Work in Progress, Me

I was thinking about what makes a great book, and I realized that life is a lot like a good book. As a Christian, God is my author and he’s writing my story. He is in complete control of my life as he is writing each page with another adventure.

In books, questions are never answered in the next sentence. Every book is full of questions, but they are not all answered at the same time. Some are answered in the next paragraph and some are answered in the next page or next chapter. Sometimes those questions remain unanswered the whole length of the book, but when you get to the end those unanswered questions no longer matter. Because other events happened and decisions were made and the question and doubt that was relevant in the first chapter may not connect in the last chapter. If we knew all the answers there would be no driving force to turn the page and keep reading.

The same is with Life. We’re going to go through hard times, and we’re going to wonder why God would allow for such things to happen. Sometimes in our lives, we’re going to get a case of the “If I did this, would this have happened?” God writes our story, and like any good writer he’s not going to answer all our life’s questions just as soon as the issue comes up. When you read a book the unanswered questions make you think, and leave a sense of helplessness. God makes us need him, by not giving us all the answers. He does things that, with a human mind, we can’t understand. I know that when questions and doubts pop into my head, I need to keep going and see what God has planned in my life even if I don’t understand. I’m never going to know how the book ends if I don’t turn keep turning the pages.

How to Create a Fact Manual for a Book Series {Peek into My Next Story}

I started my current story, Ideal Lies, last year, and this time, I decided to make it a trilogy. This story is a mix between dystopian and utopian. Living in the idealistic northern Ideal States of America, two teenagers are caught believing in an imperfect religion and go on the run as criminals to rescue their stolen family. How I managed to keep this to myself until now, I'm not sure : ) Writing a series of any kind was something I'd never done before. I quickly found out that I needed a way to keep track of all the facts. I tried memory. My memory failed. I tried little notes. I lost them. I tried computer files. It took me too long to find what I needed. So, with nothing else to do ... I created a fact manual. I spent hours gleaning the information from my memory, notes, and files. I created new documents and organized facts so I could put it all together in one cohesive notebook. I documented everything that had happened so far in my boo

Interview with Stephanie Morrill and Jill Williamson {and a giveaway}

I would like to welcome Stephanie Morrill and Jill Williamson to my blog today! I am so excited that they took the time to do an interview with me. Here is a little bit about them: Stephanie Morrill and Jill Williamson have written a combined two dozen speculative and contemporary novels for teens. They also blog obsessively at www.goteenwriters.com . When not writing or blogging, they can be found at the teen table at writer's conferences or wherever chocolate is being given away. Come hang out with Stephanie at www.stephaniemorrill.com and Jill at www.jillwilliamson.com . Why did you choose the genre that you did? Stephanie: I feel like “contemporary young adult” chose me, honestly. I wanted to write deep, serious books that might get studied in English classes … but I never had any ideas for deep, serious books, so that flopped. My ideas, even after high school, were always for stories about girls and the boys they liked and the complica

10 Weird Things Writers Do ... And Are Perfectly Okay

No writer will ever claim to be a normal human being. We process information differently, we observe life differently, and we feel emotions differently. If you're a writer reading this, be encouraged. Yes, you are weird, and there is no avoiding it. But, there are many writers that can relate to a smidgen of what your life is like as a writer. If you are not a writer reading this, be understanding. We know we're weird, and it would be so awesome if you could just nod, smile, and say, "I'm glad you enjoy writing." It's okay to be weird. Personally, I think it's even cooler if you're weird and a writer at the same time. 1. We may stare at you without realizing it. Sometimes, we see something that reminds us of characters and zone out for a bit. 2. We may also stare blankly at flowers or rainbows, also thinking of something entirely different. (this was to counteract the slight creepiness of that first point.) 3. We may

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