April 2026 Master Class
Registration is Now Open
More and more traditional publishers as well as agents request a market analysis as part of your proposal to write a book or when you’re submitting a manuscript that’s already written. So with Thanksgiving coming around this time of year, put on your chef’s hat and...
Is it possible to miss God’s answers to prayer? I often fail to recognize the relationship between God’s providence and answers to prayer. As a result, I miss opportunities to give God glory for His work. I also miss opportunities to encourage others by sharing...
Melanie Dickerson’s novels are usually adaptions of fairy tales such as “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Little Mermaid,” and Veil of Winter is no exception. It is part of a new series, Dericott Tales, which Dickerson began after completing her intriguing Hagen…
REVIEW OF JACK VS. THE TORNADO Jack vs. the Tornado by Amanda Cleary Eastep is the first book in the series, The Tree Street Kids, and tells the story about ten-year-old Jack Finch. He has to leave his home on a farm and move to the suburbs so his dad can find a...
This month I got to see my aunt and my dad. My role was as caregiver. She’s eighty-seven. He’s ninety five. I learned one thing: I can’t write around seniors who blare the TV at level 42. Plus, every time one of them walked into a room, I stared at the throw rugs and...
When you begin planning your novel, there are a million details you could consider. At the start of every idea lies an endless labyrinth of possibilities, of different directions your could take your plot. Some writers prefer to figure out as much of their labyrinth...
I’ve been writing for over fifty years now, if I count my grade school tour de force, which includes a poem about raccoons and a Nancy Drew style mystery. Of course, I’m still a Work-In-Process, and I cannot give enough credit to all the various workshops and critique...
My first five books for children were all released as picture books. Three of those were later released as board books. That got me interested in exploring the differences between the two formats and a few summers ago I decided to try my hand at writing for the board...
Lowly dandelions give us moments of beauty that point to God
There’s no way around it. Writing a children’s novel takes time. I know writer friends and writing challenges that boast they can whip out a picture book in one day. Not so with a children’s novel. The setting of the story. The plot. The characters. The shortest time...