About Me
The Editor
I belong to the Christian Editor Network - a nationwide, professional network of editors and proofreaders. Passing a series of tests is required for acceptance into this organization.
I’m also a member of The Christian PEN – a nationwide, professional support organization for Christians who provide proofreading and various editing services for writers and publishers.
As a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), I’ve been editing writers’ work for six years through online and local critique groups.
I currently meet with three other published authors who gather weekly to edit each other’s work, as well as discuss the craft of writing and the publishing business.
While employed by a national telecommunications company, I edited and published a newsletter for a department of ninety people, utilizing different volunteer writers for every issue.
Serving as a judge for contests that award excellence in Christian fiction gives me an opportunity to give back to the publishing industry. Novels are judged on such things as: characterization, plot, theme, setting, mechanics, writing quality, and overall story.
The Writer
I wrote stories at a young age, served as the editor of my high school newspaper, and was thrilled when an English professor asked if she could publish one of my short stories in the college newspaper.
As an older adult, I rediscovered my passion for writing while creating full - length plays for a church drama group. But when I joined ACFW, the fun really began!
I've studied the craft of writing fiction for eight years, and have critiqued/edited for six years.
My short story, “Healing on a Park Bench” was published in the Christian Fiction Online Magazine. Articles and devotionals have appeared in The One Year Life Verse Devotional, Reverent Submissions Journal, and Backyard Friends magazine. I continue to be a contributing writer for the radio ministry, The Heartbeat of the Home.
My blog, From Dawn ‘til Dusk, focuses on spiritual growth through snippets of my personal life and thoughts. I moved that blog to my author site, but you can still find three year's worth of articles and book reviews on Dawn 'til Dusk. I also write and co-host a blog for Christian writers called Seriously Write with friends and authors, Annette M. Irby, Ocieanna Fleiss, and Angela E. Arndt. It’s a place where writers can share knowledge about the craft, their own journey, and support each other. It’s a wonderful way for us to give back to the writing community.
Favorite Quotes
About Writing
“Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader- not the fact that it is raining, but the feel of being rained upon.”
~ E. L. Doctorow
“Manuscript: something submitted in haste and returned at leisure.”
~ Oliver Herford
“The difference between the right word and almost the right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.”
~ Mark Twain
“A good many young writers make the mistake of enclosing a stamped, self-addressed envelope, big enough for the manuscript to come back in. This is too much of a temptation to the editor.”
~ Ring Lardner
“A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.”
~ Gilbert K. Chesterton
“The secret of good writing is to say an old thing in a new way or to say a new thing in an old way.”
~ Richard Harding Davis
“The waste basket is the writer's best friend.”
~ Isaac Bashevis Singer
“For a long time now I have tried simply to write the best I can. Sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can.”
~ Ernest Hemingway
“The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.”
~ Tom Clancy
“A writer must have all the confidence in the world when writing the first draft and none whatsoever when editing subsequent drafts.”
~ T. Davis Bunn
“Also be prepared as you write to be surprised by what you find out about yourself and about your world . . . you are- after all- your first reader of what you write. Please that reader. . .”
~ Jane Yolen
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Faithfully Write Editing
Fiction and Nonfiction
