by Donna Schlachter Most people know something about the Pony Express, but few realize it only operated fromApril 1860 through to November 1861. The first ride left St. Joseph, Missouri heading west, andfrom Sacramento, California heading east, on April 3rd, 1860. The idea for a Pony Express was conceived in the minds of its owners because of the possibilityof winning the contract for the overland US mail. Another company, Butterworth, was running asouthern route that took up to three weeks to deliver to the west coast, and Majors and Waddellthought they could beat that time by taking the shorter northern…
Category: Writing craft
This is our archive pageFascinating 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…
Fascinating Friday Feature: More than a Tagline with Ava Pennington
How often have you ended a prayer with “in Jesus’ name”? We say it so often, it has almost become a tagline. But how did this practice begin? Several verses in the New Testament tell us to pray in Jesus’ name, including: However, this phrase may not mean what most of us think it does! In ancient times before planes, trains, and automobiles, rulers did not have theconvenience of making a phone call or sending a telegram to convey their orders.Instead, the king would send his emissary to a distant location. And the emissary wouldsay, “I come in the name…
Fascinating Friday Feature – Creative Droughts?
Writer’s Block. You often hear this term mentioned as if that inner mechanism that helps writers spew out strings of meaningful words is somehow turned off. Stuck. Out of order until further notice. This may happen at times, but for me, it goes much deeper than that. Personally, I can always write. Give me a blank journal page, and I’ll ask enough questions to figure out how I’m thinking and the reason for it. My handwritten notes are part prayer and part praise. A partial download of the heaviest parts of the previous day, along with a partial discovery of…
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…
Fascinating Friday Feature –
A behind-the-scenes peek at writing. I begin each new book with…get ready for it… “Now, how do I do this?” Every single book. One would think after sixteen novels, I wouldn’t have to ask this question. So, why would I? That’s another question I ask at the start of each book. Why is this so hard? Well, if it were easy, everyone would write a book, right? Still…even when I follow the brief synopsis I submit to my publisher for the book, I struggle with getting started, mostly because the actual story rarely follows what I submitted. Take Counter Attack,…
Who said I wanted to be an author?
I was in fifth grade when my teacher interrupted my daydream, “Linda, I don’t care if you do grow upto be a famous author, I’m going to teach you math so you can balance your royalty statements.” My classmates turned to stare at me, while I stared back at my teacher in shock, thinking, An author? Who ever said I wanted to be an author? Even though Mrs. Davis’ words foretold my future, I didn’t get it, dream about it, or add ‘writing abook’ to my life’s goals. Instead, when I graduated from college, I got a job in the…
9-1-1. What is your emergency?
“This is 9-1-1. What is your emergency?” I don’t often reflect publicly on the fifteen years I served as a 9-1-1 Operator and Police Dispatcher for the city of Nashville. This was my first career-type job as a somewhat sheltered eighteen-year-old girl, and I was quickly stationed on the midnight shift where all the action took place. Each night at 10:00 p.m., I proudly donned my navy blue civilian uniform and entered through security gates, metal detectors, and controlled access doors into a windowless room with nothing but computer screens in every direction. We served as the hub of activity…
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