What's Up the Street For Next Week?

First things first –

BABY NEWS!!!

Another Alley Kitten joins the ranks of our growing litter. Author Cindy Wilson gave birth to Brooklyn Mae Thursday, June 16. Mom & baby are doing well – but Cindy and her family would love your prayers.

Well, we know how Cindy is going to be spending her ‘free’ time during summer now – but how about you? Do you have a summer reading list yet?

How are you doing with it? Are you ahead of schedule, staring at a book-free nightstand, or are you like most of us – where our pile of books bears a striking resemblance to the Tower of Babel?

Whatever the trip, The Alley Cats have a few books to add to your list. Here are some of their TOP recommendations:

Sherrinda: The Art of Romance by Kaye Dacus.

Julia: The Fine Art of Insincerity by Angela Hunt is a great women's fiction pick that was recently released.                                          

Casey: When Sparrows Fall by Meg Moseley

Mary: recommends Calvin and Hobbs--any one will do--to stir the thinking.

Krista: Save the Date by jenny b jones. It was fun and upbeat and I L.O.V.E.D it!

Sarah: Just Between You and Me by Jenny Jones.

Pepper: A Great Catch by Lorna Seilstad if you want a funny-bone tickler; Mine is the Night by Liz Curtis Higgs if you want a beautiful romantic drama.

So, what’s the lineup this week?

Monday: Pepper still has no idea what she is going to post about. You could vote! Answering the Call – writing & other priorities; OR The Basics of Characterization OR A Few More Tips from BRMCWC.  AHHHH! Decisions.

Tuesday: Sherrinda is having just as hard a time as Pepper – so it’s a surprise post for the day.

Wednesday: Mary’s post draws from the ‘masters’ of writing all around us, On Being Mentored.

Thursday: You can delete words?!? What? Well, check out Casey’s  post It’s Not About the Over All Word Count Walking the line between being aware of our total novel length and being willing to delete 1K of words.

Friday: Stop by to see what fun Krista brings to our Friday.

So…what books would you recommend for a summer reading list?

What's one of your top five books you've read within the past year? Why was it so great?

And come join us for another week of great info...even for those of us who aren't sure yet :-)

And the WINNER of Driftwood Lane from Cindy's post on Friday is....

Pam Kellogg!!

Congratulations and happy reading!!

Do You Know What Your Genre Is?

I’ve been thinking about parallels between story-telling and gardening. Both topics are fodder for a multitude of how-to books, workshops and classes. Both writing and gardening can be frustrating sink-holes that eat time and money, or they can reward us with beauty, exhilaration, and maybe even a little monetary gain.







God Himself has dabbled in both endeavors. He’s a God who planted a garden in Eden, and He’s a God who told stories about intriguing characters—the prodigal son, the good Samaritan, the widow who wouldn’t stop pounding on the judge’s door in the middle of the night.






If there’s one lesson I wish I’d known when I first started writing, it’s that it pays to do your homework before you dig in. Part of the homework is discovering your natural bent. Each plot of land has a particular type of soil, a certain exposure to sun and wind, and terrain that’s right for some plants and wrong for others. We wouldn’t plant alpine flowers in a cornfield any more than we would plant corn on a rocky alpine peak.






A writer with a lyrical voice should write in a genre that allows room for lyricism. A writer who enjoys crafting intricate plots should find a genre that supports intricate plots. It’s not that there are right or wrong genres; it’s a matter of finding a good fit. And once you know your genre, you’ll still need to find just the right story to write.






A few years ago, I was e-mailing back and forth with fellow author Sherrie Lord when I was trying to figure out what the Lord wanted me to write next. Sherrie said: “I think He wants you to write what you want to write.”






I love that idea, but there’s also the concept I shared with another friend who was contemplating starting a book. I told her about a fig tree that I grew in a pot in our house in Michigan. For several years, the thing hardly grew, but when we moved to Georgia and I planted it outside, it took off. It even developed an offshoot, so I divided it into two fig trees. (That happens with plots sometimes, too.) The trees were in the perfect location, and they flourished in the sun and the abundant rainfall.






I started getting excited. Finally, after five years in Georgia, I saw the first tiny green figs. My long-awaited harvest began to ripen, and I could hardly wait to taste sweet, delicious figs.






But even when they were fully ripe, they weren’t very sweet. They didn’t have much flavor. They were just . . . okay. No matter what we did to those trees, and no matter how strong and healthy they were, they could only produce bland, semi-sweet figs. All that time, I’d been nurturing the wrong variety of fig tree.






If only I had done my research.






It takes a long time to write a novel. I don’t want to nurture those pages for months or maybe years, and then realize the fruit can never be more than just okay.






Especially when a writer is contemplating a new project, it’s time to think, to pray, to be quiet before the Lord. I still think Sherrie’s right; we have freedom to write what we want to write. God doesn’t dictate our choices, but we need His wisdom to guide our freedom so our fruit will be sweet and full of flavor.

Meg Moseley is still a Californian at heart although she’s lived more than half her life in other states. She formerly wrote human-interest columns for a suburban section of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and home schooled for over twenty years. Meg enjoys books, travel, gardening, her three grown children, and motorcycle rides with her husband Jon. They make their home in northern Georgia