A Fresh Outlook

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By Loretta Eidson Life has a way of clouding our vision. We get caught up in caring for family and long workdays juggling multiple responsibilities. In addition, many of us must get kids off to school or prepare for weeks of homeschooling. Housework, laundry, and yard work. We go through the mail, pay bills, and balance checkbooks. Did I mention …

A Balancing Act

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by Shirley Gould Lately, life has been a balancing act as the coronavirus ended life as we know it and we faced major changes. Covid-19 caught us off-balance—totally unprepared. We have quarantined, worked from home, educated our children, and watched businesses close. Now we are social distancing, washing our hands, and wearing masks…and it’s not over yet. As writers of …

The Beauty of Falling Leaves  

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By Kariss Lynch When seasons change, I celebrate. In general, I struggle with change, but something about nature changing and ushering in something new is exciting and familiar, even as things shift. As an adult, fall has become my favorite season. I love the color of the leaves changing, the crisp mornings and evenings, cozy drinks, firepits, and the permission …

Through Prayer, In Prayer, You Can

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By Susan A.J. Lyttek Recently, I found myself doing the impossible. Okay, let me back up. Many years ago, I planned a six-book series. Stories one and two were finished and with the possibility of a contract, I started book three. It wasn’t intended to be a long book—about 30-35,000 words. I got to about 20,000. The contract fell through. …

Inspiring Quotes for Wavering Writers (and Everybody Else)

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By Frank DiBianca Writing a novel is not a piece of cake nor is publishing one. And the better we want it to be, the harder it is. But it is one of the most fulfilling and rewarding adventures we will ever embark on. Sometimes it helps to have a bit of encouragement, and our forerunners have provided much of …

What Driving Taught Me About Writing

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By Lynn H. Blackburn It’s hard to turn a parked car. Ever heard that one before? I can’t remember where I heard it first, but it’s so very true. You can be in the car, behind the wheel, motor running, ready to go. You may even have the brute strength to force the steering wheel to make the tires twist …

Put Your Feet on the Desk

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By Terri Gillespie “. . . and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.” 1 Kings 19:12, NKJV I have a friend who was a vice-president of a major financial institution in Manhattan. He’s an incredible idea person—a real visionary. While overseeing operations for a ministry, …

Haircuts & Hurricanes

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by Kathleen Denly This year has been full of surprises, and few of them pleasant. It can be difficult to understand what God is thinking during times like these. It can be tempting to believe what we are going through is so terrible it cannot possibly result in something good. Take my hair for example. It’s very thick and dense. …

The Face of God

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by Christine Sunderland Yesterday the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels was celebrated, when we recall how angels transfigure Earth with Heaven. They live among us, inspiring and protecting. They are guardians, guides, and messengers. In my recently published novel, Angel Mountain (Wipf and Stock Publishers) the Archangel Michael appears to hermit Abram with a message. Michael is a …

How to Be a Real Writer in Four Easy Steps

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By Kimberley Woodhouse Step One: Write. The best way to become a real writer is… you guessed it: to write. You might have one thousand amazing ideas but you’ve flitted from one to another and never finished one of them. My suggestion is to keep a journal of all of those fabulous ideas and then sit down and focus on …