Writing for the Love

Addendum (8/18/15): I just received word that "Tight Pants," a short piece that Page & Spine accepted about a year ago, will be published on August 28, 2015 (yay!) I've been overwhelmed with all the blessings that have been coming my way in the writing realm. God is so good. It's difficult to know where to begin since I've neglected the blog and can hardly remember the last thing I posted (before yesterday's post ). Upcoming Publications A short story, "The Empty Girl," will appear in Revisions: Stories of Starting Over in October. This will be Collection #7 from the Florida Writers Association. Out of that number, I've had four previous pieces appear. I'm very excited to be featured this year after not making it last year. A reprint, "The Mute Girl," will appear in Youth Imagination magazine. Date TBD. The fantasy piece originally appeared in eFantasy. I'm also still in line for publication on a short s...

Another short story published! And this one, anyone can read. " Ticket to Heaven " is now available online at Faith Hope and Fiction . I wrote this piece in 2005, a year or so out of college. It sat in my computer files getting digitally dusty, but I've always had a difficult time figuring out what I should do with it. The story is about a college-aged drug addict in-denial who encounters an old man handing out tickets to heaven. After she accepts the ticket, a miracle happens and leads her on a path to redemption. The story includes, among other things, drug use, a Bible-quoting drug dealer, and the Gospel message. Why has it been so difficult for me to find a place to submit the story? It's not because of the drug use or real-world scenarios, but because most of the magazines accepting spiritual/inspirational/Christian themes want non-fiction. I've had a really hard time finding places that accept Christian fiction. The word count was a litt...

Last week during Life Group (read Bible Study), we were in 1 Peter talking about pride and humbling oneself. I had a post earlier this year about humility. The Lord continues to reaffirm that message to me: humble yourself, because the alternative is to be humbled (read humiliated). In our group, we talked about athletes who made a touchdown, a basket, or a home run and immediately lifted a finger to heaven or audibly praised God. That takes humility. It's saying, I made the touchdown, but God made me. He's the reason I'm blessed. Not everybody likes to see that, adding to the humbling experience beyond simply redirecting praise. In writing, there's not a standard "score" to keep. Each individual has different goals and measures their successes differently. When I'm humbled, I measure each forward step as a success, and I credit Christ first. But I'm not always humbled. It's something I still have to work on every day. I have two upcoming p...

One of my first short stories, "The Mute Girl," was published in eFantasy March 2013 issue. This is my first e-mag short story publication. About four years ago, I wrote the story and decided that I wanted to have it published. I'd been working on my novel, Livinity , epic fantasy, for quite a while. Publishing a fantasy short story seemed like a good idea to get my name out there. I had no idea it would take this long, and even now I praise God that it wasn't published any sooner. Since that time, I've learned a lot in the submission process. Perseverance. Thankfulness to Jesus even in the disappointment of repeated rejection. I lost count of how many the piece received. I learned not to take rejection to heart. If I received feedback, I tried it out. Maybe not following exact recommendations, but I played around with whatever issues the person had with the story. The last piece of valuable advice I received was an editor disappointed in the ending. T...