Books
Sharon Hinck and The Restorer–Expanded Edition.
Sharon writes “stories for the hero in all of us,” about ordinary people experiencing God’s grace in unexpected ways. Known for their authenticity, emotional range, and spiritual depth, her novels include contemporary fiction such as The Secret Life of Becky Miller or Stepping into Sunlight and the groundbreaking Sword of Lyric fantasy series which includes…
Top Five Reasons to Preorder My Book NOW!
While I’m away at a marketing seminar, I’ll leave you with a little shameless marketing for my debut release… 5. Because I’ve given you the link, and it’s quick, easy, and painless. Think “set it and forget it!” 4. Because if you do, then you’ll forget about it, and it’ll be like getting another Christmas…
Story Engineering by Larry Brooks
by Ron Estrada Like many aspiring novelists, I tend to collect “how to write” books. I think I have about a dozen on my bookshelf and have read another twenty from the library. All have been useful, inspiring, and informative in their own right, but only a chosen few have made it to my “must…
Interview with Writing Mom and Author Jody Hedlund
Be a Trailblazer Contest: During the month of September, Jody is running an epic contest with a prize package worth $300. Here’s the link to the contest page: http://jodyhedlund.com/contest/ Tell us a little about your family and your call to write. I’ve been married for twenty years to my college sweetheart. My husband has been…
Are You Ready for Publication?
Not your manuscript. You. Here’s the test: Strip down to your pre-fall Garden of Eden nakedness and stand on the fifty-yard line during halftime at the Super Bowl while everyone submits critiques of your body on the JumboTron. If you can handle that without buckets of drugs and/or a lifetime of therapy, then you’re probably…
Amy Inspired by Bethany Pierce
Amy gave up her mundane job to go back to school, get her MFA, and become a published writer. Except she’s not getting published, and she’s struggling with writer’s block. In another dead-end job and disillusionment, Amy worries that she won’t live the meaningful life she’s expected herself to. Cue twenty-something identity crisis. Add to…
A Couple Books I Loved
If you saw my ever growing to-be-read pile, you might wonder how I choose what to read next. Often it comes back to which authors I’ve come to trust. The ones I know I’ll enjoy a good story that I can’t put down. A week ago I read a couple by some of my favorite…
Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving
The plot, improbable as it is: Danny, the twelve-year-old son of a logging community’s cook, walks in on his dad and his dad’s lover (Jane), whom he mistakes as a bear. To be fair, Danny’s dad, nicknamed Cookie, gave Danny a tall-tale about fending off a bear (common in the northeast region) from the house…
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
A satire on two generations of Americans and the American dream (or, more accurately, dreams), Jonathan Franzen wrote a book that at times seems more case-study than novel. Because of this, for a good part of the book, the characters seem almost more caricature than individual. Of course, the big twist in the end is…
Review: Lucky Baby by Meredith Efken
After years of swearing she’d never be a mother–particularly because she doesn’t want to turn into her mother, who withheld her approval from Meg–Meg longs to adopt a child. She and her husband, Lewis, adopt an older girl from China, desiring both to give Eva a home and to overcome their pasts of emotional family…