By JPC Allen It’s not as if I planned it, but my YA mystery series always ends up built around a holiday. The short story that kicks off the series, “A Rose from the Ashes,” is a Christmas mystery. My second novel, A Storm of Doubts, starts on Memorial Day and ends on Father’s Day. I’ve written a Halloween mystery, …
Finding Story Ideas in an Unexpected Place
By Glynn Young Sometimes, you find story ideas in the least likely places. The first inspiration for my historical novel Brookhaven was the family Bible. It had been passed down from my great-grandfather to his youngest son, my grandfather, then my father, and then to me. For decades, it existed in the condition my father and I received it – …
Embrace Your Inner Mrs. Penury
By: D’Ann Mateer Let me set the scene: You are a new writer. Or an advanced writer, but still pre-published. Or you are an indie author. Or a traditionally published author. It doesn’t matter what stage or situation you’re in; you have been told to build your social media numbers, which means you need to post. Often. Maybe every day. …
Plotting by Coordinates: Every Scene Needs a Destination
By Darlene L. Turner What happens when we follow a set of coordinates without knowing where they’ll lead? Well, it could cause confusion and frustration, leaving us lost (what did we do without GPS? Haha). Writing a novel isn’t that different. We need to guide our characters carefully through twists, detours, obstacles, and much more. If we don’t, our readers …
Writing the Hardest Scenes of My Career
By JPC Allen I knew it was coming, and I dreaded it. Since I write my novels in order from beginning to end, I knew I was slowly closing in on the scenes that twisted my stomach when I thought about them. Why was I dreading those scenes? Because I was confronting some of my deepest fears. I’ve always hated …
Faith-Adjacent
By Mitchell S. Karnes When they started filming the streaming series of my Abbey Rhodes Mystery series, beginning with Water Grave, I learned that they categorized it as “Faith-Adjacent.” According to the Internet (which never lies), “The phrase suggests exploring ideas, stories, and cultural touchpoints that are near faith but not necessarily within strict theological doctrine — much like the …
To AI or not to AI. That is the question.
By Bruce Hennigan As twenty-first-century authors, we’re all concerned about the confusing world of AI, its influence and its use in publishing. Trying to navigate the publishing industry’s ever-changing attitude toward any use of AI can be as confusing as trying to understand terms like algorithm drift or generative AI and other obscure AI terms. In a recent article on …
The Writing Harvest You Can’t Measure in Book Sales
by Elle E. Kay @ElleEKay777 Book sales and page reads are useful metrics to track. They help us determine what advertising is working and where we’re wasting our money. They can offer clues about whether a book or series is resonating with readers. They can also show our progress year over year when we might otherwise get discouraged. Yet some things can’t …
I Wanted To Be Hidden. Then God Gave Me The Mic.
By Valerie Carr I remember the first time I had to use a microphone on a stage in front of a large group of lunching ladies. All eyes were on me as I announced the winners of the raffle we had held for the charity we were supporting. For most people, this would not have been an issue. They would …
The Conference Butterfly Writer
By Darlene Corbett @darlenemcorbett I love butterflies. I love writing. And I love conferences. What does one have to do with the other? To make it simple, I’m like a butterfly who flits to as many writing conferences as possible. My wings flutter as I immerse myself in the nectar of learning. On closer examination, complexity streams through the parallel …