By Kathleen Y’Barbo-Turner @KathleenYBarbo As the author of more than 100 books, I often get asked how I manage to write all those books. My answer? One book at a time! I know, but it’s true. I also get asked for my secret to how I manage to reach THE END and press SEND time after time. Please understand I …
The lesson of all those boxes…
by Allie Pleiter @alliepleiter “We have a lot of books,” I warned the man from the moving company. He smiled and waved a hand in the air in a no big deal gesture. “Oh, don’t worry, we’re used to that.” “No,” I insisted, “We have a LOT of books. Come with me.” He kept chatting in reassuring tones until I …
Tips on Writing a Counseling Scene
by Kathy Maresca @so_tweet Write what you know. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings took this advice from her agent to heart. She wrote a story set in rural Cross Creek, Florida, where she lived. Soon The Yearling was published, and it won the 1939 Pulitzer Prize. Rawlings’ success encouraged me; I grew up just a few miles from her home. A rehabilitation …
Seeing the Bright Side of Rejection
By Lori Domingo @loridomingo22 To say that I was beyond excited to be nearing the finish line of my MFA program would be an understatement. I had in my hands a completed, full-length novel – my first in my genre of choice, Christian fiction. Part of the requirements for one of my classes was to research a favorite author in …
The Poetry in our Fiction
by Susan Lyttek @SusanLyttek On the day I’m writing this, I just wrote a personal blog post about our poetic God and how God uses poetry to communicate with us and through us. But the day this will be posting, I will be boarding a cruise ship with my husband to celebrate our fortieth anniversary and unable to see this …
Travel Inspiration
by Marguerite Martin Gray As a reader I can travel to the ends of the earth in nay era through the pages of a good book. Imagine how many countries and cultures I have traversed since I am of a certain age. I crave learning about countries, real or imaginary with facts that answer my questions. Through the words that …
What’s In Your Corner?
by Chandra Lynn Smith Writers are a different sort. If you disagree with me, ask your family what they think. In our family of six, my oldest son, the actor, is often the one who ‘gets it.’ The rest of the family gives me the deer-in-the-headlights stare. Writers use a specific type of pen, notebook, size lead or ink. WE …
Gary the Groundhog Saved My Column
By Jenny Powell It all started when I moved my medical office into the second story of a professional building with giant windows facing Highway 54. I would stare out the window at the small wooded area there whilst contemplating a befuddling set of symptoms, seeking diagnosis. That was where I first saw Gary. The large groundhog waddled purposefully through …
Unexpected Perks (or Blessings) from being an Author
by Marilyn Turk @MarilynTurk Someone once said, “I don’t enjoy writing, but I enjoy having written.” I have to agree with that statement. While I find it miraculous the way a story develops while I write, I didn’t expect the process to be so hard. At least for me, the perfectionist over-achiever pantser, it is. And part of the added …
What I Learned Selling my Books in a Bar
By Sara Davison @SaraDavison19 As soon as we walked into the room, we knew we were wasting our time. A friend of mine and I had been invited to have a book table at an event in our city. Neither of us knew much about what the event actually was, but since it was late November and they were looking …