Author Support

Guard Your Heart

2015-06-22T15:25:00.001-04:00

The daughters of a reality show family "19 and Counting" were victimized by news that related to sealed files of years past. Both daughters are newlyweds as of the past year or more, and one has a baby. Each was building her own family, spiritually and in relationship, when a media storm of attention broke upon them. The sisters decided to sit for an interview on FoxNewsTV. I heard and

Living in Action

2015-06-18T12:54:00.004-04:00

My attention was drawn recently to Christian action and reaction as Jesus' followers lived the gospel: they spoke to "the people" about Him. Along the streets of a busy city, a man was healed by God through the apostles of Jesus. He was about 40 years old; and while the apostles Peter and John continued to speak to the people (Acts 4:1,2), "..the priests, and the captain of the temple,

When You Cannot Write

2015-05-29T21:06:00.003-04:00

by Jean P. Purcell When under extreme pressures and feeling crammed in by brick-and-mortar worries, some writers produce more. If life get cloudy and presses in on them, they still write. However, when deep disappointment, extra loads of duty, or grief shut out the light, shadows appear everywhere, and the light of writing is hard to find. It's close, in moments, but our

Caught in the Pruning

2015-05-26T11:15:00.001-04:00

Most of us who identify ourselves as Christians are familiar with Jesus' teaching about the vine, branches, pruning, and fruitfulness. The main teaching is that Jesus is the Vine, the source of life and of fruitful eternal value. During Jesus' years on earth, Jews and others--including Romans of the occupation--observed and worked with, in some cases, the abundant vineyards in close

Deal with Every Obstacle!

2015-04-10T15:22:00.000-04:00

In writing as in life sometimes we forget that all problem-solving is not up to us. As Christians who write, our work is submitted to God first, and then at times we quickly begin to despair when submissions to editors or agents do not seem to get anywhere. Like me, you may at times feel that you have been patient enough, have persevered enough, have tried and labored enough over a specific work

"What's Your Style Platform or Style Guide?"

2015-03-05T15:41:00.001-05:00

Night Writer's Cottage, Ashland, VA_copyright (c) 2014 The photo above holds memories of a very special week of reading and talking with a new writer, my husband, who is finishing his first book. We now use much that I learned--and he heard talked about over supper--for years as a book publisher and founder of Opine Publishing. Opine's presence exists now through our seven books published and

Grit Work for Nonfiction Finish

2015-02-07T14:55:00.001-05:00

February 7, 2015 Update ...The American Humanitarian Spirit...1979-1986 Authorship is about more than writing. Someone's eye must always focus ahead to a six-month publishing debut. With my husband's permission, I update progress on his book manuscript, partly to honor the details of developing a book for publishing. Here is a February 2015 update, with preliminary

No Tide of Rudeness

2015-02-05T14:37:00.002-05:00

JNP-in Aruba's warm get-away We reached our island apartment due to thrifty time-share and air fare deals. I snapped a photo of JNP on the second-floor balcony, palm trees behind him. We were in Aruba with two laptops, notebooks, and iPads, on a working vacation with a massive manuscript in progress. We could hardly believe we had reached yet another place we had never visited before.

"To God Be the Glory"-Principle 3. for this Christian Writer

2015-01-28T15:56:00.000-05:00

"After all is said and done, when all has been hoped for and received, what is the point?" "What's It All About, .....?" "Is that All there Is?" Those questions are not rare. "These are the days of Elijah." As for me, only Jesus knows every high mountain I have had to, tried to, or chosen to climb and every valley I've found myself in or gotten myself into. Only Jesus knows

Author Support: Key Principles of this Christian Writer_1. Start the day well

2015-01-26T15:24:00.001-05:00

Author Support: Key Principles of this Christian Writer_1. Start the day well

"Be Careful!"_Part 2_As a Writer, I follow key work principles

2015-01-18T12:20:00.003-05:00

*True Story. At a church's September board meeting, as fall leaves began to turn, the subject of heating oil for winter came up. A prominent new member of the board chimed in quickly: "I think the church should rotate who supplies the oil." He said this earnestly, adding: "It's only fair that my company supply oil, too. I propose to do that!" The pastor and other board members looked

Key Principles of this Christian Writer_1. Start the day well

2015-01-16T13:18:00.002-05:00

Life comes before work, clearly, and needs to be lived authentically. The first key principle is to start the day with God through praise, worship, and prayers. Here are some examples: Scripture choices to stimulate thought and awe: Read from one or more of the Gospel books, especially the words of Jesus (for example, ("...but with God, all things are possible for the one who believes.

A good starting point from a letter to Christians in Greece

2015-01-03T16:56:00.006-05:00

Macedonia capital-Modern Thessaloniki. Source: http://wn.com Greece was an early region of new believers beyond Jerusalem after the resurrection of Jesus. Today I did a slow read of three chapters in 1 Thessalonians (a New Testament letter to believers in Thessalonica, Greece), using Revised Standard Version of the Bible with my iPad/Kindle app. I used highlight, dictionary, and note-making

Enjoying What We Do

2014-12-18T13:29:00.001-05:00

I write this in the days before Christmas, and my heart still rejoices over the good news of the birth of Jesus, God's Son, sent to live, die, and be raised from death for our sakes. Entering another Christmas season, to be followed by a new year, my thoughts turn to the daily work of writing for 2015. You know how much we writers must read of others' work; I am now reading a weighty biography

How to Get Away from Discouragement

2014-11-07T12:27:00.001-05:00

A peaceful balcony, Aruba 2012 At this moment I would guess that there are writers experiencing emotions from high to somewhere in the neighborhood of blah. or worse. The best emotions are like those I overheard at London's Gatwick Airport, as a woman whispered breathlessly, "My first book has just been accepted by a publisher!" I wish all of us writers could have that kind of excitement

Meditation for the coming night

2014-09-26T23:18:00.005-04:00

Into this earthly place of life Intense and stressful times rush in. They heap upon you their surprise and Crash with disarming urgency. Believer, dig deeply into who you are in Christ Jesus. Here is your Peace of Mind and your Joy. Do not despair. Christ in you is the hope of glory, and the Spirit of God works within you. You have ways to resist the

Let yourself change for new writing paths

2014-09-24T12:22:00.002-04:00

In times past I wrote bureaucratic reports, funding proposals, and research papers. I felt comfortable doing that kind of writing because I wrote at a distance, objectively reporting, analyzing, or info-gathering. Then I began to write a book, a highly personal story. Events of change in my life had been so dramatic and had brought such joy and peace that I wanted to describe going from

Affordable Ideas and Actions for Writers

2014-09-13T21:41:00.000-04:00

"I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide.” —Harper Lee WritersDigest.com - "72 of the best quotes for writers" _______________________ The writer cried, "Help!" for writing. He used Google for writing help. A list of possible resources appeared, many with unaffordable, for the writer, price tags, "

Commentary - The Stomach Needed for Writing

2014-08-02T22:14:00.004-04:00

In the news: "Persecution of Christians and Jews spreading; Israel battles Hamas terror organization; Detroit without drinking water; US border discord; migrant children dispersed without family; laws shown weak for lack of attention to consequences; citizens risk law violations to feed neglected poor, rush to judgment endangers or costs lives..."