Tips From the Pros: Stacy Hawkins Adams

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Davalynn Spencer here, welcoming multi-published author Stacy Hawkins Adams for an encore visit to the Christian Authors Network. Stacy, tell us how many books you have published and a few of your latest titles. I have ten books nationally published – nine women’s fiction novels and one nonfiction, spiritual devotional. My most recent title is a novel I released in March 2013, called Finding Home. It is the third book in my Winds of Change series, but as with the first and second books in the series, it is a stand-alone title, so you can start with any one of…

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Marketing: Face-to-face

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Linda J. White here, writing from my shady back deck in Somerville, Virginia. I just got back from the Eastern Shore, where I had book signings at two independent bookstores at the beach–just one of my face-to-face marketing techniques.

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Once Upon a Time – The Craft of Storytelling: Basic screenplay writing excerpted from HOW TO SUCCEED IN HOLLYWOOD (WITHOUT LOSING YOUR SOUL) Part VIII

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A story is a connected narration of real or imagined events. There are many types of story, including science fiction, romance, myth, fairy tale, tragedy, and adventure. The full range of storytelling is limited only by the human imagination, yet there are key principles that apply to all stories, and all stories can be classified in different categories or subgenre. Stories have an internal logic driven by a premise acting through characters and conflict to move the plot from a beginning point of attack, through one or more crises, to a climax that resolves into a resolution. There is a…

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Tips from the Pros: Deb DeArmond

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Greetings from Sarah Sundin in California! Wedding season is upon us, so I’m thrilled to chat today with Deb DeArmond, a popular speaker and author of books about marriage and in-law relationships. Her most recent title is SO intriguing! Deb, how did you get into writing? How many books do you have published? I’ve always been an avid reader, and I speak for a living. I love words. But like many good/God things, writing came as a surprise. An unexpected gift. For nearly 20 years, three people in my life, my husband, brother, and a good friend, asked me constantly,…

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Launch Out into the Deep

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Dianne Barker here with a few words of encouragement. Are you tired of jumping hurdles and pushing past obstacles that seem to impede every step? Here’s an idea. Launch out into the deep and let down your nets! The Lord told Simon Peter after a disappointing fishing trip, “…Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch” (see Luke 5:1-11). A crowd had gathered around Jesus by the Lake of Gennesaret to hear his teaching. He got into Peter’s boat and asked him to take it out a little further from the shore. Then he sat…

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Sailing Along … But Something Feels Wrong

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by Judith Couchman You’re sailing along with a writing project, but something within gently nags you. It’s probably your gut, your inner writer, raising a red flag about your manuscript. You could need to check a fact, strike a sentence, reconsider an opinion, edit a paragraph, or research more information. Or you might need to change direction, throw out pages, and rewrite. Whatever the case, it’s time to listen. One author describes this process: “I genuinely liked everything I’d written. That’s what made it so hard, that subtle, sickening feeling that somewhere, somehow, the book was just fundamentally not right.” She…

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Tips from the Pros: Marsha Hubler

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Greetings from Sarah Sundin in California! As children head into the summer doldrums, it’s a great time to interview Marsha Hubler, author of horse stories that kids adore! Also, Marsha shares about the Montrose Christian Writers Conference in July, where she’s serving as director—sounds phenomenal! Marsha, how many books do you have published? What are a few of your latest titles? I have twenty published books, including Snow, Phantom Stallion of the Poconos and Heartwarming Horse Stories (Edited and Compiled by Marsha Hubler)

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Together, We Are Stronger: The Power of Co-Authoring

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  This week, I signed a contract with Harvest House Publishers for my 45th book.  This one is a wonderful collaboration between myself and a wonderful Bible study teacher, Jean Jones and a very talented artist in Karla Dornacher  (see Karla on Etsy). We each bring our strengths to the book and we also pull our platforms together for greater reach and influence. I have had the joy of co-authoring with some amazing people: Jill Savage,  the founder and President of Hearts at Home  for Got Teens?  (Harvest House) Doreen Hanna, the founder and President of Modern Day Princess ministry…

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Two Books by Dr. Sandra Glahn

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  Lethal Harvest: A Novel Co-authored with William Cutrer Kregel, May 27, 2016 ISBN-13: 978-082544409       In the midst of a malpractice lawsuit, an IVF clinic loses its brightest embryologist in a freak traffic accident. When a bomb destroys the lab and almost kills one of the deceased’s partners, the remaining partner pieces together illegalities in the embryologist’s research on an egg harvest. As the Machiavellian plot comes to light, everyone connected to the clinic is in danger.

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Are You Content with Problems, Possessions, and People?

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Greetings from Kathy Collard Miller in the Southern California desert near Palm Springs. Many years ago as the mother of a strong-willed toddler and a newborn, I didn’t want to be “just” a mother. I wanted to be out ministering to the world. I hated my husband, Larry, who seemed oblivious to my needs. I continually complained about his neglect and the thankless job of raising children. In time, I learned to choose contentment in three primary areas: problems, possessions, and people. Problems Complaining about our circumstances stems from a discontented heart. This isn’t a new attitude. In Exodus 15 through…

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