By Carrie Turansky @carrieturansky My latest novel, The Legacy of Longdale Manor, releases this month, and it’s my first dual-time novel. People have asked why I switched from writing historical novels to dual-time stories, so I thought I’d share a bit about that decision and what I’m learning in the process. I’ve written almost thirty novels. Earlier in my career …
God’s Inspiration and The Butterfly Effect
By Darlene Corbett @darlenecorbett.com Remember the Butterfly Effect? For those who forgot or are unfamiliar with its origins, here’s a quick reprisal: In 1963, the scientist Edward Lorenz proposed a startling idea. He suggested that the slight movements of a butterfly’s wings could create tiny changes in the atmosphere, causing a greater impact later. Many scientists viewed this as outlandish, …
A Word Fitly Spoken
By E.V. Sparrow @evSparrow A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. ~ Proverbs 25:11 (ESV) Through networking, I’ve witnessed some disturbing interactions among authors. Sometimes, these caused extreme discouragement for someone. I’m certain none of us wish to injure another’s soul and calling. Perhaps as authors or editors we’d say there are “wrong” …
It Can’t Be Right When It Feels So Wrong
by Sarah Sundin @SarahSundin Chapter four nearly did me in. Chapters one through three flew as planned, and I knew chapters five and six were going to be exciting. But chapter four took me a full week to write. I’m a plotter, an outliner. Before I start my rough draft, I know what needs to happen in each scene. This …
Living the Story of America Rising
by Christine Sunderland @Chrisunderland As Christian storytellers, are we affecting our culture for good? Are we using the talents that God has given us? Are we making a difference? We live in an increasingly polarized culture, both national and international. As we watch civilization collapse around us, what part can we play and what responsibility do we own, for the …
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? A Rebel Writer’s Guide to Breaking the Rules of Writing
By Kathleen Y’Barbo Turner @KathleenYBarbo When my daughter was in kindergarten, her teacher asked the children to interview an adult about his or her job and come back to class the next day with a report on what they learned. Hannah grilled me about my job as a writer, and I answered her questions about how I constructed my stories. …
What is that to You?
By Sara Davison As writers, I believe we wrestle with many of the same issues: self-doubt, lack of confidence, times of being blocked creatively, discouragement. Most of us also have a tendency to compare ourselves to other writers, worrying more about what they are doing or achieving than focusing on our own lives and work. Peter struggled with this. When Jesus …
Standing Back-to-Back: New Writers Need Community
By Ashley Worrell Does your ignorance ever get the better of you? Mine gets me all the time. As a new writer I have made many decisions based on whether something sounds fun. This mentality has sometimes worked out well, sometimes not. This blog, for instance, sounded like a fun way to help me meet fellow writers, so I signed …
The Practice of Perseverance
By Lisa Kelley @LisaKelleyWrite Waiting to be published can be daunting as well as disappointing. I closed out 2022 empty. I had semi-finaled in a writing contest but didn’t progress. One judge suggested I shouldn’t have made it to the semi-finals. I had a manuscript rejected, and I’d finished my fifth novel only to discover, after one of those hard …
The Most Difficult Writing Assignment of My Life
by Jenny Powell MD Back in the Dark Ages when I was in high school, Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, required an essay for high school applicants. I was an aspiring journalism major at the time, and poured my heart into what I thought would be the most difficult writing assignment of my life. It must have been okay because …