Tag: Christian fiction

March 2, 2014

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Writing in Obedience
Writing in Obedience

Today in History: 

It is Sunday March 2, 2014. It is the 61st day of 2014. There are 304 days left in the year. On this date in 1939, Roman Catholic Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli was elected pope on his 63rd birthday. He took the name Pius XII. He served until his death in 1958.

Crazy North Texas Weather:

Yesterday the high temperature here in north Texas was a near record 84 degrees. As I type at 3 PM Dallas, Texas time the temperature is a cold 25 degrees. We have thunder sleet and freezing rain. We are expecting a low temperature tonight of 10 to 12 degrees with wind chills below zero. That is a far cry from the over night low of 60 just two night ago. Why mention the weather? This is a good example of the weather in north Texas.

Sunday at Church:

My tradition on Sunday is to attend Sunday church and Bible fellowship class. Today we had a surprise. Our pastor, Dr. Jack Graham, shared the resignation of Todd Bell, the churches long-time worship pastor. Todd had been with the church over twenty years.

Leaving church an ice covered windshield that required scraping greeted us. The bitter north winds made the ice removal a major chore. I felt like I was freezing to death.

The Tech Guy:

While I am typing this, I am listening to Leo Laporte, the Tech Guy. You can see and hear Leo at http://twit.tv/show. I have been listening to him on Twit since 2005 and on the Screen Savers on the old Tech TV since the late 1990s.

Book Review – Writing in Obedience: A Primer for Christian Writers

I finished reading the book “Writing in Obedience: A Primer for Christian Writers” by Terry burns and Linda W. Yezak.

Terry Burns and Linda W. Yezak’s book “Writing in Obedience: A Primer for Christian Writers” is an excellent work, packed with information I wish I had available before I started my writing career over thirty years ago. Divided into three parts the book begins with a section aimed at Christians writing fiction. It is valuable for the Christian who writes fiction, as well as the Christian fiction writer. They do a good explaining receiving a call from God to write Christian fiction versus being a Christian, who writes fiction. They help us look how much Christian content is right, and Terry makes an excellent point of how to present the content.

Part two contains how-to advice for the beginning Christian writer. The chapter on finding help is an example of the sound advice given.

Part three is a much-needed examination of how to be published with option available in 2014. Terry Burns gives some of the best advice in the book. In this section, he says yes, if we write it we should submit it.

Using the techniques where first one and then the other tells their story or take on a subject works. I appreciated how they labelled who was telling writing. I strongly recommend the book for the new or established Christian author.

The Valiant Papers

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The Valiant Papers by Calvin Miller is the story of a life told from the perspective of the person’s guardian angel. The story is written as though it were true.

The book chronicles the life of a businessman who lives a normal, worldly lifestyle, until just before the end when he becomes a Christian. It tells of the changes he attempts to make in his life, both the successes and the failures.

We see the angel get embarrassed at some of the man’s behaviors. It is a fun read looking at things from a point of view that helps if you have a Christian world view. It is written in the style of C.S. Lewis’s “Screwtape Letters”.

Read and reviewed by Jimmie A. Kepler.

Writer’s Life: Keep Writing and Submitting!

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Today I attended orientation at my new part-time day job. It was fun. It also allows me more time for writing. Since I quit the full-time day job the end of January I have submitted four poems, one short story, and pitched my historical fiction novel. I also have attended my Dallas Writing Practice Group each week.

I keep reminding myself I must write daily and  send my manuscripts with the consistency of the sun rising and setting. This I do.

I continue reading. I’m reading speculative fiction, the Bible, Steve Jobs biography, a historical fiction novel set Virginia during the US Civil War, and nonfiction military history. I also am listening to a number of podcasts. They include: “I Should Be Writing”, “The Drabblecast”, “The Writer’s Almanac”, and “Writing Excuses”.

I had one speculative fiction short story rejected. I continue writing and editing my historical fiction book.

I was encouraged when I received an update from Candace Have Online Writer’s Workshop Chat Group today. It has the story of one member of the group who after over 400 rejections sold her first book, followed by two more and then a series.

Hold on tight to you dreams, but keep writing and learning.