"It’s important to remember we’re all explorers–as humans we are risk-takers, whizzing down a hill on a bike. But we get settled in a pattern. There is so much more inside us."–Benedict Allen, British explorer, “Disconnecting Is Key to Exploring,” Brigid Delaney, CNN.com We age and something gets in the way of the adventure. Maybe an idol we seek. Something more
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Just back from the Christian Writers Guild’s annual conference at The Broadmoor where I was once again impressed and not-just-a-little concerned about the level of stardom attributed to such a nerdy, pitiable person as myself. And yes, I know it’s just the title and the house I work for, the perception of the power I wield over poor writers’ livelihoods
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Thanks for grace these few months while the blog’s been on hiatus. I’ve been writing a fair amount, and learning a lot about my process. Though I’ve edited for years, I still know surprisingly little about the real writing of books. And specifically novels. Certainly it’s an occupation that takes a good while to learn and requires special mental tools
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Lauren Winner on alcohol in Christian books: "…the increasing willingness of Christian publishers to show casual imbibing may be another step in the direction of depicting, rather than sanitizing, ordinary American life." I love the way Lauren says this, distilling the distinction (so to speak). "Depicting rather than sanitizing." If art reflects life, isn’t including real depictions of ordinary American
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"You can possess all the ‘must haves’ publishers talk about—an uncommon topic, writing chops, proven interest in your subject, a ‘platform’—but none of it matters if what you’re saying is not what people want to hear." Ran across this nice reminder today from Linda Konner in the June 30th edition of PW: "No Room for ‘Edgy.’" Konner eventually gave up
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