Releasing October 1, 2014 The One Year Devotions for Active Boys, 365 upbeat devotions, each with a twist of humor, combine Scripture and a spiritual message with jokes, riddles, puzzles, and hands-on activities to engage tween boys. About the authors: Jesse Florea, author or more than a dozen books, is the editorial director of youth publications where he edits Clubhouse and Clubhouse Jr. at Focus on the Family. Karen Whiting (www.karenwhiting.com), international speaker, author of 18 books, and former television host, loves to splash creativity n the pages she writes. New Releases are posted by Christine Lindsay author of Multi-Award-Winning Shadowed in Silk…
Tag: non-fiction
This is our archive pageSometimes It’s How You Frame It
Greetings and Happy New Year! Maureen Pratt here with my monthly CAN blog on the craft of writing. Today, I'm going to offer one technique to help you find the right angle and tone for your story. Sometimes, fine-tuning these so that your intent is clear and your storytelling is compelling isn't a matter of vocabulary or sentence structure, or even pacing or flow. Sometimes, it's how you frame your story that gives it its best final form. Recently, I took two lovely watercolors to a frame shop. I'd purchased them awhile ago, and never liked the plain frames they'd…
Daily Reflections on the Names of God by Ava Pennington
Every name God calls Himself and every name His people called Him holds clues to who He is, how He relates to His children, and the promises He has made – and kept. Daily Reflections on the Names of God offers you a wonderful opportunity to spend time each day getting to know God more intimately by exploring 122 of His names and attributes. Using three individual devotions for each name, you will discover something new about who God is, who you are, and how you relate to others. One year from now, will you be able to say that…
Oh, That Zany English Language!
Hello! Maureen Pratt here with another blog post about the writing art and craft. This time, some thoughts about the English language and how we might mix it up a little to yield fresh "color," insight, and depth to our work. Two real life events have inspired me to blog about this. One was a conversation I overheard in the post office. It went like this: Postal Clerk (handing Customer a pane of stamps): Here you go. Customer: Where? Here I go where? Postal Clerk: Your stamps, sir. Here you go. Customer: Where do I go? Postal Clerk (pointing at…
Right There, Right Then: Immediacy
Peace to you! Maureen Pratt here with my monthly blog about specific aspects of the writing process. Today, I thought I'd highlight some suggestions about immediacy in our writing. Whether we're writing fiction or non-fiction, we want our prose to carry the feel of immediacy, or a sense of time and place that draws the reader in to the exclusion of all other distractions and detractions. Compelling central plots do this to a certain extent, of course, but to carry someone along for the duration of a book requires some hooks-within-the-hooks. Immediacy boosts action to a more lively level, and it helps root scene and character…
READING AND WRITING THE FINE PRINT
Greetings! Maureen Pratt here with my latest CAN blog post about the craft of writing. Today, I thought I'd steer clear of the "big picture" – that is, the major aspects of writing that we so often focus on in our work – plot and character arcs, basic personal attributes, action points. Instead, I thought I'd "sweat the small stuff" and talk about the importance of seeking, seeing and writing about the "fine print," those details that can truly make a huge difference between a piece that is okay from one that is, "Oh! Hey! [That really strikes home/makes this a…
Finding and Writing a Character’s Voice: Lessons from Playwriting
Hello, again! Maureen Pratt here with my monthly blogpost about the craft of writing. Today, I'm going to focus on techniques to employ to find and write distinctive voices for each of your characters or individuals in fiction or non-fiction. I began my professional writing career as a playwright, earning my Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts with a concentration in playwriting from UCLA and later having a number of plays produced. Unlike writing for the movies, playwriting "runs" on dialogue. A professional script for live theater contains very little, if any, description except to set the scene, and…
WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD: WRITING CONTROVERSY
[The woman] looked closely at Peter and said, "This man was with him." But Peter denied it. "Woman, I don't know him," he said. (Luke 22:56-57, NIV) A blessed day to you! Maureen Pratt here with my second CAN Blog post. This time, I'm going to dive right into the deep end and talk about writing controversial subjects, characters, and themes. I've had very recent (ongoing, actually) experience with doing this, so I'm looking at the topic with eyes wide open and have some tips for handling not only the material, but also the feedback that inevitably comes when one "stirs the…
Simply Salsa by Janet Perez Eckles – A Book Review
Simply Salsa “Picture yourself seated in a comfortable chair. A luscious Latin melody dances in the background as you spend a few hours with a dear friend. Her smile embraces you like a warm hug. Her openness encourages you to share your heart. And her words of wisdom challenge you to follow the God of boundless love. This golden afternoon mirrors the experience of reading Janet Perez Eckles’ Simply Salsa: Dancing Without Fear at God’s Fiesta. The book takes a refreshing look at the Christ-life—with a unique Latina flair. Authenticity drives this project, whose author shares her wisdom through real-life…
Simply Salsa by Janet Perez Eckles
Simply Salsa teaches to celebrate life by weaving real-life stories—from the author, from women today and from women in the Bible—to illustrate the victory available to all. The riveting examples ignite in the reader a passion to overcome their own trials such as disabilities, tragedy, devastation and unfairness. Each chapter sings with a Latina flair, a bit of sass, a dash of humor and plenty of inspiration drawn from God’s Word to empower the reader to triumph, bring back joy by learning to conquer fear. Although blind, Janet Perez Eckles has been inspiring thousands to see the best in…
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