Writing in the ER
I’m sitting in the ER writing this blog post. My special needs adult daughter, Anna, needed to get checked to see if she had a resistant UTI. I grabbed a notebook on the way out knowing we would be there for a while. It’s an ER, after all! And since I’m leaving to teach at […]
Escape Room Lessons for Writers
My youngest daughter invited me to my very first Escape Room game the other day. As a mystery fan, I was excited—and a little apprehensive. Would I understand all the clues? Would I be asked things I had no concept of? Would I be able to complete the game in the time allotted? Would I […]
Crunch Time—When Writing Deadlines Loom
I have a major deadline due at the end of this month for a big project I’ve been working on. Part of me wants to panic. But I know that if I panic, I will become unproductive. I’ll spend more time worrying instead of writing. So here are a few tips on how to make […]
The Marbles of Writing
Marbles and Pebbles Ultima Thule may not be your first thought for a blog post on becoming the writer God created you to be, marbles by marbles and pebbles by pebbles, but it sure was one of the first things I thought of when I heard about the 21-mile-long planetary object that lies about 1 […]
Spring Cleaning a Writer’s Way
Spring is well under way. There’s something about the change of season that inspires the need to start afresh and get life back in order. Maybe that comes with digging up an old flowerbed and planting an herb garden, or cleaning out the garage to have that rummage sale you’ve been thinking about. Or maybe […]
Waiting Well
Waiting Well Years ago, I mentioned to a writer friend that I have trouble waiting well on God’s timetable with my writing. It seems my plans and God’s plans are often out of sync. Even when I see evidence of God’s favor on my writing, I wonder how I missed his plan for a three-book series […]
Are You Using ALL Your Writing Resources?
Wonderful writing resources are easily available to us. We can access rhyming, spelling, and foreign language dictionaries. We can look up synonyms in a thesaurus, and find the perfect line to quote in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations. If you need to write a screenplay, you can purchase programs to help with formatting. Need feedback on your […]
The Greatest Gift to Writers
The Initial Prayer My fingers rested on my keyboard. The idea for a new story rested in my head. As I pondered how to begin this new story, my internal editor kept buzzing. “Make sure it’s a great sentence. It’s got to have a great hook. Bring in excitement right away!” The internal editor is […]
3 Reasons Adults Should Read Kids’ Books
“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” –C.S Lewis Today at the library, I had a patron come up to the desk with a stack of audiobooks from the children’s section. “I’ve been reading too many heavy mystery books lately,” she told me. “I decided I need to switch […]
Interview with Author Nancy I. Sanders About Her Latest Release, Master Books® World History Encyclopedia, Vol. 1
I had a chance to interview my longtime friend and writing mentor, Nancy I. Sanders, about her latest book, Master Books® World History Encyclopedia: Creation to the Roman Empire, Volume1. Nancy has been writing for 40 years. Not only does she have a wealth of experience, but she writes with the purpose of reaching others […]