If you stop listening to instruction, my child, you will turn your back on knowledge. Proverbs 19:27 NLT  So you want to be a writer? For many with the dream of being writers, the thought seems to be I can just sit down and start stringing words together. How hard can it be? After a while, reality sets in. The words don’t string together as easily as we expected. Even after we string several thousand, no one wants to buy what we’ve written. Recently, I began taking horseback riding lessons. And I quickly learned how little I know about horses. When it comes to writing, like riding horses, there is...

  J.A. Marx loves illustrating spiritual warfare through speculative suspense. In April, Write Integrity Press released her debut novel, Destiny Defied, the first book in The Destiny Series. She has published several articles and also edits for a healthcare e-zine. Her hobbies are fitness, nutrition, and dancing the Argentine tango. She and her husband live in Texas. http://online.jamarx.net/     Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of Julie’s novel. When did you know you were a writer? Since I was a little girl, I’ve had stories running through my mind like movies on the...

If you ignore criticism, you will end in poverty and disgrace; if you accept correction, you will be honored. Psalm 13:18 NLT One of the hardest things a writer learns is to receive criticism and correction. Unfortunately, some never do. James Scott Bell refers to it as growing a rhino skin. Jerry B. Jenkins advises authors to develop a thick skin. This doesn’t mean we make ourselves immune to criticism. It means we make the time to develop the attitude of receiving criticism without personalizing it. We look at criticism and correction as ways to improve our work. The first step is to realize our...

It’s rough being a perfectionist in an imperfect world. It’s a wonder we can make it through the day.   In a perfectionist’s world, every driver would operate their car exactly the way I want them to. (Ooops, ended a sentence with a preposition. Oh my!) I missed a comma or put one where it doesn’t belong? Whatever made me think I could write?I cringe when a critique partner finds a sentence splice. Or spots a sentence dangling its participle for the entire world to see. My hero has blue eyes on page 3 and green eyes on page 150. It’s a historical novel so I can’t use the contact lens...

Are my stories autobiographical? I’ve been asked this question on several occasions. For many authors, their stories, especially their first ones, are autobiographical. So I pondered this question and compared myself to the hero of my first novel, Michael Archer. Michael used to drink, so we have that in common. But Michael lied, cheated, stole, assaulted and may have killed in his past. Some of that applied to me but not all of it. I could see parts of me in Michael and in the other characters in the book. And my life experiences influenced the story. So did my research.  But in no way is Journey...

I’ve seen several posts in blogland recently on this topic. Last week, Rachelle Gardner posted Literary Agents: Not Quite Dinosaurs. I thought I’d throw my two cents into the discussion.     Most of the discussion seems to stem from the increase in self-publishing or the belief that authors can work with publishers directly.     Over the years of my writing career and my experience with various types of agents, I’ve reached the following conclusions.   My agent needs to be my business partner and advisor. When we discuss proposals and story ideas, I appreciate open and honest...