MESSY DESK, PRISTINE PROSE?

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Hello! Maureen Pratt here with my monthly CAN blog about writing. Today, I pose a question, "Messy Desk, Pristine Prose?" or, "Does your writing environment help you or hurt you?" I recently saw a picture of a writer at work. Everything about her desk and surroundings was streamlined and clean. Not a pencil out of place, not a book up-ended. There were no sticky notes affixed to the computer screen, and no cork bulletin board groaning with mock-ups of book covers, flyers, and a scribbled-upon calendar. Even this writer's shirt looked as if it had just been ironed! If this…

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Postcards Aren’t Just for Making People Envious of Your Vacation

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Hi, all. Pamela S. Meyers here, freshly back from the ACFW National Conference in Dallas, with another installment about marketing your new novel. During my year of blessings in 2011, I received a three-book contract with OakTara Publishing, and a single-title contract with Summerside Press. This fall, the second book in the three-book series is coming out, and next spring the Summerside Press title is to release. When I received final cover art for both books within days of each other, I didn’t have any time to waste if I were to have a promotional item to take with me…

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Mona Hodgson Connects With Readers

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Davalynn Spencer here, from colorful Colorado, excited to visit with Mona Hodgson. I met Mona a few years ago at a Mt. Hermon Christian Writers Conference and have been awed by her maneuverability between children's books and historical fiction. Mona has some great tips for first-book authors. Welcome, Mona. Will you tell us how you became a writer? For as long as I can remember, I was going to be a nurse like my cousin Irene. That's what I told my parents and that's what we all expected. Although I had been more successful in English classes than in other…

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Tips from the Pros: Eleanor Gustafson

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Greetings from Sarah Sundin! Today I have the honor of interviewing Eleanor Gustafson, who has been published in fiction and non-fiction since 1978! Ellie recently had the book of her heart published, The Stones: A Novel of the Life of King David, which has an accompanying study guide, the perfect blend of her fiction and non-fiction background. Ellie, how did you get into writing? How many do you have published? As a child, I loved stories and read myself into needing glasses, then began making up stories in my head. When I finally started writing them down, my mother and…

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Characters and Talking Without Words

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Hi from Gail Gaymer Martin at www.gailmartin.com. I hope you had a wonderful summer and are ready for the beauty of autumn with cooler weather and burnished colors in the trees. Did you ever think how much you say without saying anything at all? Body action tells the truth more than words spoken. It can get people in trouble as easily as what they say. As you write fiction, keep this thought in mind as you bring your characters to life with action beats. Don’t neglect this effective tool to deepen characterization and emotion and add greater conflict to your stories.

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Hard Sell

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Hello from Ava Pennington, CAN Secretary. I’m enjoying the fall weather in south Florida, which, of course, for us, just means temperatures in the high 80s instead of the low 90s! I’m sure I’m not the only person to see subject lines like these in my email inbox: Check this out! Sale! New discounts! New Prices! Get it now! Order now!  

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Tips from the Pros: Karen Whiting

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Greetings from Sarah Sundin! This interview is especially fun for me, because Karen Whiting got me started doing these interviews on the CAN blog and coached me through many posts. Finally it’s her turn to be interviewed! Not only is Karen a multi-published author of various nonfiction books, including devotionals and children’s books, but she’s a valuable CAN board member, currently serving as our treasurer. I’ve benefitted from her wisdom and humor and heart in our e-friendship, and I know you’ll enjoy what she has to share with us today. Karen, how did you get into writing? For many years people…

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Writer’s Paralysis

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Dianne Neal Matthews here, hoping to encourage you on the second Monday of September (can you believe it’s almost autumn already?). Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about “writer’s paralysis”—not that cramped feeling in your hands when you’re pushing against a tight deadline, but another kind that’s more serious….  

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PUGS Pointers #14

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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. (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 working with a freelance editor (or know someone who is), e-mail me through the…

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