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First Place Winner: Cassie’s Pearl

First Place Winner: Cassie’s Pearl

Wine in hand, I stepped into the scalding shower without checking the temperature. The sensation offered a brief reprieve from the ache in my heart. I stumbled on a leftover sliver of a soap bar, sloshing half the wine into the drain. “What a waste,” I mumbled. I chugged the rest in two gulps and plunked the glass onto the floor, where it quickly overflowed with spray.

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4 Ways to Pull the Plot Back Out of Your Character’s Head

4 Ways to Pull the Plot Back Out of Your Character’s Head

As writers, we love exploring the internal struggles that shape our characters. During formative moments, emotional turmoil may need to take center stage, as with Thomas in Nadine Brandes’ Fawkes. Usually this scene happens near the story’s middle, when everything—including the protagonist—seems to be falling apart. Turning points deserve emphasis; otherwise the deep change in the character’s arc will seem artificial or glossed over.

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3 Ways to Craft a Setting That Captures Readers’ Imaginations

3 Ways to Craft a Setting That Captures Readers’ Imaginations

Has a story’s setting ever intrigued you even more than the plot? Think of the gloomy weather on the moors that reflects the characters’ turbulent emotions in Wuthering Heights, or the unforgiving sand drifts wrought with murderous sandworms that excrete the galaxy’s most coveted resource and serve as a crucible for the cast of Dune. Why do each of these places feel so mystical?

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SE Podcast #59: Sympathetic Villains and Antiheroes

SE Podcast #59: Sympathetic Villains and Antiheroes

How can you approach sympathetic villains and antiheroes from a Christian perspective, especially in our modern culture? In today’s episode, Gabby, Hope, and Daeus give inspiring and thought-provoking advice on how to make a villain relatable without condoning his actions. They also explain how the Apostle Peter demonstrates that antiheroes need to be explored as much as heroes and villains. Listen to their conversation here.

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How to Depict Sensitive Topics with Empathy & Hope

How to Depict Sensitive Topics with Empathy & Hope

Jesus didn’t shut His eyes to the suffering around Him. From hypocrisy to idolatry and worse, He confronted sin head-on with God’s love—sometimes in everyday conversation, but more often He couched His teachings in parables. Christian storytellers need to practice the same wisdom and extend the same grace. My newest release, Inside the Ten-Foot Line, provides one example of how to gently reach hurting readers. Although the novel features a lot of volleyball action (it’s sports-centric), a dash of romance (it’s YA), and humor (because I’m the author), it touches on a struggle many teens face.

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Learn What the Bible Says about Engaging Plots

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