Fifteen Great Picks from 2021

Throughout the year, our blog team share their insights and wisdom - it may be inspirational, a story of writerly struggles or triumphs in a pandemic world; tips about the writing life and writing craft, or an interview of one of our members. Sometimes it's moving, or funny or thought-provoking or all three.. Always, it's the result of thought, research, experience, passion, creativity.

The CWD Admin team would like to give our blog team a huge thank you for your contributions throughout 2021 (and over the last decade).

As we near the end of 2021 which felt far too much like a 2020 sequel, we thought we'd honour our bloggers' contributions with a pick of 15 blogposts that have inspired us this year (in no particular order). Out of close to 90 posts, it wasn't easy to choose and there are many other posts equally deserving of notice. We have a wealth of information and inspiration on the blogsite - accessible on multiple subjects and themes.

Jeanette 

1. A Story of Life by Meredith Resce  (Sometimes God has other ideas)

I have a real-life story of my own I’d like to share. It is about the love of God in a difficult situation.

It’s a true story, a little bit funny, a bit sad, but it’s an inspirational story. It started Easter 2015, on Good Friday to be exact.

As is often the case on Good Friday, I found myself part of the Good Friday church service. I was playing the piano, and my husband (the pastor at that time) had arranged, among other things, that I would play the old hymn ‘When I Survey the Wondrous Cross’ as a background accompaniment while three people read pieces of Scripture. I needed to get a scanned copy of the music as I couldn’t find my old hymn books. I had it all sorted and I’d practiced it, and it was all good. The service went along as planned, and it was inspirational and a little bit stirring, as all Good Friday services should be.

 

At the end of the service my husband did one of his special spontaneous moments that he is famous for, and announced to the congregation that he would get his wife (that’s me) to come back to the piano and sing ‘The Old Rugged Cross’. I’m sort of used to these surprise put-you-on-the-spot ideas that pop up from time to time, and I can usually fumble about and make something happen, but I honestly hadn’t played ‘The Old Rugged Cross’ in years. I couldn’t remember half the words, was not sure which key ... Read More Here.

2. Never Give Up On Your Dreams by Nola Lorraine

Sally Funk was one of the Mercury 13, women who trained in the 1960s to for space but never got there.  That is until decades later when something amazing happened, but what has that got to do with writing? Read of Nola's Post Here.

3. Resistance is Futile! by Susan J Bruce

This week I’ve had the Borg catch-cry in my head as I’ve pondered a different, but very futile kind of resistance: resistance to writing.

I suffer from this resistance a lot—even though I love writing. Do you? I know I’m not alone.

To create a world and immerse yourself in the lives of your characters is a thing of joy. You get to know these make-believe people, torture them in some diabolically cathartic way, then cheer them on as they overcome the obstacles you throw before them. What’s not to like? Writing can be so much fun, so why do we resist sitting down and filling empty pages with our words.

Resistance is weird ... Read More Here. 

4. A Bag of Goodies! by Anusha Atukorala

Anusha contemplates the aha moment for using a treasured but unused bag, and the metaphorical bags writers can carry with them, stuffed full of unhelpful or helpful attitudes.  To find out what they are Read More Here. 

5. Feeding the Reservoir (aka Soaking up the View from my Window) by Mazzy Adams

A writer’s inclination to observe people and places is common, if not intrinsic, as it informs the character characteristics and settings we create for our readers. But for months, opportunities to casually watch passers-by while sipping a caramel latte inside a coffee shop, or freely travel to another place just to see what’s there, have languished in the realms of wishful thinking. Whether introvert or extrovert, opportunities to top up our creative reservoirs have taken a hit.

It’s not surprising that, as global conditions have created compelling reasons to stay at home, innovative online groups have created new ways for people to connect and explore the world.

Last year, I joined a group called ‘View from My Window’. Precious glimpses into the daily lived experience of folk from across the globe have broadened my view of the world and the people in it. ... Read More Here.

6. Transformation Stories - Our friends or foes? by Paula Vince

In his book, 'Waking the Dead', John Eldredge makes the following observation.

'The phoenix rises from the ashes. Cinderella rises from the cinders to become a queen. The ugly duckling becomes a beautiful swan. Pinnochio becomes a real boy. The frog becomes a prince. Wretched old Scrooge becomes "as good a friend, as good a master and as good a man as the good old city knew."'

Wow, stories of transformation really are prolific! If we live and breathe this sort of literature, if we were brought up on it, has it really been good for us? Doesn't it convince us, in a very palatable and surreptitious way, that we need to become something completely different in order to be acceptable? ... Read More Here. 

7. The CPU of Marketing and Beyond by Jeanette O'Hagan

We all would love to discover the formula to instant success in becoming a block-buster, best-selling author. Unfortunately, that formula probably doesn't exist - but in this blog, I share three Cs, two Ps and the U that can help us power towards publication and and finding our readers. Read More Here.

8. [Self] Publish or Perish? Pros and Cons – by Ruth Bonetti

Authors trudge rutted paths to print goals. Rejections tempt them to secure incomes selling used cars or real estate. Or they learn to forge their own independent ways.

We polish a manuscript until it gleams, then submit. And wait. Wait. We remind ourselves of big name authors rejected many times by publishers–who now regret that!

 
But...

Do we give up too easily ... Read More Here.  

9. Behind the Scenes: In Want of a Wife by Meredith Resce

Today we go 'behind the scenes' as Jeanette (Jenny) O'Hagan interviews Meredith Resce about her rom-com contemporary romances featuring author and match-making mother, Luella Linley. Read More Here. 

10. Keeping the Joy in the Call by Helen Carr

The process of entering the Caleb Awards had a truly positive effect on me, and not just because it pushed me to finish my novel! Deadlines are something I work well to, and often having the pressure to get something finished is the motivation I need to stop binging Netflix, or reading someone else’s novel, and work on mine. That being said, I do recall having a bit of a chat with God about the awards, after becoming slightly cranky with him about the pressure to get things ready before the first deadline. It was a very short conversation, and went like this…

Me: I don’t know how to fix this part! It’s too hard, God, why did you ask me to enter the awards?

God: I never asked you to, Helen.

Me:….. {awkward silence}

He was right, of course. I had made the choice to submit my manuscript, not once stopping to ask God if it was the right timing or something he wanted. I returned to God, repentant, and humble, and asked him, “Lord, do you want me to enter the awards?”

His answer was so beautiful - “Yes, enter them if you want to, but Helen...do not lose the joy of writing.” Read More Here. 

11. The Story of Us by Shane Brigg

The hero archetype is generally defined as an individual protagonist who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. A hero protagonist's traits help readers to understand them, connect with them, or follow their actions and understand why they do what they do.

I have been asking myself - like Papa (2016) - if the Hero’s Journey is “the chief organizing story” of human civilization and stories are the most powerful communication technology, to what extent might the Hero’s Journey be responsible for where we are at today?

Where I am at today? (“Gulp”)

How might the conceptualization of the Hero’s Journey be contributing to what we are experiencing on all scales of society, development, world issues, good things, bad things, personal vexes and maybe even sin?

What could happen if we told our hero stories differently?  ... Read More Here.

12. Write Amidst the Storm by Adele Jones

I need not remind Australians that for the majority of us, the past eighteen months have been a period unlike any other in our lives. That includes writers. Bookstores have been shut, many never to reopen. Sales have been down. Libraries have been closed, so no PLR. Publishers have been hit hard. Events have been cancelled, and re-cancelled. Gatherings have been forbidden by government edicts. Homes with children usually at school have been thrust into the realm of home schooling, and a pandemic of fear has seen panic buying and frenzied behaviour uncharacteristic of our usually “laid back” Aussie culture.

What’s a writer to do?


... What can we do when writing gets hard? Here are a few tips from my “Top Ten Block Busters” presentation, shared at a recent visit with the Rose City Writers ... Read More Here. 

13. Can we be in unity in these tough times? Thoughts from Jo Wanmer

As Christian authors and readers we write…not only books and short pieces, but emails, posts on social media, articles and blogs. Are we being known as Christians by our love that's displayed in our words?

In these difficult times, we don’t all agree on theology, politics, vaccines and other topics. How can we walk in unity when we see things so differently?  ... Read More Here.

14. Do We Write on Human Hearts? by Janelle Moore

Who else wants their words, their writing to challenge, inspire and bring life, just as God's words do?

Who else wants their writing to be an extension of who they are, just as God's words are?

2 Corinthians 3:3 tells us that "...you are a letter from Christ...written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on human hearts". Read More Here.

15. Mentors, Godparents and the Writing Thing by K A Hart

‘Me? She really asked if I would consider being her mentor?’


I was flabbergasted. Me. A mentor? I don’t know anything. I’m barely able to work through my own issues in life and someone wanted me to be their mentor? And what was a mentor supposed to do?

Would you believe me if I said I looked up the definition?

A wise and trusted counsellor or teacher. [Pft! Wise? I’ll probably have to look that up in the dictionary too, but I know I’m neither old enough or experienced enough to be wise.]

An influential senior sponsor or supporter. [Ha! I should never be left unsupervised, let-alone influence anyone.]

I checked the thesaurus, maybe there was a better fit than mentor — adviser, coach, guide, instructor, trainer, tutor, counsellor … maybe not. ... Read More Here.

We hope you've enjoyed this selective review of the many great blogs of 2021. And we'd like to thank all our active CWD members and bloggers who interact, comment and support each other and the group - and to wish you all a blessed and joyful Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour and Lord and a wonderful New Year in 2022.

Christmas Blessings

 

With Christmas just a couple days away, the CWD admin team wishes you a blessed and joyful Christmas and God's richest blessings for the New Year. 

We do not know what 2022 will bring, hopefully not a repeat of 2020, but we do know that God goes before us, beside us and behind us. Our trust is not that the road may be smooth, but that God will never leave us or forsake us. 

In that vein, we share some of our Christmas memories and Christmas wishes for our CWD family.

A Christmas to Cherish - Kirsten Hart

Christmas of 2016

When I was little, my dad’s family would get together for Christmas dinner every year. There would be presents for the kids; and we’d all bring something to share - roasted ham, chicken, and pork. Numerous salads and sides all sitting around an ever expanding table.

Over the years, as my cousins and I have grown up, gone to uni, travelled interstate and started families of our own, that table has gotten smaller. While most of my cousins are married and some have children, a lot of us can’t get together for Christmas dinner like we used to and some of our family have passed away.

One of the last Christmas dinners I’ve had with the family was back in 2016. We are all a bit crazy as you can see in the photo. Full of, well, food by this time. I don’t get to see much of these amazing people since moving to Queensland and with the current circumstances, but the memories and photos remind me of the fun we had during those precious moments.

Take time to Connect

Take time this Christmas to connect with family and friends. We as writers tend to spend a lot of time by ourselves. Even with the lifting of restrictions, some of us still don’t have the ability to see family this Christmas. Take Christmas off from writing. Don’t write a word and make memories with those you love. This is a moment to cherish.

Kirsten 

K.A. Hart is a born and bred Territorian who moved to Queensland and had no choice but to stay after her assimilation into Toowoomba's infamous, collective known as Quirky Quills.

The Blessing of Connection – Mazzy Adams

 The Christmas of 1999

For me, 1999 was a year of unexpected opportunities, a clear highlight being a three-month outreach trek with Wheels of Fire Ministries, travelling from Toowoomba to Uluru to Darwin to Broome and back again with many stops and detours along the way. Thirteen thousand kilometres in an aging Toyota Coaster (top speed 70kph downhill with a tail wind pushing the luggage trailer), sleeping in church halls, on school room floors, in tents (including the huge Tent of Promise marquee), or on a tarpaulin under the stars of a glorious outback sky. 

It was a wonderful time of connection and reconciliation with Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians from all over. My three children proved themselves capable thespians, puppeteers, musicians and singer, clowns, and communicators. I learned how to make puppets, paint faces on a plethora of eager children, accept instant mashed potato powder as a legitimate food source, and pray without ceasing. To my absolute joy, my youngest, (who was nine at the time) gave her heart to the Lord on that trip.

That Christmas, as they had done in previous years, my children volunteered for a huge combined churches event entailing three weeks at a nightly Christmas lights display in our city’s heart as live performers, portraying ‘Christmas, the Full Story’ in a series of interactive vignettes—another valuable opportunity to connect with our local community and share the love of Christ abroad. A few weeks later, we learned our eldest son had met a very special young lady at that event who, to our delight, would later join our family as his wife. Another truly blessed connection.

 These experiences and connections still inform my journey as the Holy Spirit connects the dots of my calling as a writer within His plan for my life which has led to more wonderful connections with fellow writers and readers.

 A Christmas Blessing

Christmas is the ultimate celebration of connectedness because Jesus, Immanuel, God with us, chose to leave His heavenly home and trek Earth’s ground, unleashing His matchless, superlative message of love and hope for everyone. Through faith in Him, we can connect with our Heavenly Father and His whole family of believers world-wide.

 Whether through written words or face-to-face opportunities, expected or unexpected, may you be greatly blessed this Christmas with the love and hope and joy of divine and divinely arranged connection, and reconnection.

 Love, Mazzy.  

 

Mazzy Adams - Author, Genre Rebel. Intrigue and Inspiration with an Upmarket DownUnder Vibe

A contented Aussie wife, mother, grandmother, business manager, creative and academic writing tutor, and encourager, Mazzy maintains her passion for words, pictures, and the positive potential in people.

Website: www.mazzyadams.com  Email:  maz@mazzyadams.com  

A Faraway Christmas - Jeanette O'Hagan

Christmas far far away and a long time ago

We arrived in Zambia just as I turned ten. When we first arrived our family attended  the local Baptist church, mostly attended by expats and whites who became uncomfortable when my parents invited our neighbours, all local Zambians, along to the service. Keen to have a church where locals were welcome, my parents teamed up with a Southern Baptist missionaries, founding the Kitwe Baptist Church. Often on a Sunday, Dad would cram the seven of us in the station wagon and as many of the neighbours he could fit in, doubling and sometimes tripling the seating and filling the area behind the seats with as many young people as would fit.

Christmas in Zambia meant daily thunderstorms, long summer holidays and days of exploration and adventure. One year Mum took us to buy a real pine tree which we placed in a red tin bucket and decked with tinsel. We made decorations out of crepe paper. Mum baked Christmas cake, plum pudding with foil wrapped ngwe (coins), perfect home made custard and baked dinner while the Bwelpe family next door got a whole pig (and not a small one) to cook for their Christmas dinner.  Wrapped presents appeared under the tree and on Christmas morning a pillow full of small gifts and yummy treats appeared at the bottom of our beds. Then there was the Christmas day service. And always a nativity scene plus a Christmas play, as the baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and wise men played by my siblings, myself, the Moss kids and our young Zambian neighbours. Mum and Mrs Moss wrote and directed the play, fashioning costumes out of sheets and tea towels, and finding props and choosing Christmas carols to sing -  Away in the Manager, Silent Night, While Shepherds Watched, Gloria in Excelsia, and my favourite, We Three Kings of Orient are.

Christmas celebrations, I find, change as our family and circumstances change. As a child, Christmases seemed big, even when we didn't travel to spend them with uncles, aunts and cousins.  Then, as we grew up and scattered out across the miles, they shrank. Then kids came along, and the noisy, food-laden and present-filled merriment expanded again. Now, as our kids grow older, and our parents grow old and frail, and, in the case of my dad & mother-in-law, get promoted to heaven, Christmases are shrinking again, perhaps sooner than I expected. It's easy to become nostalgic, to mourn the Christmases past. 

Yet I'm reminded, that despite the shepherds and angels and despite the visit of the magi (probably some months later), the first Christmas was simple affair. A young couple, a baby, a makeshift space to stay far from home and, perhaps family. With or without the trappings, Christmas is a lit flame in the dark, a spark of hope, and the first step on the road to Golgotha. And because of that baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, we never need be truly alone again,

A Christmas prayer

Whatever your circumstances, however you plan to celebrate Christmas this year,  I pray that you may know the true joy of Christmas, the peace of His presence, the blessings of giving as well as receiving, the message and promise of hope. And I pray that you will be truly blessed in both the connections you have with those around you - family, friends, strangers - and in your writing. 

Jeanette

Jeanette spun tales in the world of Nardva from the age of eight. Her Nardvan stories span continents, millennia and cultures. Some involve shapeshifters and magic. Others include space stations and cyborgs. Jeanette lives in Brisbane with her husband and children.

Facebook |Jeanette O'Hagan Writes | Twitter | Instagram 

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Mentors, Godparents and the Writing Thing.

 ‘Me? She really asked if I would consider being her mentor?’

I was flabbergasted. Me. A mentor? I don’t know anything. I’m barely able to work through my own issues in life and someone wanted me to be their mentor? And what was a mentor supposed to do?

Would you believe me if I said I looked up the definition?

A wise and trusted counsellor or teacher. [Pft! Wise? I’ll probably have to look that up in the dictionary too, but I know I’m neither old enough or experienced enough to be wise.]

An influential senior sponsor or supporter. [Ha! I should never be left unsupervised, let-alone influence anyone.]

I checked the thesaurus, maybe there was a better fit than mentor — adviser, coach, guide, instructor, trainer, tutor, counsellor … maybe not.

Photo by Alexis Brown on Unsplash

Lisa Bevere released a new book in late 2020 called, Godmothers — Why You Need One. How to Be One. For some reason I remembered this book after my friend and I had this bizarre conversation about mentoring and thought I would check it out. I mean, I have a young niece / goddaughter who lives interstate and I sadly don’t have much contact with her (purely my fault - life and all that) and isn’t mentoring kind of like being a godparent or part thereof?

Someone to whisper a blessing and a word of courage over your life. Someone to help you close your gaps. A guide who sees your potential waiting to be recognised, your challenges in need of transformation, and your questions requiring honest answers.

— Lisa Bevere

Looking back on accepting the opportunity to write blogposts on this website full of far more experienced, wise and knowledgeable writers than I, I remember feeling the exact same way as I did about the possibility of mentoring someone. 

Me? Write a post, on writing, for Christian writers … who would read it? I had nothing to say. My ‘so-called’ voice was still being developed. I didn’t have a published book, or short story, or poem or article or any other form of writing document. I did however have a very poor, first draft of a novel, a small group of friends who knew I liked to write and an open opportunity to have a go. Was it the right thing to do? I didn’t think so at the time. Was it the right thing for me? Well, let’s just say, that same very poor draft which has been edited here and there over the years (and has miles to go—according to me) was my submission to the Caleb Awards last year. I was one of the finalists in my category.

 

When we’re afraid of succeeding at the wrong thing, we run the risk of doing nothing. 

— Lisa Bevere.

Those of you who linked in to the Omega Writers Online Retreat last month would have heard Edie Melson speak on Soul Care for Writers. One of my take-aways from her session seems quite small and ironically and hilariously something you’d think a writer, any writer would be already doing. Writing. But not just writing all the stories we have bunched up in our heads, writing down our hopes and fears. Writing though the doubts that constantly hammer each of us everyday. Writing out the logical-sounding ‘why I can’ts' and working through these oppositions with the one thing we like doing the most.

The importance of an idea, dream, or hope can be measured by the opposition you experience when you dare to embrace it. 

—Lisa Bevere.

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

I know from experience (I can say that now), you don’t need to be the best writer, you don’t need to have something published, you don’t need to feel wise or knowledgeable for that matter. Everyone (yes, I’m talking to you) regardless of what path you’re going through in your journey with Christ, you have something to contribute to this writing community. Be bold. Be brave, or don’t be, but put yourself out there anyway.

Words, whether written or spoken, have the power to highlight our paths. 

— Lisa Bevere.

If you think you might want to try your hand at writing a post for Christian Writers Downunder and have been a contributing member to our Facebook page and/or engaged via comments in these posts; and been apart of this group for more than 6 months, let us know. We’re looking for some new blood, a few new voices to help bring fresh ideas, encouragement and blessings on this wonderful writing community we have. You can contact us through our Facebook Page, comment below or email us at CWDBloggers@gmail.com.

Fifteen Great Picks from 2020

Throughout the year, our blog team share their insights and wisdom - it may be inspirational, a story of writerly struggles or triumphs; tips about the writing life and writing craft, or an interview of one of our members. Sometimes it's moving, or funny or thought-provoking or all three.. Always, it's the result of thought, research, experience, passion, creativity.

The CWD Admin team would like to give our blog team a huge thank you for your contributions throughout 2020 (and over the last decade).

As we near the end of 2020 which so many have called 'unprecedented', we thought we'd honour our bloggers' contributions with a pick of 15 blogposts that have inspired us this year (in no particular order). Out of over 100 posts, it wasn't easy to choose and there are many other posts equally deserving of notice. We have a wealth of information and inspiration on the blogsite - accessible on multiple subjects and themes.

1. Route 2020 by Jeanette O'Hagan

... In the Bible, there are moments of reflection on the way of what has been achieved (often marked by memorials) and bold promises about the tasks ahead. Mount Sinai, the crossing of the Jordan river, Joshua's declaration that he and his house would follow the Lord, and Jesus' call to follow him.

Sometimes I get so caught up with the day to day, month to month details of what I need to be doing as a Indie writer and become so anxious about what I haven't achieved, that I lose sight of how far I've come. At those times, the road ahead seems daunting, even impossble.

Maybe, the start of 2020 is a great time to tke stock, to remember and to re-group, to see the way ahead. ... Read more here.

2.  Writing Brave (Even if Your Knees are Knocking) by Nola Lorraine

Meltdown in Aisle 3

Last Thursday, I launched my author website with the tagline ‘Weaving Words of Courage and Hope’. I’d come up with that line last year and it seemed like a good fit for most of my writing. Rewind to last Tuesday, and I was standing in the toilet paper aisle at Woollies, fighting back tears because the lady in front of me had grabbed the last pack of toilet paper. ... Read more here.

3. Such a Time as This by Admin Team

“Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.

Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings)

This is not the first time the world has been in turmoil (the spread of the Bubonic plague, the invasions of Genghis Khan, two World Wars, the Great Depression, the Spanish Flu, the year without a summer, the Cuban Missile crisis and so on). And it probably won't be the last either. Even so, I'm sure I'm not the only one who feeling we've accidentally wandered onto an apocalyptic movie set. ... Read more here. 

4. The Best Scoop of All by Anusha Atukorala

... Despite the hustle and bustle around me and my frazzled nerves within, the meeting went exceptionally well. Detour or not, sweet melodies now began to hum in my heart. Our local library was willing to organise the launch of my next book ‘Sharing the Journey’. I was delighted to hear how well they’d support me. They promised to even serve wine for my guests at no cost. Oh? Yes! Yes, please!


Afterwards I realised that perhaps my detour was a reminder that the year might not flow as smoothly as I hoped! Plan for detours, I told myself when I got home. Go with the flow, Anusha. Dream on but expect the unexpected. Don’t be fooled into thinking my plans won’t get messed up. I spent the next few weeks making goals and plans for 2020. ... Read more here.

5.  How to Keep Wagging Your Tail During a Pandemic. (By Nikita the ShiChi)

In these tough times of pandemic proportions one of the most encouraging and helpful voices on social media has been Pluto, a miniature schnauzer who has been 'breaking the internets' with her wisdom and humour. If you haven't met Pluto yet, I'll pop a link to her YouTube channel at the end of this blog. She is truely good for the soul. In honour of Pluto and the other dogs and cats encouraging us humans (or two-legs as Pluto calls them) on social media, I decided to invite my dog, Nikita the ShiChi, to guest blog on CWD today :). Over to you Nikita... Read more here. 

6. Life Answer for Sceptics by Julia Archer

... But here’s the thing. Can Christian writers learn anything from this story?

Well, first, that it is a story. A true story, included in Scripture for a reason. Along with all the other forms of writing in Scripture, an honoured place is held by stories. This validates our telling stories to share Christian truth, particularly stories of how God has worked in our lives.

Even fiction is included, unless you hold that the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son and his father and brother were real, historical people ...  Read more here.

7. Blast from the Past - The Lamb that was Slain

This Easter will be like none we've experienced in many decades, but one thing is certain: The DIVINE MESSAGE of love and hope it commemorates IS eternal, from yesterday, for today, tomorrow, and forevermore.


Six years ago, Jeanette O'Hagan asked the question:

"I wonder what Easter means for you?"

She went on to say:

"For me it is a time of reflection and wonderment - that the incarnated divine Son would die for me. It tells me how much God loves and values me. It reminds me that I have new life through Jesus, that He can and will mend the brokenness inside of me and that He is a present and powerful. ... Read more here. 

8.  The Selfless Self-Promotion Conundrum by Ben Morton

... But God gave me talents so that I could use them, not to bury them and wait for him to return. I need to work and my family need to eat. How do I navigate the issue of being a humble follower of Christ when my talent is the thing I have to sell and it seems unanimous that self-promotion is how artists ‘sell themselves?’ Can I actually sell myself when I belong to Christ? ... Read more here

9. She plays the guitar. He runs with the wolves by Kirsten Hart

How many of you spend hours and hours researching what vegetables commoners would be able to afford during winter in the 18th Century, or how bad the storm was in January of 1956, in Sydney? What about how long the average person can hold their breath?


As a writer, we are always researching something, whether you’re a romance author, historical-fiction author, non-fiction author or fantasy author. ... As writers, we need to go out into the world and experience as much as we can. I would never have known the satisfying pain of accomplishment you get in the tips of your fingers if I never started learning to play the guitar. Read more here.

10.  Eyes to See by Jenny Glazebrook

This is a long post, but I wanted to share with you some of the amazing things God has done in my life and my writing over the past few months in the hope that they will encourage you.


God took my vision so that I would see him again.


He slowed me down so that I would hear his still, small voice and work with him to achieve the supernatural, in his way, his time.


He showed me again that writing is worship when I do it with him and that is when he brings about supernatural ideas. He is my limitless inspiration. He is my strength, my life.  Read more here.

11. How to answer the biggest question writers get asked ... by David Rawlings

If you're a writer reading this, you've probably been asked this question as many times as I have.

What do you write?

It's a question that writers get asked because it's a way of connecting with our art; with our ability. It's a way to pigeon-hole what we do and get a sense of who we're like, helping others to understand what we put on the page. It's a way of picturing what we do as an output.

Over the years I've found that people's engagement with that question - outside of the infuriatingly common 'I'm going to write a book one day' - depends on my answer. ... Read more here. 

12. What Makes a Good Book Dedication? by Nola Lorraine

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been giving out gift copies and review copies of my debut novel. Some readers have told me they really enjoyed the book. However, a few people have also said they loved the dedication. I’m glad they liked it, because I put a lot of thought into it, but it got me thinking about other dedications I’ve read. What makes a good one? What things do you need to consider? Do you even need one? ... Read More Here

13.  A Good Yarn by Mazzy Adams

The notes of the Westminster chimes echoed down the hallway, subtly weaving their way into my sleep-sodden psyche, insisting I relinquish my cherished nana-nap. Before dozing off, I'd been researching the etymology of the word yarn. Though I'd discovered a miscellany of interesting facts, the art of spinning the various threads of thought into the fabric of an etymology essay had proved frustratingly elusive. Read More Here. 

14. Writing with Passion - Jo Wanmer

... My dad on the other hand only wrote occasionally. His short letters were eagerly awaited, even if his spider scrawl was hard to read. He died half way through year 12….and the letters stopped. The few I still had I kept for about forty years, and then I reduced them to a few quotes.

Mum’s letters detailed her daily life. Dad’s letters taught me how to live my life.

“If you have 40 men in a hut you have to be extra careful with money and other easily stolen things. But you can usually narrow the field down in a few weeks and in due course you know who it is.”

I can’t remember what I wrote to elicit this response but he used the occasion to teach me. As I recalled his writings after his death, I realized he was trying to prepare me. Did he know his time was limited?

The other author I honor today diid know his time was limited. He wrote with passion to his ‘family’, teaching and exhorting them, cajoling and rebuking them, loving them and discipling them. ... Read more here.

15. Pressing on To Meet our Goals by Ruth Bonetti

... It’s time to stretch my writing muscle.


What goals haunt the too-hard section of your mind and heart?


“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14 NRSV)

St Paul didn’t always know where he was heading, but trusted God’s driving directions. Read more here. 

...
 

We hope you've enjoyed this selective review of the many great blogs of 2020. And we'd like to thank all our active CWD members and bloggers who interact, comment and support each other and the group - and to wish you all a blessed and joyful Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour and Lord and a wonderful New Year in 2021.

What Keeps Us Writing - Part 2

Whether we've just started out or are multi-prize-winning published authors - the writing journey can have ups and downs, twists and turns and often what seem insurmountable obstacles. So, what keeps us writing?

Over a two-part series, each of the CWD admin team will share their insights.

Kirsten Hart

I’m going to be honest with you. I had plans to write a blogpost every week for my website, finish some major edits on my manuscript, complete the first draft of my second novel and a few other non-writing related things this year.

This was all before the global pandemic. To use this as an excuse as to why I haven’t written any blogs on my website since April or why none my major edits have made it into my manuscript yet or why that second novel is still only at 8000 words is pretty sad. I mean, hello! Lockdown! Though, my workplace never closed (yes, it’s a good thing, but opportunity lost on all that reading time) and life just seems way more hectic than usual.

So, not much writing has happened this year for me. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been active in the writing community. I entered the CALEB Award this year, I meet up with the Quirky Quills and we encourage each other in our writing and life’s speed bumps and I have six new story ideas bouncing through my head.

Even though I haven’t actively been writing, I’ve still connected with that passion on some level. While this maybe a year for me to reset and refocus, the writers I surround myself with keep me present. They encourage, they inspire, they teach and they listen. Words are scarce through my fingers this year. Maybe that’s true for some of you too, but the community of writers we have here, is the power God is using to keep us going, keep us on the writing journey.

Stay present.

Jeanette O'Hagan

Since enrolling in post-grad studies in writing in 2011 and my first published short story at the end of 2014, writing has been a major focus. Last year, I wrote at least 50 words, usually more, each and every day. The more I wrote, the easier it was to write --- until this year. This year has been a big black hole of writing for a few reasons.

Up until March, the Omega Writers Book Fair took up much of my writing time, then, Covid. While many writers found the forced isolation a boon, I found the opposite. I think I was still processing emotionally and found it hard to pick up a pen or bash the keyboard for much of April. Then in May, an long-awaited opening for Aged Care placement opened up for my Mum - moving her in the middle of lockdowns, taking over more responsibilities, and then seven months of decluttering and putting her property on the market while still caring for my children and husband took up most of my time and all of my energy. But the inertia went deeper. I've ten unpublished novels in various stages of drafting. I need to edit. But editing, rather than new virgin writing isn't quite as thrilling. Besides, not having new releases - apart from a two part boxed set of my already published five novella series - and not having time to write newsletters, blog posts, social media (because I didn't have the time) meant a dip in sales. Not writing, looking at a long stretch of editing, and only sporadic sales and little positive feedback discouraged me. I doubted my calling to write.

One Sunday morning after church at the end of October, two friends I hadn't seen for a while, asked how my writing going, had I published anything lately. Before I knew it, tears were streaming down my face. It was a wake-up call, a time to focus on why I write. Yes, it would be fantastic to have more people reading and loving my books. Yes, it would be wonderful to be able have more (or any) time to focus on writing. Yes, it would be great to get more of my books published. But at the core of why I write is because of the stories inside and of God's call to write. I might have my plans of how to get there, but God often has different plans than me even when He has the same goals (goals he lodged in my heart).

That Sunday, I decided to trust God's paths and timing. And part of that, was - after a fallow season - to make time to write (well, actually to edit) even when life is insane.





Thanks Kirsten. (In Part 1 Mazzy and Sue shared their inspiration to 'keep on writing). We'd love to hear your stories too - in the comments here or on CWD facebook page.

Such a Time as This

by Jeanette O'Hagan and the Admin Team


“Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

(Here's the excerpt)

This is not the first time the world has been in turmoil (the spread of the Bubonic plague, the invasions of Genghis Khan, two World Wars, the Great Depression, the Spanish Flu, the year without a summer, the Cuban Missile crisis and so on). And it probably won't be the last either. Even so, I'm sure I'm not the only one who feeling we've accidentally wandered onto an apocalyptic movie set. It's like we entering a long dark tunnel - we don't know what the world will be like at the other end or who may be left behind or even how long it might last. It's a scary, surreal feeling. Yet we are not alone. There is light and hope and a future.

In view of the uncertainties we are all facing, the  CWD admin team have banded together to offer a few thoughts and reflections on the current crisis.

Sue says:

Fear is one of the most common emotions we experience when times are difficult. It affects people in all kinds of ways. From mild anxiety, to insomnia, to doing crazy, crazy things, fear is a wildcard that can make a difficult situation worse. I mean who would have thought the first shortage in a respiratory virus epidemic would be toilet paper? Or that people would fight – even stab – each other in Australian supermarkets over groceries. Bonkers. I certainly didn’t think that when I went to church last weekend, someone would deliberately cough all over me and my husband. I’m sure that was fear-induced denial on the part of that fellow but that doesn’t help my newly developed sore throat. So how do we deal with fear – be it from a pandemic or a job layoff or any other event that threatens the security of ourselves or those we love?

I believe the key is staying close to God and others. I think we need to be open with God about how we are feeling. Lift our hearts to him aka Philippians 4:6-7, saying I am anxious, help! The other thing we can do is remember. Write down all the times God has broken through in our lives. Like when he gave you that job at the 11th hour or when someone invited you to dinner when you had no food in the house. Don’t just think it – feel it and thank him for it. 

But it’s not just about Jesus – we also need to stay connected with others. Imagine how isolating social distancing would be if we didn’t have forums like this where we can come together and encourage one another. Stay in fellowship even if it’s a group like this or via skype or Messenger audio. Don’t just look to your own interests but be kind to others. Find new ways to communicate. I pray each week with a friend who lives in Malaysia using Messenger audio. How amazing is technology? We’ve been praying like this for a year now. There’s an old saying – necessity is the mother of invention. Difficult times often birth amazing solutions. Be wise, keep walking and keep trusting. God is with us and we are not alone.

From Mazzy:

Last Saturday’s Omega Writers Fair in Brisbane: To go or not to go, that was the question. Normally a no-brainer, but this time, the hype and legitimate concerns regarding Coronavirus required wise, reasoned consideration. With no clear reason to stay away, the Lord resolved the matter in my heart with the second part of verse 16 from Psalm 139 which immediately tested—and settled—my anxious thoughts.

“All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (NIV)*

Did I truly believe that? If so, what fear is there for me if I am living and acting in obedience to God and to those to whom he has given authority? Neither of these, nor wisdom and reasoned consideration, forbade my attendance, though I took care to practise responsible ‘social distancing’. I’m so glad I went, because much blessing ensued, and I now have a terrific new stash of reading matter for which I’m grateful. Christian Writers rock!

According to The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume 1, we have cause to be very thankful for Christian poet and translator, Mary (Sidney) Herbert, Countess of Pembroke, for “contributing the larger number (107) of the verse translations of the 150 biblical psalms … Her free renderings re-create the psalms as English poems …” with some “… strikingly effective images … this influential collection was an important bridge between the many metrical paraphrases of psalms in this period” (Greenblatt, S, Gen Ed. p994). Her poetic rendering of Psalm 139 (circa 1595) is a particular favourite of mine. Her beautifully rhymed and metered rendering of verses 13-16 says:

Each inmost piece in me is thine:

  While yet I in my mother dwelt,

    All that me clad

    From thee I had.

  Thou in my frame hast strangely dealt:

Needs in my praise thy works must shine,

  So inly them my thoughts have felt.

Thou, how my back was beam-wise laid,

  And raft’ring of my ribs, dost know;

    Know’st every point

    Of bone and joint,

  How to this whole these parts did grow,

In brave embroid’ry fair arrayed,

  Though wrought in shop both dark and low.

Nay fashionless, ere form I took,

  Thy all and more beholding eye

    My shapeless shape

    Could not escape:

  All these, with time appointed by,

Ere one had being, in the book

  Of thy foresight enrolled did lie.  (Greenblatt, p996)  

The parts in italics are my emphasis—God knows our bodies, and their vulnerabilities, through and through. He knows each moment that marks our lives. He knows our every anxious thought. As Herbert puts the psalmist’s plea:

Search me, my God, and prove my heart,

  Examine me, and try my thought;

    And mark in me

    If ought there be

  That hath with cause their anger wrought.

If not (as not) my life’s each part,

  Lord, safely guide from danger brought. (ibid)

Kirsten shares her favourite quotes:

It’s better to walk alone, than with a crowd going in the wrong direction.

Diane Grant

Don’t be afraid to do you, but always remember to be considerate of others.

When you can’t control what’s happening, challenge yourself to control the way you respond to what’s happening.

Unknown

Don’t let stress or fear control how you handle a situation. You’re able to see things a lot clearer when you’re calm and in control.

Looking at life from a different perspective makes you realise that it’s not the deer that is crossing the road, rather it’s the road that is crossing the forest.

Mohammad Ali

Try to look at it in a different light. Find something positive out of every situation, even if it’s only small.

Breathe, darling. This is just a chapter, not your whole story.

S.C. Lourie

Yoga is an amazing tool to reduce stress and anxiety. I have been doing this for over a year. I Yoga with Ariene. She fairly down to earth for a yogi and great for beginners too.

And from me:

Some years ago, I was sorting books with my mum. We came across one that had belonged to my Nanna with a handwritten quote inserted inside it. My mum told how, in 1939 on the eve of the second world war and the dark days of the battle of Britain, King George VI had given a speech, quoting from a poem which had profoundly moved his wife, Elizabeth, and presumably him as well. In turn, the poem, broadcasted across the waves to faraway Bowen in Northern Queensland, had greatly moved my Nanna and had given her the courage to face the days ahead, as a mother of four young girls, as a teacher, as wife and as a citizen. 

Here are the words she heard - and which some of you may remember - and which, I think, are as relevant today as they were then. 

"And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East."

“God Knows” (aka “The Gate of the Year”) by Minnie Louise Haskins

(You can read the full poem here.)

When the storm comes, do we like Peter look at the strength of the wind (Mat 14:29-31), or do we look to the Creator, our Lord and Saviour, who made the cosmos, who is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega, the one who controls the tempests?

Jeanette O'Hagan

*Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.