It's hard to find appropriate stories for children that don't contain objectionable ingredients. Even in small doses, spices set the character for a whole dish. How impactful then for character to be infused by the holy ingredients of biblical truth, love, and hope. Each month, we recommend a story work of art that is both creative and faithful to the Creator and the lover of our souls. May God add to these authors and their works. January Pick - The Winter King by Christine CohenIs there anything nicer than a buttery baked treat?
There is. When you combine flaky deliciousness with a sweet small town romance, you get a delight for your tastebuds and your heart. See below the beautiful cover of our group's newest book! As another year begins, so does longing for warm summer days of picnics, outdoor fun...and the annual Realm Makers writers conference in July. Realm Makers is a community of Christian writers of science fiction and fantasy (speculative fiction). Christian fiction isn't everyone's cup of tea. Christian science fiction and fantasy? Alien, literally. But not at Realm Makers - there, you can happily discuss the subgenre you love and write, and you can experience a Christian community celebrating, like partying sardines, new novels of enchantments or far-off worlds and rewarding deserving stories. And to top it off, there is a cosplay competition on gala night.
We launched our 2018 meetings with a presentation by medical fittness expert Kylie Vatthauer entitled “Butt, This is Serious: Refocusing Your Wellness Goals.” Laurie Lucking shares her notes below. Our November meeting is usually a writing and brain storming time in honor of NaNo
WriMo (National Novel Writing Month.) It is also when we have our elections. Many thanks to (left to right) Gail Helgeson (treasurer), Laurie Lucking (secretary), Mollie Rushmeyer (VP) and Gabrielle Meyer (president) who have agreed to serve on the board for 2018. Hmmm. Who's that lurking behind the Gabe mask? Maybe someone who writes intriguing YA sci fi although I didn't remember that body-switching came into the story. At our October meeting, Brenda Anderson and Stacy Monson shared encouragement for “riding the rutty writing road.” Both have plenty of experience on which to draw. Here’s what they say about their own journeys:
We aren't all work at Minnesota NICE. Our August meeting is usually an outing of some sort. This year we took the Jonathan Padelford river boat from Harriet Island up the Mississippi almost to Fort Snelling. If you were along and posted pictures on another site, please post a link in the comments. And if you weren't along, we hope you'll join us next summer. In the meantime, join us for regular meetings (see schedule) and keep writing!
Sunday, January 22, we tried a first at Minnesota NICE—a Skype conference speaker. It worked great. Carol Topp could see us, and we could see her as well as her computer screen. Carol, a fellow writer and a CPA, talked about (get ready for it) BOOKKEEPING (groan). She knows how much we creative-types love that subject, but she reminded us that we need to do it 1) for taxes, and 2) so we know whether or not our business actually made a profit. Like Donald Trump’s Atlantic City casino, she said, you can make lots of money and still not have enough profit for your business to be viable. She talked about what is and is not deductible on your taxes and gave us tips on apps and techniques for not letting the whole process overwhelm us. If you missed this informative meeting (or just couldn’t take it all in at one sitting!), check out Carol’s book Business Tips and Taxes for Writers or listen to her podcast Dollars and Sense. And join us for next month’s meeting when brainstorming guru Michelle Lim will take us through some craft basics. |
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