By James Hannibal @jamesrhannibal Have you ever painted a room? I try to avoid it, but with the many moves of military life I haven’t been too successful. With tape applied and tarps laid out, Cindy and I put on a first coat. It never looks all that great, but…

by Lynn Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn  I first heard about the idea of an “artist date” when I read Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. If you’re a creative, you should take a look at The Artist’s Way. It’s a classic for a reason. So what is an artist date?  An artist date is…

By W. Terry Whalin @terrywhalin I could see the resolution in the eyes of this author across the table from me when she said, “I’m going to self-publish.” We were meeting at a conference (pre-pandemic) and talking about her manuscript. I liked the shape of her proposal, her title and the…

By Aaron Gansky @ADGansky We’ve all made mistakes, and in the same way, our characters will, too. How we handle these mistakes, however, will dramatically impact our readers.  It’s important to remember two things about characters making bad choices. The first is that everyone makes mistakes, and these mistakes can…

by Katy Kauffman @KatyKauffman28 Are outlines really our friends? Although I loved making outlines in my seminary class because they provided structure for the speeches I prepared, things changed. In recent years, I dreaded making outlines as I wrote books and blog posts. They seemed to confine the feeling I…

Let’s talk flash fiction with my friend, Kimberly Duffy. In addition to being a mom of four, Kimberly Duffy is an award-winning author of historical fiction, so she knows a thing or two about writing in a flash. - Lindsey P. Brackett By Kimberly Duffy Life is busy. There’s kids,…