By Todd Allen,@ToddAllenAuthor   If you ever see me at a writing conference you’ll probably notice a brown writing journal clutched in my hand. If I don’t write down the jewels of wisdom I hear during these talks I’ll never remember them. Often I go back and read my notes…

by Katy Kauffman,@KatyKauffman28    Soft hues of gold, orange, and pink painted the sky as the sun set on that frigid December evening. I clutched my coat collar closer as I left the office. That’s when I saw her. Shivering on the curb, she wore only a tattered hoodie and…

By Bethany Jett, @betjett   God gives us seasons of writing. Seasons of rest. Seasons of pursuing other projects, businesses, and family interests. Sometimes these seasons are the equivalent of writing silence, when the posts and articles you pen aren’t for you, but as part of freelance, volunteer, or business…

By Rhonda Rhea, @RhondaRhea   You know how I can tell we’re approaching the Christmas season? I find myself thumbing through a catalog. A catalog. Of. Meat. Potted meat. Pickled meat. Fried and dried and—maybe even poached meat. That just takes us to about page five. Then there’s meat by…

By Deb Haggerty, @DebHaggerty   As an editor, I read—a lot! And I find I get impatient with certain contrivances authors tend to overdo. I realize part of what we do as writers is our voice, but I also realize part is trying to impress or to ensure our readers get…

By Emily H. Jeffries, @emilyhjeffries   At age 28, I quit my job as an upper school theology teacher to write books. For a decade, I had studied theology and gained teaching experience. After graduate school, I had landed the perfect teaching job with a small private school in my…