How many of us dream of being a published author someday? I have a feeling many of us do, especially if we know we're writers and have been working on a book of any kind. Writing is relatively new for me. I only found writing after the loss of my daughter. I actually started writing while she was in the hospital those sixteen days fighting for her life from what the E. coli did to her little body. But in the end it had wreaked too much havoc on her little body and she went home to be with … [Read more...]
The Journey with Peggy Wirgau
Please welcome this weeks guest Peggy Wirgau for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? Around the time I learned to read came my love for writing. If I had time to spare during a school day in first grade (and I usually did) I composed little rhymes and stories in my head, then wrote them on a large sheet of blue-lined paper from the stack near the window of my classroom. Writing was a joy; fun and freeing, and I couldn’t get enough of it. … [Read more...]
I is for ISBN (International Standard Book Number)
As I sat here thinking toward the end of March what I'd do for each letter of the alphabet over the month of April, one of those letters that's hard to find a word for is the letter 'I'. I wanted to keep my theme going with either literary terms or something writing related and the only thing I could come up with was ISBN. When you're a writer and one day your book gets published, that little number is huge. It's almost like a fingerprint in that an ISBN is unique to each book published. It … [Read more...]
E is for Ebook
Have you noticed the amount of ebooks now available for us to purchase today. They are so prevalent. There are so many authors going the indie route as they have more control over how their book is published, or for that matter, getting it published at all. Twenty years ago, if you wanted to see your book in print, you had to go to one of the big New York publishers and hope, that by some small miracle, they'd publish your book. Today you can go to a place like CreateSpace and publish your … [Read more...]
The Journey with Elizabeth Kitchens
Please welcome this weeks guest Elizabeth Kitchens for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? As a writer of fairy tales, it’s fitting that I am under a curse. Not a curse to prick my finger on a spinning wheel’s spindle or to be a beast, but to write. But if writing is a curse, then I’ll happily live with it. Actually, what my father was referring to when he called writing “the family curse” was the frustration that happens when you’re a … [Read more...]
The Journey with Yvonne Anderson
Please welcome this weeks guest Yvonne Anderson for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? The Reluctant Writer My mom had a lifelong desire to write. So much so, in fact, that when I, her third born, came into the world, she inserted announcements in that year’s Christmas cards informing family and friends of “the publication of our third edition.” On his part, my dad was an avid reader, and I’ve loved books ever since I can remember. … [Read more...]
Day 83: Retyping the Best
This is an interesting concept. Have you ever thought about taking one of your very favorite books and retyping it out? That's right, the entire thing. Nope? Well, I hadn't either until I read about today's phrase. Here is a small excerpt from the book: "When Donald Ray Pollock turned forty-five, he decided he wanted to do something different with his life; he was going to learn how to write. He began by retyping stories by writers he liked —John Cheever, Richard Yates, and Ernest … [Read more...]
The Journey with Kelly Irvin
Please welcome this weeks guest Kelly Irvin for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? God has the wheel My writing journey began when I was a child, but it has managed to meander all over the place for most of my life. It’s taken me many years to discover God’s plan for me and to discover I was never in charge at all. I'm from a working class family and I always knew I wanted to write novels, but I also I wanted to be able to support … [Read more...]
The Journey with Emilie Hendryx
Please welcome this weeks guest Emilie Hendryx for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? In the Midst of the Journey I’ve always loved reading and writing. Ever since I was a little girl, I can remember dreaming up ideas, creating imaginary places, and compiling all of the elements of a good story into a play session with my stuffed animals. At that time, I didn’t know much about the fundamentals of writing or story telling, I just knew … [Read more...]
Day 65: Why You Don’t Show Your Work to Your Spouse
I have to tell you that as of right now I sit here sitting in my comfy, cozy rocking recliner getting ready to go read today's phrase, I had to laugh as I can only imagine what will be said. I guess we'll find out in a second. Here I go... Well, here it is. I thought it best to quote what she said: "Why You Don’t Show Your Work to Your Spouse. When Norris Church Mailer showed her husband, Norman Mailer, the first one hundred pages of a novel she was working on, he said, 'It’s not as bad as … [Read more...]