‘Tis that time of the year again. NaNoWriMo! For those of you thinking I just spouted a bunch of gibberish, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month and takes place every November. The goal: 50,000 words in 30 days. It is a time of freewriting with no looking back. Last year, I found it a liberating experience. Until recently, I was very concerned about this year’s NaNoWriMo – because I couldn’t decide on an idea to write! I have an idea notebook of about 60 ideas (historical and contemporary) and of those, about 25 historical fiction ideas that are solid and ready to write. The idea I picked for NaNo? Not...
Story Behind the Story: CJ Darlington
This “Story behind the story” is a bit different – because CJ has a whole page on how her novel, Thicker than Blood, came to be! And this is the “Thicker than Blood” that won the prestigious Jerry B Jenkins Operation First Novel contest! I’ve also reviewed “Thicker than Blood” and highly recommend it! Here’s a snip from her website: Thicker than Blood was born on May 1st, 1995 as a story called The City Girl and the Country Girl. I was fifteen-years-old, and I still remember the excitement I felt at starting a new story. Here’s my journal entry from May 3rd, 1995: …Let me read to you...
Discovered Treasures: Flying Magazines
This past weekend, I picked up a bunch of treasures from the 40s that I use for reference and research in writing my novels. My favorite discovery: These magazines are full of articles and ads that testify to the full-fledge war effort in America in 1943 and 1944. I’ll review some of these articles and post some ads in upcoming blogs. Flying Magazine is still in print today – from the magazine’s press kit: “FLYING Magazine, published since 1927, is written for and read by the pilots who actively use general aviation for both personal and business travel. Since its inception, FLYING has been the voice of aviation, read by...
Historical Events that Should Have Happened…
I found this post on Inkwell Inspirations, which is part of my regular daily blog reading, and loved it! All of these are very near and dear to my heart: Original post: http://inkwellinspirations.blogspot.com/2010/10/10-historical-events-that-never.html I recommend adding Inkwell Inspirations to your Google Reader! (Of course, I highly recommend using Google Reader – see that post here!) 🙂
The Power of Words
“The faintest pencil is stronger than the strongest memory.” Poppy Smith, international speaker and writer, spoke these words at the Fall Oregon Christian Writer’s Conference on Saturday, October 16th. Her message was on the power of words and our duty as writers to answer God’s calling to write those words that matter. Poppy was an incredible speaker and the entire conference was full of inspiration and advice. Writing is no easy job, despite the common misconception of the writer lazily drinking coffee at a cafe and typing away with ease. For some, this may be the case, but for the other 99 percent of writers, it is tireless hours at...