which is oh, …
Writing Something Different
By Victoria Buck “Write something different, but keep it the same.” This was one of those perplexing statements made by a teacher addressing a group of novice novelists at a conference. I don’t remember what the class was called or who did the teaching. It was over a decade ago. I only know I latched on to the “different.” I …
One True Fan
By Sara Ella Target audience. That’s a phrase we hear a lot in this biz, isn’t it? We’re supposed to find our target readers. Gain them as followers. Get their emails so we can add them to the list. Check, check, and check. As if writing a novel wasn’t work enough. I’ve spent hours building platform, ready to pull my …
Imaginary Friends
By Darlene L. Turner Ever have an imaginary friend when you were a child? If you’re a writer, I’m guessing you probably did. Confession time . . . I had one too. Pee Wee lived in our bathroom, and we had great conversations every day. He never failed to give me a laugh and help me with my problems. Today, …
Rules of Writing Encourage or Discourage
By Linda Robinson After I joined a large critique group a few years ago, I was terrified to press Send for my first 2,000-word submission. How intimidating to put my work out there, knowing it was open for target practice. I wasn’t worried about grammar and punctuation, but about the story itself. Nail-biting nervous, I waited for the first critique …
Encouragement for the Weary and Disheartened
By Cheryl Wyatt Writing is hard. Seriously, those who don’t believe the publishing industry can be brutal either haven’t been in it long enough to experience the lows and blows, or they are way more optimistic than I. Yes, even in the Christian writing community, disillusionment and discouragement comes. Why? I think because words matter. They matter a lot. Yours. …
A Call to Christian Writers
By Christine Sunderland It has been a year of worldwide violence and massacres. The flames leap high; the smoke obscures our vision. Our American traditions of liberty and law, freedom and responsibility, civility and respect, are attacked from within and without. The borders of both geography and culture are threatened. Speech is silenced through intimidation, education betrayed by socially-engineered curricula. …
Use the …phone
By Shirley Gould In crafting Christian fiction, we, as writers, use twists and turns in our plots to grab the reader’s attention, plunging them into our fictional world. We spice our prose with interesting characters, places and themes carrying them on a roller coaster of emotions with our comedies, mysteries and tragedies. Most of our stories have misunderstandings that cause …
He Gave It a Year
By Christen Civiletto Morris Expectations can be tricky. The wrong word choice can raise or lower them. A skewed perception can twist them. Expectations are especially difficult when it comes to those we create in our family about our writing. I once bungled a conversation along those lines so badly that it would be funny if it weren’t so … …