When I discovered the list of Emotional Wounds on www.onestopforwriters.com last year, I was beyond excited. One of my novel projects would involve the POV of three sisters facing life-changing events and I needed to get to know each of these characters personally and separately in order to give each woman her own voice, struggles, fears, etc. I had an idea of their current personality conflicts, but wasn’t sure how
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The Emotional Wound Thesaurus – Book Review
Because the fiction I write is based on my own past and overcoming emotional wounds, the discovery of The Emotional Wound Thesaurus was all the more important for me to learn to develop unique and layered female protagonists. Even though the conflict and themes of my current and future novels will somewhat reflect my own experiences, I also desire to write for and create relatable characters for women of all
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Allowing God’s Word to Take Root Before the Attack will Equip us to Overcome
God is in the business of rebuilding, restoring, and renewing the lives of those who desire to yield to his will and live beyond themselves. But when the enemy takes a hold and we give into a season of sin, we may feel like we will never experience the victory. If we have sewn God’s word into our hearts, minds, and souls and we believe God can bring redemption–He will!
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When your will isn’t enough to overcome your weariness
I had an amazing time at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers conference back in April — wait, April?! Has it really been almost five months? How disappointing that I haven’t accomplished more. And I was doing so good at self-care and working on my recent WIPs… then summer hit. Summer has never been a good time for me to write. Every year, especially since my kids are older and tend
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One Stop for Writers Emotional Wounds Thesaurus – Sharing as I Create Deep Characters for my WIP – PART 1
While seeking ways to create different, yet deep character traits for three sisters in my current WIP, I started to explore One Stop for Writers Emotional Wound Thesaurus. I had just ordered the Emotion and Negative and Positive Trait Thesauruses for reference, but didn’t know how powerful using these three resources could be until I began to dive into the Emotional Wound Thesaurus online. Now, I already had a general
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10 Take-Away Moments from Mount Hermon Writers Conference 2017
It’s been ten days since I left the 2017 Mount Hermon Writers Conference. Yesterday morning was the first time I’ve had a chance to write since I was on the airplane. I could give you excuses, but excuse or not, I needed to allow myself time to decompress. So, before I venture into my world of women’s fiction, I thought I’d share ten take-away moments (I started calling them lessons, but
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I Never Thought I Would Call My Son Beautiful
I come from a family of women. In 1999, women and girls outnumbered male cousins and spouses 2:1. During family gatherings, the females dominated with shrill excitement, disciplining the children, and more. Between my mom, her three sisters, and their one brother they had five daughters and two sons. At that moment in time, I was the only cousin with children, and had two daughters. When I was pregnant with
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40 Days to Mount Hermon – Fasting and Prayer Week 2
DAY 8 – Friday “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12 Somehow, I woke out of a deep dream in time to get my son to school. Another full day ahead and a birthday on Saturday (my youngest turned 13) – I realized writing time would be minimal. Yet, I was feeling better than ever — really good actually! I was excited and felt confident
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40 Days to Mount Hermon – Fasting and Prayer Week 1
My first week was primarily focused on fasting. Beginning with a 21 day sugar detox and changing up my evening routine to focus on reading and an earlier bedtime. The goal was to purge some bad habits so that my mind and body could be more in tune with God and His guidance in all areas of my life. But the ultimate goal was to eliminate distractions and find a
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Mount Hermon 2017 and My 40 Day Preparation Fast
In the time since my last post, God’s prompted me with things I need to let go of and change for my writing pursuits to reach their full potential. I’ve been excusing my lack of discipline and focus due to the constant change and chaos in my life. As a result, I’ve begun efforts to change my normal default tendencies. I’ve eliminated gluten and other foods that increase my bouts of
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King Movie Shelf Part 1 – Forget the Golden Globes, these Movies are Timeless
Our family loves to watch movies! But we don’t just watch anything. For some time, I’ve wanted to start a series of blog posts about our family movie shelf. Over the years, we’ve been pretty picky about which movies are worthy of buying versus which ones are only worth a one-time $1.25 RedBox rental. I don’t believe in wasting nearly $100 on a theater experience for just any movie either.
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Removing the Yolk of Other’s Ideals
I’ve never really thought of myself as a people-pleaser. Though I don’t like to disappoint others and I have often felt burdened by what I think others think – especially when it comes to how I’ve behaved. I desire to be a good friend, competent employee, help to a stranger, a consistent parent, and a devoted wife. When life spins beyond my control I get frustrated and analyze my choices