Category: Uncategorized
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The Countdown Begins
The Boston Red Sox won the World Series in 2004. Before that, they hadn’t done it since 1918. During that drought of 86 years, the perennial hope of Sox fans was expressed in the the phrase “wait ’til next year.” I feel like I’ve been living that experience as Kindred Spirits, book two of my…
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Reviews: The Ecstasy and the Agony
Book reviews. Can’t live with them. Can’t live without them. Consider the following quotations from book reviews I found on Amazon: I can’t believe I actually finished it. How does this author sell anything? I know he has a big name, but how? Really, do yourself a favor and just read something else. What a…
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For My Writer Friends
In the wee hours of Monday morning, I received a jolt of inspiration I wanted to share. Every once in a while, I read something that reminds me of why I decided to become an author. It’s easy to lose sight of the why, and instead get lost in all of the how: the stylistic…
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What Do Readers Tell Their Sons?
While reading a blog post by Kathy Eden on the wisdom or lack thereof of “writing what you know,” I came across this statement: I’m highly skeptical of men trying to write women characters. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough men try to tell me what it’s like to be woman that…
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I’m with Anton
Having been raised on classical music, there are lots of composers whose work I like. But there aren’t many I can relate to. I mean it’s hard to feel much in common with someone like Mozart, a genius who wrote his first symphony at the age of eight and his first opera at twelve; or…
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So How Many Scovilles is This Novel?
When it comes to reader reviews, authors of Christian fiction have it bad. Fantasy writers have it easier. So do writers of thrillers, suspense, whodunits, and historical fiction. It’s not common for someone to give to give a one-star rating to a Stephen King novel and explain the low rating by saying, “Well-written and scary,…
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All the Lonely People
Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name Nobody came As much as we authors like to imagine that our words are for the whole world, they’re not. Only a certain subset of readers will enjoy any given writer. To be effective, a writer has to know his audience. He…
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Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury
When I received the envelope stamped “Jury Service: Your Civic Duty,” I rolled my eyes. Like almost everyone I know, I’ve been getting these summonses for years, and I am never chosen to be on a jury. So the notice usually just means I have to get up early, slog through rush hour traffic, and…
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What Clean Means, Part 2
We ended Part 1 of this two-part post by asking a question: How is it that scripture is clean and holy, despite containing a long list of scenes and situations that wouldn’t make it past the editorial standards review at most modern Christian publishing houses? The answer is that scripture is clean because of whose…
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What Does “Clean” Mean?
“Just in time for Christmas! Clean, powerful, fun.” An author friend of mine wrote these words to potential buyers of his several published books. That, along with several similar ads by other Christian authors, got me thinking: What does “clean” mean to readers of Christian fiction? At first blush, the answer seems self-evident. We all…
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