Call of the Creator: Fantasy Writing from a Christian Worldview

For the next few days, I'm running a promotion: The "Spring is for Unicorns" short story giveaway, where you can get a free copy of my tale "Wish Wary" from Amazon.  The irony to this is that it is decidedly un-springlike here in the Greater Philadelphia area, as I watch snow blanket everything outside. The story I'm giving away is a quick little ditty, meant for a quick diversion, for some resonance with a simple folk tale or bedtime story form. Drop in and grab a copy, and if you feel inclined, leave a review. Review quantity has a large impact on whether little-known-writers become better-known-writers. Thanks, as always, for your support. Your word of mouth has the power to move books, and the more books I move, the more likely it is I can continue to write further tales. You, dear readers, have the power.

Recently, I attended a church production that did a really excellent job delivering the message of God's love and his desire to redeem our lives, no matter how big or how numerous our mistakes. The production quality of the show was absolutely professional, and the actors, singers, and dancers involved all showcased high-quality talent.  I wanted to enjoy that production without reservation, but there was a problem. The show was "homegrown," which is great. I admire the effort it takes to work from scratch if you can't find a pre-packaged dramatic production that fits your needs. However, there were a couple items in this homegrown commodity that left me questioning the legality of their use. One large section of the story was told utilizing the text from a published collection of children's stories. However, nowhere in the program or anywhere else did I see any credit given to the author or publisher of this text. I know for sure my own publishing contrac...

On my lunch break today, I ran an errand of such gut-twisting formidability that I’m lucky the lunch I scarfed down on the way back to my cubicle stayed where it belonged. What was that errand, you ask? Dropping off my first load of books at the local, independent bookstore to be shelved and sold on consignment. Maybe this doesn’t sound so terrifying to you. It probably isn’t to most people. But for artistic types like myself who are consistently underwhelmed by our own talent for making the thing we can’t help but produce any more than we can help breathing, it was enough to induce heart palpitations. You see, I handed those books to a real person in the store. (A kind woman by the name of Kit who actually reads the stuff local authors bring to her in search of shelf space.) This woman had no prior connection to me. She didn’t seek my books out, I brought them to her and asked for a spot on her shelves. She was a perfect specimen of someone both objective and knowledgeab...

A while back, there was this blog hop drifting around people were calling “The Next Big Thing.” I got tagged at least four times for it, and being the distracted mother, conference planner, author, advertising associate I am, I never got to post while this was still news. I’ve had bits and pieces of his post kicking around for weeks, so I’ve decided I need to actually get it in place. The point of the blog hop was to encourage authors to share in succession what they are working on in their writing life, to link to other authors who tagged them and who they intend to tag, and to generally raise awareness about what’s up and coming in the fiction market. All good stuff to do if you have time. So here I am doing the informational part, sans tagging. Most of my motivation to finally post this stems from the fact that I have been getting feedback from Beta readers on my “next big thing,” Book III of The Windrider Saga: Valor’s Worth . They say you need to write a million words befor...