More than Writers

(Image fromPickPik Creative Commons Licence) “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet...”   So we read in Romans 10:15, and, of course, Handel set these words to music in a recitatif in the Messiah.   I would just mention to you, George Frederick, right at this moment in time, my feet don’t feel beautiful at all.   And as for getting them anywhere near any mountains, forget it! Three months ago, on 31 December of last year, I wrote on this blog about how taking walks can be a source of inspiration to writers, how the act of putting one foot after the other promotes creativity.   I wrote that post before Christmas.   By the time it hit More than Writers , I was suffering badly from plantiar fasciitis, an exceedingly painful inflammation under the ball of the foot, and I’m still suffering. I’m told by the podiatrist, the massage therapist, two physiotherapists and my doctor, that it will go away again, all of its own accord (apparently), but after some t...

  Who thought changing the clocks on Mothering Sunday would be a good idea? Clearly not someone who was a mother… I must admit, I prefer the extra time in the autumn, as waking up early isn’t my thing. We do what we have to do, and funny enough, it can be the same with writing. I have been struggling to write lately. Not because of the clocks telling me time has disappeared, but because of a lack of headspace. Now various therapies have been decided on, educational options are getting sorted and the evenings are lighter for longer, writing feels a joy again. I feel guilty as I’m a part of so many wonderful groups and ventures, and none of them have had the attention they deserve. I have been thinking about a lot of my writing projects, and for the first time I have a variety of books in progress, rather than one story. There’s historical crime, time travel, a PI who accidentally solves a murder and there’s book 2 of Burrowed, which was meant to be a short story, and now a seque...

Image Credits:  Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay images. I love the story of Mary Magdalene mistaking Jesus for the gardener, briefly blinded by grief. It is easy to visualise and understand. This story and that of Doubting Thomas help make the resurrection more real to me. Thomas did the right thing and got his doubts dealt with by the only One who could deal with them.  There are Easter stories we don’t know. I like to think one of Jesus’s first appearances on Easter Sunday would have been to His mother, Mary. From recalling the words of Simeon at Jesus’s dedication about a “sword will pierce your soul” (and she would have remembered that on Good Friday, I’m sure) to overwhelming joy Jesus was alive again, that is a tale not in our Bibles but it is highly likely. The one thing these characters have in common from a writing viewpoint is they are relatable.   As I write flash fiction, I use a lot of characters. I don’t kill them all, honestly! I don’t need to ag...

  As a Christian writer, see your writing career or project as a cross to carry till you achieve your victory.  You have been destined to win souls for the kingdom through your writing. It starts from the reception of the idea to the conception and birth of the first word to the last word on the final page. The next process of first edits, first thoughts on cover design and title, comes through before the final publishing process. We all wish it’s achieved easily. Nothing good comes easy, right? It might take years, months or weeks for some! When my mother died in October 2005, I grieved for years. I kept jotting down my thoughts and feelings – which were all over the place. This process brought healing to my mind, body and soul. I was finally able to face what I had written and published it! It was a cross I had carried for 20 years to victory. It will help people who need to process their grief and their hurt. What has been the longest time it has taken you to carry a proj...

  I might receive some criticism for this blog. Once again, I am thinking about Biblical fiction and how far we should add to scripture (if at all). I understand that ‘Midrash’ is the Hebrew word meaning, ‘putting flesh on the bones.’ So, how much flesh is acceptable? An author may focus on a Bible short story and write a series of books using rampant imagination. They may look at themes of forgiveness and redemption, sin and guilt, etc. I’m not saying it’s wrong. I’m asking, is there a limit? I have read some of the most well-known and perhaps most controversial BF books. One of my favourites was the ‘Left Behind’ series by Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye. This 16-book series (I read 13) is a dramatized interpretation of end-times prophecy, depicting a post-rapture world. I now know that it is h eavily based on dispensationalist theology, which isn’t universally accepted. Many assume its portrayal of the Rapture and Tribulation is exactly how the Bible describes it. When I read...

I began life as a writer of non-fiction. Working on my local newspaper, there was no place for either fiction or poetry so those had to be kept strictly to my leisure hours. Later working life involved editing and publishing non-fiction, and when finally I was able to write my own books, it was easier to keep going down that familiar and by now well-beaten track. Especially as I had lots of friends and contacts amongst the non-fiction publishers! I suppose it was the path of least resistance - or to put a more positive spin on it, working to my strengths. Non-fiction had chosen me, much more than me choosing it. But my heart yearned to write fiction. And I was already writing lots of poetry. Over the years, the folders filled up, some with complete stories, some with starts that never got finished! And life went on, in all its gruesome technicolour. And each time I moved house, those folders got repacked into boxes and emptied out on bookshelves, nagging reminders... Until one day, I d...

  They say a picture speaks a thousand words and there are definitely times when I think that’s true. I’m fortunate enough to spend a week each year in the Swiss mountains and I can’t explain in words the majesty of the scenery and the deep peace that strikes me as I walk in the sun-lit, snow-dampened quietness.   I have similar feelings when I try to explain the cute mischievousness on a toddler’s face, or the love steaming from the eyes of a bride. Those sort of facial expressions are so much easier to picture than to describe. The best I can hope is that my words work like a link to a website: you click on a link and the website opens. You read the words and a picture from your own life experiences comes to mind.     Is that why, as Christians, we tend to focus on concepts like parental love and deep friendship? Even sacrifice. We know what they look like in our own lives, or what a flawed, never-perfect version of them looks like. It’s not a big stre...