ENCOURAGEMENT FROM AN ELM TREE by Patti Jo Moore

I’m blessed to have an office room in my home, complete with a desk next to a window that overlooks my front yard. But the best part of my window view is seeing the two Elm trees in my yard—trees that resembled twigs in the ground when they were first planted over twenty years ago. I will go out on a limb and say that I’ve really grown fond of these trees over the years. 😉 (Couldn’t resist the pun!)

Yesterday as I gazed out my window, trying not to think about my To-Do list calling to me, I thought about these trees—particularly the one that’s closer to my window—and how that Elm tree reminds me of my writing journey. The tree started out very small, much as my writing journey when I began my first story. When I think back to my very first writers’ conference and all I did not know, I cringe! But just as the sunshine and rain have strengthened my Elm tree, other writers, attending conferences, and reading books have strengthened me. 😊 Authors I’ve admired have been so kind, offering prayers and encouragement. And yes, I still have much to learn. But I’m growing—just as my Elm tree has grown (and continues to grow).

Sadly, that Elm tree has also been struck by lightning, which damaged a large branch. But the tree continued standing! Only one branch came down, leaving the other branches and the trunk intact. As writers, it’s a guarantee that at some point we’ll have to face some less-than-pleasing news. Whether it’s a rejection from an editor or agent, a negative review from a reader, or even non-supportive family members, there’s bound to be something that “strikes” at our confidence as a writer. But we must learn to release it (easier said than done at times), just as my Elm tree let its damaged branch fall to the ground to be hauled away. We pray for guidance and keep writing.

When we’re able to reach a goal in our writing—whether it’s a completed manuscript, obtaining an agent, having our book published, or some other wonderful accomplishment—we feel revived and full of life, just as my Elm tree is now. 😊 The branches are full of healthy, green leaves, and squirrels and birds enjoy making nests on these sturdy limbs. The tree is able to offer protection to these creatures, while offering shade to me when I’m outside. So although I’m still learning in my writing journey, I’m happy to offer encouragement to others on this journey. Especially to someone just starting out who may feel overwhelmed! May I learn from my beautiful Elm tree, as I continue enjoying this view as I grow in my writing.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13

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After being deceived by her beau the previous year, library worker Sadie Perkins feels she’s meant to remain single and serve as a missionary to orphans in Africa. Her plan is to return home to Riverview after a year, and open an orphanage in a lovely house she’s admired since childhood. She didn’t plan on losing her heart to someone who intends to demolish the house.

Widower Shaun O’Leary of Savannah yearns to make his father proud, and hopes to accomplish that by overseeing a hotel project in the town of Riverview. But first he must have a house demolished before hotel construction can begin. After meeting lovely Sadie Perkins in Riverview, he’s puzzled why she seems upset when he mentions his plans. He’s also saddened that she’s leaving for Africa soon, because he’s fallen in love with her.

As Sadie prepares to board a ship, she finally has peace and realizes what she should do, yet still feels sad that the house she loves is to be demolished. When Shaun suddenly has an idea to save the house Sadie loves, he rushes to the Savannah port to tell her, but the ship has sailed. When things seem hopeless, can dreams still come true?

Patti Jo Moore is a former kindergarten teacher who now writes full-time. Her “Sweet, Southern Stories” feature characters who face realistic struggles and challenging situations but always have a happily-ever-after ending.

Patti Jo loves Jesus, her family, cats, and coffee. When not writing, she loves spending time with her family—especially her precious grandbaby. She enjoys connecting with readers and can be found on Facebook at Author Patti Jo Moore. You can also visit her blog at http://catmomscorner.blogspot.com

She has three contemporary stories and one historical, all with Forget-Me-Not Romances

Enjoying the Journey by Sally Shupe

As you start on a journey, enjoy the trip, take in the passing scenery. Who knows what you might find. One year, we got lost coming back from vacation. We passed a paved lot with a bunch of parked airplanes. I thought it was so cool. If we hadn’t gotten lost, I would have never seen it. Another time, our family went on vacation with friends of ours. We got lost. My friend and I (Hi, Sandy!) thought it was funny. When we finally crossed over into another state, we got out of the car and ran around the sign. As you can see, it is not vacation unless we get lost at least once. I think the record is getting lost three times trying to get somewhere for vacation. GPS is not my friend!

When I started running, I had a hard time. Come to find out, you need muscles that I didn’t have at the time in order to run. Needless to say, I was slow. But as I continued running, I noticed flowers, bushes, the breeze, the way the sun lit up spider webs in the grass. Even though I was having a hard time running, I could still enjoy the things around me.

How does getting lost on vacation and struggling with running have to do with writing? I’ll tell you. Enjoy the journey! Are you struggling with getting words on a page? Struggling with finishing your first book, or tenth? Struggling with getting published? Enjoy the journey! There are so many things to see along the way.

Writing your first word, leads to two words, which leads to a complete sentence, a paragraph, a page, a chapter, a completed book. But at the end, what do you have? Words on paper. Now imagine that same journey, interacting with other writers, readers who enjoy the genre you write, writing blogs where you can interact with others in the industry. Do you know what you’ve done? Opened doors that can lead to friendships, a critique partner, encouraging tips, an agent, maybe even a publisher. If all you do is take a trip and not pay attention to the scenery you pass, you’ve missed half the journey. If you go for a run, a walk, a hike, but don’t actually see where you’re running, walking, or hiking, you’re missing the added benefits. It’s the same with writing. If all you do is put words on a page, you are missing what you can learn along the way: new editing skills, friendships with potential readers, maybe even an agent connection or a publishing contact. Writing can be a solitary journey, but it doesn’t have to be. And when you’re struggling, the best thing is to have encouragers around you, cheering you on. Who knows what you might find?

So, reach out to the ones around you. Enjoy the writing journey, how you get from point a to b, the people you encounter, the skills you acquire, and have fun!

How do you keep your writing journey from being a lonely experience? I’d love to hear from you.

Sally Shupe lives in southwest Virginia with her husband, two grown kids-a daughter still at home and a son nearby, and a whole bunch of pets: five dogs, three cats, a rabbit, and birds at the birdfeeder (and the mandatory snowman when the snow cooperates). She writes contemporary Christian romance, with two completed manuscripts and three more in progress. They are part of a series located in small town Virginia.

When Sally’s not writing or working full-time, she is a freelance editor for several authors who write fiction and nonfiction; students working on dissertation papers; a copy editor for Desert Breeze; a content editor for Prism (became part of Pelican); performs beta reading for various authors; publishes book reviews on her blog and with Valley Business FRONT’s monthly magazine; is a member of ACFW and a PRO member of RWA; loves genealogy, running, and crocheting.

Sally uses her love of words to write about God’s amazing love.

Connect with Sally:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sallyshupewritings/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SallyShupe1
Blog: http://sallyshupe.blogspot.com/
Email: sallyshupe1@gmail.com
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sallyshupe1/
Website: http://sallyshupeseditingservice.weebly.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sally-schreiner-shupe-8217a639?trk=hp-identity-name

Lessons Writers Can Learn From Throwing Axes by Sandy Kirby Quandt

Recently my husband, son, and I went to a local axe-throwing establishment. Right off let me say I loved it. Two hours hurling axes at a wooden target and scoring multiple bull’s eyes, what's not to love?
There were groups of all ages and axe throwing abilities. Some of us were newbies and it showed. Others like the bearded, Viking-hair-shaved, kilt wearer who brought his personal bag of axes were obvious pros.
As I threw axes at targets, I realized there are lessons writers can learn from throwing axes.
• In axe throwing if we're going to hit the target, we have to get in the game, grab an axe, step up to the line, and throw the axe toward the target in front of us. As writers, if we want our words to hit the target and find an audience, we need to get in the game, step up to the line, and put our words on the page.
• If we hurl an axe toward the target and it doesn't stick the first, second, even third time, we pick the axe off the floor and throw it again. If our first attempts to hit the publishing target bounce off the wall and land with a solid thud to the ground for all the world to hear, we pick up that manuscript and send it into the publishing world again.
• Just because our axe hits a bull’s eye once doesn't mean we'll score another bull’s eye on the next go round. Nevertheless, we keep trying. We may score an acceptance with one manuscript then miss with the next one we pitch. Nevertheless, we keep trying.
• When we throw the axe and it doesn’t score a bull’s eye, we don't discount the 1s, 2s, and 3s we have scored. All points big and small add up for the grand total. They don’t have to all be bull’s eyes. Each step forward in our writing journey is important no matter how small we may feel it is. We don’t dismiss those which seem insignificant in comparison to our overall goal.
There are no disqualifiers for hitting the target - wooden or written. What truly matters is a willingness to get in the game, grab that axe, step up to the line, and give it our best shot. Over and over and over again. Enjoying each step of the journey along the way.

Sandy Kirby Quandt is a former elementary school educator and full-time writer with a passion for God, history, and travel; passions that often weave their way into her stories and articles. She has written numerous articles, devotions, and stories for adult and children publications. Her devotions appear in two Worthy Publishing compilation books; So God Made a Dog, and Let the Earth Rejoice. She has won several awards for writing including the 85th and 86th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition in the Young Adult category, First Place in the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference Children’s Literature 2016 Foundation Awards, First Place in the 2017 Foundation Awards in the Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Flash Fiction categories. Looking for words of encouragement or gluten-free recipes? Then check out Sandy’s blog, Woven and Spun. twitter.com/SandyKQuandt

The Ark on our Shoulders by Laurel Thomas

Every writing project is a journey. At the end, we arrive at a destination that depends on every bit of our hard work. There were obstacles we had to leap over and lots of fine-tuning to do.  Our laptops flamed with the rush of inspiration one moment and grew stone cold at the next as we wondered what in the heck we were thinking.

Angst. It gets old. So, we press on anyway. We keep writing, keep working until the final product shines. Or at least we know it’s the best we can do. Even then we join a critique group, hire an editor and get other trained eyes on it, just to be sure.

In my head I knew the Lord was in the process. But one morning I saw proof of it in an obscure passage in I Kings 8. 

Here’s the back story. Construction of Solomon’s temple was complete - down to the tiniest facet of magnificence and order. 

It was time for the Ark of His Presence to arrive. Priests carried it with wooden poles on their shoulders to the inner sanctuary. Everything in that room had been prepared to receive the presence of God. Golden cherubim, crafted especially for the Ark, spread their wings over it. The walls themselves were overlaid with gold and shone with a luminescence. 

It was all dazzling. Except for those wooden poles the priests had used. They stayed in the middle of all that splendor, sticking out from under the Ark. (I Kings 8:8)

Wooden poles sticking out? In a place so glorious and intricate in detail that it’d taken thousands of workmen seven years to complete? 

Surely, they could’ve gotten rid of them. After all, the poles weren’t needed anymore. The Ark was in the temple to stay. No more mobile-home tabernacle to carry it everywhere God’s people went. 

Why were the poles still there?

Maybe to remind us that His presence was once carried on the shoulders of people. Those wooden poles weren’t fancy, but they were proof that God chose people to carry Him to a specific destination.  

Maybe you just submitted an article, wrapped up the resolution of your novel or finished a memoir. There was a journey to get there. One that you carried on your shoulders throughout the process. 

It’s true that the Lord was there every step of the way. But our work mattered. Our efforts carried an idea, a story, a poem to completion.  

Carrying that Ark into the temple took work. Teaming up with God takes work. But we can remember those wooden poles. Like them, we might end up in the middle of something beautiful!

A former high school English teacher, Laurel Thomas has written for magazines such as Guideposts, Mysterious Ways and others. In addition to her foray into fiction with her first novel, Laurel has ghosted books and edited others. As general administrator of Write Well, Sell Well OKC, she helps facilitate an annual conference and other opportunities to equip writers.   Laurel holds degrees in English and Counseling. She is a chaplain for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations, as well as being a lay pastor at Church on the Rock, Oklahoma City, OK.  Check out her blog at freefreshbread@wordpress.com and her website at www.laurelannthomas.org. 

A Villain's Bio by Laurel Thomas

Big and hairy, green teeth dripping with goo. You get the idea. It’s a villain. 

 

No matter what he, she or it looks like, a bad guy’s primary goal is to shut down the good guy. The protagonist needs to make forward motion and for whatever reason, the villain disagrees.

 

In good fiction, the bad guy isn’t obvious or at least has some believable reason for a twisted point of view. People are complicated and it’s no different for an effective antagonist.

 

My laptop is open without interruption – a rare moment. From my perch at the kitchen counter, I notice little piles here and there, bills waiting to be paid and laundry to done. 

 

But I need to write. 

 

Today, I plow through the angst of choosing a career with no concrete list of orders each morning (unless I make one) or time-clock (unless my alarm counts), and where success eludes me if I don’t move myself forward.  

 

A blank screen is intimidating, of course. But something more sinister lurks. As diabolical as a genetically-designed Godzilla in Jurassic World, it’s tailor-made to shut me down. It comes to devour my journey. This villain has studied me, knows my quirks, failures and mistakes. 

 

But unlike some monster creeping in the shadows, this villain is me. At least until I decide to resign that role. 

 

My writing is a journey. It unfolds as I move forward. It evolves through surprises, plot twists and lots of conflict. It won’t end until I decide to stop. 

 

Like the protagonist in my favorite novel, I may be unaware of how formidable that bad guy can be. And what the stakes are if I give in and quit. 

 

Villain-talk goes something like this: 

 

My last query got rejected fifteen times. It must be a sign. Wrong career.

 

I’m staring at a blank screen. It’s a sign. I have no more fresh ideas.

 

I’ve written myself into a corner as a fiction writer. It’s a sign. Toss it out the manuscript. 

 

There are big structure problems in my novel. It’s a sign. The whole story is flawed.

 

Another day without writing? No big deal.

 

A week without writing? Better quit. Too hard to take it up now.

 

My writer friends are multi-published. Where’s my success?

 

(Remember that adding It’s a sign gathers a weight of the ages on already tired shoulders.)

 

The surest way to foil a crafty bad guy is to understand his tactics, to discern his mode of operandum. Does he gather other bad guys to help? Does he undermine confidence, slander reputation or isolate with shame? What tactics do I use against myself on a bad day?

 

Opposition doesn’t have to work against me. It can stir me to persevere, to hone my craft by learning and investing more into my journey. It can make me shine. 

 

Pressure can uncover a well in me that isn’t dry after all. Or prove that I’ve learned good instincts after plowing through all those conferences, critiques and evaluations. 

 

The crux of a great story always has a villain. It just shouldn’t be me. Or you. Because without us, our stories go nowhere.  

 

Resolve to be your own best champion. You’ve got a great story. Keep writing it! 

A former high school English teacher, Laurel Thomas has written for magazines such as Guideposts, Mysterious Ways and others. In addition to her foray into fiction with her first novel, Laurel has ghosted books and edited others. As general administrator of Write Well, Sell Well OKC, she helps facilitate an annual conference and other opportunities to equip writers.  

 

Laurel holds degrees in English and Counseling. She is a chaplain for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations, as well as being a lay pastor at Church on the Rock, Oklahoma City, OK. 

 

Check out her blog at freefreshbread@wordpress.com and her website at www.laurelthomas.org.