Using a Magnifying Glass!

 by Anusha Atukorala

Recently, I had the joy of having a new friend over for afternoon tea. Beautiful Susie (not her real name), came bearing a warm apple and sultana cake she’d just whisked out of the oven. How Susie managed to bake a cake while caring for her three small children beats me! Amazing! Her cute treasures aged 4, 2 and 6 months were a delight. The cake was delicious. We enjoyed a happy time together, even if it lacked as much adult conversation as Susie and I would have liked.

 

I brought out some of my son’s old toys for her little girls to play with. Amidst cars and hand puppets, plastic animals and an assortment of paraphernalia, was a tiny magnifying glass. The two older kids were fascinated by it. They used it for a long time, gazing intently at everything around them. I was a little surprised at first how something so small and seemingly insignificant could have given the children so much pleasure, until I realised that I too still enjoy using one. Nowadays though, they are useful mainly to read the tiny print on medicine bottles or on items off the supermarket shelves!

 

As a disciple of Jesus, I could do with a magnifying glass, well … a figurative one! Don’t you think? And … whom can I magnify today? How about … Christian Writers Downunder? It’s the best place to start, isn’t it? Christian Writers Downunder began in 2011 with a handful of writers but grew very quickly and now boasts of 1350 members (when I last checked). CWD’s help and support to us Christian writers has been immense and far reaching and I am so grateful.

 

I was new on the writing scene when I joined CWD, having just published my first book. I remember the thrill of attending my first interstate Writing Conference in Queensland in 2012. It was lovely to be able to recognise many who came that year, the moment I saw them, because we’d already connected through CWD. A big shout out and THANK YOU to CWD’s current dynamic Admin duo – Jeanette O Hagen and Kirsten Hart. You do a fabulous job! And thank you too to Mazzy Adams (whose currently having a well deserved break)  God bless you three richly for all you do. We are very grateful!

 

I’d also like to magnify a few of the books I’ve drunk deeply of over the years, that have brought me closer to Jesus. 

Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster,  

7 Lessons from Heaven by Mary C Neal, 

Imagine Heaven by John Burke, 

Life without Lack by Dallas Willard, 

Satisfy my Thirsty Soul by Linda Dillow, 

Sanctuary of the Soul by Richard Foster, 

A Call to the Secret Place by Michel Ann Goll, 

Reclaiming Love by Ajith Fernando, 

Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich, 

The Way of Blessing by Roy Godwin, 

Prayer by Richard Foster. 

Appointments with Heaven by Dr Reggie Anderson. 

And these are but a small snapshot of a myriad assortment of books that have wooed me to our Saviour. I am so grateful for numerous great men and women of God over the ages and their writings that have grown my soul.

When times are tough, it’s easy to focus on what’s wrong rather than what’s right. We human beings are good at moaning about the bad rather than extolling the good. But God’s blessings abound. Daily, hourly, moment by moment. The jewel studded night sky that fills me with awe, the gentle sound of waves lapping on a sandy shore, a bright silvery moon on a dark cold night, the perfect yellow rose which displays my Creator’s magnificence, a colour splashed rainbow that thrills my soul, sunshine and cool breezes which that bring warmth and refreshment to my being. These are but a few of them.

 

And of course we are blessed, not only through material gifts. Paul informs us in the book of Ephesians that we have every spiritual blessing in Christ. Every spiritual blessing? Wow! Isn’t that something? Our lives are made richer through family and friends. We are blessed by circumstances both good and bad – even the tough times can be stepping stones to becoming more like Jesus. Thank You God. I magnify all the rich blessings You bring my way. Every. Single. Day!

 

I also seek to magnify the family of God – and as Paul urges us to do, consider their needs as more important than mine, their accomplishments as deserving higher recognition than mine. As a Christian writer, I magnify and showcase other writers. All of you on CWD! Thank you writers – your writing blesses our world. I won’t mention you by name in case I leave some of you out. But be assured … you do make a difference. And  … there needs to be a word for the good kind of gossip - talking behind another’s back of admirable traits we discover in others? I magnify the unique and wonderful people in my world – who make it a better place. 

Yes, you too dear Reader! You too!

Over the last few years, I’ve been struggling with an issue that often diminishes the joy in my life, like a mosquito that keeps buzzing in my ears. I realised recently that when I had turned 60, I desired one thing for my new decade. 

“One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.” 

Psalm 27:4-5. 

Perhaps I need to make an exchange? Each time I am triggered by the one thing that trips me up … I can exchange it for the ONE THING I surely need. 

To behold the beauty of God!

Yes. There’s One we can’t help but magnify daily for all He is and He has done for us. Our Awesome Great Triune God. The Alpha and the Omega. Who is like Him in the heavens or the earth? No one. He stands apart. High! Holy! Creator! Saviour! Lord! King! Redeemer! Friend! Majestic! Infinite! One who forgives! Transcendent! Mighty! Faithful! Teacher! Wisdom!

                          Light of the World. Jesus.

"Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good; 

for His steadfast love endures forever.” Psalm 118:1

               “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, 

              slow to anger, abounding in love.” Psalm 103:8

                      "O magnify the Lord with me. 

               And let us exalt His Name together.” Psalm 34:3

 

Would you like a peek through my magnifying glass?

Anusha’s been on many interesting detours in life, as a lab technician, a computer programmer, a full time Mum, a full time volunteer, a charity director, a full time job chaser, until one golden day (or was it a dark moonless night?) God tapped her on her shoulder and called her to write for Him. She has never recovered from the joy it brought her. She loves to see others enjoying life with Jesus and does her mite to hurry the process in her world through her writing and through her life. The goodness of God is her theme song through each season, as she dances in the rain with Jesus.

 

Her first book Enjoying the Journey contains 75 little God stories that will bring you closer to your Creator. Her 2^nd book ‘Dancing in the Rain’ brings you hope and comfort for life’s soggy seasons. Her 3rd book, ‘Sharing the Journey’ is a sequel to 'Enjoying the Journey' and was released in March 2020.

 

Do drop in on her two websites to say G’day! She’d love to connect with you.

Dancing in the Rain 

Light in the Darkness

 

Thanks for reading!

God bless you!

How to Cite Scripture in Christian Books

 

Are you going to include scriptures in your dazzling manuscript? Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, here are some things you need to know. 

Copyright and Permission Statements

If you’re using direct quotes of any scriptures in your book, you need to include a copyright and permission statement on the imprints page at the front. (That’s the page that has fun stuff on it like publisher details, copyright info, ISBNs etc.) If you’ve quoted from several different versions of the Bible, you will need a separate copyright and permission notice for each one.

The good news is that if you go to the websites for the publishers of the most common Bible versions, they will usually have information about permissions and may even have sample statements you can include. Sometimes you have to fish around on the site, go to the parent site, or use a few key words in Google. HarperCollins publishes a number of the popular Bibles and if you click HERE, you will find their permissions information.

From there, you can find the specific version you want. For example, if you click on the link there for the New International Version (NIV), they give a number of different permission statements including the following:

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

Please note that the above is a sample only. You would delete the years that don’t apply to the version you used.

Also, be sure to read all of the information regarding what is permitted and what is not. For example, they say you can use up to 500 verses of the NIV without asking for written permission, as long as those verses don’t constitute a whole book of the Bible (among other things). So even though the book of Philippians has fewer than 500 verses in total, you cannot quote the whole of Philippians without asking for written permission.

If the Bible version you are looking for is not listed at that link, you’ll have to go to the website for their publisher and find the information. If you just do a Google search for the name of the Bible and permissions, you shouldn’t have any trouble locating it.

(Please note that I am giving advice here to the best of my ability, but I am not a lawyer or copyright expert. If in doubt, please check.)

How Many Bible Versions Should You Use?

This is like the ‘how long is a piece of string’ question. The various Bible versions sometimes use different words to bring out different meanings or nuances in the text. Some versions use plainer language than others. You may simply like one version more than another because it’s the one you grew up with or the one with which you’re most familiar. All of those are valid. However, remember that you need a separate copyright and permission statement for each. So unless the aim of your book is to compare various versions of the Bible, you probably need to ask yourself whether you really need to quote from ten different versions.

If you have one version you mainly use, and you just have a few quotes from other versions, you can also include a statement in your copyright notice, such as ‘Unless otherwise specified, all scriptures are from the Such and Such Bible’ and then give the rest of the copyright and permission statement for that Bible. The copyright and permission statements for the other Bibles would appear after that.

 

How Do You Actually Cite Scriptures in your Text?

There are a number of different ways in which you can cite or quote scripture, but two guiding principles are consistency and accuracy.

Consistency

When citing scripture, it’s good to use a consistent format throughout your book. If you have a traditional publisher, they may have their own house style for citing scriptures, so check that.

Although different formats are available, it’s typical to use the full name of a book from the Bible if it’s part of a sentence in your text, but to use the abbreviation if it’s in parentheses after the quote. For example:

‘In Galatians 5, Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit.’ 

According to Paul, the fruit of the Spirit includes ‘love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’ (Gal. 5:22–23a NIV). 

You’ll see there that you also include the Bible version when giving a direct quote, except where you have already included the ‘unless otherwise specified’ phrase in the copyright and permission statement on the imprints page. (Please see above.) However, if you’re just referring to something that was in the Bible and you’re not using a direct quote, you don’t have to note the version.

Technically speaking, you’re also supposed to use an en-dash rather than a hyphen to indicate a number range, including a range of verses (e.g., 14–17 rather than 14-17).

There are also standard abbreviations for the books of the Bible and different Bible translations. Again, these might differ depending on which guidelines you consult. However, I find the recommendations in the Chicago Manual of Style helpful, as they give a list of all abbreviations. Click HERE for lists of abbreviations for books of the Bible and versions of the Bible.

One of my clients asked if she had to use abbreviations in parentheses because she preferred to use the full names. From memory, I think she was indie-publishing a devotional book or gift book. My advice was that she could use the full names if she preferred, but be consistent. Either use the full names or the abbreviations in parentheses, but don’t chop and change.

Another issue regards when to use a block quotation versus just citing the scripture as part of a sentence.

If you have a long quote, you typically put that in a block quotation format rather than having it running on as part of a sentence. There are different ideas of what constitutes a long quote. One guideline is that you use a block quotation if you have 100 words or more, or eight lines of text or more, but some also use it for shorter quotes if they want them to stand out.

Block quotations are usually indented without quote marks, like this.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matt. 11:28–29 NIV)

And then you continue on with your text. Please note that in this case, there are no quote marks and the full stop comes at the end of the quote. If it was part of a sentence, you would do it this way:

Jesus says, ‘Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls’ (Matt. 11:28–29 NIV).

Please note that I've indented it as an example, but it would just appear as part of the regular text of your paragraph. Here, there are quote marks and the final full stop comes after the parentheses. An exception would be if the quote finishes with a question mark or an exclamation mark. In those cases, the punctuation mark would come before the closing quote mark.

If you want to omit a few words or phrase from a longer scripture, use ellipses to indicate the missing part (...). However, be sure that the words you omit do not change the meaning or context of the quoted material.

Should you use single or double quotation marks? Single quotation marks are more typical in Australia and double quotation marks are more popular in countries such as the United States. If you're unsure where you're sending your manuscript, maybe use double quotation marks initially, as they're easier to change with a global substitution later if need be. (If you try to do a global substitution on single quote marks, it will also pick up your apostrophes.) The same goes for dialogue.

What about quotes within quotes, such as scriptures that include some speech or dialogue? If you're using block quotations, then you only need quote marks around the bit of speech or dialogue. If you're citing the scripture within the text of a sentence, and you're using double quote marks across the manuscript, then put the double quotes around the whole scripture and single quotes around the piece of dialogue within. If you're using single quote marks throughout, then it's the opposite (i.e., single quotes around the whole scripture and double quote marks around the bit of dialogue within.) Confused? Maybe that's a case for using block quotations or rewording so that you don't need to use the messy quotes within quotes. The challenge is yours!

Although the examples above show the format typically used, there are other styles. If you're being traditionally published, check with your publisher. If you're indie-publishing, you can use a different style, but just be consistent in whatever style you use. If you're not sure yet whether you're going to be traditionally published or indie-publishing, the examples above are a good guide.

Accuracy

When using direct quotes from the Bible, be very careful in transcribing the exact words and punctuation, including different spelling. For example, if you are using Australian spelling throughout your book, but the quote is from an American version that uses American spelling, then use that American spelling in your quote. However, there are a few things you do not need to copy in your quote.

• You should not embed the verse numbers within your quote.
• If the version you are using has red type for Jesus' words, just use black in your quote.
• If the version you are using has superscripts for footnotes or endnotes within the passage, don't copy those over. Otherwise, your readers will think they refer to your own footnotes or endnotes, and they won't be able to find them.

Speaking of footnotes and endnotes, you may prefer to use these as a citation method if you have a lot of scriptures and the constant inclusion of verse and version could break the flow of your points. For example, say you're writing about Jesus' miracles and you have a sentence that lists six of them from different parts of the Gospels. Rather than giving the scripture reference after each miracle, you could put them in a footnote or endnote instead.

Versions of the Bible in Historical Fiction

We’re so familiar with some versions of the Bible, that it’s easy to forget they haven’t always been around. For example, the New Testament in the New International Version (NIV) was first published in 1973 and the complete NIV Bible was published in 1978. (Click here for details.)

So be sure your 1960s heroine doesn’t quote the NIV. You also might want to check that your 1940s characters don’t quote the Amplified Bible (it was first published between 1958 and 1965) and that your 1980s characters don’t quote from the Message version (it came out between 1993 and 2002). My historical novel Scattered was set in 1882, so my heroine consults the King James Version of the Bible. A quick google search should provide the details you need for your version.

This seems like a lot of information to take in, but just remember the four things you need to be aware of—copyright, permissions, consistency and accuracy. What could be simpler than that?  Okay, a lot of things could be simpler, but hopefully these guidelines will point you in the right direction.

Author Note

Nola Lorraine (aka Nola Passmore) is an author and editor whose poetry, inspirational articles, and short fiction have appeared in magazines, journals and anthologies in Australia and overseas. Her debut historical novel Scattered was short-listed for the CALEB award. She has qualifications in creative writing, psychology, and Christian ministry. She and her husband Tim have a freelance writing and editing business called The Write Flourish, which they operate from their home base in Toowoomba. She would love to connect with you through her websites.

Nola Lorraine Author website - https://www.nolalorraine.com.au/

The Write Flourish - https://thewriteflourish.com.au/

Picture Sources

Author photo by Wayne Logan from WRLPhoto.

Featured photo by andremsantana on Pixabay.

Two Things Every Writer Needs

 by Charis Joy Jackson

                                                                                                                            Photos by Rumman Amin     

  

 

Imagine with me, if you will… 

 

A romantic landscape of jagged, snow-capped mountains, meadows filled with wildflowers of every colour, a cozy stone cottage, warm lights filling the windows from the fireplace, complete with a welcoming, lazy trail of smoke rising from the chimney. 

Inside you find the perfect writing nook, walls covered in ideas for stories, maps of your made up worlds, a bankers lamp — green glass and bronze base — magically lighting the space just right. Your desktop computer at the ready, screen open to whatever you use to write — for me it’s a blank off-white Scrivener Project, the left side full of different coloured binders and folders of what’s already been written. 

Did I mention this place comes complete with a chef? And cleaner? Heck, let’s throw a gardener in there too, and set the cottage on the end of a farm, with a friendly woodland behind it. In the woods are many twisting pathways to stretch your legs from time to time. Oh and, I reckon there’s a cat. You can choose a dog if you like, but at my little writing escape there would most definitely be a cat. A big fluffy one, who loooooves cuddles and has the loudest purr. 

Actually, I’d probably have a dog there too. A border collie, sharp as a tack and highly trained to go on walks, without a lead, through the meadow or wood with me, and who would most definitely get completely muddy from the river running through both. 

I don’t know about you, but this type of setting calls to me. And if life with all its obstacles and restraints allowed, and finances weren’t ever an issue, I’d probably be living there right now, if such a place exists.
 

To me, it sounds like the perfect place to have a balanced writing life. 

 

But I don’t think even the most prolific writers have such a place. The great Stephen King talks about how his writing desk now sits in a corner of his office, while the rest is filled with couches and games and more for his family to come and be present there. 

When I first began to dream of writing as a career, I thought it would be a fairly solitary existence. Quiet and contemplative. And maybe even a bit lonely. Which while it sounds perfect to get the writing done, isn’t the best for this ambivert who needs plenty of time with people and plenty of time without.
 

And to my delight, I’ve discovered that the best writers, who I also have the privilege of knowing, flourish when they recognise writing is not a solitary job. They flourish, and so do I, when I have two things: accountability and community.
 

ACCOUNTABILITY
 

Sometimes I get the sense that this word "accountability" is seen through a lens of dry and boring responsibility. Truthfully, it’s kinda hard for me to describe it this way, because I’ve come to see it as something living, invigorating. Something that helps keep me at it on days that are more conducive to curling up on the couch with a good book or show. 

For example, this morning. 

 

I’m staying at a friends place in Wales, the great wide outdoors is definitely beckoning me, but today is cold and grey. I know there are haunts I want to explore, but my sleepy brain is telling me it’s a day to "just rest".
 

Only problem? 

 

It’s not a Day Off, it’s a Work Day.
 

And I’m on a Work Week Away. So I mustn’t listen to the sleepy voice in my head, and I mustn’t get distracted by playing ball with the black slobber machine currently lying at my feet. There’s time for that later, right now, I need to write. Specifically this blog. It’s to be published at the end of the week, so it’s time.
 

And thankfully, beautiful accountability was there in the form of a zoom writing group.
 

This morning, a mixture of writers jumped onto a zoom call, where we gave a brief sentence about what we were going to be working on in the next hour, and then muted our microphones, turned off our videos and began writing. It may sound a bit silly to jump on a zoom call where the majority of time is spent in absolute silence but it works.
 

It’s enough of a nudge to get “stuck in” and enjoy the thing I love most. Even though I love it the most, I often have a plethora of excuses for why I can’t write just now but I’ll get to it later. This bit of accountability helps to keep those pesky excuses at bay and it also gives me a community.
 

COMMUNITY
 

While the beauty of that cabin in the wild sounds wonderful, the picture here, also reveals how lonely it could be. 

 

I’ll never forget the day, sitting in my grandpa’s green Mercedes, the leather seats squeaking under me as I answered my momma’s question of “Did you enjoy the movie?” I spent literally an hour and a half explaining every scene, every piece of dialogue, and every joke I could remember. The film was Men in Black, with Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith. Honestly, I think I've only watched it a handful of times since but, at the time, I  remembered so much of the film I could just watch it on replay in my minds eye. 

Why? Because I loved it. Loved the story-line, loved the creativity of the world building, the quirky characters and aliens and, well, everything. 

If we love a thing, the passion for it tends to flow out of us — especially if we find someone else who likes it too. 

It’s the same for what we write. At least it has been for me. 

When I still lived in Australia, I’d sit at my local cafe and spend hours writing. But when I got home, I’d immediately seize whoever happened to be there and ask if I could read them what I just wrote. Thankfully, my lovely housemates and friends at, what we called, “Lower Buckingham House” were very gracious to me. They’d start chopping dinner while I read. And boy, oh boy, did I appreciate the little hmmm’s when a sentence made them think. Or the little chuckle when one of my characters said something or did something cheeky.
 

I can’t tell you how much I miss this.
 

If you have it, I hope you take a moment to stop and appreciate it because it’s special to have people in your life that support you in this way.
 

While I no longer have the privilege of living in Australia with my friends at Lower Buck, I do have a zoom group every Friday, where I gather with poets, novelists, non-fiction authors and more as we take time to fellowship, share about our projects, and even read what we’ve written. 

 

It’s encouraging, and instructive.
 

And as writers, we need this community. 

 

It helps us to sharpen our words, sentences and paragraphs. What may seem obvious to us, may not to our reader, and our writing community can help to point these things out to us. Likewise, they can help you know where you’ve written something glorious.
 

When I discover someone is a writer, I light up and turn into a small child asking all the questions. I know some people can be a bit private about their work, but I find the more mature you become as a writer, the more you’re willing to share — and turn into a five-year old full of excitement for what you’re creating. Not worrying or carrying that someone might steal your idea. Chances are, if it’s good, they’ll wish they’d thought of it first but won’t write it because you already did.
 

The above might not be the case for everyone and being open about your work isn’t the only path to maturity, so please don’t read that and think you’re not a mature writer. What I'm trying to say is, it’s good to bounce your ideas off someone to make sure what you’re writing makes sense.
 

I hope the next time you meet a writer you welcome them into your writing community and accountability group. And …. if you don’t have one, I highly recommend you start looking, I think you’ll find you write more — I have.

Being someone who’s had that community, moved to a new city, and had to basically “start over”, I’ve got some tips for anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation. What’s worked for me isn’t guaranteed to work for you but at least it’ll give you an idea of where to start and hopefully get those creative juices flowing for you.

Social Media — While there are positive and negative things about platforms like Facebook and Instagram, I’ve discovered a wealth of good, as a tool these platforms helped me find new writing groups in my local area. A quick search with my town name and “writing group” pulled up a few suggestions for me, which I was able to plug into.

Local Book Shops — one of my favourite towns to visit locally has an indie book shop with a thriving writing community. There are workshops, readings, and more. While I haven’t had the opportunity to plug into this just yet, as there is a cost for it, I’m soooo excited for the possibilities that come with knowing it’s right there. You may find the same.

Coffee Hangs — God is so faithful in providing for us, I’ve especially found Him to be such a help in having my path randomly cross several writers. When people find out I write, I often get, “Oh, do you know So-and-so? They’re a writer too.” And if I know the person, you better believe I’m like a dog on the hunt, quick to text and ask if they want to meet up for a coffee and talk about writing. If I don’t know the person, I ask my friend to introduce me. Like now, please.
 

Can’t Find One, Start Your Own — when I first started to really pursue writing again in my late 20’s, I’d take the train into Brisbane's CBD, to the one cafe I knew that had outlets, and which at the time, happened to be in the old Regent Cinema on Queen Street Mall. I’d get an iced coffee in summer or a mocha in winter and sit there and write for hours. 

 

One day, a good friend of mine, who was also writing, texted with the news he’d found a place with outlets. He’d been searching high and low, and found one in a museum, I think. I wrote back and mentioned mine had not only outlets but coffee too. 

 

Needless to say, he joined me that next Saturday.
 

We didn’t know it then, but we’d begun the initial stages of forming our very own writing group, which we’d end up calling "Regent Writers". While we couldn’t financially sustain going into the CBD every weekend, we did continue to meet every Saturday, and two became three, and four, and at the height of the Regent Writers reign, we filled an entire room at our local cafe with something like fifteen writers, and their laptops, of course.

FINAL  THOUGHTS
 

While I still dream of one day having that stone cottage somewhere, I am glad I’ve learned to love, and utilise, these gifts of accountability and community as a writer. I hope it encourages you too. 

 

Here’s to doing this writing thing together, to encourage and challenge each other to grow in our gifts and skills, and to use it to the fullness God designed us for.

Charis Joy Jackson is as a full-time missionary with Youth With A Mission (YWAM), an international Christian missions movement. Currently located in a village just north of London, she spends as much time in the great outdoors as the rainy weather will allow. In her spare time, she writes speculative fiction & captures her crazy dreams in print. Literally. Read Too Bright: And other stories inspired by The Dreamcatcher's Journal

 

She's also begun an initiative called A Minute Of Stillness, where she reflects on what God’s creation teaches us about slowing down. A recovering scrolling addict, she found the few reels telling her to "stop scrolling" and "go to bed" helped give that extra nudge to get off her phone and either go outside, back to work or, indeed, go to bed.

 

C h a r i s     J o y     J a c k s o n

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News! Brisbane Omega Showcase - Ruth Bonetti

I’m delighted to help on the organising team of the BRISBANE OMEGA SHOWCASE. This new event is an opportunity for authors, both established and aspiring, to inspire each other with the writing God has given us. It will be held at the Coopers Colonial Motel in Acacia Ridge on 11 and 12 August. 

Because it’s a showcase, it’s about celebrating the work of local Christian writers and connecting them with both readers and other writers. There will be two-minute promotional spots throughout the day for already published writers to pop up and enthuse others about their books. Vie for heaps of worthwhile prizes, including vouchers for proofreading, editing and designing; 

There will be: 

·      mini-book launches

·      publishers, editors and designers to consult

      ·      sessions on many valuable topics.    

Including...

PUBLISHER APPOINTMENTS

Check in with Rochelle Stephens of Wombat Books and Rhiza Press. (This incurs an extra fee. But it’s well worth investing in yourself to see if your writing is at that point where a publisher is interested or needs more fine-tuning.)

FREE CONSULTATIONS

Rebekah Robinson of Beckon Creative is offering free consultations on cover and interior design for self-publishers. She’ll also be speaking on how cover design influences buyers with subliminal clues via colours and fonts.

SCREEN-WRITING TIPS

Simon Kennedy , co-creator of the award-winning drama series, Safe Harbour, will be speaking on the ins and outs of screen-writing.

MEMOIR

Darryl Dymock, tutor at the Qld Writers’ Centre , will present on how to create a safe place for people to talk about their lives through a memoir-writing group in your church —and getting local politicians to officially launch the resultant anthology! 

EARLY BIRD SPECIAL ENDS JUNE 24!

Tickets include BBQ on Friday evening, lunch on Saturday and morning and afternoon tea.  

Friday and Saturday: https://www.trybooking.com/CIDBQ

Friday only: https://www.trybooking.com/CHZPW

Saturday only: https://www.trybooking.com/CIDBC

If you’re a paid-up member of Omega Writers and need the discount code, please contact us via Facebook.

SLEEP OVER

Out of town? For accommodation, get in quick with your bookings at the motel because it’s more than half full already.

We hope to see many of you there at the Showcase. It’s going to be fun as well as inspiring. Do you, like me, need an occasional fillip to get past the starter blocks and find enthusiasm to put fingers to keyboard? This may pep up your writing juices! Raring to go! 

ABOUT Ruth Bonetti

Ruth's next project is Uplifting Women mooted for late 2023. Ruth's Trilogy Midnight Sun to Southern Cross has won awards including the CALEB Nonfiction prize. Hear her narrate chapters.

Available: Amazon, Bookdepository etc. Autographed copies from  ruthbonetti.com and http://www.ruthbonetti.com/burn-my-letters/ 

Facebook: Ruth Bonetti
Burn My Letters: Karl Johan Back 
Ruth founded Omega Writers in 1992. 

June News from Omega Writers: Australia’s Christian Writers Network

Save the Date: Omega Writers online retreat program shapes up!

In the years between in-person conferences, Omega Writers hosts online retreats, featuring guest speakers, breakout rooms and closing with the CALEB Awards ceremony for our unpublished competition.

We are so excited with how our 2023 program is shaping up!

We are thrilled to reveal that this year’s program will feature Roseanna White as a keynote speaker. Roseanna is a best-selling, award-winning author of over thirty novels, as well as an editor, cover designer and publisher! She is also an authoritative and compelling teacher on writing craft and marketing principles. 

Roseanna will help kick off a reflective program that will include collaborative sessions about how we represent the marginalised in Christian writing, and how to handle discouragement and setbacks. Our online retreat is designed to allow you to meet with others in small chapter groups, watch the content together then fellowship over break-out sessions and meals.

Save the dates:

• Friday 6th October from 7pm
• Saturday 7th October from 9am to late.

Have you nominated someone yet for the Barnabas or Encouragement Award?

In May we let you know about the Barnabas Award and the Encouragement Award. 

Have you nominated someone yet? Time is running out. 

 The Barnabas Award is a cash prize award that recognises the input Christian writers make into the lives and work of other writers. It’s about celebrating and giving credit to Christian writers who support their colleagues by mentoring, encouraging, cheering on, supporting, praying for, and spurring on others in their writing journey. 

 The Encouragement Award is a sponsored award to encourage emerging writers. In line with Omega’s mission to encourage and equip Christian writers across the country, we look for writers who are working hard to hone their craft. 

Winners of this award may not have a full-length manuscript ready to enter in the CALEB award, but Omega Writers members want to encourage them to keep going!

If you know someone who fits this bill, please enter them by 31 July 2023.

Email iolagoultonauthor [at] gmail [dot] com up to 200 words explaining why you believe this writer should receive this prize. Be sure to include YOUR email and address details as well as the mail/website address of the author you’d like to nominate. 

 Recipients will be announced at the Omega Writers Zoom Retreat in October.

Masterclass Program

Our Masterclass series continues to deliver professional development to Christian writers across the country. Attendees have been raving about our latest classes on Author PR, taught by Katrina Roe and Writing Amazing Blurbs, taught by Laura Tharion.

“Book promotion and media has always felt daunting to me, but this class helped me feel more equipped to tackle it.” (Misha Del Favero on Author PR)

The next masterclass is coming up in August. Professional archivist Tamara Wenham will teach Hunting for History: Tracking down stories in original sources. 

 In October, Jen Richards will give a marketing and copywriting masterclass called “Do you know your USP?… and other marketing questions all writers should ask themselves”. Don’t know what a USP is? 

 Keep an eye on the Omega Writers Facebook Page for more details.

A new website is coming!

The Omega Committee has been working SO HARD on a brand-new website for several months now.

The old one was on its last legs and we are SO CLOSE to launching the new one we can almost smell it! Thank you for your patience during the last few months as we have experienced difficulties with the site. 

We can't wait to show you the new one! In the meantime, you can get updates from us on the Omega Writers Facebook Page or join the Omega Writers Facebook Group (don’t forget to answer the joining questions!).

Is it Time to Update Your Author Website or Set One Up?

How many of you have a website that you set up years and years and years ago and it still looks the same as it did at the beginning? It probably has started to look a little outdated, a bit boring now that you've had it for so many years. Maybe you're not writing in the dame genre, so it doesn't quite match with your message anymore. Or maybe you set your website up so hastily that it was never quite what you wanted in the first place. 

Maybe you don't have an author website yet and are not really sure where to start.

Whether you want to revamp your website or want to set one up but you're not sure where to begin, here are a few hints and tips to help you get started.

Photo by Mailchimp on Unsplash

The Challenge

You already know why you want a website, right? Someone told you needed an author platform or you've published a few books and have a blog you write every week ... or fortnight ... month ... when you get the time, I mean, when will a book get written if you keep writing blogposts all the time, right? Anyway, the why is because us author's need a place where our readers can interact with us, get news on what we are writing next or finally get to hear that your book is being published soon, yes!

The challenge is what do you want to include in your website, or new updated version? Will you have a blog? Do you need a space to sell your books? What is your 'brand' - your message? What are your books about?

This is something you need to figure out first. You all should know what a mind map is. It's a great technique to throw out ideas on a subject, no matter how weird and wonderful they may be. Try it out for your website. What do you want to include - don't be shy? If it's a cool cinematic space animation with a ship flying through or a love heart that follows the users cursor around the page, jot it down. So many things are possible these days. The more ideas the better. You can whittle them down later to something more manageable.

Photo by UX Indonesia on Unsplash

Your Audience

Regardless of whether you end up having people from all stages of life visit your website, you still need to consider your audience. Are you writing for the young adult, the confident twelve year old reader, the millennial who loves a good romance book or is looking for something more mysterious? Researching what your target audience is looking for from a marketing perspective is a great way to ensure your website relates to them personally.

Your Competition

It never hurts to see what other authors writing in the same genre are doing on their websites. Check out some of the more popular authors, even the more mainstream authors. Have a look at how they are using their space. What neat tricks are they using to engage their viewers. Is it a click and drag feature? Little cinematic videos? Maybe they use sound every time you click on something. Write out the pros and cons. Is there something that works on their website they you could incorporate in yours?

Photo by Faizur Rehman on Unsplash

Web Design Trends

This year there are some fun trends happening in web design.

Experimental Navigation is becoming more popular. The traditional fixed navigation menu on the top of the screen is becoming outdated and people are looking for something that is visually unique that exhibits an extension of your design 'brand'. The use of experimental navigation can generate visual interest and be fun for the reader.

One of the more popular trends is scrolling effects - animation which is triggered by as viewers scroll down a page. This can be as simple as a parallax scrolling effect that creates depth or interactive and dynamic which will encourage your readers to continue scrolling. You can use this to create a break in context or maybe even immerse the reader into a 3D experience.

Drag interaction is a great effect designed to mimic actual, physical action and allows your readers to pick up objects, move them around, make things jump, shrink, and grow. This type of gesture interaction is gaining popularity with more websites as the possibilities of what you can do are endless. If you want to create something dynamic, intense or inspiring - check out Falter Inferno's website. It might be the new way we do interactive Book Trailers ;)

Layering colours, images, shapes, typography, animations and other elements is an easy way to add something new to your website and has become increasingly popular in web design. This useful technique can add depth and texture to the design  by using shadows and overlapping various elements to create a three dimensional space.

Kinetic typography has been used in the filming industry for decades. This animation technique is becoming more prevalent in web design due to its immediate attention grabbing ability. This has been used to highlight the importance of a section or text, guide your reader as they scroll through the website and gradually reveal information to their delight.

If you're amazing at digital design or have some really great friends, three dimensional artwork and immersive web sites have been increasing in popularity due to the continued interest in Virtual Reality. From engaging three dimensional branding to completely immersive world design, this trend embodies visual interest and engagement your reader. This would be a readers dream for those who write fantasy. Have a look at  Choo Choo World - it is so much fun!

These are but a few web design trends to consider and most of them can be accomplished using standard website builders like Wix, Wordpress or Squarespace. Otherwise, if it all seems too hard but you still want something with a bit more than your average website, there are many web designers who can look at designing something for you. The more engaging your website is, the more your reader will want to engage with you and your stories.

Check out these author websites that are a bit different.

https://rickriordan.com/

https://jenniferegan.com/

https://www.jamespatterson.com/

https://www.taylortyng.com/

If you're still unsure what to do or how to go about setting one up or updating your existing one to something more engaging, ask your questions in the comments and I may be able to help out or give you some direction. :)

K.A. Hart aka. A.T. Richmond

The Power of Place by Jeanette Grant-Thomson

 

Some of you may have noticed I love creating a sense of place. The setting of a novel can produce a definite atmosphere and can almost be like one of the characters. It can drive the plot, although not the underlying story. If you’ve read all my books, you’ve particularly visited Launceston, outback Queensland with Yandina and Nambour, Brisbane during the 1974 floods, New Ireland (PNG), and King Island or its counterpart in Moreton Bay.

I love immersing myself in the setting, then seeing it through the characters’ eyes. I’m not alone in this interest. Have any of you read Poison Bay (Belinda Pollard)? Or James Cooper’s interesting Something about Alaska? And so many others. In Belinda’s novel, I felt the setting (the wilds of southern New Zealand in the Milford Sound area) was almost the main character. The awareness of that dangerous place dominated all the characters and, by its nature, steered important parts of the plot as well.

Then there was The Light between Oceans, Stedman’s moving story about a couple keeping a lighthouse on Janus Rock. Where would that novel be without the highly unusual setting?  (Obviously it wouldn’t be, as the story depends on the place.)

In The Lost Man, author Jane Harper brilliantly brings to life Australia’s bare, scorching, unforgiving outback as a necessary backdrop and plot-driver of her story.

 In Lantern Light, I’ve created a strong sense of place describing the brooding jungle with its sights, sounds and smells. The dangerous water areas, too, add a sinister feel to the atmosphere. This is then ‘fleshed out’ (well, typed out) in the ensuing events. The timely flood of the Brisbane River reinforces the underlying dark, ominous mood. Both these settings and the incidents resulting from them were times and places I’d lived through myself so I was well equipped to write about them.

Admittedly, I checked some of the exact details of the flood on microfilm in the State Library. The machine kept sticking and delaying me, or whizzing past the dates I hoped to look at. Frustrating! The library assistant was very helpful though. 

I realise we all know this, but it’s so important: to create a place with atmosphere, the writer needs to appeal to more senses than sight. How often has a whiff of salt air taken your thoughts to the beach? Or the song of a magpie reminded you of a happy spring day? All the senses – sight, sound, smell, touch and taste – are intrinsic parts of a particular place.

 Walking along a jungle track, I was aware of the strange sweetish smell of rotting leaves underfoot as well as the colourful collage they made. The chittering of small animals and the sudden shriek of large birds. The mounting heat and heaviness in the air as the day grew hotter. I intended all this as a backdrop to the plot and a motivating force in Lantern Light.

In some of the books I’ve mentioned, the setting provides obstacles so the theme is partly man against a hostile environment. (Poison Bay, The Lost Man). In others, the environment affects the characters’ moods and decisions (as in Lantern Light).

The plot of Lantern Light ‘lives out’ the feel of dread, the sense of ‘Before and After’ that even the characters acknowledge. This feeling of something sinister is echoed by the jungle with its dim, seductive paths and ever-encroaching growth.

   Apparently AI can now do your descriptions if that is not your forte. But that would lack the author’s own voice and types of observations. Those nuances of atmosphere.  I love slipping in bits of description that nudge the characters in the right direction. As far as I know, at this stage AI can’t interweave those reactions to environment that I love writing. Please let me know if I’m wrong there.

Above all, when one chooses an unusual place to set a novel, the question arises: What might happen in a place like this?

Does anyone else enjoy creating settings? Or reading novels where the sense of place is an important feature?

Jeanette Grant-Thomson is a North Brisbane based author who has been writing and having work published since her childhood. Currently she is writing a novel set at beautiful Kenilworth where she lived part-time for about ten years.

You can find her books on www.facebook.com/jeanette.grantthomson

Omega Barnabas and Encouragement Awards open for nominations!

Every second year the CALEB Award includes two extra-special categories of awards designed to encourage and lift up Christian writers - the Barnabas and Encouragement Awards.

These awards are a little different.

For these, there are no books to submit, no manuscripts to polish. These awards are about recognising writers for who they are, their commitment to their craft, and their often selfless input into other writers.

The Barnabas Award

The Barnabas Award is a cash prize award that recognises the input Christian writers make into the lives and work of other writers. It’s about celebrating and giving credit to writers living out the heart of CALEB* by mentoring, encouraging, cheering on, supporting and spurring on others in their writing journey.

(In case you've forgotten, CALEB is Christian Authors Lifting Each other's Books.)

Encouragement Award

The Encouragement Award is a sponsored award that seek to encourage emerging writers who may be struggling but are putting in the hard yards to hone their craft, writers who may not be winning other competitions but who Omega Writers members want to encourage to keep going!

Nominations

If you’re a paid member of Omega Writers, we’d love you to nominate a fellow Christian writer for an Encouragement or Barnabas Award! Writers eligible for nomination for the Barnabas and Encouragement Awards are:

• Christian writers currently living in Australia, New Zealand, or the South Pacific.
• Can be published or unpublished writers in any genre.

Here’s how:

• Think of an eligible writer or writers you’d like to nominate.
• Make sure you are a paid Omega Writers member (but the writer you nominate does not need to be a member).
• Email caleb @ omegawriters.org with the following by 30 June 2023:
  • • Your name and email address
    • The name and email/website address of the author you’d like to nominate (so we can contact them if they win).
    • The Award you are nominating that writer for: Encouragement Award or Barnabas Award
    • Up to 200 words explaining why you believe this writer should receive this prize.

The Barnabas Awards are awarded on the merit of nominations received by the CALEB Committee.

Let's Speak Gold and Silver Words, Instead of Alloys

I've no doubt we're living in the era of the positive affirmation. A glance at the self-help section of our libraries and book shops makes this clear. Best-sellers on this topic abound, from the writings of Louise L Hay to "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne and her team of experts. Others with similar themes, such as "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill have been around long enough to attain classic status. This is the thinking climate those of my generation have grown up in and publishers are still churning them out.

For years, I'd studied these books carefully. I'd decided the theory behind them made sense. In a nutshell, if your conscious mind is bombarded with a beneficial message over and over, your subconscious mind will eventually be worn down to join the party too. Furthermore the metaphysical theory behind this tells us that we attract similar vibrations (aka vibes) to those which we subconsciously give out. The world is our mirror, so to speak. If we think prosperously, prosperity will be drawn to us. Although some fellow Christians seemed to think this dodgy and new-agey, I thought it seemed harmless enough for me to give it a go.

My books are best-sellers.
My kids are thriving in their goals.
We are able to travel overseas.
By dd/mm/yy I will have an extra $20 000 in my bank account.
We own a 2-storey home with a stunning view and my own study (LOL)
We never scrape the bottom of our bank account.

So what happened? The same thing that happened sometimes to seeds I tried planting seeds in my garden. I don't have a green thumb. Mostly, my plants would give a half-hearted spurt of growth and then bite the dust. People would say things like, "You should've fertilised them with blood and bones/chook manure/cow manure... kept the harsh cook manure away from them... tried putting them in a more open/more sheltered position, planted them during the summer/winter, etc." To summarize all this, I didn't really have a clue. So I assumed that the paltry returns on my affirmations meant that I was clueless there too.

I believe that was true, in a way I didn't expect. In a thought-provoking article by American pastor, Tom Brown, he remarks that our world has become like Babylon, using the messages of confession to get what it wants. People are using Biblical truth principles (it is all based on truth!) in a very watered-down and limited manner. I'd been right. I spent all that time trying to plant seeds without giving them the quality of water, fertiliser and sunlight they really needed. 

His article goes on to explain that the affirmations we speak must be found within the pages of our Bibles; God's Word to us. This is the only word which is still as pristine and powerful as it originally was during the creation of the world. The words spoken by men and women who are spouting the 'affirmations of the day' from these books have lost part of the original 'zing' they contained before the Fall. They are perishable and often likely to fizzle out. When we speak out our own dreams, imaginings and desires as affirmations without checking to see whether they line up with God's words, we might fail to receive what we're believing for because our words are weaker, like metal alloys whose quality can't be trusted. God's Word, on the other hand, is still like the most pure, flawless gold and silver.

It's not the mere positive confession per se, which brings results into our lives but the confession of God's words. My days of declaring and confessing just anything that sounds good and expecting it to come to pass are over. God's Word hasn't promised to give me a specific sum of money by a certain date or a house with a view or a new car. This is just jumping beyond what His word promises.

What He has promised is to be my healer (Exodus 15: 26), supply all my needs (Philippians 4:19), finish the good work He started in me (Philippians 1:6), surround me with favour as a shield (Psalm 5:12) and bless the work of my hands (Psalm 90: 17), among many other things. Charles H. Spurgeon said that whenever God has made a promise, we can reasonably expect Him to make it good. This has nothing to do with metaphysics, manipulating God, witchcraft, mind-over-matter or sorcery.

Thank God for giving us His Word, the imperishable seed, for when we make His words our own and declare them in faith, then our words are imperishable too. I believe that when we declare the same words about ourselves that God speaks, we'll soon see results in our lives.

Paula Vince is the award-winning author of nine fiction novels set in her home state, South Australia. She also writes articles, blog posts, reflections, book reviews and creative non-fiction. She loves to dig around in old classic literature and consider its relevance for our 21st century era.