Sherry Kyle here writing from my laptop in California. Have you had a good laugh lately? I’m not talking about a slight chuckle, but a good ‘ol belly laugh—the kind that makes your stomach hurt and the tears roll out of your eyes. There are certain friends and family members that bring it out of me. My husband is one of them. I love his sense of humor and how he can brighten my mood. Who makes you laugh? I’m so glad God loves laughter. He wants us to enjoy life. Psalm 126: 2-3 says, “Our mouths were filled with…
Month: May 2012
This is our archive pageParables And Word Pictures By Cheri Cowell – A New Release
Parables and Word Pictures from the New Testament: Following God series by Cheri Cowell Publisher: AMG PublishersISBN: 0899573495 Parables and Word Pictures from the New Testament is a 13-week workbook-style study of 118 parables from Jesus, Paul, and the apostles. This comprehensive look at the New Testament parables will help readers develop an ear for the message they convey—that the Kingdom of God is both here and near. Through the study readers will be challenged to live faithful and holy “Kingdom lives” in a broken and unholy world. Of the thirteen weeks, the first nine explore the parables of Jesus…
Finding and Writing a Character’s Voice: Lessons from Playwriting
Hello, again! Maureen Pratt here with my monthly blogpost about the craft of writing. Today, I'm going to focus on techniques to employ to find and write distinctive voices for each of your characters or individuals in fiction or non-fiction. I began my professional writing career as a playwright, earning my Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts with a concentration in playwriting from UCLA and later having a number of plays produced. Unlike writing for the movies, playwriting "runs" on dialogue. A professional script for live theater contains very little, if any, description except to set the scene, and…
Lights! Action! Camera! – Are You Ready for Prime Time?
Hi all, Pamela Meyers here and back with another installment on what I’ve learned while marketing my debut novel. When I received THE call about a year ago telling me I’d sold my first book, I knew right away I had a lot of work ahead of me. Not only did I expect deadlines for edits, but I also knew marketing would eat up some time. Over the past year I’ve learned a lot about marketing my novels, and I’m sharing what I’ve learned with you on the fourth Wednesday of each month. So far, I’ve covered the prep work…
The Beauty of Meanwhile
It's Grace Fox with a devotional thought to start your week. Sometimes life leaves us baffled or bruised. We wonder if God is as wise as He claims to be, and we question why circumstances don’t happen how and when we wish they would. When I feel this way, I take courage from the Scriptures. Recently I read about the prophet Samuel’s boyhood. One word—meanwhile—popped up several times in the account. It reminded me that, no matter what life looks like, God’s at work behind the…
Poetry Basics: Organizing the Poem III
Hello. I'm Donn Taylor, here again to talk about poetry writing and ways to achieve the "higher voltage" that distinguishes poetry from most prose. We've talked about putting strong words in emphatic places, use of images, and a little bit about figurative language. On my last blog we began talking about ways to organize a poem. Those ways are infinite, of course, so we'll confine ourselves to some of the most common, and we'll deal only with lyric poetry (poetry that expresses the poet's thoughts or emotions). As before, I compare a short poem to a paragraph: it has a…
Friends and Experts
Hi, all! Ava Pennington checking in from sunny Florida. They say the life of a writer is lonely. That’s true in some ways, but the advent of the Internet has connected us in ways we never imagined. It has also made research easier than ever. However, easier is not always better. We’ve all heard the warnings about verifying the accuracy of our sources. Certain websites have more credibility than others. Just because something is on the Internet doesn’t make it true.
Tips from the Pros: Elizabeth Baker
May greetings from Sarah Sundin in California! Today I have the honor of interviewing Elizabeth Baker, who went from a dyslexic high school dropout to a multi-published author, speaker, and Ph.D.! Elizabeth, how did you get into writing? I stumbled my way in because I didn’t know what I was attempting was impossible. It’s a rather long story and you can read full details on my website, but I sent a poorly typed manuscript of three chapters to an address I did not know for sure published books. They accepted, and I had a contract in my hand within three…
Intimate Storytelling – Part II Character’s Feelings
It's Friday and I know you're looking forward to the weekend. Most of us are, but a wirter often writes seven days a week with a few hours squeezed in for family, church, exercise and eating. But it's always nice to share some thoughts with you about wrting techniques that makes our books the best they can be. Hi from Gail Gaymer Martin www.gailmartin.com Part I covered some of the elements of staying in a POV character’s viewpoint, but intimate storytelling needs more than a character’s viewpoint. The reader needs to feel the story through the character’s impressions and experience….
Tips from the Pros: Martha Rogers
May greetings from Sarah Sundin in California! Today I have the privilege of interviewing multi-published author and speaker Martha Rogers. Martha inspires the membership of American Christian Fiction Writers with her Verse of the Week posts to the e-mail loop, and her story should inspire anyone who wonders if it’s too late to achieve their dreams. You see, Martha sold her first book at the age of 73. Now she’s had nine novels and two novellas published – and in a very short period of time! Her newest novel is Spring Hope, book 4 in the Seasons of the Heart…
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