Blog
Rest for the Weary
Apparently, God is trying to tell me something. He keeps pummeling me with articles, conversations, and scriptures with the same theme: rest. God and I have had this conversation plenty of times, but there’s something different about it this time around. I opened my Jesus Calling devotional book the other morning, and the first sentence read, “You…
Taking the Sting Out of a Bad Review So You Can Become a Better Writer
No one likes a bad review, but let’s be honest, some of what the reviewer says might hold a bit of truth, if we’re brave enough to listen. So how do you get past the sting of a bad review so you can become a better writer? Grow Thick Skin Remember your first hard critique?…
How to Write a Good Bad Review
“If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” Mama’s advice serves well to keep us kind, but people don’t always need kind. We don’t even need polite all the time. Sometimes we need truth. Gina birthed the question on facebook: “Why do people post negative reviews?” Ron responded with a post about…
Interviews with Characters From Digging Up Death
My favorite interviews are the ones where my characters get to do all the talking. After all, as the author, I’m basically boring and there’s probably not much more you can learn about me! I can give you blurbs and summaries about my books, but what better way to introduce you to my new releases…
Overcoming Obstacles
“Maybe God means all of these troubles to show me that I’m not supposed to be a writer.” Ever feel that way? Somebody tell me I’m not the only one. Choosing a writing career means facing insecurity and rejection, and it means waiting, patiently or otherwise. When I got my first subscription to Writer’s Digest…
Spring Break Teen Online Fiction Classes Starting
Classes are forming now for the online fiction classes for teen and preteens and space is limited to 4- 6 students! So if you’re interested in brainstorming a novel idea, learning how to plot your idea, or getting starting on that book that you have bouncing around in your brain, make sure you sign up…
Do You Ever Want to Check Out from Your Online Responsibilities?
Please tell me I’m not the only one who gets overwhelmed with all the online responsibility stuff I need to maintain in my writing life just to keep an online my presence and platform. Stuff that writers need to do like blog, Tweet, comment, and write. Let’s not forget write! Please tell me I’m not…
When There’s No Time to Make Dinner Under a Writing Deadline
You’re pounding away at the keyboard in the middle of losing a feverish word war with time itself, and suddenly you hear a sound that you probably shouldn’t recognize, but you do. Someone has opened the very last sleeve of Ritz crackers in the house. “Excellent,” you think. “Now I don’t have to make dinner.” However, do…
Special Challenges for the Home-Schooling Writer
Writers who are also home-schooling moms encounter special challenges when working on their careers. I’ve been analyzing how to work through those challenges in order make the most of every writing opportunity. My first post in this series covers planning the project in order to jump directly into the story-world anytime a chance to write pops…
Waiting in Expectation
“In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” Psalm 5:3 Sometimes, it’s hard to let myself expect something from God. To let my heart really hope for answered prayers. Waiting in expectation can feel a bit like jumping off the edge of…