When a Writing Critique Slashes the Heart

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills We writers are a passionate, emotional group. While these traits help us create beautifully worded fiction and non-fiction, nothing slashes the heart deeper than a harsh critique of our work. We might catch ourselves reading a harsh critique and thinking: “Even an idiot would get this.” “What? You’ve got to be kidding?” “Obviously, my style doesn’t …

November 1 – National Author’s Day – Winner Announced

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills Today is National Author’s Day, and whether you are a reader, writer, or both, it’s a good reason to show an author that you care. Books thrill, inform, inspire, educate, entertain, show us new cultures, and how people lived in historical eras. We can do none of this unless we have authors who will learn how …

How is a Writer’s Life Like King David?

DiAnn Mills By DiAnnMills Most of us are familiar with King David of the Bible. His story is in 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Psalms, and many other parts of the Old and New Testament. For many of us, one of our first childhood Bible stories showed us how David took five smooth stones and used a …

Are You a Vertical Writer?

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills We writers are in the business of learning the craft, using our imaginations, writing, editing, rewriting, and the process repeats. That’s horizontal writing. We’re depending on people and earth’s resources to help us reach our publishing dreams and goals. While we prayerfully consider wise counsel and seek knowledge, too often we forget that we are called …

2022 The Year of Optimism

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills I’m ready for this 2022 New Year to be wrapped in optimism. For that to happen, I must make a conscious decision (sometimes moment by moment) to declare joy in all things: ups, downs, and in-between times. It’s easy to write out that declaration, but to enlist optimism and joy, I need help—supernatural help and a …

How to Keep the Christmas Spirit

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills ‘Tis the Christmas season, and with all the hustle and bustle, we sometimes lose our Christmas spirit. When moments of irritation and frustration threaten your joy, look at these ten ways to bring hope back into your Christmas. Change your music selections to Christmas carols. As you sing along to the familiar classics, think about the …

The Meaning of Family

DiAnn Mills @ DiAnnMills Guest Blogger: Deborah Sprinkler @DebbieSprinkle About two months ago, I asked a simple question: How do you define family? The answers proved to be complicated. One reply summed up the difficulty in finding a definition. She wrote, “We have the family we are born into, the family we chose, and the family we join.” Is one …

Are You a Survivor?

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills A survivor is someone who has lived through a tragic event. Survivors aren’t only those who lived while others died; sometimes resurfacing after enduring physical, emotional, or spiritual turmoil also makes us a survivor. Using the acronym for SURVIVOR, we can look at a few qualities needed to walk through fire and endure the heat. S …

4 Strategies for Overcoming Life’s Obstacles

By DiAnn Mills @diannmills Guest Post by Kristen Hogrefe Parnell @KHogrefeParnell When my now-husband James and I were dating, he helped me purchase my first mountain bike. I knew he loved off-road biking and that this investment would give us hours of quality time together. Going on three years now, I’ve been riding my Cannondale with him, and he’s been …

What Does Courage Really Mean?

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills ANNOUNCEMENT – Please help me congratulate Debb from the U.K. who was randomly selected from last week’s Help For 2021 Blog Posts.  Thanks to everyone that participated. I’ve captured everyone’s ideas and will review your suggestions for upcoming topics. What Does Courage Really Mean? For 2021, I prayerfully chose the word Courage. This means, I will attempt …