By Aaron Gansky @ADGansky You hear writers often mention the “fictive dream.” John Gardner called it a “vivid and continuous dream.” It’s a term used to describe a simple principle: no one wants to read a book. There, I said it. Man, it feels good to get that off my…

by Blythe Daniel @ByltheDaniel I was in journalism class in college and remember my professor saying in red ink, “What’s the hook to draw in your reader”? Headlines were the prize I was aiming for. Sadly it felt like that was harder to nail down than the story. Today, I…

By Julie Lavender @JLavenderWrites David and I arrived back in May at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference early enough that we decided to explore just a bit before my faculty meeting kicked off and his appointment with a hungry trout commenced. Oddly enough, although I’ve attended BRMCWC for…

by Rhonda Rhea @RhondaRhea It’s satisfying to find new ways to get to know people. For instance, I learn a lot when I see how a person responds to an expiration date. One person’s red alert: “You ate that Shredded Wheat a day after the date on the box? Thou shalt…

A Hands-on Experience for Novelists   Call 1-800-588-7222 to Register Today Plan to join us November 9 - 12, 2025 for the next Mountainside Novelist Retreat at Ridgecrest! Storytelling is the ancient art of entertaining others with a powerful story. What better way to move farther along your publishing journey…

By Debb Hackett @debb_hackett One of the first things I learned when I decided stop fighting and be a writer, was that I needed to be an avid reader. I was told this at my first ever creative writing class and have heard the same message from agents, editors and…