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by Lynn Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn Called to Create   has been on my radar�and my desk�for months.  Even before I turned to the first page, I knew I was going to enjoy this book. The premise was intriguing. Friends have read and recommended it. I expected to jump in and finish it off in a week. It�s been closer to four months.  When I found myself digging around my desk for a highlighter after reading the first paragraph of the introduction, I knew this wasn�t going to be a quick read. Called to Create  has been the kind of book where I�ve found myself needing to read a few pages and then let them swirl in my brain before coming back to read a few more. The subtitle of   Called to Create  is �A Biblical Invitation to Create, Innovate, and Risk." If you�re reading this blog, the odds are in my favor that you�re already intrigued, but just in case you aren�t, let me share some of the questions addressed: Is my work as an entrepreneur and creative really as God...

 by Lynn Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn   In these posts, I often recommend books on the craft of writing. But this month, I want to recommend a book to you that isn�t about the craft, but that I think could be quite meaningful to you in your life as a writer and creative. The book is Every Moment Holy by Douglas Kaine McKelvey. I didn�t grow up in a faith tradition that included liturgies, but I have always been drawn to ancient words. To creeds and prayers that have been repeated by the saints for centuries. It�s not that I believe God hears them any more than He hears my petitions in modern-day, American and very southern English, but I love the history of them and the sense of connection to believers who have gone on before. So earlier this year when I came across a post over at The Rabbit Room entitled A Liturgy for Fiction Writers , I was intrigued. While the liturgy is specifically for fiction writers, I suspect that writers of any stripe will find the words moving. Here�s ...

by Lynn Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn I�m coming off an intense writing season and I�m drained in every imaginable way. So the timing couldn�t have been better for me to get my hands on my friend (and the wonder woman who runs The Write Conversation) Edie Melson�s latest book,  Soul Care When You�re Weary . The idea behind this book is that in a world where our margin for recovering is shrinking (or nonexistent) and peace is elusive we all need a way to be refreshed at the soul level. And Edie has a unique and delightful way to accomplish this. Through devotions, prayers, and creative opportunities, this book will lead you on a journey. First is Triage where we think about what�s going on with us�we�re weary, weak, exhausted. Then we Rediscover Peace with reminders of how much God loves us and how He sees us. Then we focus on Reconnecting with Prayer Play and explore different ways to pray�out loud, through music, on walks. In Chapter 4, we learn to Let Go no matter what is going on in...

by Lynn Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn Take a break. As you read these words, I will be chilling out on a beach enjoying a long-anticipated, and�dare I say it�much deserved vacation. Now, it�s true that if you follow me on social media, you may know that I was just on vacation, but here�s the sad truth.   It was a working vacation. Gasp! My family and I spent a lovely week in the mountains of North Carolina in early July. We are blessed with family members who give us access to a delightful home on a secluded lake and we have taken advantage of that for seven years straight. It simply wouldn�t be summer if we didn�t go to the lake for a week. I look forward to these trips for a variety of reasons, but one big reason is because of all the reading I do while we�re there. In the six years prior to this one, I have finished a minimum of five books over the course of the week. But this year things were different. I had a book due to my editor on August 1.  So, despite the fact that prio...

by Lynn Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn I love writing conferences. I love attending them, and I love teaching at them.  No two events are exactly the same. Even the same conference will have a different feel from one year to the next. Some years, I look back and see them as crucial networking years. Some years they are fun. Some years are educational and informative. All are important in their own way.  The one constant? None of them are ever quite what I was expecting. Take my most recent conference experience. I was on faculty at the  Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference in May. I taught a lot of classes so I spent most of my time either in my classroom or in my room working (deadlines don�t care whether you�re teaching at a conference or not).  When I was out �in the wild� I found that I kept running into the same small group of lovely people. I made some new friends and solidified some previous relationships that I�m so thankful for. But there were other ...