Best of the ICFW Archives ~ Devotion: Watch the Clouds!

By Ray Hawkins | @ICFWriters

I enjoy watching the clouds as they float or whiz across the skies. They can never be the same, always changing, always appealing. Within the bible clouds tell some important truths.

They surround the very presence of God. In Exodus 19 is the account of the Lord calling the Nation of Israel before Mt.Sinai. It is an awesome sight with lightning, thunder and thick cloud. Was this to create a sense of awe in the Nation? Was it also a way of protecting the Nation from the holiness of God? To be in His presence unprotected from His holiness would be to self-destruct.

Read more at the following link:

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/devotion-watch-clouds-ray-hawkins.html

Best of the ICFW Archives ~ Finding Purpose…Far Away from Home

By Sara Goff

I started my quest handing out ice tea in Dixie cups at Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen in Manhattan. My motivation was research. I would smile as I set a drink on the tray of each customer passing through the assembly line. Often a downcast face would brighten, cracking a mask of hard times and city grit, and a smile would emerged more beautiful and sincere than any smile I’d ever seen.

It just so happened that the Soup Kitchen held a Writers Workshop that met every Wednesday after lunch in the spring. Ian Frazier, writer for The New Yorker and author of Travels in Siberia, founded the Workshop in 1994. I approached him at the start of the season in 2006.

Read more at the following link:

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/finding-purposefar-away-from-home.html

Best of the ICFW Archives ~ Research: Evoking Pain or Passion?

By Morgan Tarpley Smith

Research – it’s a loaded word that brings to mind different things for different writers. Does it evoke a pain or passion for you? Both perhaps?

You are not alone.

For some, research is taking the plunge to sort through a ceiling-high stack of books or spending hours on the Internet scrolling endless web pages – or it could be getting some dirt under your nails and traveling to the destination.

Read more at the following link:

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/research-evoking-pain-or-passion.html

Best of the ICFW Archives ~ From Candlelit Cellar to Cosy Writers’ Studio

By Marion Ueckermann

Hopefully you’ve been following my blogs on the Jonker wine estate, Weltevrede, meaning ‘well satisfied’. 

If you haven’t read them yet, go to:

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com/2013/04/like-sweet-wine.html

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-century-old-estate.html

The first intriguing thing my husband, son and I did on this hundred year old wine estate was wine-tasting by candlelight in an underground cellar. This was a first for me. Steyn Fullard, Marketing Manager of Weltevrede, was our host on this unusual experience.

Steyn led us to what looked like a warehouse where large wooden doors led us inside to the cement cisterns beneath the earth. It was dark, damp, and musty. And it was quiet. Candles lit our way as we walked through low-roofed, cemented corridors, moving from one cistern to the next. It felt like we were inside catacombs, as if we had stepped back in time.

Read more at the following link:

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/from-candlelit-cellar-to-cosy-writers.html

Best of the ICFW Archives ~ Hidden Treasure Revisited: Part 1

By Ruth Ann Dell

Last year I wrote a post describing how my character, Abigail, came into being (read it here). Abigail and I share a fascinating hobby—geocaching.

If you're not sure what geocaching is, here's an excerpt from the post mentioned above which describes our hobby:

Geocaching is "a quest to hide and seek treasure outdoors in weatherproof containers called geocaches. The geographical co-ordinates of the geocaches are posted on www.geocaching.com and treasure seekers download them onto a GPS (global positioning system) device to find the treasure. However the co-ordinates do not always lead to the exact spot, so once you are in the area you have to search and find the geocache. Often it is camouflaged to blend with the environment eg a nut on a pole may actually be a little magnetic container. Another friend circled the area of a geocache for quite a while before she found it—it was fashioned to look like doggie poop! The owner of a geocache will often include a clue on the website to help seekers find the container.

Read more at the following link:

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/hidden-treasure-revisited-part-1.html

Best of the ICFW Archives ~ Devotion: An Unusual Christmas Message

By Shirley Corder

Live in harmony and peace. And may the God of love and peace be with you.

2 Corinthians 13:11 TLB

The children in my Sunday School had rehearsed their parts in the Christmas production for months. All went well, until the grand finale. Mary and Joseph came on stage with Baby Jesus. Angels followed, then the shepherds. Next came the wise men. The cutest came last.

A murmur of delight greeted the twelve two- and three-year-old cherubs who walked on-stage holding hands and dressed in long white robes and silver halos. They obediently formed a semi-circle in front of the Baby Jesus then sat down cross-legged . . . with one exception.

Read more at the following link:

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/devotion-unusual-christmas-message-by.html

Best of the ICFW Archives ~ Maundy Thursday in a Monastery

  

By Donna Fletcher Crow

Maundy Thursday is the day Christ celebrated The Last Supper with his disciples and thereby instituted the Eucharist for his followers through the ages to come.

In A DARKLY HIDDEN TRUTH, the second of my Monastery Murders, my heroine Felicity, who enjoys liturgical worship to the fullest, is ready to immerse herself in the full Holy Week experience at the Community of the Transfiguration where she studies in the theological college run by the monks.

Although Felicity’s focus on the worship is distracted her confused feelings for Father Antony and the mysterious behavior of their Russian Orthodox visitors she strives to keep the holiness of the day. After all, this was the beginning of the Triduum— the Great Three Days of Holy Week— the high point of the Christian year where the liturgy would reenact as closely as possible the way Christians had been celebrating Easter since the first century.

Read more at the following link:

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/maundy-thursday-in-monastery.html

Best of the ICFW Archives ~ Bare Friendship

By Lucy Thompson

Bare friendship

What does it look like for ourselves? For our characters? How do we become a friend who will stand the test of time?

Below are some of the facets of a what a solid friendship, a bare friendship, looks like:

Honesty

This is the friend will tell me that a certain item of clothing *cough* makes me look fat is unflattering. 

They will point out sin in our lives and gently guide us into a deeper relationship with Jesus. Will say the hard truths even when we might not want to hear them.

~In a story, how could this be played out with a secondary character (the ultra extroverted friend who is honest to a fault, or perhaps a quiet older friend who says something at a low point of a main character's journey to pick them up), or how could the main character develop this trait and show it to someone else?~

Read more at the following link:

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/bare-friendship.html

Best of the ICFW Archives ~ Sally Wright on Writing International Backgrounds

By Donna Fletcher Crow

My guest today is Sally Wright, author of the superb Ben Reese Mysteries. Sally has just brought out Breeding Ground, the first book in her all-new Jo Grant series which I'll be posting about later, but first I've asked Sally to share with our international audience some of her experiences developing the international backgrounds in the Ben Reese series.

Sally, we share a love for Scotland, which features in several of your Ben Reese novels. Where did your fascination for that wild, beautiful land start?

Sally: I've always gravitated to books about England and Scotland, which may be related to my mother's father being an Elliott, born in Jedburgh in The Borders in 1880, who came to America when he was eight. He didn't sound Scottish, or talk much about Scotland, but knowing him probably made me pay more attention when I read about Britain.

Read more at the following link.

Best of the ICFW Archives ~ Be a Barnabus

By Ian Acheson

Photo courtesy of
“chrisroll”/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I woke one particular morning last week thoroughly discouraged. I was struggling to understand how Angelguard was ever going to sell many copies when it appeared to only be carried by three retailers, all online ones.

I was excited having been advised ten days or so ago that stock had finally landed in the US after a month’s delay due to a bungle at the printers. This had been the second delay as the original launch date was November last year. However, my UK publisher were planning a big splash for the launch of their new fiction imprint, Lion Fiction, in March this year and decided to include Angelguard as part of the celebrations.

So to find out that none of the physical retails stores in the US were currently stocking it was disheartening.

Out of the Blue

I popped over to a blog I regularly visit and happened to notice a reply to a comment I had written a few days earlier.

BAM 

I almost fell off my chair. This virtual friend shared some encouragement that blew my mind. Her words were confirmation of something I had pondered over for a while, but had never shared it with anyone else.

Read more at the following link.

Best of the ICFW Archives ~ Devotion: What Does God Require of Me?

By Shirley Corder

Deuteronomy 10:12-13 (NIV)

And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

What does God ask of you? Or as the King James version puts it, What does He require of you? Even as Moses asked this of the people of Israel nearly 4,000 years ago, so the questions still comes to us today.

This is surely one of the most important question any of us can ever be asked—and yet how often have we sat down and thought about the answer.

Read more at the following link:

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/devotion-what-does-god-require-of-me.html

Best of the ICFW Archives ~ Writing Quotes to Inspire

By Lucy Thompson

Here are some quotes that have resonated with me. Truth is like that. It resonates, burns, causes a little twitch in one's chest.

I want to see Christian fiction speak to the hard and real issues that tear people’s lives apart.  We need writers who are willing to ask the hard questions and go through the soul-searching and agonizing to find answers – and present these stories with skill that surpasses the general market.  Some of the greatest works or art and literature were rendered by Christians.  I believe God is at work in these areas now. ~Francine Rivers.

Read more at the following link:

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/writing-quotes-to-inspire.html

Best of the ICFW Archives ~ Encouraged to Write

By Mary and Ray Hawkins

My husband, Ray, regularly shares devotional thoughts with us here on Fridays. I couldn't resist asking him to write this post for us about how he started writing for publication of his own books.

Being an obedient husband plus wanting to be fed, I’ve agreed to write this guest blog for Mary. What to write about for Christian fiction writers when my interest is in another genre is an interesting exercise. Sure I’ve read Mary’s novels. No I wasn’t threatened with starvation if I didn’t. Were they enjoyable? Without fear of reprisal or starvation I can honestly say “yes.”

Personally, my preferred reading is history, commentary and devotional material. I guess that’s the preacher in me. Those with the ability to write must express themselves. This is especially true from a Christian worldview perspective and across all genres. Years before my fingers found the keyboard of a computer I’d heard Mary’s cries of anguish, frustration, joy and triumph after grappling with characters, settings and editing. Many of you know those scenarios too I’m sure.

Read more at the following link:

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/encouraged-to-write.html

Best of the ICFW Archives ~ Devotion: Be Still and Know . . .

By Kathi Macias

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, 
I will be exalted in the earth (Psalm 46:10, NKJV).

With all the running around and deadline-meeting I’ve been doing lately, I wasn’t surprised to find myself immersed in the Psalms, focusing particularly on the first part of 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God.” That’s a scripture I come back to often, reminding myself of the need to break away from all my busyness and just listen to God. But today I found myself snagged by the rest of the verse: “I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Read more at the following link:

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/devotion-be-still-and-know-kathi-macias.html

Best of the Archives ~ A Tribute to the "Jenny Blakes" -- Writers' Helpers

By Mary Hawkins

A few years ago, I heard online about a lady called Jenny. I can’t even remember now just when and where I started to hear of her. At first she was often just mentioned as “ausjenny” and it was some considerable time before I discovered more about her.

Many authors overseas as well as in Australia now know her through her blog, Come Meet Aus Jenny where she has featured many on interviews, told about their books. This kind of exposure is invaluable to published authors. I noticed that Lisa Harris mentioned in her post on ICFW last Tuesday that it is essential for a writer to "get the word out" about her book, and "ausjenny" may not even realise how much help she has been to us.

Read more at the following link:

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/a-tribute-to-jenny-blakes-writers_12.html

Best of the ICFW Archives ~ The Woman Who Wore The Black And Blue Sari

By Christine Lindsay

It’s a bit unnerving when I write a novel only to meet someone real just like the fictional person I created. Except for one difference—the real life person had a more horrendous experience than anything I could ever cook up as an author. And believe me—I can cook up some tough situations. In Shadowed in Silk and Captured by Moonlight, I put my female characters--Indian and American--through some hard circumstances from abusive men.

But all that I concocted blew off like a dandelion in a stiff breeze when I met Kamal Dhillon.

Read more at the following link:

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/the-woman-who-wore-black-and-blue-sari.html

Best of the ICFW Archives ~ Devotion: When Heaven Touched Me

By Ray Hawkins

From heaven you came 

To touch my life, 

From Calvary you cried 

And called my name!

You touched my ears, 

And I heard your voice. 

You touched my heart 

So I could love you.

Read more at the following link:

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/devotion-when-heaven-touched-me-by-ray.html 

Best of the ICFW Archives ~ Interview with Elsie O. Oghenekaro

Interview with Elsie Oghenekaro by Ufuoma Daniella Ojo

It's an honour to bring an interview with Nigerian children's book author, Elsie Oghenekaro. Elsie has written numerous short stories, children's books and biographies. She is also a travel agent, a mother of 5 young children and active in her local church.

When did you first realise that you wanted to be a writer?

I have always had the desire to write. I wrote my first story when I was eleven years old, although I didn’t do anything with it. I just loved reading and writing. When I was nine years old, I had to leave my parents and go live with an older sister and her family to help out with her kids. Her husband was quite abusive to me, but he had a large library of books and these became my succor. I read everything available and signed up as a member of the local public library. I had few friends because of the restrictive environment at home, so I started “talking” to my books. I would write down my thoughts, hopes, dreams and would imagine myself living in happier times and surroundings. I would create characters in my head and whenever things got out of hand at home, I would retreat into the happier world in my head.

Read more at the following link:

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/interview-with-elsie-o-oghenekara.html

Best of the ICFW Archives ~ A Century Old Estate

By Marion Ueckermann

I love starting work on a new novel, mostly because for me it’s an exciting journey with God. My latest novel has been no different.

For quite some time I’ve wanted to write a story set in the winelands of South Africa, but hadn’t given much thought to a story idea. Getting dressed for work one March morning this year, as per usual I mused my way through mascara and blush, thinking up story lines (and discarding them as fast as the next color applied to my face). This particular Tuesday morning, however, an idea stuck and I realized it had the potential for a great novel. Soon my story world emerged. The winelands, at last, would be perfect.

Read more at the following link:

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/a-century-old-estate.html

Best of the ICFW Archives ~ Killing your darlings

By Rita Galieh

How would you describe these expressions? My take is Shock - Horror - and Consternation. 

Sigh, I empathize with these poor hounds. For right now I am in the midst of polishing a manuscript. Well, all we authors do that regularly so what's so bad about it? 

Then let me explain. I am changing the multi Point of View of a romance novel into what is acceptable for a publisher's expections of said novel.

Read more at the following link:

http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/killing-your-darlings.html