Somehow over the years, I’ve lost some of my delight in words. Gratefully now, I’m working on rediscovering the beauty of words. History with Words In high school, I used to play with words, at times seeing how many pages of description I could write for something familiar. I mean, how many ways can you […]
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When I started in ministry, over forty years ago, I decided I was in it for the long haul. I watched others more talented than I, burn through and burn out. They gave non-stop, never bothering to recognize their own needs or set boundaries against the ever-present demands of ministry. They usually left after three […]
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I first wrote this five years ago. The post remains relevant! There are a number of reasons why readers don’t write reviews of books. Below are five. As I evaluate my progress over the past years in the world of independent publishing and mark off checklists (website –check, blog – check, email capture – check, […]
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Was I a better writer in high school than I am now? I know it may seem like the answer should be obvious. Of course I’m a better writer now than I was in high school. I’ve been at it for so long, have learned so much over the course of the years, not just […]
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Not everyone understands the benefits of blogging. Whenever I complain about not having enough time to do everything I think I need to do–family responsibilities, writing and publishing books, writing articles and submitting them to magazines, marketing, maintaining my website, and blogging—my husband, the accountant, asks: “What has the potential to make the most […]
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What do you worship? What are the hidden idols in your life? Idols crop up everywhere. Throughout history they take new forms. We are hard-wired for worship. Often we are misled into seeking out false idols to fill that need for worship. Our idols may not be images of silver and gold, but may be […]
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Dying is easy, comedy is hard – or, in my case, writing comedy is hard. The quote, first found in the 1982 movie featuring Peter O’Toole, “My Favorite Year,” is attributed to both Edmund Kean, a Shakespearean actor, and Edmund Gwenn, known for his role as Santa Claus in “A Miracle on Thirty-Fourth Street.” (for […]
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Don’t you love it when writing takes you to unexpected places? This is certainly the case for the novel I started for NaNoWriMo 2019. Josie It started several years back when I went to the library for a writers’ round-table, expecting, duh, a round-table discussion. The previous month had been a presentation by a local […]
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Diversity is a current buzz word in publishing. Publishers want books with diverse characters. In 2013, when I thought about writing the first book in my Dancing Through Life Series, Dancing on a High Wire, I envisioned the character of Esther being black and thereby providing diversity. However, following the adage, “write what you know,” […]
Read More Why can’t life be like writing? I’ve been asking myself this this week after a friend found a solution to a major problem in his manuscript by the addition of an introduction. I’ve also experienced this at times. I reread a manuscript, thinking I’ve got major editing to do, only to move a chapter here […]
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