Water or Not?

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Sandra Glahn While I’ve often written for medical publications—both fiction and non—I am not myself a physician. But I’ve been on the receiving end of more than my share of surgeries and treatments, so I can definitely write from the patient’s perspective. When I wrote non-fiction medical information for the trade market, my editors usually viewed my “lack of knowledge” as a benefit. My ignorance meant I naturally said “miscarriage” instead of “spontaneous abortion” and  “bruise” instead of “contusion.” But when I decided to branch into fiction to explore complex medical issues (Lethal Harvest; Deadly Cure; False Positive), I knew…

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A Funny Thing Happened on the Way To a Story

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“She’s cute, and perky, and all the things I’m not.” That’s how my real life persona, Donna Schlachter, describes me. I’m not sure why, because she’s a pretty swell person herself. Still, I suspect it’s because she likes to live vicariously through me. Kind of like a split personality. Maybe all authors are that way. We live our lives through our characters. Putting them in situations most of us would never experience. When I wrote the first book in this series, I had a character, an occupation, and a murder—but I didn’t know whodunit, or why. I got to within two…

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A Guide to Getting Away to Write

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by Judith Couchman At some point in a writing career, most authors entertain the idea of getting away to write. We think about peace, quiet, focus, solitude. No interruptions. And the beauty of working in a seaside condo or a woodland cabin. Sounds wonderful, right? It can be. Or it can balloon into disappointment. It depends on how we prepare for it. Yes, prepare. Prepare by setting guidelines for an enjoyable writing venture. Guidelines can sound like knocking the romance out of a get-away dream. However, if we adopt a laissez faire approach to a writing trip, we can wind…

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A Weak Writer’s Prayer

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Bob Hostetler here, offering another prayer for writers: Abba, I am a weak writer: insecure, inadequate, in over my head. But you chose Ehud because of his weakness. You used him, not to mention Moses, David, Jeremiah, Paul, and others (though I did just mention them; see what I mean?). So grant me the faith to believe that you can choose me and use me too.

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Cut, Snip, Tighten by Gail Gaymer Martin for CAN

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Historical Post by Gail Gaymer Martin Cut, Snip, Tighten I have been blessed to have been given an amazing career as a writer of Christian fiction, and in my days of creating stories that I hope will touch your hearts, I have learned so much about writing stories readers can enjoy. Most people do not understand the amount of detail and craft that goes into being a writer, and most people do not sell their first novel. I did, but not before it went through “refining fire.” I knew nothing about writing fiction when I began to write. My first…

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Tips from the Pros: Liz Tolsma

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Greetings from Marti Pieper in charming Mount Dora, Florida, where we haven’t quite decided if we’re ready for warm weather or not. I do, however, have a warm conversation to offer you today with delightful novelist Liz Tolsma. Welcome back, Liz, to our CAN blog. Let’s get started with the official interview. How many books do you have published? What are a few of your latest titles? I have six. My most recent are “World’s Greatest Love” in the Rails to Love novella collection, and “A Match Made in Heaven” in the Matchmaker Brides novella collection. Congratulations! You were last featured…

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An Emerging Theme In Fiction – by Gail Gaymer Martin

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Good morning and welcome to the CAN Blog from Gail Gaymer Martin. As a novelist, I work hard to improve my writing no matter how many novels that are published. With over 70 published novels, I am excited to find a new idea or a new approach or technique that will make my stories better. I always enjoy sharing these ideas with other writers and even readers who then learn what writers go through to make a book enjoyable. Today’s topic deals with  developing a theme in the novel that is natural and pertinent in the story and that fits a…

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