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A Reason to Pray
Recently I was reading Nancy Stafford’s “Beauty by the Book.” She pointed out something I hadn’t thought of. Words associated with Christ often start with the prefix re- as in renew, refresh, restore, resurrection. Words associated with Satan, however, often start with either de- or dis- Destroy, discourage, disappoint, despair, depression. Re- means to bring…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
What a Fiction Editor Can (and Can’t) Do For You!
Can Do A good fiction editor can take a manuscript that has potential and help it reach that potential. This may include different types of editing and can often take as much as forty hours of work for a detailed, substantive edit of an average manuscript. When you get your manuscript back from a freelance…
Carnival of Christian Writers #16 – January 2008
A little something to warm you up this month with some great posts in our January 2008 Carnival of Christian Writers Tiffany Colter tells us about her “Lessons Learned and How I Got Here”. Literary Agent Rachelle Gardner outlines some of the basics in “Steps For Approaching an Agent”. Two Christian fiction authors with exactly…
The Most Dangerous Prayer
It’s birthed in the deepest recesses of our hearts, then moves with our silent yearnings to the hidden places in our thoughts. We dare to think it, until we finally submit and give words to this most dangerous prayer. “Lord, do whatever it takes to bring my husband/wife to Christ.” Among the unequally yoked there…
Saturday Morning Review: Diva NashVegas by Rachel Hauck
This week’s CFBA tour has two books. The first is Diva NashVegas. If you read the review I wrote (conveniently reposted here) you know I LOVED this book. Rachel has a knack for writing funny but very touching books. To read an interview I had with Rachel last month, click here. What do you do…
The Snowball Effect
One thing I’ve learned in the last few years is that the work you put into your writing tends to snowball. It starts small and is easy to handle. As you keep working, it grows and grows, and suddenly . . . (if all goes well) suddenly it’s a monster. You’ve created something huge! This…