Hopes and Fears

, by

Good morning from Ava Pennington, CAN Secretary, in sunny Florida… The week between Christmas and New Year is a time between times. The build up to Christmas is over. The new year has yet to begin. Anticipation gives way to fatigue. The Christmas decorations seem to have outlasted their welcome, but I’m not ready to take them down yet. And as much as I love Christmas hymns and carols, they seem anticlimactic. But one Christmas hymn in particular speaks to the writer in me this week.

Read More

Sing for JOY!

, by

Sherry Kyle, here, writing from my laptop in central California. Do you feel tired today? Has the festivities of Christmas worn you out? Maybe you had a deadline on top of all the shopping, decorating, and baking this past month and you’re at the end of your rope. Or perhaps it’s been a dry season and you’re hoping for a new book contract. 

Read More

Hope and Writing

, by

Aloha from Karen Whiting, CAN treasurer This week I received an email from an editor that surprised me. I met with the editor last March at a conference and submitted some requested manuscripts but heard nothing. Evidently my submission made it into the accepted folder but in changing secretaries the company missed sending me a contract. This week the editor checked for the contract before preparing to put the article into an upcoming issue, found the error, and emailed me. The article is a new twist on something they like to publish and I hope readers enjoy it. This unexpected…

Read More

Tips from the Pros: Daniel Darling

, by

Merry Christmas from Sarah Sundin! Today I have the honor of interviewing author, pastor, and speaker Daniel Darling. Daniel serves as the senior pastor of the Gages Lake Bible Church outside of Chicago, and is a highly regarded speaker. He also is a frequent contributor to columns and blogs. And yes, he writes books too. Dan, how did you get into writing? How many books do you have published? I’ve been a writer and editor for about twelve years. For several years I worked as an in-house writer and editor for a large Christian media organization. I began freelancing about…

Read More

Poetry for Christmas

, by

Hello. I'm Donn Taylor, here again with comments on writing poetry. But this month, in honor of Christmas, I'm taking a break from describing the elements that make good poetry. Instead, I'm inviting you to join in celebrating the birth of our Lord with two of my poems (one negative, one positive) that are quite different from the usual Christmas poems. See what you think and leave a comment if you choose.    

Read More

Speaking Engagements – Selecting A Topic

, by

Hi.  Winnie Griggs here again with the next installment on my posts about speaking engagements.  So far we’ve covered why you might want to book speaking engagements and dealing with those butterflies.  Today we’re going to focus on selecting a topic, in other words, what do you talk about. For those just testing the waters of speaking engagements, I would suggest you take stock of your personal skills and interests, and choose something you feel comfortable discussing.

Read More

PUGS Pointers #5

, by

Hi! I’m Kathy Ide. In addition to being a published author, I’m a full-time professional freelance editor. For CAN, I’m blogging about “PUGS”–Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling…tips for writers based on the most common mistakes I see in the manuscripts I edit. Each blog post will have one tip for each of the four categories, as well as a reason it’s important for authors to “polish their PUGS.” (For more PUGS tips, check out my website, www.KathyIde.com, or get a copy of my book “Polishing the PUGS” (available through the website or at the conferences where I teach). If you’re interested in…

Read More

SELF-PUBLISHERS AND PIRANHAS (Part I)

, by

Welcome to the CAN Blog on this wintering morning in Michigan. Hi from Gail Gaymer Martin @ www.gailmartin.com This excellent article by James N. Watkins appeared a while ago in his newsletter. I asked him if I could share it with you, and he had no problem with that. I’m glad because every writer who considers self-publishing needs to be aware of the scams and poor choices they can make. Since this is a long article I will beginning and continue with a link so you can read it all. The next article will continue with Jim’s thoughts on the…

Read More

Getting Past Row 1

, by

Jeanette here, squeezing blogging between writing, Christmas shopping, practicing for the church choir’s Christmas concert, and crocheting scarves for friends and family. And you guessed it: I came up with a writing-related illustration while weaving my favorite crochet needle through some soft deep purple yarn.

Read More