As a mortal human, it is hard to get away from the universal question that everyone must face at some point in their life: “Who is God, and how does His existence affect me?” A slightly different question should also be asked of each new world and set of characters an author creates: “How is God going to be portrayed in this literary world?” Whether a Christian author or not, to ignore the spiritual layer to world-building is to miss out on an opportunity to add extra depth t

Have you ever been shunned for your faith? Amira has in the book Aleigha Israel recently released. And that isn't the only problem she will face in life. Find out more about the book and be sure to check out the giveaway. About the Book She knew the decision would change her life. But she didn't know she'd have to fight to survive. When Amira put her faith in Christ, she knew life wouldn't be easy. But hiding her conversion from her Muslim family soon becomes the least of her

Fantasy elements take many forms in literature. Two of my favorites are telepathy and telekinesis. They can add drama and movement to a story in both the science fiction and fantasy genres. I especially like to use them because they can have clear biological sources which avoid the magic aspect that makes many conservative readers uncomfortable. Telepathy The communication by connecting mind to mind is a fascinating concept. Mind reading can be used in so many ways in the dev

I am a woman. As a writer, this should give me greater insight into what the female population wants, longs for, and gravitates toward. However, one thing I have learned in my life is this: we women are complicated creatures. Keeping this in mind, I would like to humbly submit what I have observed are the main things that make women swoon, though I might not be completely on target because of the observation above. Women are attracted to security. A man who is financially sec

Men are different than women. Before you throw up your hands and walk away, give me a chance to explain myself. Since most romance authors are women, there is a trend of not keeping this fact in mind while we females (yes, I am just as guilty) write out our long and complicated narratives. Although both genres are of the same species, created in God’s image and very similar in many ways, we are also very different. Physical differences aside, because they are very obvious, he

Hello! My name is Savannah Jezowski! I’m so excited to be visiting Rachel’s blog and sharing with you all a little bit about how my writing career began. Be sure to keep your eye open for the next clue you’re going to need on the Scavenger Hunt! Rachel hid it in here somewhere! I began writing when I was in elementary, before I even knew what a paragraph was. My first book was about a wagon train and Native Americans, and I wrote it on lined paper, bound it with yarn, and des

Writing Update Despite my best efforts (setting aside time and making sure I am not interrupted for part of that) I am been making very little progress on my current WIP. The sum word count for this week (since last Wednesday) is only 3,381 words (Saturday 1,896 , Tuesday 1,485), but I am not giving up at all. This week should be epic, if I can manage to keep on track. School ends for the kids and I will (hopefully) get more uninterrupted writing time. So, stay tuned. WIP cur

About a year ago, I got a message via my author page on Facebook and it was this lovely lady with a very important question. "Are you still looking for beta readers?" She was inquiring about Living Sacrifice, which you all now know at The Talented series, the first book of which was released earlier this year. That innocent question and the many conversations that followed have blossomed into a wonderful friendship and an introduction to many more authors. You might say that