Fiction Friday | Synapse by Steven James

Synapse is a difficult novel to review. Parts were excellent. Parts were not excellent. And parts were downright weird. Let’s start with what I thought was excellent. Synapse is set in the future—2037. Humanoid robots are commonplace, as are the Purists, terrorists who seek to destroy the Artificials before Artificials destroy humanity (a valid concern …

6 Tips for Improving Your Writing Craft Without Attending a Conference

It’s almost conference time! Today I’m resharing a post I originally wrote last year, for those of you who can’t join us at the 2019 Omega Writer’s Conference in Sydney from 11 to 13 October. Can’t make it to conference? Does this mean you miss out on the opportunity to learn, to upskill yourself? Not …

Hope For Tomorrow

Humans need hope. Hope is some extraordinary spiritual grace that God gives us to control our fears, not to oust them.   Vincent McNabb Today is all we have. There are no guarantees for tomorrow. While that is true, we also need hope that tomorrow can be better. Hope is found in the idea that …

Love Keeps No Record of Wrongs , a devotion by Keona J Tann

Mistakes, ugh, we’ve all made them. The thing that I find is that the enemy loves to remind us of the things we’ve done wrong. In the past reliving my most silly, stupid, embarrassing and awful moments would send me into a tailspin of condemnation, shame and deep regret. My failures and mistakes used to …

Don’t Die With The Music In You

Listen up, peeps! Don’t die with the music in you. Whatever is in the deep crevasses of your imagination, don’t ever think nobody is interested in the “music” in you. You need to tell yourself that you have just as much writing ability as the next person. Sure, the other writer plays a different tune, …

10 Lessons I’ve Learned From Writing

After my first book Beautiful: beauty tips for the soul was published, my family asked me when the next book was coming out. ‘What do you mean?’ I asked. ‘I’ve just published a book, I’m happy.’ ‘We think you’ve got a few more in you,’ they said. I’d always wanted to be an author. I’d …

In the Moment: How your backstory helps grow your faith.

As writers, we love to think up a good backstory to a character we’ve created. We know that without a compelling backstory our characters feel and read like cardboard cutouts on the page. But what about your own life? What if you’re trying to hide your backstory from others so they don’t see your broken …

Throwback Thursday | Should Authors Review the Books they Read?

This week I’m resharing a post that previously appeared on our old blog. I’m addressing a question many authors ask: Should authors review? First, let’s back up to a more important question: Should authors read? Yes! “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as …