by Jennifer Brown Banks My initial exposure to poetry began at about age 12. Back then, teachers and school administrators chose me to participate in the “Gifted Student Program”–a program for advanced learners. Poetry was a weekly requirement, along with classes in creative writing. I fell in love at firstContinue Reading
Have you thought about writing historical fiction? After writing her first historical fiction novel, Author Elaine Stock offers some tips. by Elaine Stock With the launch of We Shall Not Shatter, I might appear to have jumped from one genre to another (leaving behind the Inspirational genre), but I’ve doneContinue Reading
by Sheree K. Nielsen I suppose my love of coffee began as a teenager. On a camping trip, rummaging through the RV’s kitchen cabinets, I searched for tea bags. “Where’s the tea?!” I demanded. “All we have is coffee”, my friend Sherry C replied. Gathered around a crackling fire, inContinue Reading
I started writing when I was in high school and started an alternative school newspaper, then didn’t write again much until I was in my early thirties. It started out with short stories, then nonfiction journalistic articles, which then progressed to novels and story collections. Counseling Greatly Informed My WritingContinue Reading
Ekta Garg is the host of the Biblio Breakdown creative writing podcast. Here, she shares some of the top tips she’s given writers on that podcast. by editor Ekta Garg Biblio Breakdown is the brainchild of author Ryan Campbell (who writes as r.r. campbell). It was a semi-regular feature onContinue Reading
by Dori Jones Yang My book, When the Red Gates Opened: A Memoir of China’s Reawakening, brings to life the story of the eight years I spent as a foreign correspondent covering China during a pivotal time in its history, the 1980s. Like good historical fiction, it draws readers inContinue Reading
Introduction: Journalist Lori Tobias arrived on the Oregon coast in 2000. After freelancing from Newport for several years, she signed on with the Oregonian as a stringer then staff writer, covering the entire coast—one person for more than three hundred miles. Tobias’s story is as much her own as it is theContinue Reading
by Laurie Buchanan With non-fiction, the author is writing about tangible, verifiable facts. If they need to research the topic further, they can search online. However, with fiction, the characters and storyline aren’t preexisting; every aspect of what the author’s writing is coming out of their head, their imagination—the storyContinue Reading
Following the pattern I established a few years ago, I’m sharing my favorite books of 2020. This year, eight books stood out for me out of all of those I read. Keep in mind: I’m no book reviewer, so you won’t find reviews here. Instead, I give a few commentsContinue Reading
by Bryan Hutchinson The events in Wee-Jees happened in Germany where my father was stationed in the late 70s. The forest we lived near was heavily bombed during World War II and from what I understand a lot of people died in the area. The forest floor is littered withContinue Reading
by Rebecca W. Munn I have actually always had a dream of writing a book. I kept journals during my early adult years to help me process life. I was able to write white papers and co-authored a handbook early on in my career. My journal writing continued as IContinue Reading
by Suzanne Rogerson The Silent Sea Chronicles series was a joy to write, most of the time. My three biggest challenges during the process were as follows. 1. The Challenges of Planning a Trilogy I have never been very good at planning my writing. I prefer the story to growContinue Reading