Cord of Three Strands by Patty Nicholas-Boyte

Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NIV) 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

This last weekend, I and five other writers gathered together for a mini retreat. We were working on a specific project, and each one of us struggled in one area or another. As we brainstormed through each person’s story, I witnessed the beauty of the body of Christ in the writing community.

This verse is also special to me as my husband and I braided a cord of three strands in our wedding ceremony three weeks ago as a symbol of how Christ is at the center of our lives as individuals and will be interwoven into our marriage as we become one.

The two events, while still fresh in my mind, have given me a new appreciation for how interconnected we truly are. As writers, our work by nature is one of solitude, but what is true in our lives as Christ followers, is just as true for writers who happen to be Christians. Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing. Writers do not put our Christian identity away when we write. We need Jesus at the center of our lives or our work will be meaningless.

Even though we must write on our own, God created us to be in community. Even though we must write on our own, God created us to be in community. click to tweet it! This is why writers retreats and group gatherings are important. Every time I get together with a group of other writers, I see introverts come out of their shell, and ideas freely exchanged, and creativity flows.

When someone is stuck on a particularly difficult passage, others jump in. When a story needs fleshing out, someone will offer a suggestion. I always look forward to the times I can get together with my writer friends, whether it’s at a conference, a mini retreat or one-on-one with a critique partner. I count these times as very special. It has always been through these times that I have the biggest burst of energy and creativity.

What about you? Do you have a group or critique partner that is one of those strands in the “God Knot?” Where is God in your cord, is He at the center?


Multi award winning writer, Patty Nicholas lives in the mountains of North Carolina. She is a busy event planner for the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove, and is a member of the Blue Ridge Writers Group. She is a mother of two grown daughters and grandmother of three. She writes Bible studies and devotionals as well as contemporary romance. Devotions are published in compilations by Lighthouse Bible Studies.

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Truth is Stranger Than Fiction by Christina Coryell

Christina Coryell

As writers, we work hard to create believable characters, motivations, and outcomes. When it comes to our God and stories of faith, should the unbelievable have a place as well? Author Christina Coryell shares her personal guidelines. ~ Dawn

Truth is Stranger Than Fiction

Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t. – Mark Twain

I’ve always been a Missouri girl, born and raised. Although my building contractor husband and I moved a lot when we married (something like 7 times in the first 8 years), I’ve never lived more than an hour away from the home where I grew up. Since we rarely stayed in one place long enough to get to know anyone, during those early married years, we didn’t interact much with our neighbors.

After all that moving around, we ended up living in one house for about a decade. I couldn’t have chosen better neighbors if I’d hand-picked them, and it was an ideal neighborhood. There were loads of kids around, and most days I could find several of them in my front yard. The boy who lived next door played with my kids so much, he jokingly started calling me “Mom” when he stepped into the house. His mother and I walked around the neighborhood together on Halloween, and they even took care of our dog when we went away on the weekends.

A couple of years went by, and those neighbors went out of state to visit family. It wasn’t until that point in time that we realized we shared a greater connection than we could have imagined. When she was a little girl, my next-door neighbor had been my aunt’s next-door neighbor. In Ohio. 600 miles away.

A story like that can feel difficult to chance when it comes to fiction. With millions of people in those 600 miles between Ohio and my house, the probability of the two of us becoming neighbors was statistically minuscule. Face to face in the real world, talking about it might earn a response of, “Wow, that’s crazy.” Put the same exact scenario in a made-for-TV movie, and I can see it playing in my head: “Oh, of COURSE she ends up living next to the exact same family. Where else would she live? I bet that bearded guy driving her taxi is actually Santa Claus.”

Like it or not, sometimes our minds draw parameters around fiction. We’re willing to entertain pretty much anything…as long as it fits within certain boundaries of plausibility. If writing honest, true-to-life fiction means walking a tightrope between the believable and the unbelievable, there has to be a balance, right? While I’m not one for following hard-set rules, over time I’ve tried to stick to these overarching guidelines when I write:

1. Write with Confidence. I’m not talking about self-assuredness in my abilities, but rather a belief in my story. If someone comes to me and says, “Character A wouldn’t respond that way,” I can’t have a check in my gut about whether he would or wouldn’t. Either I’m able to stand behind what I’ve written one hundred percent, or the editing process isn’t finished.
2. Know When to Listen. Feedback comes a mile a minute in this business. If I took every opinion I’d ever received to heart, I’d be working on revision 430 of my first novel, likely undoing all the revisions requested on versions 2 through 429. When my mama tells me something doesn’t seem right, though, I take a hard look. While I’m taking that hard look, if I get the aforementioned check in my gut, I know she’s right. (Side note: I have the best Mom in the world, who happens to be an avid reader. For clarification purposes, though, I’m not saying that everyone should run their novels past their mamas. Even though I do. 😊)
3. Is it God or Fairy Dust? When something a little more extraordinary makes it into my novel, it has to matter in the larger scheme of things. Life is often wild and crazy and unpredictable. If my character moves across three state lines and ends up living beside the exact same family she lived beside before, she’s going to realize that the Creator of the Universe is invested in her life. At the end of the day, even if it seems a little improbable, it’s nothing for the God of the impossible.

Is it God or Fairy Dust? via @c_tinacoryell #seriouslywrite #encouragementforwriters

If writing honest, true-to-life fiction means walking a tightrope between the believable and the unbelievable, there has to be a balance, right? via @c_tinacoryell #seriouslywrite #encouragementforwriters

Written in the Stars

Written in the Stars

Roundabout these parts, dirt roads don’t just get you from point A to point B. They intersect to create a maze of life often missed when outsiders drive through a sleepy town. The number on the population sign might seem insignificant, but a few short steps from the beaten path, there’s more than meets the eye.

Look a little closer… That sleek out-of-town convertible is bringing former pageant queen Brooke Langdon back into town for the first time in a decade. She’s dragging nothing with her but the hyphen in her last name. Gatlin Moore is running his tractor along the fence line, spending his days keeping up his parents’ farm instead of living out his dreams in Nashville. The sheriff is pulling into Holly Christian’s driveway, preparing to tell her that her life’s about to crumble. And Hunter Pearce, the guy everyone calls when they need something fixed? He’s racing to Holly’s place too, wondering if things are too broken to put back together.

Welcome to Hope Canyon. This is our backroads story.


ACFW QIP author Christina Coryell lives with her husband and children in southwest Missouri. She’s published ten novels and several other stories since 2014, but she’s never written a novel at a desk. Cold metal bleachers during baseball practice, in the back hatch of an SUV, and sitting on a trampoline—she’s written in those places. A mom has to do what a mom has to do. Some days she dreams of writing at a desk. Maybe a treadmill desk would be an easier transition. Her novels have spanned the genres of women’s fiction, southern fiction, and romantic comedy, but mostly she aims to write authentic characters.

Written in the Stars is a nod to the place where she grew up—a candid look at the rural mid-south.

Connect with Christina at www.christinacoryell.com.

Be Kind To Others - - - And To Yourself 😊 By Patti Jo Moore

As Christian writers, we want to show kindness. This is done in countless ways—including encouraging other writers, sharing lessons we’ve learned in our own journey, posting great reviews for books we’ve enjoyed, and lifting up an author-friend who may have gotten a not-so-great book review.

If we’re published, we also want to be kind to our readers. This can also be done in countless ways—from corresponding with them via e-mail and blogs to giving away prizes to show our appreciation for readers.

But I was recently reminded of another way writers need to be kind, and that is to ourselves. I’ve battled a rotten cold for a full week—nothing major, but still feeling miserable. My worst day of this pesky cold was last Friday. I’d been home since Wednesday, not even venturing out to my mailbox. I was reminded of the fact I have a December first deadline, and had gotten behind (okay…waaay behind) on my word count. I had everything I needed—medicine, tissues, coffee, soup, and my kitties napping close by—and the sunshine was streaming in my window next to my desk. It was the perfect setting for me to dive in and let those words flow.

Except…I did not feel like doing a thing. Not one thing. Even my favorite hobbies of reading and needlepoint held no appeal. What was going on? I didn’t want to turn on the television (not even to the Hallmark channel!) and couldn’t think of anything at all I wanted to do. So guilt poked me with that annoying voice. You’re wasting this entire day. Since you’re not sleepy, you should be at least doing something! Remember all those words you still need to write before December?

And it hit me then—something I’ve often heard other writers say. We tend to be hard on ourselves. Sure, it’s great to push ourselves to write or do writing-related tasks even if we’re not feeling motivated. But when we are ill—even from nothing serious—our body still needs rest. And if that means simply gazing out your window and being thankful for the sunshine and Autumn leaves, then that’s okay. 😊 Even Jesus took time to rest.

So with the holidays fast approaching, if you should become sick (which I hope you won’t!) or even overwhelmed with the dozens of items on your To-Do list, please take some time and rest. Without feeling guilty. Then when you’re feeling better, you’ll be ready to tackle whatever has been waiting on you! Be kind to others—and to yourself.

And be ye kind one to another. Ephesians 4:32

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Sadie's Dream

In a coastal Georgia town in 1900, a young woman prepares to serve as a missionary in Africa.

After being jilted the previous year, she's certain she's meant to remain single.

When she meets a handsome businessman from Savannah, she begins struggling with doubts.

Over time she learns that the Lord's plans are best, and dreams really can come true.

Patti Jo Moore is a retired kindergarten teacher and lifelong Georgia girl. She loves Jesus, her family, cats, and coffee, and is blessed to be published with Forget-Me-Not Romances. When she’s not spending time with her family (including her sweet grandbaby) or writing her “Sweet, Southern Stories” Patti Jo can be found feeding cats—her own six and local strays.

She loves connecting with readers and other writers, and can be found on Facebook at Author Patti Jo Moore or her personal blog at http://catmomscorner.blogspot.com

Never Give Up! By Elva Cobb Martin

Have you ever thought of giving up on getting your book finished and published? Well, I want to encourage you. Never give up that dream. God is in the business of helping you finish what He has begun in your heart, according to Philippians 1:7 “Being confident of this very thing that he which has begun a good work in your will perform it...”

I wrote my first novel, Summer of Deception, after attending a writers' conference. Once I started submitting it to publishers and agents, it was rejected 26 times. But I kept revising and rewriting. Meantime, my husband and I were called into full-time ministry, and the manuscript went into my attic for the next 20 years. End of story. Right? 

Nope. Summer of Deception, an inspirational romantic suspense, was contracted and published in 2017, thirty years after that first draft. It has spent time on Amazon’s 100 Best Sellers’ List for Women’s Religious Fiction. A prequel, In a Pirate’s Debt, the story of the pirate ancestor of the hero in Summer, soon followed. November 12, Marisol, a heroine who would not give up, was released.

My Five Steps to a Book Contract

Step 1 – Keep God’s Confidence in Yourself and Never Give Up

Many may reject your manuscript, but someone will love it, if you don’t give up.

Step 2 – Hone Your Craft (Planning Your Novel blog series  http://bit.ly/2HbB5qM)

Carve out praying time, writing time, sharpening craft time, and reading time in your genre.

Step 3 – Find Writing Workshops and Critique Groups

How about your local American Christian Fiction Writers’ Chapter?

Step 4 – Help Other Writers

This is a spiritual principle. You will reap help you need when you sow into others.

Step 5 – Learn how to Submit to Editors and Agents

 Follow their submission guidelines.

Can you add to my list? What helped you not give up?

Never give up that dream. via @ElvaCobbMartin #SeriouslyWrite #amwriting

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Elva Cobb Martin,  a mother and grandmother, lives in South Carolina with her husband and a senior mini-dachshund named Lucy, and a sea green bird named Atticus. She is the upcoming president of her state chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers, a retired teacher, minister, and now calls herself a full-time writer. Better make that rewriter. A life-long student of history, her favorite city, Charleston, inspires her stories of romance and adventure. She desires to share exciting love stories of courageous characters and communicate truths of the Christian faith to bring hope and encouragement.

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