When we are young, most of us never realize how that question may come to haunt us. As adults, it stalks us through the day and jumps out to scare us at the very moment we try to sit and relax in the evening. A wrong answer can return to keep you awake at night. Writers must deal with the question’s fraternal twin, what are you writing now? We get it from readers, but not as often as it is asked by the little voices in our heads. Sometimes they are all clamoring for somethi

My inbox and social media posts draw a daily crowd ready to transform my book sales with a professionally designed trailer. I’m a Boomer and proud of it. So, if you want to be cutting edge, fashion forward, or whatever the word of the day may be, you might want to jump off my train of thought right here. Somewhere hidden in why I write, there is a personal desire to produce mental images in others by using words. I think I have a good imagination. Nevertheless, I cannot ima

When it comes to advice, it is better to give than to receive. Advice is cheap, requires little effort to give, and is easily washed off your hands. It doesn’t always require much thought. As long as you’re not easily offended, there is even an upside to your advice being rejected. As an Air Force crew chief, minister, and registered nurse, I’ve given a great deal of advice, most of which was quickly rejected. I didn’t mind because rejection is absolution from responsibility.

I once crafted a great opening scene for a book. There was a note of suspense, a mysterious figure, a great twist, and a touch of humor to make the reader like the protagonist. It was my fourth book, and I was in love with how it began. The first thing my editor did was cut the scene. She said it was a very good scene, but the story didn’t really start there. I went through the five stages of grief for the dead scene, picked up my sword, and joined the battle to save the book

A great many readers, myself included, often feel the need to lose themselves in a story that engages them so fully that they are able to escape, albeit only briefly, the drudgery of the real world. Creating a story capable of doing this is something I hope to achieve through my writing. Though at present, I feel that my writing doesn’t give my readers the escape that they and I hope for. My wife, a long-time fan of the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling, has

If you are familiar with St. Paul, you know he was something of a writer. His letters make up a huge part of the New Testament. He told the Christians at Corinth. “ For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? ” Interesting, but what does it have to do with writing today? An author who has written multiple books, especially those authors with books in a series, develops a bond with their audience. You might say that they come to speak

If you’ve ever confused “a penny for your thoughts” with a job offer, you might be a writer. There are more dangerous ways to earn a buck, but barring those with a high potential for personal injury, few are tougher than writing. The odds of “hitting it big” as an author rival those of doing the same in professional sports. The upside for writers is that the way is open for anyone wishing to take their best shot at it. For the few who actually finish the job of writing a

The Greeks always seem to have had a word for everything. Eudiamonia is most often translated in English as happiness. For Aristotle and other ancient philosophers, it meant much more than a feeling or state of mind. It was the highest human good desired for its own sake. It is the essence of human flourishing Writers call it The Zone. It is that place where we are lost in the story without a thought for what comes after we step away from the keyboard. It is writing for wri

If insanity runs in your family…and you know just the words to explain it, you might be a writer. One of my least favorite “writer” things to do is writing back cover author biographies. I hate having the same old stuff on every book, so I try to change them up every time a new book comes out. That doesn’t always happen, but I try. I mean, there’s only so much material to work with, and most of it’s out of date. I haven’t run with the bulls, spent a spring in Paris, or fo

I’ve often heard it said that procrastination is the thief of time, a relentless criminal that takes our best intentions and leaves an excuse in their place. I know that I’m just as guilty as anyone else when it comes to procrastinating, even more so with regard to my writing. I realise that the excuses have often been varied, “I need more time”, “I have too much on”, I’ll get started on that tomorrow” etc... A work colleague stated recently that he would love nothing mor

The goal of all fiction is to write a compelling story that touches the soul of the reader. Writing Christian fiction is writing that same story while walking a tightrope over a sea of man-eating sharks and juggling flaming swords. Make a misstep or miss a catch, and your audience will probably trample your body on the way out. Which is to say, Christians are a tough crowd. That was not meant to imply anything disparaging about my brothers and sisters in Christ. On the cont

I’ve heard many people say, “I could never write a book”. I neither encourage nor discourage them. My books must compete for readers with every other book still in print, but that’s not the reason I don’t comment. At its heart, writing is not a competition. I wrote stories long before I ever let anybody read them. Those stories sat around until I moved or did some spring cleaning and consigned them to the trash. To know you’re a writer, you must show yourself that you are c

During my ministerial internship, I was required to read a book the name of which eludes me after forty-five years, despite infecting me with its content. The book had a simple premise. If you nurture excellence, you will find it. The idea is a targeted restatement of Jesus’ seek, and you will find. As you might imagine, living with that principle has brought me both happiness and disappointment commensurate with the degree of success or failure I have experienced. Excellen

I am often asked where I come up with ideas to write about. Creation is calling something out of nothing. Writers create stories out of nothing except the words that lie within them. There’s something godlike in that, and if you’ve ever been in The Zone you’ve experienced it. I’m not being sacrilegious. On the contrary, mankind, if you accept the Bible’s view, is made in the likeness and image of God. We are meant to be unique and creative. We are capable of expressing ours

I have watched several episodes of a television show in which brides choose their wedding dresses. Not surprisingly, many of them express that they want their dress to be modern, edgy, sexy, anything but “traditional”. Generally, they all have different ideas of what traditional means. In their efforts to break with tradition, none of them seem to consider that the marriage ceremony they crave is the oldest tradition of all. Though honestly, Adam and Eve had the most untradit

I’m sitting in my home office thinking about the blessings that God has bestowed on me just this year. It has been a rough year. With the death of my best friend in February, the storms that tore part of my roof off in April, and the many other disappointments and financial losses, I have plenty to be depressed about. Then I look at the blessings. I have a loving family, a serving church, good health, and a God who loves me enough to die for me. That is what life is about,

Her mom’s tears were dripping on her neck when she noticed it. The grey, almost blue when touched by sunlight, handprint on the side of the car. It hadn’t been there before, and it couldn’t belong to either of them. It was too big. Its fingers spread far and wide along the side of the passenger door. It was cool out there in the mountain woodland. For her, this place always felt like the edge of the world. For her father, it might as well have been the only place left in the

If you ask my wife, she will say that I’m very patient with people. That’s a good thing, I guess, but I’m not patient while waiting, and waiting is the hard part. I know that we must wait for God’s timing and do our best not to rush things. I mean, if we look at history, rushing into something that God promised has never worked out. It’s always best to wait for His timing. I’m working on it. I know that in His presence, the only time I have is the present. John C. Maxwell

The sight of it was comical. One you had to actually see to appreciate. With the sun reflecting off the curled and twisted brass, it just about resembled a small sun snaking through the water. It took the instrument a few tries to slide up the sand, but eventually it made it ashore where it rested close enough to touch his big toe all he had to do was reach out for it. It was a peculiar find. Unexpected, if not incredibly unlikely. Of all things, the ocean had rejected a so

Memories are odd things. They rise from the mists of our minds, often not summoned, triggered by some outside stimuli. Some are like sunshine, bringing a smile and warm fuzzies to our souls. Some are old scars, rent open, feeling fresh and raw. It happens to everyone at some point. But for a writer, at least for me, they in turn become fodder for stories; a fresh twist to a plot, a deeper look into the inner workings of a character, settings - I could rattle off a host of use