by Lena Nelson Dooley In January 1984, several publishers came out with inspirational romances–Silhouette, Thomas Nelson, Zondervan, Harvest House, Baker Books, Bethany House. At the time, I was an auxiliary rural mail carrier in Colleyville, Texas. While I was driving the mail route, I created a story in my head, like a motion picture. The first week of May 1984, I went to spend part of an afternoon with a good friend who thought romance novels were a waste of time. While we were talking that day, she asked me if I knew a particular woman who attended church with…
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This is our archive pageFascinating Friday Feature – The Funniest Review
by Linore Rose Burkard The Funniest Review: Thoughts on Reading and Readers All writers know that book reviews can be wonderful, maddening, or anything in between. One day, early in my writing career, I received an unexpectedly comical “review” for my first book, Before the Season Ends. A young lady came to me at church gushing about how she loved it and had lent it to a friend before school began earlier that week. She went on to relate how her friend had started it in homeroom, instantly loved it, and proceeded to read all day—all 310 pages—so that she’d…
Fascinating Fridays: Christian Fiction – A Tool for Evangelism
by Patricia Bradley Then the LORD told me: “I will give you my message in the form of a vision. Write it clearly enough to be read at a glance” (Habakkuk 2:2 CEV). The Christian fiction genre accounts for nearly 51% of all faith-based book sales, and I believe it is an awesome tool for evangelizing. Not everyone agrees with me, but think about it. Jesus taught by story—parables—short fictional stories with heavenly meanings, but they were stories nonetheless. Stories that listeners were caught up in because Jesus used characters, items, and events from their everyday lives. His listeners could…
Fascinating Friday Feature – Interview with Diana Leagh Matthews
Q – What has God called you to do where your first thought may have been “Are you kidding me?” In 2004, I served a church as minister of music. Over the course of six months, three different people came to me and said, “You should be in the ministry.” I laughed it off. “Yeah right. God, I’m no preacher.” At the time, I thought being in the ministry meant being a minister. As a PK (preacher’s kid), I knew that wasn’t the life for me. For three years, I fought the calling but the Lord revealed to me that…
Fascinating Friday Feature – Glory in the Ordinary
by Cheryl Schuermann I never entertained the thought of writing a devotional book. That is, until I met the church doors. We discovered them in a lonely metal shed on The Farm, the recreational land my in-laws purchased many years prior. Amid flying dust and a thick curtain of cobwebs, my husband and I cleaned the doors with rags just enough to reveal the arched glass panels and heavy brass handles and hinges. Though the doors were not ornate, we found them to be extraordinary. Before he passed, my father-in-law mentioned how he rescued several doors from the old church…
Fascinating Friday Feature – Standing in My Settings
Research is one of my favorite parts of writing, and I took to traveling, if at all possible, to the locations of my novels in the past few years. Actually standing in the place where my story happens has made my writing richer and deeper, as I can weave in the sights, smells, and sounds of a place along with the emotions it stirs up. For my most recent release, What I Promise You, I traveled to Barcelona and Southwest France, and along the way, I picked up quite a few interesting tidbits. First of all was the geography. When…
Fascinating Friday Feature – The Hidden Stories Behind the Writing Journey
by Lee Ann Mancini In the world of writing, each author has their own story behind the scenes, often hidden in theirdaily routines and unexpected sparks of inspiration. For me, it all starts bright and early at 5 am,with a hot cup of coffee, a conversation with God, my Bible in hand, and a deep dive intoresearch. Looking back on how it all began, my Sea Kids children’s books were born from the stories Imade up and told my kids to help them understand how God wanted them to deal with everydaysituations in life. Back then, I had no idea…
Fascinating Friday Feature – Who Do I Serve?
As a writer, I often beat my head against the blank screen of procrastination and perfection. There is nothing like a tight deadline to make me wonder exactly what it is that I’m hoping to accomplish. One would think such a looming deadline would translate to a well-written story that appears magically on demand. Not true. At times like this, I really need to know the truth. Why do I write? Aside from the lofty goals of fame and fortune – (insert giggle snort) – why do I write? Seriously, this is a question all writers must ask ourselves so…
The Fascinating (Condensed) History of Alaska
By Donna Schlachter In keeping with celebrating my second Switchboard Sisterhood book, Morgana, I thought I’d sharesome history of Alaska this month. While the area was likely settled thousands of years ago by emigrants from Asia and Eastern Europewho perhaps crossed a land passage, few details are available about these early settlers. They eventuallyestablished themselves and spread out over the area, becoming unique in their language and culture.In 1728. Vitus Bering from Denmark traveled into the area and discovered the strait now namedafter him. He returned in 1741 and explored the North American coastline. In 1776, the year the United…
Seen and Heard – April and May Happenings
Many among our Christian Authors Network have been seen and heard, caught out and about spreading the word on their books, their message, and most importantly, the love and provision of our precious Father. Here’s where you may catch them: Susan Neal, CEO of Christian Authors Network (CAN) and Christian Indie Publishing Association (CIPA), was a featured speaker at The Well Conference for Creatives in Hudsonville, Michigan in April. In addition to her faculty sessions, Susan announced the winners of the Christian Indie Awards and the CAN Marketing Awards with a live presentation for the first time during their awards…