By Susan A.J. Lyttek I intentionally chose this date to write a blog because it’s the 35th anniversary of my (and my husband’s) church wedding. You might notice that I’m oddly specific. We had eloped in June of the same year, so it’s not technically our marriage anniversary, though we do celebrate both dates. Our story is almost strange enough …
Learning More
By Melinda Eye Cooper Last fall, I made an important decision about work. Not about my full-time accounting job where my paycheck comes from. But about the work I know God has called me to do. Writing. My first memory of writing a story was in the third grade. I don’t remember exactly what it was about but it made …
Create While You Wait
By Kariss Lynch We’ve all experienced these seasons: the endless waiting for a dream to come true. We wonder if God hears, or if we heard him wrong when He called us to this crazy writing gig. Wait—the word that can make us squirm with anxiety and doubt our stories and our skill. Or it can make us hope. I’ve …
Writing: Still Alive and Well in the Next Generation
By Sarah Hamaker Have you heard the news about the death of words? Every few weeks or so, a story pops up in my Facebook feed about how people aren’t reading like they used to, how texting is obliterating writing, and how the Generation Z will kill off books. But I don’t believe them, and you shouldn’t either. Consider my …
Waiting, Writing, and Why You Must Not Quit
By Cynthia Herron Most writers will tell you the in-between seasons are the hardest. Because I’ve promised to tell you the truth, I won’t sugarcoat it. They are. Waiting (especially a prolonged season of waiting) is like a knife to the weary writer’s heart. As each hope-filled day passes, so does a tiny bit of our resolve. We struggle to make sense of …
Of Brides and Books
By Laurel Blount My daughter is getting married in October, so our family’s immersed in a chaotic whirl of wedding planning. Coincidentally, while I’m launching my oldest child into her “happily-ever-after,” I’m also celebrating the launch of an entirely different sort of “baby”! Love Inspired released my newest “book baby,” (aptly titled A Baby for the Minister), in September. So, …
The Blank Page
By Henry McLaughlin Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good. –William Faulkner How many of us hesitate to start writing? Even authors who have been at it for a while have this hesitation. This is sometimes referred to a writer’s block. Which I think is a falsehood. …
Mixing Truth in Fiction
By Jodie Wolfe As a reader and writer of historical romance, I’m one of those people who read the author notes at the end of the book to discover which part of the story is based on various historical happenings or true stories. There’s always a risk as an author when you use real tales and events. I tend to …
Confessions of a Research Fanatic
By Kathleen Denly Most campers pray for clear skies and pleasant weather. The summer before my senior year of high school, however, I was fervently praying for a rainstorm. Not just any rainstorm. I wanted a gully-washing downpour that would cause the nearby river to wipe out our current tent site. You may think this was because I hated camping …
Am I a Real Writer?
By Christa MacDonald In the news recently an actor who had been on a successful TV show was seen working at a grocery store. Someone took a surreptitious picture of him and posted it online saying how surprised they were to see the actor working such a lowly job. Then the shaming began. The only thing social media loves more …