Who Do You Depend On?

I just read this in a devotional: Self-sufficiency is a myth perpetuated by pride and temporary success. WOW!

I’ve always been one to be PROUD of the fact I take care of myself. Do it alone. Stand on my own two feet. Now, I do give it the “thank you God for making all things possible because I’m a believer” and I really do believe that, but how often do I see my

We tend to “stand on our own two feet” when things are running smoothly, there’s enough money in the bank to cover all the bills, and the pantry’s full. And we put God aside to fill in and help out when the going gets tough.

As writers we call on the great guru of writers’ block. Please help me. I’m not sure where this is going. I need help. Help…help…help!

Pride: And at the book signing? “Oh thank you. I don’t know where the idea came from. I woke up one morning and this story was swirling in my head.”

Temporary Success: “I’m on the bestseller list. I knew it. I just knew this story had what it takes to go all the way.”

Self-sufficiency: “Look where I am now. Who would have thought? But I knew I could do it. Deep down, I just knew it!”

We don’t need Him when we’re like this. We don’t need anyone. And isn’t that a solitary, sad way to be?

As easily or as difficult as any climb can be to the top, we need to remember Who lifts us. Who is always there. Who cares more than anyone else when we fall.

Really? You Won't Hire Fat People???

Texas hospital won't hire obese workers! We all saw it coming. And now, 1984 really is here. Appearances folks; it's all about appearances. So you won't hire a wonderful, hard-working lady who tips the scales at 250#, but YOU WILL hire that perky little size 6 cutie, who eats like a trucker, then goes to the bathroom and pukes. BUT she only weighs 110# so it's okay????

I know we're getting bigger as a society, and shame on us, but it isn't up to employers, Obamacare, or anyone else to dictate to us how we should look.

The article below should make a lot of people angry! While we have the choice not to listen to a dietician who weighs 300#, she also has the right to keep on working. Perhaps that is something she works hard at recitifying each day, but it's her cross to bear. She is food addicted. Hers just happen to be an addiction that shows. What better person to know all the pitfalls about food addiction. Perhaps she is, after all, the best teacher. How about the alcoholic who beats his wife nightly? Isn't he a risk to the healthcare system? But nobody knows because he doesn't tell and she covers the bruises with makeup.

Boy or boy, now I'm riled! How about you? Any other size 6's out there with bad teeth, weak heart, and many other maladies that just don't show? And before the legitimate slim people string me up, I know that's not always the case, but we need to explore all sides of the issue.

1984, here we comes, just a couple decades late!

http://www.kens5.com/news/health/Texas-hospital-wont-hire-very-obese-workers-144292175.html

Happy Easter

To all my wonderful writing friends, enjoy this weekend with your friends and family. Remember who died for you, rose for you, and still lives just for you.
God bless you all!

LOVE ON THE RANGE

DO NOT miss this wonderful read from Love Inspired Historicals. Jessica Nelson’s debut novel brings laughs, smiles, and tears, all the wonderful things a romance should offer, but few do. Jessica’s own love story is so endearing, but we’ll save that for an interview with her.

You need to press through the crowd wiping their eyes with tissues, and get your copy of LOVE ON THE RANGE from Love Inspired while there are still copies left.

I have to brag and say she’s one of the toughest crit partners in the world and for good reason, she has a way with words. Good thing to have if you’re a writer, huh?

Okay, enough for now. Hike right over to Amazon and download your copy.
You WON'T be sorry!

MEET TWO SPLICKETY AUTHORS

Jon Zech and Andrew James Winch are two men I’ve been blessed to know. Jon for, oh, so many years in crit group, and Andrew I met when he drove me from the airport to the ACFW conference last year. What do these two men have in common? They both had submissions in the first edition of Splickety Magazine. Thought you all might like to know a bit more about them.

Jon, how long have you been writing?

I suppose I have been writing since before I first learned my alphabet. When I was about two, I copied letters from a headline in the Detroit News and formed them into word-like things and put several of them together. I showed them to my mother and told her I had written a story. Then I asked her what it said. I wrote on and off through my teens, submitting a story to Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine when I was fifteen. I played with the beginning of a novel at twenty. In '91 I joined a writer's group and have written steadily since then, and now have a few novels and over a hundred short stories. My humorous trilogy of novellas, Buck and Tangee: Things that Happened, is scheduled for publication this spring by Woodward Press.

Jon, I’ve read Buck and Tangee and they are delightful. Anyone who wants a hilarious and realistic read will want to get a copy.
Okay, so what inspires you?

I'm inspired by curiosity, a love of the absurd and misunderstood fragments of overheard speech. Once, when reading with the news playing in the background, I thought I understood the announcer to say, "...and an illumination of angels." I stopped reading. I played with the notion of what those words could mean and the story that might be behind them. I have a novel length piece, An Illumination of Angels, in the works now. The Splickety story, The Gospel According to Kevin, was a result of a writing prompt in a writer's group. There was a sign on the wall of the space where the group met that said, Nothing is to be Placed in the Marked Area, and that sign was our prompt. I had wanted to explore the faith of a child in a story, and the picture just formed of a sincere child, acting on his innocent knowledge of Christ and Christianity. That's how I write. I see the picture, make it a movie in my mind and just tell you what I see.

Jon Zech is a name to watch for. His writing is character-driven and won’t ever disappoint. Congrats for your piece in Splickety, Jon.

Next is Andrew Winch. Folks, here lives the soul of an oldie like me, just younger. Andrew’s writing and characters will touch you deeply. Sample his work once, and you’ll be back for more, I promise. Andrew, what gave you the idea for your short story?

When I thought of the idea for "Wolf Hunt" my main goal was to see a rebirth of classic horror. If you've read the story, it has a definite twist, but I wanted the feel, raw nature in all its vulnerability, to pull readers back to their first instinct when they think about werewolves. I didn't want glittery, oiled up monsters, I wanted the fundamental struggle between good and evil in all its feral glory.

What do you normally write/read?

As a reader, I'm a bit bipolar, or more accurately, tripolar. My bookshelf is filled with Christian apologetics, the Classics, and YA sci-fi/fantasy. As a writer, I manage a monthly blog that reflects my various interests (www.winchway.blogspot.com). I post everything from zombie short-stories to my personal reflections on life. As for my "serious" writing, I gravitate toward fast-paced speculative fiction. My tag-line is, "hometown adventure with an otherworldly twist."

I like it. What are you working on at the moment?

Actually, I'm finishing up a manuscript loosely based on "Wolf Hunt." It follows an adopted, epileptic high-schooler as he falls headlong into a world of vampires, werewolves, and zombies. Along the way, he awakens his super-human powers and uses them to save the ones he loves. The question is, where did these powers come from, and with shadow and deceit around every corner, who can he really trust to give him the answers he needs?

You’d better let me have the chance to read it first before any other agent…is there anything else you’d like to tell us?

I'm so thankful to Ben Erlichman for giving my writing a chance. He's been a blast to work with. Christian flash-fiction has a shiny new magazine named Splickety and I can't wait to see what it turns out.

So here are two gentlemen from completely different ends of the spectrum, both with fresh flash fiction in Splickety, both working in entirely different genres for full-length. Folks, I know both writers and can honestly say, fiction doesn’t get any better than this…

Splickety Magazine!

The name just makes me want to say hot diggity dog! Where else would such a high-energy name come from than a high-energy editor? Ben Erlichman had an idea which became a direction which became a reality in the form of Splickety Magazine, flash fiction at its best.

I thought you all might like to meet Ben:

What gave you the idea for a mag about flash fiction?

I got the idea for Splickety Magazine after being published three times in Harpstring Magazine, which is another excellent imprint from Written World Communications (WWC). I hadn't done much flash fiction of my own but I've always appreciated how difficult it is to craft a complete story in fewer than 1,000 words. I realized that WWC didn't have a flash fiction magazine, so I figured I should start one. I also haven't seen much in the way of magazine-type flash fiction publications out in the marketplace, so I hope Splickety can help to fill that void.

What do you like to see from authors?

I like strong stories with believable characters. I need a defined plot with a beginning, a middle, and an end, not something "artsy" that makes me have to think really hard about what's actually going on. Our magazine is for people with short attention spans, so trying to be clever at the expense of the story structure is something I dislike. I need a palpable conflict in the submission--it needs to drive the story. I don't mind stuff that's a little different, too, as long as the story is clear.

Do you have a fave genre?

Personally I gravitate toward action/adventure since that's what I write, so of course I'm interested in seeing that come through Splickety. I think it's pretty unrepresented as its own genre in the big scheme of things. That said, I'm hyper-critical of fight-scenes and the like since that's what I write. If you're going to send me something A/A, it had better be really, really good, and I'll probably still revise it in the editing process anyway.

Overall, I'm open to just about any genre, though. The submissions don't necessarily have to be Christian-themed or based, either, so don't let that prevent you from submitting.

What are some ideas for future issues?

I would LOVE to do a micro-fiction (100 words or less) contest and publish the best ones in an upcoming issue along with some regular submissions. I also want to do a nano-fiction (10 words or less) contest and put the top 25 or 50 in there, and perhaps give a prize to the winners.

We also have a lineup of featured authors for upcoming issues. I'm working on getting one for our next issue in May of 2012, but I've got one or two lined up for subsequent issues in August and November. By "featured" I mean that they're published, well-known authors with multiple books out. Brandilyn Collins graciously agreed to host our first issue with the prologue from her new book Over the Edge. I also have an author who has been sharing her latest work as a serial novel on her blog, and her final installation will appear in Splickety Magazine, in print, for our next issue.

I'm always open to ideas, of course, so if there's something you'd like to see, let me know and we'll consider it.

Thanks, Ben. Later this week, I’m going to feature two of Splickety’s authors, Andrew Winch and Jon Zech so you can all get an idea of some of the contributors. Who knows? YOU might be the next one!

Young Whippersnapper!

I have to pay my respects to the young whippersnapper who became my crit partner four years ago. Jessica Nelson, a truly gifted writer, is about to introduce her first novel, LOVE ON THE RANGE, a Love Inspired Romance. The story will be out April 3, 2012 and is a delightful read.

It's a long road to publication, but Jessica was determined. Though just a whippersnapper compared to a lot of folks writing, her perseverance left no doubt she would be pubbed.

Whether you are fifteen or fifty, if you've been blessed with the talent to write, get off your duff and start putting words to paper. Shut off the tv, or leave it on for comfort, if you're a noise-infused writer, whatever it takes. But write!

Never give up your dream, don't even postpose it, you might be the next Jessica Nelson with a new book to celebrate.