There’s a lot of noise in the world. Since the evolution of television, computers, and mobile phones there’s been a gradual increase in the inputs into our lives. Most authors write on devices that are connected to the outside world. This portal tempts us to dive out of the world of our writing and into …
Tag Archives: Writers Life
Writer’s Life | Clutter that Overwhelms
Now I’m no Marie Kondo. Make no mistake. I hold onto things for years, decades, life if they have sentimental value. I’m not a fan of change But clutter does get overwhelming sometimes, so in recent years, I’ve developed a policy: don’t buy junk, and when I move, if something has no sentimental value, get …
Writers Life | Redeeming the Day
This is the day the Lord has made;We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 New King James Version At this time of year, I often find myself wondering where the past year went. The questions keep coming: What did I achieve? How did I allow myself to let the year pass without doing all the things …
Devotion: Using Your Wild Card Power for Good
My husband and I were invited to a church friend’s home to play games with his two other guests. After some discussion, we decided to play Uno®, a popular game we were all familiar with. One of the cards in the deck is a wild card. With it, the player has the power to do …
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God Gives First So We Can Give Our Best
When I set aside working on the next book in my Roman-era Light in the Empire series to write this ACW blog post, I found myself thinking about the gifts God gives us so we can serve Him well. Like many Christian writers, I know in my heart that this is a calling from God, …
God’s Perfect Timing
I am grateful for perfect timing. An unexpected situation recently brought my husband and me to New York City. Due to the serious nature of the trip, I did not follow my usual practice of planning sightseeing excursions, activities, and shopping. While researching the area of our hotel, I discovered that we would be within …
How to make your story’s setting feel real
Characters, setting, plot―these are the three main building blocks of a great story. In my last blog post here, I shared how I find the characters for my next story. Today, I’d like to share some things I do to create memorable settings for my historical novels. Some of these tips could work just as …
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Writer’s Life | A View of One’s Own
What does Anno Domini (AD), Virginia Woolf and modern society have in common? Read on to find out. Stereotyping; the bane of our existence By now, we all see the stark reality that only a portion of us is represented in literature. And from that portion, only a portion is represented authentically. As a teacher …
Mark the Days
I spend most New Year’s days reflecting on the past year and all the highs and lows. I begin to plan for the year ahead, marking significant days–birthdays, anniversaries, upcoming events, work commitments holidays, travel–the knowns. I also plan for adventure, but to be honest, with 2020 and 2021 and some of 2022 being so …
Adding Front and Back Matter to Give Our Readers More
When we create a novel for our readers to enjoy, we might start with the first sentence of chapter one, but we shouldn’t consider it finished when we type “The End” after the last sentence of the story. It’s time to write the front and back matter to give our readers more. We can add …
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