In a recent The New Yorker article on the use of suspense in literature, this phrase, “preaching to the nerves,” jumped out at me. It was used by the highbrow critics in the nineteenth century to describe the “tawdry” and “ignoble” aspects of the rise in modern fiction of the time that appealed more to…
When I was wrapping up the final edits on The Mercy Seat, Kay and I had dinner with dear friends Bill and Derri Smith. Derri had recently retired as the director of an organization devoted to rescuing victims of human trafficking. I shared with them the story of The Mercy Seat and that I was…
My wife, Kay, dared me to make up a story out of whole cloth. Just sit down and start writing and see what happens, she said. With my historical fiction books, I have at least had a loose outline to follow, a commitment to be true to the known facts while telling a good story. But not with The Mercy Seat. It was scary at first.
I never had a burning passion to write a book. Like a teapot simmering on a stove’s back burner, my idea to write a novel also sat.
Write a book? Ninety-some thousand words? I couldn’t imagine such a feat.
But the teapot on the back of the stove kept simmering.
We are delighted to host Richard Spillman this week. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says “whether you eat or drink, whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” But as an artist, what does that process look like? How can we know if we’re really glorifying God in our art? How do we find the…
Guest post by Taylor Bennett In the months since the release of Porch Swing Girl, I’ve done a lot of interviews. More than I ever could have imagined doing in my LIFE, as a matter of fact! I never expected to answer so many questions, to chat with so many lovely bloggers and reporters. Interestingly…
A Letter from the Palace [Terrie Todd]
I won’t forget the day I received a letter from Buckingham Palace. In 2018, Queen Elizabeth II (QE2) was still alive and well in the sixty-sixth year of her seventy-year reign. My friend Lucy suggested I send Her Majesty a copy of my third novel, Bleak Landing. The book includes a scene from 1939 when…
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