My story ideas usually start with a visualization of a scene in my head, often a dramatic moment. So, my novel Chase was initially just a picture in my mind: a bad-guy drug-dealer meets with one of his runners. The incident then turned into a scene which expanded into a full-length novel. Interestingly, I ended up cutting […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Pamela S. Meyers dreamed of traveling back in time
Having grown up in the small resort town of Lake Geneva, WI, I’d heard for as long as I could remember how the wealthy of Chicago had come north to Geneva Lake after the Great Chicago Fire to build large (sometimes gargantuan) homes on the lakeshore to house their families while the city was rebuilt. […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Donna Schlachter loves “The Fugitive”
The idea for this story came from a love of a movie and a friend with a great train story to share. The movie was “The Fugitive,” both the original series pilot and the more recent remake. I loved the idea of a train ride leading to a second chance. My friend had recently taken […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Lisa J. Flickinger tells of a childhood trip
The original seed for my latest release Fool’s Notion was planted long before I put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard). When I was nine years old, my family packed foodstuffs, clothing, and my grandmother in our brown panel van and drove eighteen hundred miles to Los Angeles for a vacation. We toured the amazing Disneyland, […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Shannon Taylor Vannatter & the city girl living in an abandoned farmhouse
A few years back, a young single woman from our church had to move out of her apartment on very short notice. The only new place she could find where she could move in quickly was in the country. The house belonged to another church member, but it was old and had been uninhabited for […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Catherine Castle never caught the bouquet …
Everyone knows that the lucky lady to catch a bride’s bouquet will be the next one to get married. But do you know where that tradition came from? As early as the 1300’s, getting a piece of the bride’s dress was considered lucky, so female guests would try to tear off a piece of the […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Laurie Lucking constructs fantasy-world religion
Christian fantasy is one of my favorite genres to read, but until I started writing my own novel, I never realized how tricky it can be to handle religion in a fantasy context. Would the people of a fantasy world approach religion the same way we do? If not, how far can their religious practices […]
Behind the Scenes: Why Author Candee Fick Weaves a Theme Into Her Stories
My favorite part about being a writer is brainstorming new stories. However, even after years honing my craft, I’m the first to admit that my process starts a little differently with every story. Sometimes I start with the character, like a fledgling actress searching for her long-lost brother and her place on the stage. Other […]
Behind the Scenes: Author Eleanor Gustafson confronts spiritual opposition
Things have not gone smoothly with my upcoming novel, An Unpresentable Glory. The long search for a publisher was not unusual. Been there, done that. A computer scam, however, proved costly in money and time. Think— Changing bank accounts and credit cards, Informing autopay groups, Installing computer security programs, Disabling Trojan-Horse viruses. Spent an hour […]
Behind The Scenes: Author Barbara M. Britton Finds A New Enemy For Nehemiah
The story of Nehemiah is one of my favorite books of the Bible. Nehemiah was a man of many talents. He was: cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, governor of Judah, a man of prayer, and a construction supervisor. Nehemiah left the king’s palace to help rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. What makes this story a writer’s […]