Beth Wiseman's Plain Pursuit--An Enjoyable Read

In Plain Pursuit Beth Wiseman not only gives the reader a glimpse of Amish life, she also imparts a strong faith-in-God message. Ms. Wiseman’s unique handling of shunning reveals the struggles of family members from both sides of the issue, something other Amish novels I’ve read had not addressed with such sensitivity and depth. Because Plain Pursuit is a romance, the plot follows the predictable romance format, but that doesn’t detract from the story. The lovers’ poignant journey draws the reader in, and plot twists keep the pages turning. The glossary of Pennsylvania Dutch words and the recipes adds a warm, homespun flavor.

Forcing Creative Juices to Flow...Via a Margie Lawson Online Fiction Course

My apologies for neglecting this blog since mid-February. If you're wondering if I fell into a gorge, took a trip to some and dreamy, distant utopia, or suffered a mysterious malady that made me allergic to blogging, then nya, nya, nya, nya, nya. You were wrong, wrong, wrong.

Nothing that dramatic happened.

On a whim in late February, I enrolled in a Margie Lawson online Empowering Characters' Emotions course, thinking maybe I'd lurk my way through it like I normally do. Surprise, surprise! When the course officially began March 1st, I discovered I'd be stupid to stay passive this time. So I put aside my blogging, hid from Facebook, and honed all other activities to the barest levels to let Margie's amazing lectures and assignments dominate my life. [Almost devour it, in fact. For the whole month and then some.]

Hmmm. On second thought, maybe something dramatic had happened after all. And something dynamic. Thank you, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Margie, too.

If you don't know about Margie Lawson, she goes around the country alerting authors to powerful ways of impacting characters and readers. She's been a college professor, clinical trainer, sex therapist, Director of an Impotence Clinic, hypnotherapist, and Director of an Employee Assistance Program. And that's only a small part of her incredibly busy and productive life. She also practices what she preaches. [Oh ackk, cliche alert!]

Check her out on http://www.margielawson.com/ and be prepared to hang there for a while. Her website and blog are just as comprehensive as her courses. [Or is it the other way around?] She is a woman who doesn't do anything halfway.

In her ECE course, she helped me identify and correct areas of my wips that were bummed out. Validated good things I did but wasn't sure about. Answered questions to niggling concerns that always seemed to hover, and encouraged me to identify and eliminate cliches so I could write fresh. Write Fresh. WRITE FRESH!

No wonder Randy Ingermanson, Colleen Coble, and other award-winning and best-selling authors can't praise her enough.

I can hardly wait until next month. That's when I'm due for another mega-shot of M.L. instruction and insights.

Happy writing, or whatever your April goals are...