by Mary Ellis Soon after I began researching my stories, I realized many historians take a dim view of fiction, and the idea of historical romance makes their left eyes twitch. When historians sit down to read about their favorite period, they choose scholarly works such as biographies or firsthand battlefield accounts complied from soldiers’ diaries and letters home. I …
Birthdays, always a time to reflect…
By Charlotte Snead Many folks my age are retired, traveling the world or content with their laurels. Some of my friends have died. I’ve reared five incredible children who are making contributions to society, and one foster daughter, who says she wouldn’t know Jesus if we hadn’t been her mama and papa. (She’s my best salesperson, as a beautician, she …
Three Questions Every Author Must Answer
By Suzanne Kuhn In one of our early coaching sessions, we ask our authors to answer three questions about themselves and their book(s); so what, who cares and why you? Many authors fail to take this self-evaluative journey. As we lead them towards answering these questions, they find their audience, purpose and direction in the marketing of their books. So …
A Season for Every Activity
By Jennifer Sienes Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us that there is a season for every activity under heaven. I believe season is the key word in this passage. As writers, we go through seasons – seasons of struggle to find just the right words to create story, carving out the necessary time to do so, and, God willing, those moments when …
The Purpose of Fictional Sidekicks
By Lisa Jordan Lone Ranger & Tonto. LaVerne & Shirley. Lucy & Ethel. Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson. Batman & Robin. Shaggy & Scooby. Frodo & Samwise. Lorelei & Sookie. These names may sound familiar, but what do they have in common? They’re all fictional main characters with their sidekicks, or close companions. Just as real people have sidekicks-friendships with …
In the ‘Just Before’
By Elizabeth B. Elliott I love the time “just before.” Just before starting a project, just before opening a new book, just before sitting down for a long-awaited conversation with an old friend. So it is no surprise that the week just before the New Year is my favorite week of the year. There are few commitments and fewer expectations. …
10 Tips for Feeding Your Writer’s Soul
by Edie Melson Writing is hard work, physically, emotionally and spiritually. We spend hours at a computer, neglecting exercise and proper posture. Beyond that, we pour our hearts and souls into the words we arrange into stories, articles, even blog posts. We spend time and money learning how to write, constantly improving our skills. Then, when it seems like it …
Great and Good
by Stan Crader Great ain’t always good. My next novel will feature a group of court-house-bench codgers who gather daily to test their adversarial bond. Their discussions begin somewhat innocuous and inevitably escalate into debate and occasionally evolve into fierce full-blown arguments. The goal is to provoke the reader to thought beyond the story. To that end, I’m developing topics …
Don’t Forget the Old Goals in the New 2015
By Casey Herringshaw Happy New Year! It’s filling all the corners of the internet. Greetings from friends and people you bump into at the grocery store. It’s clogging our social media and reminding us that this is truly a new year. I can’t believe how fast 2014 has gone. Those who said that the older you get the faster time …
Use the …phone
By Shirley Gould In crafting Christian fiction, we, as writers, use twists and turns in our plots to grab the reader’s attention, plunging them into our fictional world. We spice our prose with interesting characters, places and themes carrying them on a roller coaster of emotions with our comedies, mysteries and tragedies. Most of our stories have misunderstandings that cause …