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...]
The Journey with Alison Bryant #acfw
Please welcome this week's guest Alison Bryant for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? I never wanted to be a writer. Well, I never planned to become one, at least. You know those amazing authors who began cranking out crayon-scribbled stories at age two? That wasn’t me. Instead, I contented myself while growing up to feed on the fruits of authors. They were my heroes, and I inhaled books. My literary identity into adulthood was a … [Read more...]
The Journey with Angela Strong #acfw
Please welcome this week's guest Angela Strong for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? Becoming a Strong Writer I’ve always been a writer. Whether it started when my mom sold a story about me as a five-year-old to Women’s World or in my 4th grade creative writing class or during my position with the high school newspaper or after I sold my first story to a national magazine for $100 at the age of 16, it doesn’t matter. That was the fun … [Read more...]
The Journey with Melissa Finnegan #acfw
Please welcome this week's guest Melissa Finnegan for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? As probably is the case with most writers the dream to write was planted in my heart at a young age, but for me it would be over thirty years before I heard God instruct me to write. That call couldn’t happen until I died to self and dealt with long hidden wounds from my childhood. I can’t remember a time I wasn’t writing a story or making plays … [Read more...]
The Journey with Kathy Nickerson
Please welcome this weeks guest Kathy Nickerson for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? Thanks to Kristena for sharing her space to let me talk about my writing journey. In the late eighties, I wrote a personal experience piece about my battle with depression for Christian Herald Magazine. I was thrilled with the check that came in the mail and excited by the opportunities Editor Dean Merrill offered me for more articles. We worked … [Read more...]
Day 128: Learning to Swim #acfw #365days
I normally don’t like to quote from the book but I like what this had to say: “I learned to swim from a magazine article I read when I was eight years old. It told me to grab my knees, duck my head, form a tight little ball in the water, and then float. The next step was to stretch out and continue to float. I did exactly what the article said to do, and lo and behold, it worked. I got my arms going at some point, and I was a swimmer. It’s kind of like writing: get a paper and a pen, start with … [Read more...]
Day 125: Approval #acfw
That one little word, approval, can mean so much to someone. To know that someone approves of something you have said or done. It gives you the confidence you might not have had otherwise. I think back on the time when Mari was in the hospital. When she had made it to her fourth and final hospital, I was told by one of the nurses about CarePages. She told me it was a way to keep family and friends updated on Mari and how she was doing. I couldn’t wait to get started. We had so many people … [Read more...]
Day 121: Life Rafts #acfw
Life rafts can mean so many different things to different people. For me, my life rafts come from my Heavenly Father. He knows when I’m about to drown. It’s in these moments He gives me a life raft, in other words, He carries me through whatever is happening in my life at that time. When Mari got sick, I started on my very long sixteen day journey that felt like the worst roller coast I’d ever been on, and I love roller coasters. It’s like I couldn’t wait for the terrible ride to end, only in … [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...]
Day 120: Writing the Event #acfw
There an old adage in writing about ‘show don’t tell.’ I’d never heard of this personally before I started to write my first fiction book. Even when I was writing the original book about my daughter I was being told to add fiction elements to her story. I’d never understood exactly what that meant until I made my first attempt. When I submitted it for comments, I was told that it was much better but I knew I needed to go deep to really convey what I was trying to say. One day I had an idea … [Read more...]
