• Skip to main content
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer

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

  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Interview with Steve Laube
    • Statement of Faith
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
  • Guidelines
  • Authors
    • Who We Represent
    • Awards and Recognition
  • Resources
    • Recommended Reading
    • Christian Writers Market Guide Online
    • Christian Writers Institute
    • Writers Conferences
    • Freelance Editorial Services
    • Copyright Resources
    • Research Tools
    • Selling What You Write
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Twitter
  • FaceBook
  • RSS Feed
  • Get Published
  • Book Proposals
  • Book Business
  • Writing Craft
    • Conferences
    • Copyright
    • Craft
    • Creativity
    • Grammar
  • Fun Fridays
Home » Personal » Page 13

Personal

Writing through the Fog      

By Karen Ballon October 12, 2016
Share
Tweet
41

You may have noticed I haven’t had a blog posted here since losing my dear dad a few weeks ago. I want to thank all of you for your kind expressions of sympathy and your encouragement. You blessed me a great deal. God has held me close, granting me wondrous touches of His kindness and peace. Though grief hits me at unexpected times—such as last night, while I was clearing off the kitchen counter where Dad always used to fix his meals—I have been amazed at the peace and joy sustaining me spiritually and emotionally.

But the one place I’ve really struggled these last few weeks is—you guessed it—writing. I have discovered it’s unbelievably hard to focus. A couple of times, when I sat down to write a blog, I closed my eyes to concentrate…and woke up hours later. The really frustrating part of this is that I have a lot I want to tell you! I’ve got a whole list of blog ideas just waiting to come to life. But when I try to get them on the page…

It’s not happening.

It finally occurred to me this morning that I’m not the only writer to struggle with this kind of thing. With not being able to focus, with feeling as though every word has to be snagged and extracted from the thick fog clogging the creative corners of her mind.

Of course, as I thought about the issue, I came up with some truly brilliant ideas <insert grin here>.  But before I share them, I want to know:

How do you write through the fog when it hits?

What tips and ideas can you share with me, and with the writing community, to help get the words out of our clogged-up brains and onto the page? I look forward to reading your thoughts!

Leave a Comment
Category: Personal, The Writing LifeTag: The Writing Life, Writers Block

Memory Lane and Wishes

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon September 29, 2016
Share
Tweet
23

Recently my mother was hospitalized for a few days. She is better now, but it made me wish things were different. I wish I could be a married grown-up with children as I am, but that my parents could freeze time and stay the same age forever – forever young, or at least forever middle-aged. Looking at old family photos takes me back to the 1970s today. Do you write in that time period? As of …

Read moreMemory Lane and Wishes
Category: PersonalTag: 70's, Tamela Hancock Murray

Fun Fridays – September 23, 2016

By Steve Laubeon September 23, 2016
Share
Tweet
20

For those of you who may not have heard, Karen Ball’s father passed away this past week. She has been providing in-home care for a long time. He was a former pastor and loved the old hymns of the faith. My father passed away four years ago this month. He too loved the old hymns and particularly liked to hear me sing “How Great Thou Art.” The lives of these two fathers are what …

Read moreFun Fridays – September 23, 2016
Category: Fun Fridays, Personal

What Do You Think of Used Books?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon September 15, 2016
Share
Tweet
27

Some authors might complain that books shouldn’t be sold on the secondary market since authors don’t earn royalties on used books. I understand that sense of loss, but as is the case with libraries, used book stores are a great place to discover authors and their work. Our town has two used book stores, though I tend to favor one with convenient parking. Here, a customer can’t go in and say, “Do …

Read moreWhat Do You Think of Used Books?
Category: Personal, ReadingTag: Book Sales, Reading, Used Books

“Do You Love Me?”

By Karen Ballon September 14, 2016
Share
Tweet
14

Have you heard the one about the elderly woman who heard her friends’ husbands over the years tell them how much they loved them? Oh! How she longed for her husband to do the same. To regale her with the depth and breadth of his enduring love. But…nothing. Finally, as they were sitting out on the porch one morning, she turned to him and said as sweetly as she could, “WHY don’t you ever say you …

Read more“Do You Love Me?”
Category: Personal, TheologyTag: God's love, Theology

A Time for Lament

By Steve Laubeon July 16, 2016
Share
Tweet
35

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 …

Read moreA Time for Lament
Category: Christian, Personal, TheologyTag: Lament, Theology

Expecting the Unexpected   

By Karen Ballon April 6, 2016
Share
Tweet
19

I used to think that if you did a, b would follow, closely tailed by c. That belief was blasted into smithereens by the time I hit my third decade of life. I’ve learned that doing a MAY bring b, or q, or something not even remotely related. I’ve learned in my life, my career, and my faith to expect the unexpected. So why am I telling you this? Well, a couple of weeks ago I promised you a blog …

Read moreExpecting the Unexpected   
Category: Christian, Faith, PersonalTag: Christian, Faith

The Unexpected Advent

By Karen Ballon December 23, 2015
Share
Tweet
16

Well, best laid plans, and all that. You may have noticed there wasn’t a blog from me last week. I was all ready to write about Bethlehem– And WHAM! Life took an unexpected turn. Rather than being in my office, writing a brilliant blog to bless you all, I spent the day dealing with health crises for my older brother. It started at 2:30 am with a phone call from emergency services, and I …

Read moreThe Unexpected Advent
Category: Personal, TheologyTag: Christian, Christmas, Theology

The Little Things

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon December 17, 2015
Share
Tweet
14

Do you make New Year’s Resolutions? If you do, you may already be thinking about them, at least a little. I don’t tend to make strict ones but throughout the year, I do try to improve. I notice it’s the little things that kill. Take the preparation and display of Thanksgiving cranberry sauce. A few years ago, as a small part of my contribution to dinner, I brought jellied cranberry sauce. Of …

Read moreThe Little Things
Category: PersonalTag: Personal, Resolutions

Joy to the World?

By Steve Laubeon December 14, 2015
Share
Tweet
25

The angel said, “I bring you good tidings of great joy!” We really need some of that these days. With Paris and San Bernardino still in the news cycle we are reminded of the evil among us. And then this past week I received a series of bad news from industry friends. A publishing friend lost his home to a fire. A client called to say they’ve been diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma which is a cancer …

Read moreJoy to the World?
Category: Personal, TheologyTag: Christian, Christmas, Theology
  • Previous
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 11
  • Page 12
  • Page 13
  • Page 14
  • Page 15
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 22
  • Next
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Interview with Steve Laube
    • Statement of Faith
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
  • Guidelines
  • Authors
    • Who We Represent
    • Awards and Recognition
  • Resources
    • Recommended Reading
    • Christian Writers Market Guide Online
    • Christian Writers Institute
    • Writers Conferences
    • Freelance Editorial Services
    • Copyright Resources
    • Research Tools
    • Selling What You Write
  • Blog
  • Contact

Copyright © 2025 · The Steve Laube Agency · All Rights Reserved · Website by Stormhill Media