Articles
A discussion about the issue that effect both a writer and the reader of good books.
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Anyone who knows me knows I research ALOT and yet still manage to do things the hard way. Why? Because for some odd reason I refuse to do anything the way anyone in their right mind would do it.
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Many people, including myself, long to develop thicker skin to deal with criticism with courage and fortitude. I honestly think that this is a myth.
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I was absolutely shocked by the research I came across. Strong-willed people were not immune to brainwashing, daydreamers were. Often, those resistant to brainwashing were people no one would expect, average looking people with little to brag about. Why is this?
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This is another old post from 12 years ago. It is fun reviewing all my old travels and inspirations for my novels.
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I found this old post 12 years ago about my time in Paris. My memories of my time there are far more positive then they were at the time. The next time I go to Paris, I’ll do the trip better prepared!
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Continuing my revisit of old posts, this is another old post from 12 years ago. It is another place of inspirations for my novels.
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This is an old post from 12 years ago. Edinburgh was so special to my that it inspires my faerie world of Gryphendale to this day.
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I am a petite stay-at-home mom with illusions of becoming a chic world-class sword-fighter. Thus exposing my deepest delusions that fuel most of my fantasy writing, I will now tell you about my most recent failed attempt to make this lifelong fascination a reality.
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Sir Edward Burne-Jones used literary themes and fairy tales as symbols for the way he felt about life. I am drawn to him as my favorite artist because he accomplished through art what I dream of accomplishing through writing.
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I made a detailed map of Gryphendale. I am very excited about how it turned out. It may not have the polish of a computer generated map could create, but it is full of hidden places for my characters to explore in future stories.
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I am not afraid of writing uncomfortable scenes in my books, but I do have a problem with articles, short stories, and books that relish the ugly. I struggle to read many publications because I often feel dirty, disgusted, or horrified by what they choose to publish. With a world in despair, I want to…
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Gryphendale, the first book in the Legends of Gryphendale series, was published in 2016. Since then, I have had many people try to correct the spelling of that title, which is also the name of the fairy world in my book. I have stubbornly fought back against this “correction.”
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The most common question I get at my live events is “how do you publish a book?“ This is a more complicated question than it seems on the surface and deserves a long answer.
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I have self-published my novels since 2016, so I strongly support self-publishing. I have also been part of various societies and guilds and support the idea of having them. This post, though, is going to be harshly honest, though.
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Massive amounts of novels starting their book in some sort of hectic battle scene in which the reader is trying to understand what is happening. Classically, this is not what in medias res means.
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The merger of Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster being sued by the government is a big deal to all in the book business. As an indie author who is self-published and as a graphic designer, I can offer a few thoughts that most news articles are not talking about.
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Many fantasy fiction stories depict extremely unhealthy and even abusive relationships as being romantic. Why is this a problem?
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Before I earned my Master’s degree in Special Education I did not know that there was a debate about the use of classic books in education. I had assumed that classic books was just standard in the American classroom. I was wrong.
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To be honest, I didn’t start out writing for the glory of God. I’m too selfish a creature for that. In fact, I wasn’t originally sure that I would even publish my first book. I wrote because I need to be encouraged that everything would work out alright. I needed hope.
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The title of this blog could also be called ‘Preachiness in Christian Fiction,’ but for my book the term ‘apologetics’ is more germane.
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So, you’re wondering, what makes an author the best person to work for and with, or the worst? The one-word answer: communication. That’s a pretty broad topic though, so I’ll narrow it down into several bullet points.
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As a Christian, I was never allowed to celebrate Halloween as a child because of various legends about it celebrating demons. Instead let us, like Christ, redeem the world and make it beautiful.
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I want to discuss where disability belongs in our churches, which is front a center of our theology and our ministry, not to receive sympathy, but as examples of Christ.
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SO, if Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Paul were disabled, and God refused to heal them, why does God heal anyone? Why not leave things as they are? This is an unusual question and backward from the usual question.
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We, the church, are uncomfortable with disability and don’t really have an explanation for why God allows it to exist. My proposal was that God allows… even gives disability on purpose. So where in the Bible, other than Paul, I could possibly get such an idea?
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As long there are people with disabilities, the issue of where they fit in the church will continue to exist. We need to fix it and stop ignoring it.
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Hi! My name is C. S. (Chris) Wachter and I’d like to talk to you about Christian Fantasy and my four-book series The Seven Words.
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San Antonio, Texas is the 7th largest city in the USA, yet it retains the feel of rural Texas. People travel all over the world to visit the Alamo and the River Walk which are both worth the visit.
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I am a Christian. I am also a writer. Does that make me a Christian writer? C.S. Lewis and Tolkien would say “yes,” but many in the Christian world say “no.”
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Life is hard sometimes, like being run over by a train driven by a half-drunk Irishman in a bad mood and then getting backed over by the same said train for good effect. I had one of those times, and I am sure you have too.
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Since it’s Christmas time and everyone is putting out their list of top books, I decided to do the same. This is not my list for just this year though.
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Tropes. This evil word used in writing circles describes all the types of stories that are old and overdone. I honestly think that we need to stop worrying about tropes for the most part.
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This week like many on social media, I saw another author quit their dream. This one stated that the spent $4,000 with nothing to show for it. Unfortunately, that isn’t unusual.
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I recently read a post by a well-known author about how he comes up with ideas. This has also been the most common question, in all its variations, I received on my AMA.
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Lauren H Salisbury was an English teacher for sixteen years with an MA in Education. She is now a writer who dabbles with tutoring and lives with her husband and a room full of books in Yorkshire, England.
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When I decided to become an author and actually claim that title as my new identity, I also took on a scope of challenges I never expected.
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I have been reading a large variety of books, and I find the most poignant difference between classics and self-published books is the use of cliff-hangers, open ending, and series hooks. I have read at least three of these kinds of endings this year alone. To be honest, I hate a book that doesn’t end.
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Fantasy fiction is a direct descendant of fairy tales and myths. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and George MacDonald were creators of some of the earliest fantasy fiction novels with the specific intention of creating modern fairy tales and myths.
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Even though I have a very long list of favorite writers, my inspiration usually returns to Jane Austin, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien.
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Today I helped some people move furniture and was asked if I needed anything they were getting rid of. I visited some people at their home and was again offered some furniture. In fact for the past year I have been generously offered a lot of furniture.
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We are moving back to Texas! It isn’t the same part of Texas that we lived in before, but that is good. Part of the reason for our European adventure was to create a different life, but it will be good to be near the family and friends who live there.
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I started this blog mostly to be an encouragement to those like myself to slow down and savor life. In the past five years my family has gone through illnesses, hospital stays, deaths, financial loss, drama of relatives crises and divorces, personal spiritual crises, depression, homeless wandering, and extreme reduction of personal property.
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I pride myself on being thrifty, practical, and efficient. Unfortunately, this arrogance sometimes gets me into trouble.
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Ever since I moved to Scotland I have been wanting to visit the highlands, but for some reason it always has seemed to complicated or too expensive or out of our way.
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I am very happy to say that I was able to attend the Edinburgh School of Art student fashion show a couple of days ago. They were the only school in Scotland invited to show in the London Graduate fashion week this coming June.
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I was thrilled to happen upon a sale on whole frozen duck that made it cheaper than the chicken next to it… as long as I bought three of them.
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There is something really chic about going to a farmer’s market on a summer’s day. To be honest, I felt super intimidated by them.
