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The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World…Word by Word

The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Archives for Guest Blogger » Page 2

Guest Blogger

Your Words Can Be More Powerful Than Technology

By Guest Bloggeron April 15, 2021
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Today’s guest post is by Laura L. Smith. She is a best-selling author and speaker who lives in the picturesque college town of Oxford, Ohio, where you’ll find her running the wooded trails, strolling the brick streets, teaching Bible study at her local church, shopping at the Saturday morning farmer’s market, or going on a sunset walk with her husband and four kids. Her latest title, How Sweet the Sound, dives into the power and relevance of hymns in our modern lives. She is represented by Bob Hostetler.

_________________

My phone is great for loads of things. But every time I pick it up it feels flat, smooth and the temperature of its environment. It smells like absolutely nothing. And taste? Well, considering phones are said to have more germs than a public restroom floor, I don’t want to try. I’m guessing it’s as tasteless as it is odorless. Technology is extremely useful, but the written word has an edge over it.

I could post a picture of the black trail that winds through my nearby woods to tell you a story about my morning run. I could go a step further and post a video. Then you’d glimpse the squirrel with orange markings around his ears darting in front of me. You’d hear the echo of my feet as I jogged across the covered bridge. If we got really snazzy and put it in virtual reality, you could see the trail, squirrel, and bridge through my eyes. But as with everything digital, the viewer would miss all the tastes, smells, and physical sensations. They’d only access two of the five senses.

But writers? If we’re doing our job well, we can one-up technology by providing our readers a full sensory experience. Here are the first five minutes of my run, not in a picture, video, or VR, but simply in words.

The thick, pungent exhaust from a lone truck assaulted my nose and mouth as I stretched my tight calves in the parking lot. But once on the trail the air was crisp and fresh. I inhaled giant gulps of it, letting it fill my lungs with something clearer, purer than the circulated air from my vents at home.

The wind pricked my cheeks. Somewhere overhead, a woodpecker’s lightning-fast beak hammered a tree trunk. Looking up, I caught a glimpse of his scarlet head bright in contrast against the pale gray sky and blackish branches stripped of their leaves. Earbuds in, I pressed play on my Maverick City playlist and started moving. The piano chords and deep, soulful cadence of Dante Bowe’s voice in my ears and the air so clean it tasted like spring water propelled me forward. Soon my breathing settled into a pattern and my feet found their rhythm sinking into the soft cinder trail.

I hope you found yourself on the trail with me. That’s what writers do—invite our readers into our journeys. That could be a journey of understanding a certain theology or of a woman walking to a stream during the Civil War (either fictional or nonfictional) or a journey out of depression or debt or through marriage or adoption. No matter the journey we’re writing about, we can bring our readers along with us by offering them a full sensory experience depicted by words.

You try. What are you currently writing? Try incorporating taste, smell, touch, or all three into your article, blog post, or chapter.

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Category: Craft, Guest Post, Writing Craft

Writing Advice I Took to Heart

By Guest Bloggeron March 4, 2021
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Today’s guest post is by Lori Hatcher. She is an editor, writing instructor, award-winning Toastmasters International speaker, blogger, and author of three (soon to be five) devotionals, including Refresh Your Faith, Uncommon Devotions from Every Book of the Bible, and Hungry for God … Starving for Time: Five-Minute Devotions for Busy Women. Her articles and devotions have been published by …

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Category: Career, Conferences, The Writing Life

What the 2021 Facebook Changes Mean for Authors

By Guest Bloggeron February 22, 2021
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Thomas Umstattd, Jr. wrote this post as part of his podcast at AuthorMedia. I asked permission to make it available to you as well. This is extremely important to understand for authors and publishers trying to use Facebook as part of their marketing efforts. Check out the great work Thomas is doing to help authors navigate the labyrinth called “publishing” at AuthorMedia.com. …

Read moreWhat the 2021 Facebook Changes Mean for Authors
Category: Marketing, Social MediaTag: Facebook

Coming Full Circle

By Guest Bloggeron February 17, 2021
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by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Today's guest blog is from Kim Vogel Sawyer a best-selling author whose books have topped the sales charts and won awards since 2005, when she left her elementary school teaching job to write full time. Her books have won the Carol Award, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, and the Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Her stories are designed to offer hope and …

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Category: Career, Get Published, Guest Post, Inspiration, TamelaTag: Career, Get Published, Inspiration

The Power of the Short Story

By Guest Bloggeron January 14, 2021
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Today’s guest writer is Deborah Clack, who is a native Texan and nonrecovering chocolate addict. A high-school AP history teacher for 10 years, Deborah earned a master’s degree in education and was awarded Teacher of the Year for Arts in Education. Now she creates award-winning stories of her own with endearing characters and a hard-fought romance. She asks her heroines, as well as her …

Read moreThe Power of the Short Story
Category: Career, Guest Post, The Writing LifeTag: short story

Give Thanks to God

By Guest Bloggeron November 23, 2020
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There is a verse in scripture which sets out in bold relief the great besetting problem of the human race. It is Romans 1:21: ‘for even though we knew God…we did not give thanks.’ Astonishing! How can we actually know God and not give thanks? Scarcely a day passes in which we are not deluged by at least a hundred instances of God’s goodness to us. Thanksgiving ought to be the most natural of human …

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Category: Guest Post, TheologyTag: thanksgiving

Do You Need to Hire a Professional Editor?

By Guest Bloggeron June 4, 2020
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Recently, a blog reader sent the following question: Tamela, as everyone knows, writing can be a desperately lonely pastime. The biggest thing I struggle with is direction or coaching. That is, “Have I developed a good story, concept, or theme? Or, am I seriously off the rails, a hopeless case?” I realize I’m talking about developmental editing but how can a writer find critical review without …

Read moreDo You Need to Hire a Professional Editor?
Category: Editing, Self-Publishing, The Writing Life, Writing Craft

Create a World Your Readers Love

By Guest Bloggeron September 26, 2019
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Today’s guest post is written by Virginia Wise, one of Tamela’s clients. Welcome, Virginia! She is the author of the Amish New World series, in which colonial settlers discover love—and God’s promises—in the Pennsylvania wilderness (Kensington Publishing). Her latest books include An Amish Second Christmas, Where the Heart Takes You, and When Love Finds You.  Connect with …

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Category: Writing CraftTag: fiction, novels, worldbuilding

Picture-Perfect Personality

By Guest Bloggeron July 25, 2019
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Today’s guest writer is Emilie Haney, a freelance writer, photographer, and graphic designer living in Northern California. She’s a member of ACFW and writes young-adult fiction. She’s got a soft spot in her heart for animals and a love for the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. In her spare time, you can find her designing fun, bookish items for her Etsy and Society6 shops, all while …

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Category: Book Proposals, Branding, Marketing, Platform, The Writing Life

Real vs. Fictitious Settings

By Guest Bloggeron May 23, 2019
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Today’s guest post is from our client Mindy Obenhaus. She is a three-time Carol Award nominee who writes contemporary romance. Mindy is passionate about touching readers with biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren at her Texas ranch. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com. …

Read moreReal vs. Fictitious Settings
Category: Craft, Guest Post, The Writing Life, Writing Craft
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