The Writing Life | Starting a Book Club

Starting a bookclub I was introduced to the book club experience back in the mid-1990s when our local cathedral bookstore hired me to lead a book club for them. Since then, I have led and participated in 4 book clubs of very different themes and goals—and enjoyed them all. In spite of the current popularity …

Publishing Tip | Tell Me a Story, the Audiobook Revolution

“Tell me a story,” is one of the most ubiquitous and insistent requests a young child is likely to make. And the love of hearing a story is something we never out-grow. I love to read, both from paper books and electronic devices, but hearing a story is a different experience altogether. Learning Styles When …

Book Recommendation | Gifting books How-to

So, how’s your Christmas shopping coming?” If you’re like me, you cringe when some energetic, well-organized friend asks you that. I don’t even have my list made out yet—let alone having the buying done. But one thing is sure, there will be lots of books on that list when I do get it completed. Books …

Author Interview: Joy Margetts talks about The Bride

Welcome, Joy. Thank you for joining us today. Please introduce yourself to our Australasian Christian Writers’ readers. Thank you so much Donna. It is really an honour to be invited to share with you all. My name is Joy Margetts and I am a 50 something grandmother, with a husband, two grown children, two adorable …

Writing Life: Launching out—Beyond Our Comfort Zone

I began my professional writing life as a playwright. I was serving as drama minister for our church and we needed scripts, so I provided them. Then, after a bit of dabbling in curriculum writing and non-fiction work, I rather quickly plunged into my true love—writing novels. And there I have stayed for forty-some years …

Writers Life: Scotland on My Mind, the Influence of Heritage

Stan and Donna Crow 1963 This year my husband and I celebrate our sixtieth wedding anniversary. Yes—that’s 60! We are observing this milestone with a family reunion in Scotland this summer. Our whole family romping for a week on the shores of the Firth of Forth. With such jolly times in the offing I have …

The Writing Life: Inspiration from place

Settings have always been one of the most important aspects of a story to me. I frequently—almost always, even—choose the films I watch or the books I read based on where they are set. I regularly shape my plots around places I want to go for research. Past Travels Come to Life For my current …

Writing Life | Idaho Women’s Statue Brings History to Life

Writing historical novels has made me acutely aware of how truly we walk in the footsteps of those who have gone before us. Without the “prints” left by earlier generations we would know nothing about the struggles and achievements of bygone generations. Nor would we be able to build for the future on their accomplishments. …

Recommendation: Rising Son, Gripping World War II Story

Today I am delighted to present my friend Brett Eshelman whose new World War II era book Rising Son has just been released. Rising Son is a gripping World War II story with repercussions that continue to this day. From the burning observation tower during a Tokyo air raid, through the account of the Kamikaze …

Author Interview | Brenda S. Cox on Fashionable Goodness

Donna: I am delighted to bring Brenda S. Cox to Australasia today as part of her official blog tour for the launch of her wonderful new book Fashionable Goodness, Christianity in Jane Austen’s England. Brenda, what led you to write a book on this subject? Brenda: In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in England, exciting …