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Life-Transforming Fiction

Life-Transforming Fiction

Blessings from the Ashes, Part 1

Greetings friends. I have much to report after my four-month hiatus; but first, I simply must say a word of gratitude to Bonnie Calhoun and Michelle Sutton (ezine owner and editor-in-chief, respectively) for not giving up on me. You rock! I also want to say a special thanks to our guest columnists, Loree Lough and Rel Mollet...

Fiction Rants

That Graveyard Book

I picked this month’s book because of online chatter. People who hadn’t read The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman were leery about the story, about the values and message, and “shocked” that such a book had won the Newberry Award. However . . . the people who had read it seemed, mostly, to really enjoy it.

Rachel's Rubies

Gemstone Therapy or Fiction Therapy

If fiction were to have its own gemstone, it’d be morganite. A member of the beryl gemstone family, morganites come in a variety of hues from colorless to pink, to lilac and pale violet.

The stone is said to emanate charm, spirit, and tenderness, and it is often used in gemstone therapy.

I like that idea. A gemstone to brighten my gray days, relax me...

All About YA

Fun Learning Through Fiction

With taxes out of the way, it’s time for a lot of homeschooling parents to be thinking about what books to order for next year. So I thought it appropriate to discuss what the historical and biblical fiction genres have to offer.

In my opinion, there is no better way to understand what life might have been like before our time than to read fiction novels that show history through the eyes of a great character.

Quantum Marketing

Why Boomers Are Lousey Marketers

Remember the rock band KISS? I was in eighth grade when a friend handed me his headphones, cranked the volume up to eleven, and said, “You gotta listen to this band!”

For the next six years, KISS became one of the biggest concert draws in the world.

Fiction International

Finding My Place In God's Plan

I used to assume there simply weren’t many Canadian writers who were Christian. But early in May 1992, just after my first novel was released by Moody Press, my paradigm changed. It began when the manager of my local Christian bookstore told me they’d carry my book only “if it becomes a best seller or goes on sale.” And here I was expecting a huge display with a sign that read CANADIAN AUTHOR.