Have you ever read a passage of Scripture or heard a sermon—and it just stays with you? This past Sunday's lesson at Church of the City Franklin, where Joe and I attend, was that kind of lesson for me. One of the phrases Darren repeated in this lesson was, "Someone should do something about this." Meaning when you see a particular situation and you keep having this recurring thought, "Someone … [Read more...]
Extra-biblical Sources
I'm currently writing a series on the matriarchs: Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah (Rachel is in Leah's book). And, as always with biblical characters, I've had to search for any and all existing information because the Bible tends to remain silent about the women. I have, however, discovered two extra-biblical books that have been passed down through history: The Book of Jasher and the Book of … [Read more...]
Cara’s Favorites
We hope you are enjoying these weekly feature posts from the authors of Inspired by Life…and Fiction. We're sharing some of our favorite things to help you get to know us a little better—and we’d love to hear your answers to these “favorites” questions in the comments below. Favorite Beverage: I adore coffee. Especially in lattes. But they have to be plain. I don't love extra sugar … [Read more...]
God Made Us Creative
Earlier this week, the group of novelists who I meet with via Zoom for writing sprints got to talking about our various other creative pursuits, beyond writing. I can’t say for sure, but I think there were about 16 or 17 of us in the room that day. Various creative pursuits included: But the one that had many of us asking, “What is that?” was when two of the writers mentioned Zentangle … [Read more...]
An Ode to Some Like It Scot
It is rare that reading a book inspires me to poetic whimsy, but my good friend Pepper Basham has accomplished that feat with her delightful rom com Some Like It Scot. You know, I really shouldn't like this book. It's contemporary, and 95% of what I read is historical. It's told in first person, when I prefer third. Yet I adore all of Pepper's books, so I wasn't about to let any preconceived … [Read more...]
Which Book World Would YOU Survive In?
Happy Wednesday, friends! I thought it would be a fun mid-week break to play a reader and writer’s game. It’s a quiz to see which book setting you’d survive best in. Here are the multiple-choice options. List your answers in the comments section, and I’ll hop on by Friday with the answers for each of you, and everyone who participates will randomly be entered to win a copy of Two … [Read more...]
The Power of Suggestion | Guest Post by T. Elizabeth Renich
True confessions, I was not an avid reader of books by English authors when I was in high school. In fact, it wasn’t until after college and because the books had been made into movies that I took a fledgling interest in Pride and Prejudice (1995 mini-series, of course!) and Jane Eyre (the Timothy Dalton as Mr. Rochester version). My limited knowledge pertaining to the Regency period initially … [Read more...]
We Shopped at Piggly Wiggly
One of the things I did on my recent research trip to Saint Simons and Jekyll Islands was visit local grocery stores. Yes, we needed groceries for our camper, but those trips were also pure research. After all, my characters will need groceries and if I write a scene set in a grocery store, I'll need to know what store that would be on this island in the South, what that store looks like on the … [Read more...]
Happy Mother’s Day!
The authors of Inspired by Life…and Fiction wish a very happy and blessed Mother's Day to those of you who wear the badge of “Mom” or have filled the role of mother or grandmother in the lives you touch. … [Read more...]
#LiftMyStack Challenge!
Yesterday, I posted this video to Instagram... The responses that have come in so far have me smiling! Here's Joy at @dareyoutoread on Instagram, proving that her stack of Becky Wade books is substantially larger (and heavier to lift) than my own collection. Here's Mimi at @books.n.blossoms on Instagram depicting the most frequent answer to my, "Can you lift your TBR stack?" … [Read more...]