Walking the fiction tightrope: writing with faith and honesty

May 012013
 
 May 1, 2013  Independent publishing, My books, Publishing, Writing, Writing fiction 4 Responses »
Walking the fiction tightrope: writing with faith and honesty

I was writing a scene around Paul Manziuk, my police officer in Shaded Light, and suddenly he decided to swear. I told him he couldn’t. I don’t swear myself. Why would I swear when writing? He said he wasn’t me. True. He said that he was hot, tired, and frustrated, and he really needed to say one mild swear word. I agreed that under those circumstances I might feel the same way. Paul said, “So?” I reminded him that I’m a Christian; although I think the real reason I don’t swear is that I find the words offensive. Paul reminded [ Read more...]

Substantive editing – the all-too-often missing ingredient

Apr 302013
 
 April 30, 2013  Independent publishing, Publishing, Writing, Writing fiction 3 Responses »
Substantive editing - the all-too-often missing ingredient

As more and more books are published by individuals or by companies who want the manuscript to be near-perfect when it arrives, the one thing that is less likely to happen is good editing. I’m talking about the kind of editing where someone who is an expert in the genre takes apart the manuscript and points out every single flaw and potential problem so that the author can  hone it and mold it. It’s called crafting. In my opinion, writing has four aspects: art, craft, business, and ministry. It’s very easy to focus on only one of those aspects. But [ Read more...]

The dilemma of being a Christian who writes fiction

Apr 292013
 
 April 29, 2013  Christian publishing, N. J.'s Books, Publishing, Writing, Writing fiction 6 Responses »
The dilemma of being a Christian who writes fiction

Writing fiction would be easier if I wasn’t a Christian. I’d just sit down and write whatever I wanted. No problem. But I am a Christian. And it’s frequently been a problem. When I began writing more than 35 years ago, I had a BA in English and the English medal for my graduating class. I also had a very strong faith in God. It seemed natural to me to combine my knowledge of good literature with my faith. I soon found, however, that not all fiction written by Christians was for me. Some books, like the Narnia series, delighted [ Read more...]

Aboriginal authors – the awakening giant

Nov 252009
 
 November 25, 2009  Independent publishing No Responses »
Aboriginal authors – the awakening giant

I asked M. D. (Dorene) Meyer to write a guest blog on an area of writing that is very close to her heart, but not exactly in the mainstream of writing. As we look at changing the way publishing industry works, and in particular Canadian Christian publishing, we need to think of the many groups whose voice in not being heard as easily as it should be. Dorene is the award-winning author of a series of books set in a fictional First Nations community. Her books touch on such issues as recovery from child sexual abuse, residential school syndrome and [ Read more...]