A Writer’s Evening Prayer

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If I have failed to heed your voice today, If I have driven any of your thoughts away, If I have written my own willful way: Dear Lord, forgive! If I have written idle words or vain, If I have worked for earthly gain,

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Is Writing More Enough?

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You’ve probably heard it said, “To sell more books, a writer must write more books.” There’s some truth in that statement. If you write more GOOD books, people may stumble upon you in a bookstore or hear about you via word-of-mouth, and, after reading book #4, ask, “What else has this author penned?” And another set of eyeballs has been tapped. However, is that enough? Do writers of fiction have to spend every waking moment (when not actually writing) Twittering, Facebooking, and whateverelse-ing to get their name “out there”? Rob Eagar, founder of Wildfire Marketing, would say, “Yes, and No.”…

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Tips to live a satisfied life

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Hola from Janet Perez Eckles…Igniting Your Passion to Overcome God doesn’t promise a day without problems, or moments without trials, but aligned with Him,  He promises a satisfied soul. Two days ago, even my keyboard felt sticky. The air conditioner decided to stop working. And, in the Florida summer heat, my energy was melting into drops of worry. What if we need to repair the whole thing, what if there is no fix for days? How will this affect my parents who live with us and just reached their mid-80’s?

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Tips from the Pros: Mike Dellosso

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Steamy summer greetings from Marti Pieper in central Florida, where the International Christian Retail Show will begin in about ten days. I met Mike Dellosso, the subject of today’s interview, in a much cooler climate, however—high in the Colorado Rockies near Estes Park, home of the Colorado Christian Writers Conference, where we both served on faculty. I’m delighted to welcome him on this return visit to our CAN blog. Mike, although I met you not long ago, we didn’t discuss your work. Let’s change that right now. How many books do you have published? What are a few of your latest titles? I have…

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The Family PR Team

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When our first book was released, our mentor, Jim Conway, (Men in Mid-Life Crisis), told our three young sons, “Your life is copy written. Make a deal with your folks, if they use a story from your life, you should get some benefit.” That was great advice because our boys would BRING us stories to use in exchange for a “royalty payment”. When they were little, tangible coins went into a jar for each, but with in a few years, we all agreed it was easier to give them their percentage when our royalty checks came, and that money went…

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NEW RELEASE: JUNE 2015 – DESPERATE MEASURES BY SANDRA ORCHARD

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Kate won’t be safe until all of Port Aster’s secrets are revealed. Researcher Kate Adams has finally pinpointed the supposed “miracle plant” that tore her family apart years ago. She’s certain that discovering its secrets is her only hope of solving the mystery surrounding her father’s disappearance. She’s willing to risk anything to find the truth, including her relationship with Detective Tom Parker. But with so many people in pursuit of the plant, going it alone might be a fatal mistake. Award-winning author Sandra Orchard pulls out all the stops in this breakneck and breathtaking conclusion to the Port Aster…

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Rewrite Your Thinking

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Georgia Shaffer from Pennsylvania Last month I wrote about anxiety and how it can ambush our writing. This month I’ll discuss the self-sabotaging mindsets we have that undermine our creativity and productivity. Some mindsets are caught from our parents or friends. Others we’re taught. Some mindsets are helpful and some are self-defeating. The latter keep us stuck in negative thinking and deplete us of vital energy. Sara Blakely, the billionaire founder of Spanx, is a great example of how positive mindsets propel us forward. She said, “My dad encouraged us to fail. Growing up, he would ask us what we failed…

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Tips From the Pros – Linda J. White

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Grace and Peace from Kevin Thompson in sunny Florida! “Home, home on the waves. Where the tourists and natives cruise. Where never is heard a discouraging word…unless you turn on the network news.” I know. I Know. “Don’t quit my day job.” Story of my life. So, instead, let’s try our hand at another installment of Tips From the Pros. Please welcome to the cyber, direct, first floor, pool view, ocean view, multi-purpose, ping pong playing great room/used puzzle collection storage room/mail room/library/adjacent laundry room/pinochle contest held on the 4th Thursday of each month room, Author Linda J. White! Welcome, Linda!…

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KEEPING PINTEREST FRESH

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A Note from Carol McAdams Moore Today, let’s wrap up a three part series on Pinterest. We began with an overview of Pinterest. Then we talked about the basics of setting up Pinterest boards. Today, let’s talk about keeping your Pinterest boards fresh. Below is a check list to guide the author in doing that. Keep boards that represent your new releases, speaking engagements, and blog posts current. Remember that many people follow Pinterest. Your Pinterest followers may or may not be the ones who are friends on Facebook or who follow you on Twitter. Keeping your most recent online…

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