More than Writers

  I love reading. But I love reading my books, or rather, my kind of books. I would devour books at top speed, but if it was a book issued by school, it would be left at the bottom of the pile. Only because I had been told to read it. Isn’t that odd? Sometimes I would regret shuffling it down the stack of library books, for the book turned out to be a lot better than I thought. Did that help the next time I was told to read a particular book? Not at all. Even now, particular people telling me a book is a must-read, waving it at me, makes that book drop down the TBR Pile at alarming rates. Even if I had been planning on reading it some time anyway. Now you know my stubbornness, you might be surprised to know that I review for three different Book Tour companies. “Doesn’t that count as someone telling you what to read, and even when to read?” You would think so! But I get to choose what I read, and in what month. So maybe that is what makes the difference? The Nature of Small Birds,

Image Credit:  Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. What are your writing niggles? We all have them. I’ve found recognising the pests for what they are in itself is a good way to tackle them head on. Here I list some of mine and my ways for tackling them. Knowing my story or blog post (or both) isn’t quite right. But I don’t know why… arrgh! (I know enough to trust my gut instinct here though, there is something not right). Getting off to a slow start and by the time I must pack up for the night, my head is buzzing and I can’t jot notes fast enough for tomorrow’s writing session. This irritates. (I aim for a consistent writing pace but it isn’t always possible. A lot depends on what kind of day I’ve had. I also must have a certain amount of sleep so can’t stay up especially late. I don’t write better when I have tried that. If anything I slow further). Having loads of ideas at once, all with potential, and not knowing which to tackle first. Running out of reading time du

    This is my maiden post for the blessed team of More Than Writers. When I thought about what to write, I picked on the advice I had gotten from one of the ACW sessions I had attended in July 2020 that no writing should ever go to waste.   Just like our Heavenly Father took a part of Adam's rib to create Eve, his wife, it made me think of every part of the human anatomy – no matter how minuscule or large the human parts are, the Lord God found some use and purpose for their role in the human body. Nothing is wasted. So, welcome to my ‘NOTHING IS WASTED SERIES,’ in which my first episode springs from  a 10 minutes freewheeling writing exercise we were asked to engage in. The topic of the ACW session was ‘Creating amidst Chaos' - about God’s creation and creativity. God created a magnificent world in the midst of chaos! That tells me that like our Father, we must continue to be creative no matter the ‘chaos’ we are in. Beauty will come out of the ashes. Be encouraged to make

As I sit here staring at my screen I realise It is late.  In one minute it will be midnight and I need to meet my deadline.  Time is passing and I am late.  What can I write about?  I rack my brains but my mind has been filled with the busyness of returning to normal life after being away leading a conference.  Now in my moment of need, nothing sufficiently weighty comes to mind.  I panic, seeing the hand move inexorably towards my deadline.  I am going to fail, my mind is a blank.  But why does it need to be weighty?  If I just take a word and run with it, what will happen?  What will I create?  At the beginning when the universe was formless and empty like my mind at this moment, God took a word and spoke it into being.  He said 'Light' and suddenly something that was nothing, became something that was something.  The darkness shattered, nothingness fragmented and flittered away  Light was born.  A word spoken, a substance created, the world changed forever. If I just take a

“If I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me - your right hand will hold me fast” (Psalm 139: 9-10) Growing up in a quiet English village, my experience of writing was secret scribbles in my diary, making up random songs to amuse my family, a poem about rainbows that failed to make the grade for the school magazine, a competition runner-up badge for my limerick about the Blue Peter dog. I wore that badge with pride. One summer day in 1976, I switched on the radio and heard Welsh artist Bonnie Tyler’s latest song, “Lost in France”. As I sang along, I had no inkling that the fields of France lay in my future too. Nevertheless, twenty-two years later, following my husband’s job transfer, we packed our bags and moved from the middle of England to the north of France. Our passage across the English Channel may have been smooth, but the beginning of our life here was not exactly plain sailing. “Lost in France” was an accurate description of us in those fi

 We live in strange times. A decade ago few people saw Brexit or the Pandemic coming. From the seventies, one or two (largely ignored) prophetic voices warned of an imminent radical 'shaking of the nations'. They were right. But prophecy is not so much predicting the future – more about discerning the particular times in which we live. Most of us would admit to fear. I know many people who can no longer bear to watch the news. Media bias apart, world events are downright scary, and the Afghanistan debacle has brought terror closer to home. It was in 1948 that CS Lewis addressed fear in his essay: ' On living in an atomic age'(1): "We think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. 'How are we to live in an atomic age?' I am tempted to reply: 'Why, as you would have lived in the 16th century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night;

  I’ve been reading about the Reverend E. J. H. Nash (1898-1982). He was a remarkably single-minded man and a highly influential one. His whole life was dedicated to winning people to Christ. And not just any people, but boys from the top English public schools, many of whom would go on to be high up in the Church, the Services, the Government, and the realm of industry and finance. So successful was he, at least with the first category in my list, that virtually all the leaders of evangelical Anglicanism in the late 20th century emerged from his Iwerne camps.  It is said that Nash never read novels and disapproved of others reading them. This is food for thought for a Christian Writer. Of course, many ACW members write non-fiction: Bible study notes, guides to various aspects of the Christian life, memoirs, and so forth. Presumably these would have met with Nash’s approval. He himself was nurtured almost exclusively on the works of R. A. Torrey, perhaps not very familiar to the presen

  The Writing Process: Advertising Our Work by Rebecca Seaton   Advertising works: I've bought books by all these authors! Why should we advertise our work? It can seem big-headed after all. Well, when you write your piece, you probably have an audience in mind, an idea of how people might feel when reading it, even what you get from writing about that theme. And we can’t wait for others to do it for us. For those self-publishing, the advertising is all part of the work but even for those with an established publisher, there is an expectation that you will help spread the word. When to advertise can also be a question. Rather than just waiting until the end, it’s well worth advertising your work in while it’s in the process, building excitement with potential readers – and sometimes encouraging you when it feels like you’re getting stuck. When the work is complete, advertising it as a finished piece adds another dimension to the information you’ve teased so far.   How can we

I don’t often read the sports section in the weekend paper. I do, however, if there is any tennis.  I am by no means a tennis expert, or a super-fan, but I do enjoy tennis. Watching, that is. I was recently persuaded to hit a ball with my nephew; it didn’t last long (me, not the ball). I recently watched Emma Raducanu (GB) take the world tennis scene by storm as she won the US Open. It reminded me of Wimbledon. Not, primarily, because of tennis, but because of the subtitles. For me, being deaf, subtitles/captions are something I often rely on; increasingly so during lockdown as meetings etc moved online. As I’ve noted on this blog before, the captions – whilst invaluable – are not immune to error.  Which brings me back to Wimbledon…. I was watching a match in which  Andy Murray (GB) was playing, and the commentator said: ‘Murray did well to stay in that rally. Good use of the Lord.’ I sat up a bit straighter. How did the commentator know Murray had been praying? Then I re

Speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.                      Ephesians.5:19     From my school days the little I retained of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” were the title words. I was reminded of them as our local ACW meeting assignment was to write about “That Tune”.   The Lord has used many songs over the years to t ouch, reveal and impact my life. I guess there are ACW members who write songs and believe music is a God-given talent, but when the Holy Spirit anoints it,there is power which brings faith, and knowledge of His love, promises and goodness.   Charles R Swindoll wrote: “Blow the dust off your tape or CD player and put on some beautiful music around the house. Just watch what happens to the atmosphere when you do this. And don’t forget to sing along and add your own harmony and “special” effects.”   God’s word is powerful whether we write, read, speak or sing it.   Scripture, I find easier t