A televised talent show in Germany…for contestants ages 8 to 14 years old. The Voice Kids (Germany).
It is always inspiring to find amazing talent. (The young girl’s name is Solomia Lukyanets.)
Blog
Fiction: Contemporary or Historical?
Recently I noted an article in a prestigious publishing journal that says readers are looking for more fiction. I hope the article is right! To narrow this down, we can look to historical versus contemporary, since many authors write both. To clarify, for the purposes of this blog, I am limiting my discussion to traditional CBA trade book fare of strong stories heavy on romance. I am not …
Please…Preach to the Choir
How often have you heard a writer say, “My book isn’t for church people. I mean, I don’t want to preach to the choir, I want to reach those searching for Christ.” Not for nothing, but friends, who do you think is in the choir? Sure, some of the people sitting in the pews of any given church are life-long believers who know all they need to know about God and living a life of faith. I mean, …
2015 A.D. (Amazon Domination)
July 16, 1995 – Amazon.com began operation. To get there, you clicked on a computer icon, heard the weird dialup modem sounds, the hissing, and you were on your way to the World Wide Web. Type in www.amazon.com and there it was. It will never catch on. People need to hold something in their hands before they buy it. According to several sources, the first book ever sold on Amazon was this: Fluid …
Christian Fiction is Not Dead
Last week’s news of Abingdon Press deciding to no longer acquire new Christian fiction has created another clamor of claims regarding the demise of Christian fiction. The articles, emails, and comments range from glee (“it needs to die”) to consternation (“woe is me of ever getting a book deal”). Fewer Publishers There is no question that there has been considerable shrinkage in the …
Fun Fridays – July 10, 2015
Enjoy this brother and sister piano duet…with some great twists throughout!
Tamela’s 2015 ICRS Report
As Steve Laube reported on Monday, ICRS was enlightening, entertaining, energetic, and frenetic. (I ran out of “e” words.) One “s” word I looked forward to upon my return home? Sleep! As a member of AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association), I entered ICRS infused with a great amount of love and support from many sisters in Christ because the AWSA conference takes …
The How-To of Legacy
Wonderful thoughts last week. Thanks so much for sharing your experiences, honesty, and wisdom. Just one of the many reasons I so admire you folks. So here are my thoughts on this topic. As Connie Almony wrote, it’s not about the big things we do, it’s the small, everyday things. In fact, it’s about one specific thing: Choices. Legacy stems from the multitude of choices we make every day. It’s …
How to Know When to Stop Writing
At one time or another every person in the world must make a similar decision. We all need to decide when it is time to quit doing something. It is a metaphor-rich moment. Put your foot down. Put a fork in it. Walk away and don’t look back. The end of the road. Pack it in. Stop playing the game. Not going to take it any more. Close the book. Uncle. How do you know when it is time to stop …
ICRS 2015 – Observations
Last week the industry gathered in Orlando for the annual booksellers convention (I.C.R.S. – International Christian Retail Show). This was my 34th consecutive event and this year had some new benefits. I’ll run through some of the highlights and then make some observations. 1) Like last year, Tamela Hancock Murray and Dan Balow attended as well. We tried to do our meetings with publishers as a …