Author Interview

Meet John Olson

John Olson is an award-winning novelist, with a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin. Postdoctoral research at the University of California brought him to live near San Francisco, where he lives with his wife, Amy, and two children.

After eight years as a director and principal scientist for a major scientific software company, John quit his day job to devote himself to a full-time ministry of writing and speaking. He has won several awards, including a Christy Award, a Silver Angel award, and placement on the New York Public Library’s list, Books for the Teen Age.

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Spine Chiller Thrillers

Using The Climax Moment

A scene near the beginning of Alfred Hitchcock’s movie To Catch a Thief has Cary Grant standing in a restaurant kitchen. A dozen or so men are working in the kitchen, and they’re a nasty-looking bunch.

They don’t like him (watch the movie to find out why), and the tension is pretty strong with their hostile stares alone. But Cary Grant isn’t about to back down.

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Genre Happenings

Writing For Teens

Writing for teens should only be attempted by those who genuinely enjoy teenagers. It’s true. A lot of authors approach YA with honest, but misguided, motives to try to fix teens or teach them what they should know; but often those stories end up as thinly veiled sermons. So this month, let’s take a look at some of the common mistakes YA writers make.

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Multicultural Fiction

Christmas Carnival of Short Fiction and Contest

Christmas is my favorite time of year, not just because of the good cheer and great food. I love the great storytelling. Instead of dropping my daughter off to Mother’s Day Out for Christmas shopping, I spend it lying in bed, watching the Hallmark Channel’s Janette Oak series, while skimming through the books. Although I’m not a white frontier wife of the 1800s, their cultural differences don’t phase me or give me pause.

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Reviewers Corner

This month's featured reviewer:
Sally DiStephano

One of the nicest things that my mother gave me was the love of reading. She was an avid reader and took her children to the library every Saturday. When I was five years old, she helped me fill out the form so that I could have my own library card; I was so proud! At one time, I had read every book in our local library in my age

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Devotional

A Letter To God

Dear Almighty Father,

Remember the lesson I learned a few months ago? The one where I realized I didn’t need to do anything to receive Your blessings? Right now I’m experiencing the flip side of that.

This Christmas season has made me think of You more often, and as You enter my thoughts I realize I’ve been ignoring you lately, trying to live under the heavenly radar. I just looked in my daily devotional book and saw that the last time I read it was months ago! I rationalize my absence by noting that I d

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