Mary Connealy Good night sweet blog. Parting is such sweet sorrow. Yes, Seekerville is closing up. I hate it and I'm ready. This blog has meant so much to me. This outlet as a professional writer. This attempt we've all made to help others and express ourselves. There were so many people who helped me learn how to write. And when a group of authors and friends formed an email loop and were just having a ridiculous amount of fun, we decided maybe we had something to share with other aspiring authors. Seekerville was born.  Giving it up feels wrong because it's been a home online fo ..read more

 I'm on a very tight deadline at the moment, but I'm also in my last week of school, so time is precious. I started to write a new blog post, but I realized I was PROCRASTINATING from writing the final scene in my first draft. As I was debating new vs an oldie (another chance to procrastinate), I came across the one I'm posting about.  Since everyone and their uncle seems to be either talking about Taylor Swift and The Eras Tour or FOMO on Taylor Swift and The Eras Tour (I kid you not, I got an email today from a teaching blog that used FOMO Taylor Swift as the hook!), I decided to g ..read more

Erica here. It's a smart writer who doesn't waste effort. Yesterday, I was the presenter/speaker at the ACFW MN NICE chapter in the Twin Cities, and I thought I would use a bit of what I taught there for this blog post. :)  From Wild0ne via Pixabay I spoke on Five Pages to Impress: How to Start a Story Strong. One portion of the presentation was a 'what not to do' section, based upon what I see so often when judging contest entries. 1. Please do not start with a prologue. I know. Writers love a prologue, but 97.5% of the time, they are completely unnecessary. They mess with the timeli ..read more

The Christ Pantocrator of St. Catherine's Monastery at Sinai, a 6th-century encaustic icon. [PD-US]   Jesus said to the Twelve: "Fear no one. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father ..read more

Hello everyone, Winnie Griggs here. Back in the old days (pre-Covid lockdown) I used to attend 4-5 reader and/or writer events a year. My last event of this type was the Emerald City Writers' Conference in Oct 2019.  Until this past week. Eight members of the other blog group I belong to, Petticoats and Pistols, traveled to Deadwood, South Dakota to combine a writers' retreat with a multi-author booksigning event called Wild Deadwood Reads. The booksigning is an annual event - this is its 6th year - and is held in conjunction with the town's Wild Bill's Days celebration.  One mem ..read more

By Debby Giusti  Soon after my first book went to contract, my editor asked for the front matter and back matter to be submitted along with my completed manuscript. “Matter? What matter?” I asked, feeling totally clueless. I soon learned that front matter refers to information on pages included before the beginning of the story. Similarly, back matter is anything added after the end of the story. Today, let’s take a closer look at the front matter. I’ll cover the back matter in my next post. I write for Love Inspired Suspense. The first page in each book includes pull quotes fro ..read more

 Cheerleading is harder than it looks. How do I know? Well, when I was in middle school, I became a cheerleader. 2 years! And, because I was a...um...good-sized girl, I was always one of the bases for stunts. Keeping those small and light girls at the top of the triangle alive was one of my jobs.  But cheering for my team? THAT wasn't the hard part! I loved encouraging them on - win or lose. I think that's why when I went to high school, I volunteered to be the mascot. Celebrating my team and encouraging the players and audience brought as much (if not more) joy to me than those ar ..read more

  Happy Day-After-Father's-Day! I thought I'd take a little time today to explore heroes. Every story has one, whether we're talking about romance stories, westerns, fantasy...or your own personal hero. Like many of my friends (too many,) I lost my first hero this year when my father passed away. Like all fathers and daughters, we had a mixed relationship. I was a pistol as a child (just look at the expression on my face!!!) so I take a lot of the blame. But even when we disagreed, he was still my hero. His work as a pastor was tireless, serving on various committees in our church ..read more

Vocation of the Apostles, a fresco in the Sistine Chapel by Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1481-82. [PD-US] At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them  because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. The names of the twelve apostles are these ..read more

   If you are not familiar with our giveaway rules, take a minute to read them here. It keeps us all happy! All winners should send their name, address, and phone number to claim prizes.  Please send to Seekerville2@gmail.com. If the winner does not contact us within two weeks, another winner may be selected. **(All winners' emails will receive a response within a week. If you do not receive an acknowledgement, we may not have received it. Please leave a comment in the following Weekend Edition.) Tuesday: Dana offered us a glimpse into her schedule w ..read more