Posts by Gina Conroy
Writer Interrupted by…Unemployment
by Ron Estrada You’re fired. It’s not just a catchy phrase worthy of copywrite protection by billionaires turned reality show stars. It happens to all of us at least once in our professional lives. When it happens to the part-time writer, our first response may be, “The heck with it, now’s my chance to write…
Read MoreWords of Power
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. James 3:9-10 Words are powerful. Like a bit or a rudder, they can turn large objects by one small uttering, one small sentence. As…
Read MoreDare to Dream
The world pushes you to be sensible. Make choices that are normal, ordinary and expected. Do what has to be done and fall in line with the rest of the world. It doesn’t dare you to dream. Dreams live beyond that place. They catch a rainbow and ride into the clouds. Dreams are beyond the…
Read MoreA Sound Among the Trees Book Giveaway!
I love the way Susan Meissner weaves history with present day in an engaging tale relevant to both time periods! If you would like to win this book, tell me what is your favorite time period OR who you’d most like to BE in history! Contest open to US residents only! It is time for…
Read MoreWhere Do You Autograph a Book?
I love autographed books from the author and keep them on my shelves for years. In yesterday’s mail, I received a new book. The author and I corresponded about it through email and I asked her to autograph it. I was surprised at where she signed my book—on the inside of the front cover. In…
Read MoreWays To Keep Writing When Caregiving Needs Increase
by Kayne Swain “Honey, I don’t feel so well. My heart feels like it’s going a hundred miles a minute and…I feel so short of breath. Can you check my blood pressure?” the elderly mother said. “Mom, I have to take the kids to the specialist and he wants to run several tests. We’ll be…
Read MoreHomeschooling, Homesteading and Living to Write About It
by Mary L. Allen Cold weather has arrived in the mid-west! Usually this means fewer outside chores for yours truly, but this fall on our homestead, I still have pastured poultry field pens to move and a hundred chickens to feed. Then it’s time to tote wood from the shed up to the house for…
Read MoreConstant Dialogue
“Pray without ceasing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17(KJV) Dialogue is a vital part of novels. Writers can certainly add depth to characters through their actions, but the heart of the character is revealed through the words he or she speaks. At the same time, a novel with only dialogue would be exhausting. The silence within scenes, when…
Read MoreWrite About What Disturbs You
If you haven’t read The Help by Kathryn Stockett yet, let me encourage you to do so. Stockett writes of an editor giving the main character this advice: “Don’t waste your time on the obvious things. Write about what disturbs you, particularly if it bothers no one else.” This is good advice. What disturbs you? I tend…
Read MoreThe MacGregor Literary Marketing Seminar Ten Meaningful Quotes
In no particular order, except for this is the way they appear in my notes, here are ten meaningful quotes that made an impression on me at the MacGregor Literary Marketing Seminar in Chicago this past weekend. 1. “A brand is a promise we believe in.” 2. “Go find who your audience is and stand…
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