Craft

Truffles by the Sea

Truffles by the Sea is Julie Carobini’s second offering. I loved this book! Gaby, Bri’s best friend from Chocolate Beach (mom lit and another great read), is the star of this book, and her life is a mess! I can’t think of one more thing that could go wrong in this poor woman’s life! Her…

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Quick Fiction Fixes – Show don’t tell emotions, part 2

We’re all busy, whether working full-time or chasing/chauffeuring kids around all day. Yet we’re also writers, striving to get our words on paper and then polish it to a sparkle. This column gives quick fixes for fiction manuscripts specifically for busy writers. Pick and choose what works best for you! Show don’t tell: Writing emotions…

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Time Management 101: Get a Puppy!

Before I get into the meat of “how I do it all” I just wanted to add this to the last tip… If you really, really want to get a lot of writing done, get a dog to lay on your feet. Last January, we got a new puppy–1/2 Scottie, 1/2 Pomeranian. He was tiny…

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Violence Against Women

Okay, now that the title of this post has snagged your attention, here’s an issue I wrestle with in my own writing. How do you feel about portraying violence against women? A rape scene, a beating, a murder. I would imagine the answer will differ between the sexes and what end of the writing you’re…

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Kisses From Heaven

Some days are filled with kisses from heaven. Those times you can catch the heartbeat of God, feel the breath of His approval, sense the longing of His gentle correction. At our Catlett Christmas, I got a very vivid reminder that this dream of writing is a gift straight from His heart that He has…

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Saturday Morning Review: Chill Out, Josey!

In the sequel to Everything’s Coming Up Josey, Josey’s just gotten married and is ready to launch into the adventure of a lifetime: figuring out how to make a marriage work by living up to the Proverbs 31 standard. Josey is in her classic state: I’ll-fix-the-world-and-surpass-them-all. Not because she wants to or is particularly equipped…

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Reflexive Pronouns Should Not Be Involuntary Reactions

This is the what the sound of fingernails (think long, acrylic) scraping against a chalkboard would look like: hisself theirself/theirselves themself STEP AWAY FROM THESE WANNA-BE PRONOUNS! If you’re using them as dialogue for a character who speaks non-standard English, fine. Otherwise no, no, and no. The STANDARD reflexives are: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself,…

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Finding the Time

Finding time to write is something I daily struggle with as a busy homeschooling mom. We all know about full schedules, most of us are writing around them already. For the past eight months, I’ve been hiding behind one excuse or another but what it all boils down to is fear. I’m afraid that I…

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Time Management 101: Rene Gutteridge

Today Rene Gutteridge is here to share her thoughts on managing your time! The Hard Work of Rest I wouldn’t call myself a work-aholic. Maybe I am and don’t know it. Denial is the first sign of, well, everything bad. But I don’t work 24/7 and I don’t constantly think about work. So….why does it…

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Reevaluation

There’s a lot of things I need to reevaluate in my life. I sort of skipped the New Year’s Resolution/goal setting thing, and it’s time I take a real hard look at some of the areas in my life which have gotten out of balanced. Some of it is the same old, same old…too much…

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