When Two Authors Have the Same Idea

By Patricia Beal | @bealpat 

I found out on October 7 that Nicholas Sparks was within days of publishing a novel about the Kindred Spirit Mailbox. I was floored! Absolutely floored! I was working on a novel about the exact same remote mailbox.

Now what?!

I was so discouraged and exhausted that I posted the following message on A Seat at the Table, a Facebook group for Christian fiction professionals. If you fit in this category and don’t know about the group, message me to be added. It’s an amazing source of knowledge and support. But anyway—here’s the message:

The response was incredible. Turns out authors have similar ideas all the time.

Here are some highlights for your benefit:

1. This will happen. There’s nothing new under the sun.

2. Stories that may seem similar will end up being unique because we are unique individuals.

3. There’s your comparative title.

4. Not a horrible thing to trend with a famous author.

5. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote about the same things and we enjoy each perspective.

6. Some authors contacted the author who published the idea/theme first (within the Christian writing community) to talk it out and avoid misunderstandings later, and the experience has always been positive. The stories were different enough. No one was mad at anyone.

7. Remember last year’s bestseller Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate? Kim Sawyer came across the same bit of history (adoptions/stolen children) and had her book on that same theme published within months of Lisa’s.

Has that ever happened to you? What did you do?

As for writing, within hours of that October 7 post, God began doing something, and His something caused me to show up at The Art of Writing and The Christy Award Gala in Tennessee thirty days later. Crazy, right? Who shows up there after almost two years of not showing up anywhere? An ACFW event would be the usual suspect, not an ECPA event. This is how God did it...

Part 1 - The Christy Award began following me on Instagram. When I went to follow them back, this was the latest post:

Coincidence? Hmm…

Part 2 - The next morning a friend tagged me on this post:

Coincidence again? Hmm…

Part 3 - I decided I had to walk away from social media and get to my Bible study if I really wanted to get God’s opinion. This is what I read:

And this is how I responded:

As for what’s next, only God knows. It was wonderful to see writing peeps and meet bloggers who helped me launch the debut last year. I feel connected again, felt the love, and learned a ton.

I saw people who’ve since contacted their agents—agents who are now interested in seeing what I’m working on. I’m super thankful and might end up taking them up on that. But that’s not where God is leading me right now.

Right now I’m nurturing a brand-new relationship, formed “accidently/coincidentally” after meeting a stranger during a walk from one building to another at the Lipscomb University campus during the November 7 The Art of Writing/Christy events. Her name means rain and she’s a brand-new agent.

I’m working on a proposal for a brand-new story God gave me as I showered to fly to Tennessee. “Rain” has a meeting with my favorite editor at my favorite house on December 5th.

Please pray. I want to keep this glow and this faith and this joy :)

“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19.

I'm the person on the left with the big face ;) Next to me is fellow Brazilian author, Valeria Hyer, with whom I stayed while in Nashville. Next to her is Sara Ella and her little man (I now know that Sara is the person behind the Christy social media presence and therefore the one who started the whole thing). Photo by Mrs. Book of the Year, Becky Wade!

About Patricia

Patricia Beal is from Brazil and fell in love with the English language while washing dishes at a McDonald's in Indianapolis. She put herself through college working at a BP gas station and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Cincinnati with a B.A. in English Literature. She then worked as a public affairs officer for the U.S. Army for seven years.

She now writes contemporary fiction and her debut novel, A Season to Dance, came out in May of 2017 (Bling! / Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas). A Portuguese translation came out in her native Brazil in August (Editora Pandorga). Patricia is a 2015 Genesis semi-finalist and First Impressions finalist. She and her husband live in North Carolina with their two children.

Goodreads - www.goodreads.com/bealpat
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Web - www.patriciabeal.com

Stitching Up A Story, by Karen Rees

Being both a writer and a quilter I've discovered that piecing a quilt and writing a story have a lot in common. Take precision for example.

Any good quilter knows that precision is the key to getting all of those corners to come together perfectly. Not only precision when sewing pieces together, but precision from the beginning. I have to be precise in marking my pieces, cutting my pieces and then stitching them all together on the same side of that finely marked line.

Failure to be precise, even in small ways such as sometimes sewing on the wrong side of the line, will create blocks of different sizes and corners that don't come together as they should. The final result is a quilt that could have been better.

Precision is also necessary in piecing a story together. I have to select the word that best conveys the meaning I want. Carefully chosen words strengthen my writing and give it clarity. When I grab the first word that pops to mind, it's often not the best choice. I've discovered that I tend to write 'irritate' when I should use 'annoy'. (I make the same mistake when I talk.) What about the difference between brag and boast? In that scene does the character stroll, stride or amble? Does she drop her eyes or does she drop her gaze?

The blocks in my quilt, pictured above, appear to be two different patterns. In reality, all of the blocks are the same pattern – A Gentleman's Fancy. The apparent difference comes from my choice of colors. In some blocks I used light colors for a particular part, in other blocks I used dark colors. My choice of color and shade – light or dark – created the difference.

Writing is the same. The details that I give will create a particular impression in the mind of the reader.  When describing a park I could mention bird messes on benches and trash on the trails. Or I could describe colorful rose gardens and shady paths. The park may have both trash and flowers but the reader's impression will be formed by the details. Before I start writing, I need to decide what impression I want to give and then use the details that will create it.

This is equally true with my characters. Do I want readers to see someone as kind? Self-centered? Timid? Irresponsible? When introducing a character, what description or behavior will leave the desired impression with the reader?

A third similarity between creating quilts and creating stories has to do with the unexpected. I could have sewed every block in my quilt using red and some light color. But I didn't. Even when I used red in a block, I sometimes paired it with a dark color. Those particular blocks stand out like freckles on a blond. They add variety.

When developing characters, we can give them depth by adding something unexpected to their personalities. The hardened criminal who, now and again, treats some stranger's child to an ice cream cone. Why does he do that? Or the sweet elderly widow who has a history that would shock her neighbors.

Quilters say that it's not a quilt until it's quilted. In the same way a manuscript isn't a book until it's published. For a quilt to win at a quilt show and a book to earn honors, both need to contain our best work. Be precise, select the right details and create interesting characters. By doing that, you could end up with a winner.

Karen Rees and her second-generation missionary husband Benjamin have served in Hong Kong since 1975. Besides her involvement in the mission work, Karen loves history, quilting and writing. They have two children, Matthew and Megan, and two grandchildren, Hadessah and Arthur. She is the author of the award-winning historical novel, The Ruby Ring.

Writing with a Kleenex

I've received some wonderful complements on my writing this past month. It seems my short story, I Heard the Bells, included in the anthology A Bit of Christmas, has invoked tears from more than one reader. It is disturbing how much pleasure I derived making people cry. Much like the pleasure I take at making them cringe, making their heart race, or making them sweat.

Which got me thinking about how to best manipulate the emotions of readers, because after all, isn't that what they wanted when they picked up the book?

Lets talk about tears.

I discovered an interesting thing recently that has changed how I write my characters--especially the females. When a reader is invested in a character, they feel what the character feels (though thankfully to a lesser degree). So what happens to the reader when your character starts to cry? In essence, the same thing that happens to you most times when you have a good cry.

Emotion releases.

Which is great. If you are ready for your reader to release some emotion, let your character sob it out and move on with their lives.

Or you can keep that emotion and build it until closer to the end of the book.

Let the eyes mist, the sinuses burn, the headache build, but don't let those tears fall!

Take your character, and reader, to the brink, before giving them too much release. And remember, just because your character hasn't let herself cry, doesn't mean your reader has as much fortitude.

Also, make sure you take along some Kleenex when you sit down to type. If your story isn't wringing your guts, it won't effect your reader either. And please, for those moments of inner torture, show, don't tell! (Nothing like coming to those moments of high emotion in a book and having the author summarize it for you, instead of letting your feel it.)

But of course, this is all my opinion. :)

As a reader, do you prefer when the character sniffles it out through the book, or holds all that emotion in, building an "emotional" climax (not necessarily the "plot's" climax)?

 "I Heard the Bells" 

by Angela K. Couch

Three years ago, Gabriel Morgan left his home in Virginia to fight for the Union Army, despite his family and fiancee's loyalties to the South. Now, with battle fresh in his mind, and the Civil War still raging, he chances a quick trip home with one prayer... to make peace this Christmas.

Check it out on Amazon!
Or visit me at www.angelakcouch.com :)

I Quit Writing

By Morgan Tarpley

So as this title reads: I quit writing.

It was actually over lunch a few weeks ago. This is the thing though. I can’t really quit. It’s what I do. It’s my passion. I have to write. But in regard to my current novel manuscript I had a quite direct message from the Lord to quit. So I did.

Wow, that seems so easy when I write it like that. And whoever is a writer out there (I know there are a bunch of you.) will understand this. Quitting writing is like stopping to breathe.

But it was the right thing to do because my writing had become a problem.

In recent weeks, my pastor has shared many amazing words from the Lord that have just hit me over and over right in the heart. Words that I couldn't stop thinking about even if I tried, and I tried.

That's what happens when the Spirit is pursuing you and in your heart you know that He's drawing you but in your head you're fighting it because it won’t be easy or comfortable or isn’t what you want to do.

Everything my pastor said had been what I’d been unintentionally running from for a long time—a call to die.

To give up all to God’s sovereign will and it was clear what I had to do.

God called me to quit writing. It was the death of a lifelong dream of mine, an utterly heart-wrenching decision that I’d never entertained before that moment. I did not want to give it up but I did it for Him. God had shown me that writing had become an idol.

You see being a published author of inspirational fiction is all I've wanted and worked for and toiled for, for over six years now. In this time, I've poured all my time and energy into writing conferences, reading writing books, re-working a manuscript and many times neglected study of the Word, serving others, etc.

I know that my goal of publication in itself is not wrong but the fact that it's been my sole focus and escape and, if you will, obsession for so many years now that it's become an idol, the largest one in my life. One that I held onto so forcibly with both hands and refused to let go.
I know that God may still have a plan for this desire to write for Him that has been in my heart all these years but it's not now and definitely not until my desire is for Him alone, until all that I wanted is far behind me because it doesn't matter at all compared to Him.

I want to be there. I know God wants me there, and I want to be where He wants me, blessing others, giving Him and them the best of my time and energy.

This is a hard time for me, but it’s also been an amazing, rejuvenating, peace-filled few weeks. But at my heart the story lingers to get back on the page. Not yet though I know.

At this moment, I believe this call to quit writing my novel is only temporary because I do feel that God will use my desire to write for him, just not now. I am waiting on the Lord, and there’s nothing else more important.

Have any of you “quit” writing before or done something drastic that you knew the Lord was leading you to do? Do you have any advice for me and/or others who are going through a similar time in their lives? I’d love to hear about it! Thanks and Merry Christmas to all!

Morgan Tarpley

Morgan Tarpley is an award-winning newspaper reporter and photographer in Louisiana. She is also a historical novelist currently seeking representation. Besides writing and traveling to over a dozen countries, her interests include acting in her local theater, genealogy, photography, and singing. She resides in Louisiana with her husband.

For more information about Morgan, visit her website (www.morgantarpley.com) and blog (www.pensonaworldmap.com). You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, orGoodreads.

The Challenge of Writing Different Types of Characters

Three weeks ago I pushed send on my second book to my editor. I've spent the time since holding my breath. 

When I signed my two-book contract my publishing team had read my debut novel, Close To You, and loved it. But there was no second book. Not a single word on a page. My contract stipulated five things I had to deliver - a genre, a location, a general theme, a word count and a due date. That was it. Everything else was up to me. My editor had pretty much no idea what was coming her way. Which was crazy brave on her part and a whole lot of scary on mine.

It would be fair to say a lot of these have been consumed in the last ten months...

I'm a character driven writer which means the main characters are always the first things that show up in my head. In Close To You it was a failed entrepreneur and a disgraced academic. In Book#2 it was an injured elite rower and a disillusioned journalist.

They could not be more different sets of people.

In Close To You, Jackson and Allie are both strong personalities. They aren't afraid to say exactly what they think, thrive on sparring with each other, and have a strong mutual dislike from their first meeting. Their chemistry fills the page as they constantly clash.

In my second book, Peter and Emelia are very different to Jackson and Allie. Both play their cards close to their chests, are guarded, polite, and go out of their way to avoid conflict. Their chemistry is more subtle, slipping through the cracks in their walls, simmering under the surface. 

I feel protective of them. The way a mother might when a firstborn outgoing, gregarious, social child is followed by an introverted, quiet, shy one. What if readers don't like them as much as the first two? What if my editor doesn't? What if I'm actually rubbish at this and can only write one type of character well? What if the manuscript gets rejected and I have to come up with a whole new story (yes, this does happen!).

A deaf person probably could have heard my sigh of relief when I got an email from my editor that she was in the process of reading it and enjoying it. Here's hoping readers do too once a whole lot of rewrites and edits get it shape (out of the five things in my contract, I failed at one right off the start - it's got to lose at least 5,000 words!).

So let's talk about different types of characters. Who are your favourite book characters who could not be more different from each other? 

Kara Isaac lives in Wellington, New Zealand. Her debut romantic comedy, Close To You, is about a disillusioned academic-turned-tour-guide and an entrepreneur who knows nothing about Tolkien who fall in love on a Tolkien themed tour of New Zealand. It will be an April 2016 release from Howard Books. When she's not working her day job as a public servant, chasing around a ninja preschooler and his feisty toddler sister, she spends her time writing horribly bad first drafts and wishing you could get Double Stuf Oreos in New Zealand. She loves to connnect on Facebook at Kara Isaac - Writer and Twitter @KaraIsaac

More Than Words by David Rawlings

I’ve now been on this writing journey for one-and-a-half manuscripts.

What I’ve learned is more than the process and principles. I’ve discovered that writing is more than words. I need to play different roles to ensure those words earn their place. Yes, I’m responsible for putting them on the page – and I do that – but I am challenged to do more than simply put fingers on keys or pen strokes on page.

I’ve realized I need to be more than a writer. I need to be . . .

1. A fire starter

I love this part of the writing process, where the spark of an idea flares in the corner of the mind. This spark holds so much promise and opportunity and for one moment in time it could be anything; perhaps the best idea that’s ever been had.

That spark needs to be fanned into flame so it flares into life. Sometimes that idea is a story. Sometimes it’s a character trait. Sometimes it’s exploring a character’s backstory and finding an idea that then gives them true depth. For me, it was asking a simple question of a main character – “as a Pastor, why are you so down on yourself?” – and finding a fiancée who had left him at the altar.

2. A production line worker

In my younger days, I held several production line jobs as a way to earn enough money to pay for that all-important first car. I’ve stood in the same spot for eight hours at a time in the dirt and the grime and cranked out widget after widget in a repetitive, mind-numbing dance.

I’ve had those days as a writer, where I know it’s not flowing from the creative force I thought would be on tap. But I’ve pushed on in that repetitive dance, focusing on getting a character from Point A to Point B so I’ve got something to work with when I edit. Which leads me to . . .

3. A rose bush pruner

My grandfather taught me a valuable gardening lesson that has stayed with me to this day. I would cautiously approach a spreading, sprawling rose bush with a tiny pair of secateurs and give it what my grandfather would call “a short-back-and-sides.” I didn’t want to cut too hard. The rose bush looked too good and had put so much energy into producing a spray of leaves and color. It seemed a shame.

But my grandfather knew that growth had to go because it was the best thing for it. He would wade in with enormous skill and knowledge – and a fairly handy-sized chainsaw – and decimate the plant, cutting it back far enough to allow room for the rosebush to grow into the space he had created. Next season, the rose was bigger than before, better looking and somehow stronger, even though it had lost 90% of what it was.

I now edit my manuscript with my grandfather’s eye and a metaphorical chainsaw. Words that, at the time of writing, felt like brilliant prose has been cut away to give the real story room to grow. I’ve cut about 20,000 words and the story is a trimmer, leaner piece of work that tells a richer story. Those words are then mulched and they feed the story as it grows.

4. A protective parent

I joined a critique group, where I’ve had the chance to float my writing past people, seeking their feedback. This isn’t really new to me - I’ve been a copywriter for 25 years, where almost every day of my career has involved criticism of something I’ve written.

The experience is different this time, however; it’s my fiction under the spotlight. Now I’m a protective parent where I can see my child’s potential like no one else. I know how good it will be if it’s given the chance to flourish. While I do need to protect my child and filter the criticism (to incorporate every single comment or change would not help its development), there are times in which it’s obvious I can’t see what needs to be seen because I’m too close; too protective.

5. A loyal friend (albeit imaginary)

Developing characters has been more enjoyable than I ever imagined. Sure, these characters live in my head, but to me they’re real. (I’m only telling you this, because I know you’ll understand. Anyone else would hear it and bring in a therapist.)

My characters aren’t real, of course, but they have real hopes, dreams, and disappointments (they have to if they’re going to be compelling.) I have felt genuine relief when they have survived a trial. I’ve felt their pain when they’ve plunged further into a hole of their own making. And I celebrate with them when they reach their goal or find their destiny.

I’m learning at each step of the journey that writing is more than words and writers are more than typists. I am becoming more than a writer. Are you?

Based in Adelaide, South Australia, David Rawlings is a father-of-three with his own copywriting business who reads everything within an arm’s reach.

He is published in the non-fiction arena and is now focused on writing contemporary Christian fiction. These stories explore God, people, 21st century church and our modern society with humor and a satirical eye. And, in order to have more time to write, he is currently trying to find an extra day in the week . . . without much success.

Short, Sweet, and in Print! by Angela K Couch +giveaway!

After years and years of pounding out 50,000 – 85,000 word novels, last spring I tried my hand at something under 6000 words. My introduction to the short story. Needless to say, it took several attempts to get the story depth and length to coincide, but in the end I was quite pleased with my efforts—Fire In a Storm set in 1934 USSR—and even more pleased when I learned it was a finalist in the 2014 Storming the Short Story contest and would be published in the anthology Out Of the Storm.

After trying unsuccessfully to break into publishing with my novels, seeing my words in print within the next year felt really good. I was hooked. Just in time to be informed of another short story opportunity. This one gave me a whopping 7000 words to work with. Piece of cake. ;)

My second story, Shackled, a western romance, was quickly accepted for publication by Next Step Books for a romance anthology that will be released this fall. *Happy dance*. Since then, I have written two more short stories for contests (still waiting on those, but one is a semifinalist so far!), and would like to share what I have learned about the art of a short story—which I am still striving to learn.

Backstory: 
You can only use tidbits of backstory because of the word constraints, but make sure you still have it. The better you know your character—their little quirks, likes, dislikes, and everything from their past that made them who they are—the deeper and more three dimensional that person will look on the page. It will show in how they view the word.

(In Shackled, the hero’s occupation before he headed west was as a carpenter. He can’t help but notice loose boards, quality of wood, and craftsmanship, etc. It adds nothing to the plot, but it brings the character to life.)

Secondary Characters: 
If they are not vital to plot, character development or setting, you don't have room for them.

Tension:
Really this isn’t much different than in a novel, only easier as you have less words to extend it across. Make sure it’s there, from the first sentence to the last. I am actually more prone to set down a short story than a novel when the tension wanes. After all, there are usually other short stories to turn to in the same book.

Tightening:
The benefit of a short story over a novel is that instead of 80,000 words, you have less than 8000 to analyze in detail, making sure they are the best fit. It’s easier to cut all those lazy verbs, weasel words, and airy descriptions, bringing the action to life in a few short words.

Show: 
I know it’s often easier to keep the word count down by simply telling what happened, but don’t do it! I mean, you can—a sentence here and there—but still show us the story. Let us be there, experiencing those few minutes of life that have been etched into the pages—or single page—of your short story.

The End: 
Be ready for it, it comes quickly, and don’t linger after the resolution. Unlike a novel, you don’t have room for a full chapter or epilogue telling of their “happily ever after” (if you give them one) and you don’t need it. Reading a short story is not like watching twelve hours of epic Lord of the Rings and needing a half hour to unwind before you can live with yourself again. Don’t waste words. End it strong.

These are only my observations from my writing. Have you tried your hand at writing short stories? What have you found works?

If you like short stories, leave a comment and e-mail address for the chance to win an e-book copy of the anthology Out of the Storm.

Angela K Couch lives in Alberta, Canada with her “hero” and three munchkins. Fascinated by history and in love with creating fiction, she's been lost in writing most of her life. As a passionate believer in Christ, she can't help her faith from permeating the stories she tells. Often her martial arts training, love of horses, and appreciation for good romance sneak in there as well. She has been a finalist and semi finalist in several short story contests and was a semifinalist in the 2015 Genesis Contest. Visit her at www.angelakcouch.com, or follow on Twitter or Facebook!

Who are you writing for?

Photo courtesy of Apple's Eyes Studio/
FreeDigitalPhotos.net

“It’s in the struggle that the story is written.”

Yes, yes, I said as I read those words from a fellow author just before I sat down to draft this post.

Golly gosh, I’ve struggled writing the sequel to Angelguard. The basic story of Angelguard fell out of me. I was a complete novice (well, I still am really) but the story just kept coming. I’d turn up to the blank page and out it would come.

Nine months later it was done. The first draft. Not to be read by any one, oh, except, Fiona my wife who egged me on and kept giving me new ideas and lots of names for my supernatural beings.

Many years later it was finally published. Even though there had been many many changes to that first draft the essence of the original story of that first draft remained.

Second time around I’ve found to be a completely different experience. I started out with an outline for a story that I loved. Then I started writing it.

But it just didn’t grab me.

So I shifted gears and worked on another angle, which I’ve enjoyed writing. But it’s come out so much slower. Like waiting for a file to download when there was only dial up internet. Remember those days? In fact it wasn’t that long again. Most of my research for Angelguard was done using dial up.

Doubt, discouragement and procrastination became part of my daily diet. As they do for every writer. The successful ones (those who finish) manage to ride those bullies and put them in their proper place most days.

“… most writers spend their lives in the shadows and do their best work there.” (Richard Flanagan)

And then there are those of us who allow the bullies to beat us each day. So much so they become over-bearing giants. Where’s the David in us when we need him?

Nowhere to be found. We find it easier to stay in the background with the sheep.

“But what about us, Ian?”

The nudges never leave us. Someone wants us to go on an adventure. With them. One that involves risk with no certainty of how it will end. But we’ll be doing it together.

In the struggle.

I was explaining a little of this struggle to a good friend of mine and he encouraged me with the thought that it must be special knowing that we writers share our struggle with an audience of one and He’s the one that really matters.

Even if no one else gets to see the end product sharing this writing experience with Jesus is pretty incredible.

Don’t you think?

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by those giant bullies and making little progress, step aside for a moment and take your eyes off them. Remind yourself of what David said to his brothers when he first saw Goliath: “For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17:26 ESV) David had his eyes on the audience that mattered: God.

May I encourage you to switch your focus onto the Lord and He will equip you with a new slingshot and some extra stones so you can get back in the game.

Ian Acheson is an author and strategy consultant based in Northern Sydney. Ian's first novel of speculative fiction, Angelguard, is now available in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. You can find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter

Journaling is Good for the Author's Heart, Soul, and Writing by Wendy L. Macdonald

A vintage shabby-chic trunk in our cozy den holds a menagerie of my fabric-covered and spiral-bound journals. Thirty-two years' worth of words lay poured onto the private pages of these notebooks. How has journaling been helpful for this author’s heart, soul, and writing?

Journaling sharpens an author’s ability to shape stories and characters. Although I’m new to writing full-length fiction manuscripts, I’ve had much experience dreaming up plot lines without even realizing it. Eighteen months ago my dear husband suggested I start a novel. He said this shaking his head in response to my vivacious imagination.

There are many examples of my exuberant mind written within the pages of my journals, such as the time I stopped my family from eating baked goods that had been given to us because I wondered about the numerous sudden deaths that had occurred in the giver’s social sphere. (I’ve sworn my family to secrecy about this crazy moment of mine.) But that incident helped shape one of my first manuscript’s characters. And I suspect other antagonists will be birthed from incidents saved within my journal.

Journaling improves deep point-of-view writing skills. A diary won’t do. A journal is for recording our inner thoughts and feelings about what has transpired rather than simply documenting events. Pathos, fear, joy, and passion are a few especially helpful emotions to take advantage of. And it’s this depth of articulation that most benefits our fiction work. How can we write effectively about our protagonist’s strengths and weaknesses if we’re not in conscious contact with our own?

Journaling helps us tap into the inner-motivations of our characters. There’s nothing new under the writer’s quill because we all share the same universal issues (love, family, faith, birth, death, and everything in between). Authors generally use the same proven story structure, yet they must still strive to create unique character arcs with one-of-a-kind plots.

The experience of keeping a journal can give our fiction writing a sharper edge when we mine treasures from our characters’ thoughts (as well as from our own). If we can write a story that pulls others into a realistic world shared from the deep recesses of the protagonist’s heart and mind, the reader won’t want to put the book down. There’s something about intimacy that draws us in, much like a campfire does. Entering one’s own thoughts into a journal makes us more self-aware and potentially more observant of our fictional characters’ desires, secrets, and vulnerabilities. And that makes for good writing.

Journaling alleviates stress through the writing pilgrimage. Recording our prayer requests, our praises, and our personal progress keeps us honest and motivated with our current manuscripts and self-care. The stress-reducing effects of journaling kick in when we write poignantly. From what I’ve been reading it’s not just a newbie, like me, who gets overwhelmed and discouraged in this ever-changing literary landscape. Authors, we know and admire, have had to rethink their strategies, too.

Journaling gives the author permission to leave their concerns within their private pages, go forth, and share their stories. Write. Read. Edit. Query (or Self-Publish). Submit. Repeat. We can trust God to answer our written requests according to his perfect timing while we’re busy doing our part as writers.

Journaling IS good for the author’s heart, soul, and writing! How has it helped you?

Wendy L. Macdonald has lived in British Columbia, Canada all her life. She postponed her writing aspirations for a decade while homeschooling her three children. Last year she dove into writing with only her experience of blogging and a love of reading to keep her afloat in the ever-changing sea of the publishing world. She has completed two mystery/romance novels and hopes to try memoir writing in the near future. Her website is http://greenlightlady.wordpress.com where she shares inspirational poetry, prose, and nature photography.

The Frog in my Handbag aka Writing for Eternal Impact

It all started when the zip on my handbag broke. I left it in the lounge overnight, and was in traffic the next day when I discovered the stowaway. There's nothing quite like reaching for lipgloss and pulling out a frog. There may, or may not have been a bit of screaming involved. It took every scrap of self-control to keep driving until it was safe to pull over and evict my new friend. Ugh. On that same day, I nearly lost my purse because I couldn't zip my bag closed.

What does this have to do with writing, I hear you ask? Apart from the fact that all good prose involves frogs, one of the chief things that I pester Jesus for, is for Him to write Eternity through me.

I love to leave my reader chuckling, satisfied and keen to read more of my writing. I also want to have stirred a hunger for Eternity inside of them, a curiosity about this God who loves them.

One simple way of achieving this is to lace our writing with, what I call - Holy Spirit bombs. These are the revelations, the spiritual lessons that God gives you through living normal life that are profoundly simple, yet carry His anointing to shift the heart and spirit of your reader.

Jesus spoke to me about my bag and I wove it into my novel Finding Mia. When ones carries a load that you're not meant to (say, a cheating husband who leaves you), over time something breaks which allows things into your life that you would never normally allow in (being wooed by a smooth-talking kidnapper who is acutallly after your children). It also allows things to be stolen from you (common sense, in this case!) But when your life is hidden in Christ, He doesn't replace the zip on your life, He becomes the zip through which certain things are allowed and other things are simply not.

So as you go through your day and the odd bizarre thing happens to you, ask Jesus what it's all about. You can rest assured that most of what you go through is never meant for you personally at all, but is there to become grist for your mill and food for your reader.

Seen through His eyes, even a frog in a handbag becomes meaningful!

Reeling the Reader In: Fabulous First Lines (Giveaway)

First lines. Terrible ones can make you put a book down without reading any further. Good ones keep you reading. Great ones have you clicking "buy now" or walking to the register without having to read another word. 

The best first lines tell you a something about the character, the situation, or the setting but most of all they intrigue you, reel you in, so that you cannot put that book down. Then they keep on delivering with the first paragraph, the first page, the first chapter. 

As I'm pondering (aka procrastinating) starting my next story, I've been thinking a lot about first lines - both my own and in books I've read. Out of the four manuscripts I've written, my favorite first line (so far) comes from my third:

"Paige McAllister didn't think it was possible, but there was something worse than being single and thirty at your nineteen-year-old sister's wedding." 

The first lines from a few of my favorite contemporary romances include:

"She never should have said yes." Beth Vogt, Wish You Were Here

"At least they couldn't fire her." Carla Laureano, Five Days in Skye

"The girl with the haunted eyes reentered his life on the other side of a lowering casket, humidity and the shrill song of cicadas tangling together in the South Carolina heat." Katie Ganshert, A Broken Kind of Beautiful

"Will you marry me?" Becky Wade, Meant To Be Mine

"She'd found bliss. Perhaps even true love." Rachel Hauck, Princess Ever After

So how about you? What are some of your favorite first lines? Either your own or from favorite books? I'm going to be giving away one of the five books I've listed above. Even if you don't have a favorite first line just leave your contact email and which title you'd like to win to be in the draw. Open to residents of any country that Book Depository delivers to :) Entries close Friday 15 August, midnight PDT.

* Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

Kara Isaac lives in Wellington, New Zealand where she spends her days being double-teamed by her ninja toddler and his baby sister, and her nights dreaming up horrible things to do to her characters.

Represented by Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary Inc, she loves writing romantic comedy and can be found on Facebook at Kara Isaac - Writer and on Twitter @KaraIsaac.

Guess Who I Saw?

Writers are supposed to be people-watchers and eavesdrop on the conversations of strangers. As a writer living in Hong Kong, doing this has its problems.

Hong Kong is a collection of extremely compact cities with an international population that's always rushing. The most frequently pressed elevator button, in both commercial and residential high-rises, is the one that closes the door. We can't wait the extra few seconds for it to close automatically.

How do I search for those distinctive details that sets one person apart from another when all I see are people's backs hurrying here, hurrying there?

Click to Tweet: Writers are supposed to be people-watchers

In this bustling population, I have found one good place to people-watch – on the subway. Once we've boarded, the train does the rushing. We stay put for a while. So there I am, sitting if I'm lucky enough to get a seat, people-watching and trying to sharpen my observational skills.

What do I see?

The man beside me with the dirty fingernails, rough haircut, scruffy clothing and yesterday's odors is most likely a mainland Chinese who is working here. Were he a mainland tourist, although equally rough and out of style, he'd be a bit cleaner.

Across from me is a rather simply dressed young Asian woman but with a more open expression than mainlanders wear. Is she Hong Kong Chinese or a Filipina with a touch of Chinese blood? Since she's wearing sandals, a few years ago her toenails would have told me. If they were painted, she'd be a Filipina. But now that Chinese women have discovered the delights of nail polish, her nationality remains a mystery.

Sitting near this mystery woman is a Chinese man giving himself a “shave”. Chinese facial hair being somewhat sparse, the method of some years ago was to locate a whisker by feel, pinch it between two coins and jerk it out. The man I'm watching today has a technology upgrade. He's using a small hand mirror and tweezers. Ten more yanks and he's done.

If I'm on the subway when schools let out, the train soon fills with students in uniforms. The younger ones are often accompanied by the family's imported household servants – either Filipinas with their painted toenails or Indonesian Muslims in various colored headscarves.

Most students are Chinese. But I also see Muslim girls with headscarves the color of their uniforms and boys with white cloth topknots holding the never-to-be-cut hair that identify them as Sikhs.

Now that China is building economic ties with Africa, I'm seeing increasing numbers of tall black men and ample-bodied black women. The other week I followed two such women to the train. They were effortlessly balancing massive bundles on their heads and their native costumes were as colorful as a flower garden. Only our local Hindu women in their saris outdo them in brightness.

Once in a great while I'll see saffron-robed Buddhist monks or nuns, with their shaved heads and religious beads, traveling in twos or threes.

I'm a people-watcher but I don't do much eavesdropping. Nowadays few people talk to each other. They're too busy playing with their smart phones. Those who are talking could easily be carrying on a conversation in any number of languages. Very seldom is it English.

Occasionally some blond-haired Western woman boards the train. In the past, with a train filled with black haired passengers, or in my case dark brown turning gray, everyone would stare at her. But not now. Now the bolder members of a younger generation are dyeing some or all of their black hair every color of the rainbow. Blond hair no longer stands out against heads sporting apricot, turquoise, violet, wine red or wheat. Sometimes two or three colors share the same head.

If I wrote contemporary international fiction, I'd be in the perfect spot. But I write historical fiction set during the English Reformation. You don't find nail polish and Sikh topknots in 16th Century England.

Click to Tweet: No nail polish and Sikh topknots in 16th Century England

Nevertheless, all is not lost. Some time ago I saw a man whose eyebrows bobbed as he talked. How's that for a tag? Of course I wouldn't give it to the hero. In a love scene those bobbing brows could be quite distracting both to reader and heroine.

Better still, I recently saw Paul. I'd never before seen him outside of my imagination. But there he stood – my wiry, little, copper-haired, Anabaptist Frenchman from a yet-to-be published English Reformation novel – only with Chinese coloring and eyes. It was hard not to stare.

Now I see Paul much more clearly in my imagination, especially his lovely cheek bones, although I do have to keep correcting his hair color.

People-watching, even four centuries later, is worth doing. You never know who you might see.

Karen Rees and her second-generation missionary husband Benjamin have served in Hong Kong since 1975.  Besides her involvement in the mission work, Karen loves history, quilting and writing.  They have two children, Matthew and Megan, and one granddaughter, Hadessah.  Karen writes historical fiction and has a special interest in the English Reformation.  Her first novel - The Ruby Ring - came out in 2013 and is a Finalist in the Religious Fiction category in the 2014 Indie Excellence Awards.  Find Karen on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/Author.KarenRees. Her mission website is http://www.hongkongmission.org/.