Dear Christian Indies,
When it comes to writing fiction, there are so many possible perils and pitfalls for the new writer to succumb to. This week, we’re focusing on one of the biggies, dialogue.
[Read more…] about Episode 166: Essential Writing Tips: Banishing Boring Dialogue“Ooh, there,” I almost yelled it out loud, but managed to stifle it before alerting Nettie to my presence in her garden. Her precious garden, I hmph. You know she cares about those stupid roses more than people, that’s what I like to say.
[Read more…] about Writing Sprints Inspiration: RhondaDear Writer,
You open your email program, and see the weekly newsletter prepared by The Christian Indie Writers. You click on it, and it opens. You see that the topic for the upcoming episode is “point of view,” and suddenly you realize why the email seems like it “feels” different from the others; it has been written in what is called, “second person point of view”.
[Read more…] about Episode 165: Essential Writing Tips: Point of View“So, Miss Albright … tell me, do you think of our little home?”
Sarah chose not to address Mr. Sutton’s obvious facetious use of the word ‘little.’ “It’s one of the most beautiful homes I’ve ever seen.”
[Read more…] about Writing Sprints Inspiration: Jenifer
Jenifer Carll-Tong is the best-selling author of historical Christian romances and co-host of the Christian Indie Writers’ Podcast.
“I’ve got to test negative before they’ll let me return to work.” Gladys stood at the sink, stirring cream into a half dozen eggs, wondering if the bread had gone bad or if she was going to be able to serve toast to her guests.
“Are you going to tell them?” Clyde jerked his head to the right to indicate the guests asleep in the two spare bedrooms down the hallway.
“I told Sally. I figured, their her friends. If she wants to tell the rest of them, she can.”
“Quite a decision you’ve made,” Clyde sniffed.
“You tell them, then,” Gladys said, shrugging as she poured her eggs into the buttered pan. She began stirring them gently with the metal whisk, irritated that her plastic one had been dirtied the morning before and was not at hand for use, and that she had to whisk extra carefully to preserve the finish of her nonstick pan. The fact that it would only have taken her fifteen seconds to wash the plastic one was squashed in favor of holding a grudge against Sally’s friend, Barb, who’d been the one to dirty it while making the french toast the morning before.
“Some soggy toast it was, too,” Gladys thought bitterly, remembering how the entirety of the household had raved about it.
“I think you ought to tell them,” Clyde said. “All of them. They deserve to know they’ve been exposed.”
“I’m asymptomatic,” Gladys said, whisking more furiously in spite of herself. She hated when her husband tried to tell her what to do. Still, she had to admit the idea of keeping such information from the guests in her house being a bad idea had merit.
“I haven’t even spiked a fever.”
“You should tell them.”
“I’ll test again. I’ll keep testing until I get a negative.”
“That’s not a real solution, and you know it.”
The room fell into silence, save for the subtle hiss of the gas burner and the slight crackle of butter as the eggs neared completion. Grabbing a spatula from out of the drawer, Gladys gave a final scrape to the pan and plopped the eggs on a serving platter. They steamed. Gladys watched the vapors rise and thought about hopes and dreams and plans and how her life was but a vapor, and wished she had married someone who could understand those sorts of thoughts and could engage her on them.
She reached for a plate and set it on top of the eggs to keep them hot as she checked the bread. Still good. She felt the stick of butter on the counter.
Rock solid.
She cursed and popped the stick into the microwave.
“Bad idea,” Clyde offered, and Gladys bit her lip to keep from responding. She wanted to say she knew what she was doing, and that she microwaved butter all the time to butter his blasted breakfast every workday for the past twenty five years.
But she didn’t.
It was one for the “keeping my resolutions” column.
She flipped the stick after five seconds and gave it another five then smiled satisfactorily at the perfectly softened results.
She popped four slices of bread into the toaster.
“Mind the settings,” Clyde offered from his seat.
Resolutions went out the window in an explosion of words.
“Why don’t you cook the breakfast?” She shrieked.
“Calm down,” Clyde said, rolling his eyes.
“Stop telling me what to do and I will,” Gladys snipped.
“Look, I just want you to do the right thing.”
“I’m not telling our guests my personal information just because you want me to!”
“What’s going on, guys?” A disheveled, slippered and peep-eyed Barb had scuffed silently into the room.
“Nothing,” Gladys said.
“If you say so,” Clyde responded.
“Well, good morning,” Barb chirpped.
“And good morning to you, early bird!”
Gladys wanted to spit watching the two of them chatter about current events and tv shows. When the room fell silent, she considered filling it with what she really thought of Sally and her friends and Barbs french toast. Instead, she said,
“I’ve made some eggs.”
TIME IS UP! SEE YOU ON THE PODCAST!!!
Thank you for tuning in to watch me write live! Catch the Christian Indie Writers’ Podcast at 10am Eastern to see/hear me read this piece LIVE! See you there!!!
Jamie Hershberger enjoys writing shorts (short fiction) under the pen name, J. R. Nichols. She is the creator and curator of www.writingshorts.net and the editor of The Writing Shorts Newsletter. Her flash fiction has won several contests and has been featured in two anthologies.
Dear Christian Indies,
Someone at work tried to give me a planner.
When I finished laughing, I politely declined.
[Read more…] about Episode 163: Writers Life: Self Publishing Goals and Ideas for 2022Jenifer Carll-Tong is the best-selling author of historical Christian romances and co-host of the Christian Indie Writers’ Podcast.
A conversation with myself
“I have no ideas. I’m fresh out. My head is pounding, my sinuses are so dried out I got a nosebleed this morning, and no matter how many socks I put on I can’t get warm.”
“It’s not even that cold out.”
‘I know, and yet here I sit with a wool sweater on, wool socks, an electric blanket and a space heater, and I still can’t get warm. It could be a sign of the second coming.
I’m pretty sure “Alaskan girls will be cold after 53 years being hot all the time” isn’t in the scripture
Well it should be.
You need to get it together. Focus. Get something done instead of huddling under this blanket. Maybe if you move around it’ll warm you up.
I tried that. It didn’t help.
Well do something else, get your mind off it. Do one of your courses.
I can’t focus. I can’t concentrate when I’m freezing. I signed up for that one course I was so excited about. I got so far behind, the thing ended and I was only half way through it.
I can’t believe I failed.
It’s another sign.
Again, not in the scriptures.
Whatever, go away.
And how exactly does that work?
Oh, fine, just shut up then.
I’ll shut up as soon as you stop thinking so much.
All right, let’s just watch tiktok videos, then I can stop thinking and you can shut up.
Good plan!
I know right, I always have the best ideas!
Christina Cattane is a Christian Indie Writer who writes stories set in Alaska and other exotic locales. She is the author of a novel called ‘Lost in the Land of the Midnight Sun’ which falls in the Christian Dystopian Fiction genre, but she also writes in many other genres. Tina grew up in Alaska, has lived in Saudi Arabia, and currently resides in Michigan with her husband and youngest 2 of 4 kids. Her travels around the world often influence her writing. Visit her website at http://christinacattane.com where you can see the progress she is making on her novel. Or catch up with her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cmcattane
Dear Christian Indies,
You may recall that at the beginning of the year, the four of us co-hosts put together a business plan. This week, we’re going to check in with each of the co-hosts and find out what adjustments were made to these plans, what worked for them, and what didn’t, and find out what, if anything, will be different about the way we ladies plan for our writing careers in the year 2022!
[Read more…] about Episode 161: The Business of Writing: Author Business Plan Year in Review
