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by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth September has arrived. In the air, there�s the sense of pumpkin spice and cooler weather. Where has the summer gone? All the plans, the trips, the whole family gathering together and connecting. Okay, that last one was a bit much. School has or is getting ready to start. For many of us, that means a total eruption of our schedules. We go from a �relaxing� summer to fitting twenty-eight hours into twenty-four hour days. You have so many practices and after school activities to take your kids to, you look into applying for an Uber designation. It�s overwhelming. By lunch of the first day, you�re looking for a way to pull over from reality for just a few moments.  Stop the world. I want to get off. Then that lady, the one with the stylish new haircut and clean car, calls and asks if you can bring refreshments, not packaged cookies, to the soccer game tomorrow. (Laser-beam eyes) This feeling isn�t for women only. Whether it�s caring for a young family, running a

By Edie Melson @EdieMelson There�s a new organizational craze making its way around the world�Bullet Journaling. This process was created several years ago by Ryder Carroll as a way to �Track Your Past, Order Your Present, Plan Your Future.� I highly recommend watching this short video that explains the  bullet journaling  process.  Below is the video I made to introduce you to my bullet journal. Further down is a list of Bullet Journal basics, along with a list of resources, websites, and Instagram accounts.  I came a little late to this organizational process and discovered bullet journaling almost two years ago. Frankly,  it has revolutionized my life. Up until this tracking system, I had never been able to keep up with a planner or a calendar with any consistency. I couldn�t even seem to find a way to keep dates accurately in my iPhone.  Why does it work so well for me? Because it is flexible and customizable.  Today I�m going to do more than just fan-girl over this way of keepin

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson I haven�t met a single person who enjoys making a mistake or failing in some way.  I certainly don�t.  But I�ve learned to look at certain mistakes & failures from a slightly different perspective.  That change has helped me continue to grow and blossom in an industry that can be brutal. Lessons to Learn Rejection.  I know, no one likes rejection. But the truth is this, if you�re sending things out and getting rejected then you�re doing the work of a real writer. You�ve taken your dream from wishing to working and you need to applaud that. A Badly Edited Article.  It could be a blog post, article, whatever. But the chances are, if you�re getting published regularly, you�re going to be the victim of poor editing. Contrary to wrecking your reputation, consider this an entre into a whole new level of professional writer. Shake it off, give them the benefit of the doubt, and move on. Having to ask for an Extension.  Once you begin writing�and selling�regularl

by Eva Marie Everson @EvaMarieEverson In her book,  The Writing Life,  Annie Dillard penned these words: Putting a book together is interesting and exhilarating. It is sufficiently difficult and complex that it engages all your intelligence. It is life at its most free. Your freedom as a writer is not freedom of expression in the sense of wild blurting; you may not let rip. It is life at its most free, if you are fortunate enough to be able to try it � A few days ago I took a few moments to chat with a fellow author. We had no agenda. We were not trying to encourage each other or critique each other or any of the other things that takes place when writers manage to find the time to chat. We were simply talking. In the call, one of us mentioned our current work, specifically talking about that moment when, in the throes of fingers flying across the laptop�s keyboard, we feel that we have suddenly taken flight. That instance when, with all the creative juices swirling in full motion, the

by Ane Mulligan @AneMulligan We�ve all read novels that held us tightly engaged from page one to �The End.� Then we�ve read others that while good, we could read a chapter and put it down. There can be various reasons, but I believe when we can experience the story not just read it, we overlook a multitude of possible problems. So how do we get a book that offers an experience? By taking a lesson from a layer cake. When is a Novel Like A Layer Cake? When you add layers, of course! To draw your readers into your story, you want to create an experience for them. But that experience is filtered through your POV character. You know that already? Good. But are you layering the five senses into your fiction so the reader hears, sees, smells, tastes, and feels it? It�s actually a matter of �showing vs. telling� gone wild. Your characters, plot, etc. are the flour, butter, and liquid you mix to build your cake � uh, novel.  The 5 Senses are your icing. The icing on a cake is what makes it ext

by Rhonda Rhea @RhondaRhea I may not stick with a new exercise plan very well, but if I got points for all the plans I�ve started, I would have some serious points. Not aerobic points. Just points. I�m in with the gym membership. Then out. In. Out. In. Out. At least it sounds aerobic. Still, I am the Hokey-Pokey of gym members. Confessing here that most of the time I�m all too flex when it comes to what I label as �my workout.� I�ve �turned myself around� presently and I�m back in at the gym. This time I started gradually, just like I read I should. So for the first week or so, I spent several minutes thinking about yoga pants. Really intently.  My workout a few days ago was pretty awesome, though. First, I spent 20 minutes walking all over the house looking for my car keys so I could drive to the gym. I counted that. Then after I got there, I spent 20 more minutes trying to untangle my earphones. Counted that, too. Because, hey, I was at the gym. By that time I only had about 10 minut

by Cathy Fyock @CathyFyock Authors make a difference. We change the world, one word at a time. Nonfiction authors write books about innovating human resources, creating positive organizational cultures, helping poorly performing schools, raising awareness for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Military Sexual Trauma (MST), helping individuals navigate their careers, leading meetings that matter, building confidence for women, using powerful questions, developing a deeper faith, coaching and developing others, supporting a spouse through terminal illness, using positivity to achieve major life goals, working through forgiveness, presenting for humans, and empowering leaders.  They also help us learn how to see the holy in the humdrum, live richer and fuller lives, create compassionate organizations, and network beyond bias. That�s a lot of good that is going out into the world. And think of the impact of 100 authors. If each author distributes just 100 books, and each one of thos

By Lori Hatcher @LoriHatcher2 Do you ever wonder what in the world God is doing in this crazy writing life? God, why did I work so hard on that article only to have it rejected?  God, why was that piece chosen, but the one I really love not selected?  God, why did I spend nine months of my life on that project, only to have it sit in my computer going nowhere and reaching no one? God, why do you fill my head with ideas to write about and wake me up in the middle of the night, then don�t grow my blog as quickly as I�d hoped? God, if I�m obeying your call to write, why is it so hard? God, what are you doing in this crazy writing life of mine???? If you can relate to any of these questions, there�s hope. Hope that comes, of all places, from the book of Job. Imagine that. God is laughing already. Who would think that a man who had lost ten children in a tragic accident, went from millionaire to pauper in a day, and was married to a cruel, faithless woman would have any hope to offer? But i