As I am sure you have noticed, there has been a strong obsession with perfectionism in the arts: the publishing industry, the music industry, the art industry, etc. This post will be mostly directed toward the publishing industry, as that is the only one I have 6+ years of experience in. This obsession with perfection is encouraged in the industry.…
It's an outrage! "Isn't everything these days?" you ask. Well, we are living in outrageous times, but I think it's fair to say some things actually need to get people's ire up. And in this case, it's the latest assault against classic literature, namely Puffin's hubris in rewriting Roald Dahl's catalog to accommodate modern sensitive readers by removing "language deemed…
Quiet desperation is how the poet Henry David Thoreau described the way most people live their lives. Instead of facing new challenges with an optimistic hope of success, many people would rather give up and hide from the world. I often feel this emptiness of soul right when I wake up in the morning, especially during the dark and cold…
My name is Jakki and I am a drug addict. When we think of someone having a drug addiction, we automatically think of crack, cocaine, heroin, or meth, but millions of us are currently addicted to a kind of drug and don't even think about it because we don't have to find a dealer in some dark alley to give…
It was revolutionary and resulted in the publishing of three books When it comes to writing advice, one size does not fit all. Authors are unique creatures, and as such, they struggle with uniquely different issues and challenges. However, if you remain open, one day a piece of writing advice will come along that will strike you between the eyes — changing…
The writing industry is a big beast. As a Christian, God calls us to follow Him and be faithful to His commandments. This can be tricky to do when we’re entering the big world of publishing. Christians can make income off of their stories, and be faithful to what God has given them to write, but how do we do…
I’m drenched in the world of Christian publishing, both traditional and indie. In the past eight years, I’ve had first-time authors on my podcast, NYT Best-selling authors, USA Today authors, clean and wholesome, dark and edgy, sci-fi, historical, romance, poets, memoirs, and a plethora of other genre artists. Due to this, I find myself in various groups related to the…
“Christianity brings to fulfilment and completion imperfect and partial insights about reality, scattered abroad in human culture.” - Alister McGrath on C. S. Lewis For a very long period of time, I would read only nonfiction books. A good 20 years to be exact. I held tight to a secret conviction that fiction had little to offer the reader…
“My heart is stirred by a noble themeas I recite my verse for the king;my tongue is a pen of the skillful writer.” (Psalm 45:1) “Human beings are communal and seek to communicate persuasively with one another. Rhetoric is about persuasion…and that old Roman teacher Quintilian defines the rhetor as, “The good man speaking well.” (Jerry Root) I am the son…