Story Embers | Jess R. Plowman | Activity https://storyembers.org/members/toljamedia/activity/ Activity feed for Jess R. Plowman. Mon, 25 May 2026 03:00:53 -0400 https://buddypress.org/?v= en 30 hourly 2 bcd266d44ed1453a4b57d5d7e1a75b40 Jess R. Plowman replied to the topic Hello there! in the forum Introduce Yourself https://storyembers.org/activity/p/104843/ Fri, 07 Jul 2023 11:14:30 -0400 Hello Olivia! Welcome “back” – and good luck with all your projects, keep us posted!

]]> 0 4f966271b028cf265d34c2d489d7d4f7 Jess R. Plowman started the topic What is literary fiction? Is anyone writing it? in the forum General Writing Discussions https://storyembers.org/activity/p/104842/ Fri, 07 Jul 2023 02:43:39 -0400 Part 1

I’m always a little nervous to bring this up – there always seems to be someone who gets defensive about the whole concept, as if by saying I want to write literary fiction, what I’m actually saying is that I think I’m better than them.

Also, no one seems to have a good definition of the term, so people tend to bring their own prejudices…[Read more]

]]> 0 5d3128509fba353d485372202c71c542 Jess R. Plowman replied to the topic music to write to in the forum General Writing Discussions https://storyembers.org/activity/p/104766/ Thu, 22 Jun 2023 12:59:58 -0400 I don’t usually listen to music while I write because it distracts me, but I usually get pumped up before a session with a playlist of some thematically relevant music.

For my current novel, that’s this: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/70BOyelUSDTVfgbtEFbx83?si=b82ba8854dd54e59

Lot’s of Needtobreathe and indie 🙂

Additional shout out to the…[Read more]

]]> 0 bbacf98c98c4f93c30e72328791cd679 Jess R. Plowman started the topic Latest Podcast episode - discussion! in the forum General Writing Discussions https://storyembers.org/activity/p/104765/ Thu, 22 Jun 2023 12:55:18 -0400 I hope this is the right place to ask this – I just wanted to say I loved the latest podcast episode, and I think it hit the nail on the head for a lot of things. One of the biggest causes of feeling like an outsider as a Christian writer for me is that in a lot of genres these days have built-in expectations that simply exclude the Christian…[Read more]

]]> 0 cd4908b24263f38a66a82f1f95b1159e Jess R. Plowman replied to the topic First Person Present in the forum General Writing Discussions https://storyembers.org/activity/p/101916/ Tue, 28 Jun 2022 04:20:16 -0400 I feel like first person present tense is quite popular right now. The Hunger Games was in that viewpoint if I’m not mistaken, and a lot of YA series seemed to follow suit – Divergent, at least, off the top of my head. Hunger Games did it well, but following that, in my generation at least, there seemed to be a huge influx of hobby writing that…[Read more]

]]> 0 1b77ae35c8035c4ff90639cf10aa437c Jess R. Plowman replied to the topic I'm so excited to be here in the forum Introduce Yourself https://storyembers.org/activity/p/101882/ Fri, 24 Jun 2022 15:36:28 -0400 I love that title, Murder of Swans – I am already intrigued!

]]> 0 eba5a5b22b54a51f0443aa96c76da1ad Jess R. Plowman started the topic Is opera art? in the forum Art Discussions https://storyembers.org/activity/p/101880/ Fri, 24 Jun 2022 15:31:18 -0400 Is this exclusively about visual art? Can I talk about opera for a second? Haha

I hope it’s alright to post this here, because I can’t get it out of my head. I recently discovered the opera Der Freischutz by Carl Maria von Weber. It premiered in Berlin in 1821, and it’s a great example of storytelling with a firm Christian worldview.

Here’s a…[Read more]

]]> 0 239843d40ff24425cf6225faac1ae3d1 Jess R. Plowman replied to the topic Soft Science Fiction - Maybe? in the forum Sci-fi Writers https://storyembers.org/activity/p/101879/ Fri, 24 Jun 2022 15:17:52 -0400 @rose-colored-fancy just hearing “I like sci fi and I like that idea” is actually a great encouragement for what I’m trying to figure out lol. Thanks so much!

]]> 0 470c9f02e1adc2282401697751d27891 Jess R. Plowman replied to the topic I'm so excited to be here in the forum Introduce Yourself https://storyembers.org/activity/p/101878/ Fri, 24 Jun 2022 15:07:43 -0400 Right now I’m writing science fiction, about a disaster on a tiny, remote research planet. It leans toward a lot of Western tropes as well. I talk about it more here, and in my profile. I know most people don’t like to work this way, but I cannot work on a story without having a clear theme pictured first. This one is along the lines of “how…[Read more]

]]> 0 9081656d676c272d57162ded9e7edc4f Jess R. Plowman posted a new activity comment https://storyembers.org/how-the-book-of-job-teaches-writers-to-create-realistic-christian-characters/comment-page-1/#comment-11713 Fri, 24 Jun 2022 01:03:01 -0400 I love this. I love Job. I cling to it.

In fact, my love of Job (for a lot of the reasons in this article) is deeply entwined in my current WiP. An important scene (not even scene really, more like paragraph) I have planned for the yet-unwritten denouement involves my main character reading Job start to finish in one sitting. The epigraph – and…[Read more]

In reply to - Mariposa Aristeo wrote a new post How the Book of Job Teaches Writers to Create Realistic Christian Characters Some Christian writers believe that their characters should sprout wings—or at least tote a halo t […] ]]> c09eaa302d93dea4f4f27beaf7274fc5 Jess R. Plowman started the topic Soft Science Fiction - Maybe? in the forum Sci-fi Writers https://storyembers.org/activity/p/101846/ Thu, 23 Jun 2022 18:37:04 -0400 I often doubt whether I should really classify my WiP as science fiction – it absolutely is, technically, but I don’t really get into a lot of the tropes. I feel like from a marketing standpoint, I would let down a lot of the expectations that the most dedicated sci fi readers would be looking for.

My plot is largely literary, and I’ve also been…[Read more]

]]> 0 74de02dfb707ce4739216481b270d2a4 Jess R. Plowman replied to the topic The Importance of Being Human in the forum Sci-fi Writers https://storyembers.org/activity/p/101845/ Thu, 23 Jun 2022 18:20:37 -0400 If you’re still interested in the theme (which I certainly find interesting!) I see no reason to let it go.

It doesn’t strike me as derivative of 80s movies. At least from the part posted, I get more of an Andy Weir vibe, the near-future perspective, pulling from all those extant schools and organizations. Also, even amid words like “quarantine,”…[Read more]

]]> 0 d5fbea3ea548bf82e62ee09333007e75 Jess R. Plowman replied to the topic Why is Christian Sci-Fi Scarcer than Fantasy? in the forum Sci-fi Writers https://storyembers.org/activity/p/101841/ Thu, 23 Jun 2022 17:49:21 -0400 Playing on the opposite side of the “famous Christians wrote famous fantasy” card, I think it’s also worth noting that conversely, some of the most famous science fiction has also been written by some of the most famous atheists. Douglas Adams and Isaac Asimov come to mind immediately. There’s that nasty preconception, so thoughtlessly assumed by…[Read more]

]]> 0 36730d6e1a70b1e5b21b13565b2ea87f Jess R. Plowman joined the group Sci-fi Writers https://storyembers.org/activity/p/101838/ Thu, 23 Jun 2022 17:28:51 -0400 0 cbf2d23cbaf497aff342019b902c0217 Jess R. Plowman started the topic I'm so excited to be here in the forum Introduce Yourself https://storyembers.org/activity/p/101835/ Thu, 23 Jun 2022 17:16:50 -0400 Someone in the Reedsy discord recommended Story Embers after a mention of “thought-provoking Christian lit.” I’m so glad they did! The manifesto is the most encouraging thing I’ve read in a long time. I have been so bogged down lately by the state of the secular publishing industry… it’s a dark place, friends. Like the rest of the world, no one…[Read more]

]]> 0 e9fb781fc90f289be1124f2a4bef72ed Jess R. Plowman changed their profile picture https://storyembers.org/activity/p/101819/ Thu, 23 Jun 2022 07:41:11 -0400 0 af9dcb83e21528d5d2eb3e890b710134 Jess R. Plowman's profile was updated https://storyembers.org/activity/p/101818/ Thu, 23 Jun 2022 07:36:06 -0400 0