The Master's Artist

Why Don't Agents and Editors Email Back?

I sat across from a writing friend who shared her frustration with me. "The agent asked specifically for my proposal. He said to write 'you liked this' in the subject line. But I haven't heard anything from him. it's been months!"

I listened, sighed, and let her continue.

Blog Thanks Award

Happy Monday. I love November. It's one of the few months of the year where instead of buying gifts we give thanks. We honor those who mean a great deal to each other. This month I would like for us to also honor the blogs that have meant so much to us. I will begin with me:

1. Faith*In*Fiction - although new content is rare now. Bethany House AE David Long inspired some of the best Christian publishing blogs out there. He invited me into his community and have forged eternal friendships because of it, including...
2. The Master's Artist - I am still shocked that I write for this great blog collective. Everyone here seeks fervently to please God through their art. That is so refreshing in a world bent on pimping Jesus sometimes.
3. Problogger- I can't say enough about Darren Rouse's Problogger. The blog has helped me be a better blogger and to stay focused on taking care of my readers.
4. Chris Brogan - I share his philosophy on building relationships on and offline using social media.
5. Successfool - Has the best live vlog and is my friend. I love that Alejandro is only a phonecall or a tweet away and that he actually responds. He has taught me how to treat each reader as my best friend. 
6. The Brother's Brick. I love Lego!
7. Now's your turn. Who do you want to give thanks, too?

Dee Stewart is your thirty-something Christian blogger, PR/publicity, journ, mommy, writer, Atlanta-alien friend. Get at me at here. I'm online everywhere. You'll see.

Action

Great book recommendations are fun. I suppose they are like matchmaking. That is to say that while getting put on a date with someone you immediately hit it off with is good, it is even more fun to do the pairing. So I want to recommend a book today and here is the tease. You just HAVE to read...

Language as Soundtrack

Monday evening I enjoyed the delightful privilege of speaking to the Northwest Christian Writers Association on "Language as Soundtrack." The NCWA is a vibrant, active group of a hundred or so writers--some already published, others hoping to be, all of them serious about growing in craft and encouraging others in their writing journey. If you're a writer living within a couple hours of the Seattle area, I'd encourage you to join.

When Athena Dean invited me to speak, I decided to rework my notes from a workshop I co-taught with Mick Silva at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference in 2006. I love the topic, and I also love that most of the meat comes from people with authority. When you're giving writers permission to bust loose and play with language, it's nice to have a few big names standing beside you on the platform, nodding in agreement. People like E.B. White and Dean Koontz. I may not have much clout, but they do.

Here's a sampling of what E.B., Dean, and I had to say.

Bugs In The Rice Bin

Thank goodness BJ put up such a great Monday post! I'm hoping it will make up for my utter lack of inspiration. I actually have no post. I have bugs. In my pantry. Lots and lots and lots of tiny little bugs crawling through the rice and the cereal and the flour and it makes me itch just thinking about it. And so I've spent my whole day throwing away almost everything we own. It's quite disgusting.

I also have to take my son to see the neurosurgeon today. A week ago he fell and hit his head, causing a bad concussion which led to the unfortunate discovery of a cyst on his brain. It's something that has changed our lives - his most of all, and although we are so thankful that we now know about it (apparently it's been there since birth), learning to live with the limitations surrounding this new diagnosis has been difficult, at best.

I hope you'll forgive me for being so otherwise preoccupied. I'll try to be more inspired at some later date! In the meantime, perhaps you can reread BJ's post and send her lots of comment love!

Grace,
Madison Richards

Who Inspires You?

The carpet is littered with photos. My fingers are raw... but I cannot stop thumbing.

Is that really us? You smile despite the gaps in your teeth. I smile despite the clear accident I've had with the 1990's. Why didn't you tell me crimpers were from Satan?

I'm six and you're ten. It's obvious I've chased you down the hall again, screaming, "Flu bug! Flu bug!" I know this because my mouth is shaped upward and your hair is shaped outward... both clear signs that our socks and the linoleum have once again met.

On being challenged to a higher way

I’m being challenged at the moment by the work of social justice activists who point to the fact that the gap between rich and poor is widening and that the few are living lives that exploit and oppress the many. I keep reading things about how 20% of the world’s population control 80% of its resources, how the comforts I enjoy as a citizen of the west are gained at the expense of many in developing nations. I’m becoming increasingly conscious, that my clothes and food are made by people who do not earn a living wage. I recently discovered that if there is to be equity in energy consumption across the globe, we in the west would have to reduce our own consumption by 90%! As a follower of Christ, I’m called to consider the poor, fight against oppression and enable the healing of the sick. So the question I’m contemplating a lot just now, is how do I reconcile my work as an artist with my Christian calling?

A Rather Loathsome Aspiration

Literarily speaking, this was supposed to be an excellent season. Along with the campfire smells and football sounds and chameleonic vegetation, the fall of 2009 promised new releases by several of my favorite authors—Nick Hornby, Lorrie Moore, Richard Russo, Jonathan Lethem, John Irving, Anne Tyler, Chuck Klosterman and a few others I can’t remember off the top of my head.

I lost no sleep awaiting the release of these titles, but did forfeit a good deal of slumber staying up late to read them. The interesting thing however is that, on the whole, I didn’t love these books like I thought I would. In fact, the one I was most eager to pick up is the only one I put back down before reaching The End. Each volume did include some dizzyingly good prose, some more fleeting than others. However there were a few blocky, self-indulgent paragraphs in there as well, along with entire passages that left me either bored or bewildered (but none more blocky, boring, self-indulgent, or confusing than most everything I’ve written in the past six months!)

Looking Ahead to November '09

For those of you interested in what the Master's Artists are up to. 

Jeanne Damoff: The first half of November is a Speak-a-Thon for me. I fly to Seattle on the 1st, speak on "Language as Soundtrack" to the Northwest Christian Writers Association in Enumclaw on the 2nd, and then begin a series of Parting the Waters speaking events: Beit Tikvah's Girl's Night Out in Renton on the 4th, a brunch at Sonlight Church in Lynden on the 7th followed by a signing at a bookstore that afternoon, chapel service at Lynden Christian High School on the morning of the 10th, and keynote speaker for the Cascade Christian Services Staff & Donor Appreciation Gala that evening. On my days off I'll be hanging out with Grace, Curtis, Luke, and various friends.

I fly back to Texas on the 11th and speak four times at the Crossroads Baptist Women's Retreat the 13th-14th. (Marge is standing in for one of the retreat sessions to give me a little break.) I'll also lead worship at the retreat. I'm looking forward to ALL of this so much! Love speaking. Love connecting with people. Love, love, love it.

In non-speaking-related news, I recently moved my blog from LiveJournal to WordPress, and I'm trying to be more consistent with updates. Please stop by and say hello! And you can always find me here at The Master's Artist on alternate Thursdays or at http://www.JeanneDamoff.com

Mary DeMuth: In November I’ll be finishing up an editing project for a publisher. Then I’ll fly to Nebraska to meet with two amazing novelists for a three-day retreat (much needed). Then I’m off to a discipleship retreat for high school kids with my daughter. Hopefully, Lord willing, I’ll be selling my next two projects, and will have finished up reading for the audio book of Thin Places.

I’ll also be completing my first ever video press release for the same book. I’ll also be speaking to a book club about A Slow Burn, which, by God’s grace, is in its second printing.

Donna J. Shepherd: On Saturday, November 14th, I'll be speaking first thing in the morning at the Mad Anthony Quarterly Writers' Workshops in Hamilton, Ohio. Shelley Galloway, who writes Christian romance for Harper Collins will also be there. Looks like a fun day. Here's more info: http://www.madanthonycbf.org/

Probably the best writing tip: Read your work aloud

This last weekend I flew to Nashville to record the Thin Places' audio book. This is my first time reading for a book, and the whole process proved to be enlightening. Afterward, I realized that if every author read their work aloud, they'd improve dramatically? How? Four ways.