For some reason I found this mesmerizing. Only 1:21 in length so you tell me if you were as fascinated as I was. Enjoy!
And if you really like this sort of thing, enjoy the eight minute rendition of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor on the organ.
Blog
I’m Always Open to Submissions
Sometimes authors send me an email asking, “Are you looking at new submissions?” or “Are you accepting new clients?” I appreciate these authors’ desire not to waste my time or theirs, but I’ll say it here: I’m always open to submissions and new clients. Now, does this mean I’m open to reading entire unpublished books on every and any topic? Or that I hope to sign five new clients every week? No. I …
Keys for Effective Social Media Use
Okay, I don’t pretend to be a pro on social media use. Honestly, I use it because I enjoy it. (Yeah, off-the-scale extrovert here.) But I’ve done some research lately for this blog, and found that the following tips I wanted to share were also mentioned in several of the “How To” sites I read. So here are a few collectively suggested “keys” to making sure your social media involvement is as …
The Accidental Pharisee
Anyone who spends even a little time reading the New Testament discovers the only times Jesus got really angry was when he confronted religious people who were so far off the intended track they needed outright and immediate correction or even condemnation. Jesus could judge, after all he was God in the flesh. Those who didn’t know any better were treated with relative kindness, called upon to …
6 Excuses (That Don’t Work) for Not Attending a Writers Conference
Our guest today is Linda Taylor, an author, an editor, a writer, a college writing instructor, and a constant learner. She teaches in the Professional Writing department at Taylor University and continues to do freelance editing and proofreading. She blogs about the joys of editing and grammar at www.lindaktaylor.com ___________ In our extremely virtual world, we have gotten used to our …
A Time for Lament
For a while we were able to rattle off the cities or the names of various people and incidents where someone died. Every place from Columbine to Sandy Hook to Ferguson to Fort Hood to Charleston to Orlando to Dallas to Nice. But now the litany has become too long and transformed into one long cry. Not a cry for a rally but literally a cry of lament. What makes it worse are the untold tragedies …
Fun Fridays – July 15, 2016
If we can’t laugh at ourselves we are doomed. Enjoy today’s commercial break. (Add new words or phrases in the comments below but don’t use any of them in your next writing project!)
What’s Wrong with my Book?
As you can imagine, we see hundreds of proposals and manuscripts each month. And, as you can also imagine, we must decline most. However, there are a few mistakes you can avoid to help your submission rise above others: Not beginning the story in the right place. All too often, an author will tell us about the main characters’ backgrounds before getting to the crux of the story, where the …
When You Must *Not* Wait
I shared, in a previous blog (“The Hardest Part of Being a Writer“), about the difficulty of waiting during the writing journey. Well, I’m happy to report that there is an area where you not only don’t have to wait, but you shouldn’t, and that’s building your audience through social media. I can’t tell you how many of the proposals we’ve seen in recent weeks that say something along …
Theological Accountability Partners
Just because an author is a mature Christian, doesn’t mean they are immune from writing something containing shaky theology. In an effort to craft compelling phrases and stories, orthodox theology can sometimes be a casualty of creativity or even carelessness. Most often it is entirely accidental. I referenced this issue in a post over a year ago. A significant function of a traditional Christian …