Category Archives: Writing Process

Memoir as a Process of Forgiveness

Almost ten years ago, a friend helped me set up a blog after I’d published my first book, Teacher Dropout about discovering God’s grace while I worked in a poverty school. He explained, a blog is like the lady at … Continue reading

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Dry Bones

As a writer, I recently listened to an interview with Shayla Raquel on Marion Roach Smith’s podcast, Qwerty. It was so good, I bought her book, The 10 Commandments of Author Branding. In it, Shayla, a self-publishing mentor and branding … Continue reading

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The 5 Senses, a Writer’s Power Tools

A whiff of lilacs and I’m back in the arbor atop Thorndon Park, awash in college-girl angst, looking for love and my place in the universe. One beat of Stevie Wonder’s wah-wah pedal in “Superstition”, and I’m back in the … Continue reading

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Beneath the Roar

Here’s another insider look at my writing process in hopes that if you’re a writer, this will help you get your own words on the page, and if you’re a reader, it will portray how God is always at work … Continue reading

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Hard-headed Blue Birds

Last week, I got some lovely responses to my post about how to begin telling your God story, so this week I planned to give you another writing tip, but on what topic? ********************************************************************************** Every time, I sat down to … Continue reading

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Catch a Falling Star

Because many of you readers are also writers, let me show you how to begin telling your own flash memoir. Just let memories float to the surface, one by one, not knowing how they’ll connect, but trusting that as they … Continue reading

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Straining at the Oars

Everyone I’ve talked to this week is stressed to their breaking point. Problems at work, problems at home, problems with health both mental and physical. With the war in Ukraine, a global pandemic, wildfires, tornadoes, floods, high gas prices—and a … Continue reading

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Right Between the Eyes

PERFECTIONISM AND THE CREATIVE MINDSET REQUIRED TO FINISH A BOOK. During the Olympics, there’s always lots of talk about sports psychology. The Apostle Paul also talks about what it takes to finish the race. In Philippians 3:13-14 he advocates leaving … Continue reading

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Teach Us to Number Our Days

January is the month where we begin again, and in doing so inevitably re-evaluate where we’ve been and what we’ve done. Do we want to keep doing it? Does it matter? Is there somewhere else we want to go? Something … Continue reading

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Spinning Fact into Fiction

********************************************************************************* Where do stories come from? What mysterious alchemy stirs fact into fiction? This week I’d like to talk about the writing process that led me to write a children’s story in the folktale tradition, so you can see concrete … Continue reading

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