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by Eva Marie Everson @EvaMarieEverson In his book,  Unless It Moves the Human Heart,  Roger Rosenblatt makes a thought-provoking statement:  Writing is the cure for the disease of living. The book is an exploration into the journey of a class Rosenblatt taught titled �Writing Everything� and these are among the words he spoke to his students. He went on to say, �Doing it may sometimes feel like an escape from the world, but at its best moments it is an act of rescue.� How true �  Just recently, as I spoke with a fellow writer/author-person, we commiserated on how, with the ink dried on our literary contracts, we are often forced to work in spite of wanting to do nothing but crawl into the bed, draw the covers over our heads, and sleep the days away.  �But,� I said, �In a way, when I am writing fiction, I get to live out someone else�s life. Their misery. Their joy. I cannot control the rudder of my own boat at times, but I am always in control of my characters�....

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 mo...

by Eva Marie Everson @EvaMarieEverson American author and screenplay writer, Ray Bradbury, said, And what, you ask, does writing teach us? First and foremost, it reminds us that we are alive and that it is a gift and a privilege, not a right. Years ago, I attended a mega church located north of Orlando. The number of attendees was such that the church held seven services each and every weekend beginning on Saturday evening at 5:00.   My habit was to arrive at 4:30, sneak in the side door, and then sit in the semi-darkness of the auditorium while the praise and worship team warmed up for the night�s service.  I have been jealous of those with a talent for song my whole life. I used to make deals with God: make me a singer and I�ll never ask you for anything else. Or: make me a singer and I�ll only sing for you. Either God knew I might possibly be lying or He just isn�t in the deal-making business.  My belief was that when a person had a talent for singing (or drawing or an...