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Fun Fridays – March 5, 2021

By Steve Laubeon March 5, 2021

Your mobile phone is a pocket full of sound if you want it to be. Today’s series of videos is an acapella group, MayTree, which recreates the sound that emanates from your mechanical device, using their voices.

Amazing. And clever!

Video one is for iPhone users.
Vidoe two (brand new last Friday) is for Mac computer users.
Video three is for long-time Samsung Galaxy users.
Video four is for Windows users.

Enjoy!

[If you cannot see the embedded videos in your newsletter email, please click the headline and go directly to our site to view it.]

Writing Advice I Took to Heart

By Guest Bloggeron March 4, 2021

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 …

Category: Career, Conferences, The Writing Life

Identity Publishing

By Dan Balowon March 3, 2021

A powerful social force in the world today is called “identity politics” (IP). Simply, it divides people by race, gender, economic class, and numerous other factors, creating a large number of micro-groups, each supporting political agendas important to the group. For Christians and the church, commanded by God to live in unity with other believers and be peacemakers with everyone else, IP …

Category: The Publishing Life, The Writing Life, Theology, Trends

How to Write for Children with Jennifer Grant

By Thomas Umstattd, Jr.on March 2, 2021

Children’s books are a hot genre right now. With libraries closed, more parents are purchasing children’s books; and more authors are trying their hand at writing a children’s book. These books are so short, how hard could they be to write? Actually, very hard. Or, at least, it is hard to write a book parents want to buy and children want to hear or read. As a parent of a two-year-old and an …

Category: The Writing Life

How to Write for Children with Jennifer Grant

By Thomas Umstattd, Jr.on March 2, 2021

Children’s books are a hot genre right now. With libraries closed, more parents are purchasing children’s books; and more authors are trying their hand at writing a children’s book. These books are so short, how hard could they be to write? Actually, very hard. Or, at least, it is hard to write a book parents […]
You can listen to this episode How to Write for Children with Jennifer Grant on …

Category: The Writing Life

Book of the Month – March 2021

By Steve Laubeon March 1, 2021

I like to occasionally recommend a book on the writing life. Art + Faith by Makoto Fujimura (Yale University Press) is one you might enjoy. The author is a well-known painter and frequently speaks and writes on the intersection of art and faith. In 2009 Crossway publishing commissioned him to illuminate the four Gospels to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the publishing of the King James …

Category: Art, Book of the Month, The Writing Life

Fun Fridays – February 26, 2021

By Steve Laubeon February 26, 2021

Virtuoso is almost too easy of a word to describe the artist in today’s video. Alexandr Hrustevich + Vivaldi + ACCORDIAN??? You will have one of two reactions to this genius in relation to your own talent: (1) Aspire to greatness. (2) Crawl under a blanket and ponder your existence. Just kidding. I’d rather you do the first. Take a moment to contemplate the hours of practice and the …

Category: Fun Fridays

Am I on a Deadline?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 25, 2021

Many authors submit book proposals to agents and editors with the thought, If this doesn’t work, I’ll self-publish. That plan is reasonable. However, when strategizing your career, consider the timeline. As an agency, we set a time frame to respond to author queries. Often, we miss our stated deadline. In working with other publishing professionals, we are aware that this is an industry-wide …

Category: Book Business, Rejection, Self-Publishing, The Writing Life

A Cliché Simile Is a Bad Simile

By Bob Hostetleron February 24, 2021

One of the many things I fairly harp on when I teach at writers conferences (full disclosure: I’m a fair harper) is the need to eliminate clichés from your writing. Seriously, they’re old hat. One of the places clichés seem to creep in most often is in similes and metaphors. (Quick refresher: a simile is a figure of speech comparing two things, usually using “like” or “as,” while a metaphor is a …

Category: Craft, Creativity, Grammar