Please welcome this week's guest Michelle Griep for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? Defeat is the creepy friend who slings his arm around the shoulder of every writer. Rejection after rejection. One-star reviews. Low sales numbers. Sure, all these are part of the writing game, but it’s like landing on a square that says, “Go back to start.” That’s why I love it when God shows up and zings me ahead fifty spaces . . . and wow, do I … [Read more...]
The Journey with Stephanie Prichard #acfw
Please welcome this week's guest Stephanie Prichard for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? Riding the Emotional Roller Coaster When my love of writing became an earnest intent to publish, I had no idea I was mounting a twisting, looping roller coaster. Please note that from my perspective a roller coaster is NOT an instrument of fun and delight. Chugging to a peak is no problem, but the other side of that peak? Uh-uhhhh. Not a matter of … [Read more...]
The journey with Leslie Payne #acfw
Please welcome this week's guest Leslie Payne for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? One lovely January morning in 2000 my writing journey began by accident. Snow fell gently from the grey sky as I waited in my car at a red traffic light. Writing was not part of my life. My passion was dance, ballroom, swing, and Lindy Hop. For several years I had kept a delightfully hectic schedule dancing three nights a week. That winter morning I sat … [Read more...]
The Journey with Julie Arduini #acfw
Please welcome this week's guest Julie Arduini for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? God, Surrender and Chocolate I was never a stand-out student in English. I wasn’t in Honors classes and I wasn’t educated in grammar. Yet, there was a “burn in my belly” every time I had an opportunity to write. The first time I realized writing might have a place in my life was in middle school. A teacher asked me to pen something for the student … [Read more...]
Was or Is?
I sit here thinking of Mari today. Time is moving one step at a time closer to the six year mark for Mari being gone. Can you believe it’s been six years already? I think back on all the times I wrote about time after she passed, especially that first year or so. The fact is that time continued its ever present trek forward no matter how much we’d rather have had it go backward for either more time with our little girl or for us to somehow change the outcome. Yet, we all know that’s not … [Read more...]
Day 122: Fiction vs. Nonfiction #acfw
I think back to the day Mari was in the hospital and I told someone whether Mari made it or if she passed I was thinking about writing a book about her life. I’m not exactly sure why I would've thought to do something like this as I definitely didn’t believe I was a writer. After she passed and a little time went by, I decided to write a book about her life. The only drawback is I had no idea what I was doing. My husband tried to help me with editing it the best he could. His main comment was … [Read more...]
The Journey with Janet Sketchley #acfw
Please welcome this week's guest Janet Sketchley for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? God dragged me into writing kicking and grumbling. I was a sleep-deprived at-home mom. My husband knew I needed to get out of the house, so he encouraged me to join a friend's new writing group. She needed bodies to fill the chairs, so what was I to do? Then God nudged me to pray for someone in jail. Again I struggled, but He didn't let up until I … [Read more...]
I’ve been nominated for a Liebster Award #acfw
I was just going through comments left on this site and Suzanne Ong nominated for the Liebster Award. This is a pleasant surprise to find. So you might be asking, "What is a Liebster Award?" Basically it is an award given by fellow bloggers to other bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers. It's a way to help bring them more exposure so that really great blogs that might other wise be missed can be more easily found. Here are the simple rules for accepting the award: List 11 random … [Read more...]
Z is for Zoom Zoom #AtoZchallenge #acfw
Zoom zoom. When I think of Mari and her constant energy, I think of her zoom zooming all over the place. She was constantly on the go doing something. Mari would be in her room playing. She lined up whatever it is she's playing with. Then she would flap her little arms and go, "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa." I still don't know exactly why she did that but I think maybe she just needed to make her sounds. It helped her in someway. As she would draw on her Magna Doodle drawing whatever new picture she was … [Read more...]
U is for Unsolicited Manuscript #atozchallenge
Have you ever gone to a literary agency's website or to a traditional publisher's website and looked up their guidelines to find out how you could send a query or proposal for your work only to find out it says something like this: We do not take unsolicited manuscripts. So exactly what is an unsolicited manuscript? It's one that is not represented currently by an agent or for a writer who has never been published before. In other words, agents and publishing houses don't want anyone to just … [Read more...]
