Melissa Maygrove

Okay, so I sensationalized the title a bit. What kind of writer would I be if I didn't try to hook you. :P I came across something a while back that completely blew me away. I was reading a book review that mentioned 'domestic discipline.' I had never heard of the term, so I promptly looked it up. Domestic Discipline (DD) relationship is one in which one partner is given authority over the other, and has the means to back up that authority, usually by spanking. Yeah. I know. Stay with me.

I've been running into the topic of discerning story content a lot lately, from blog posts about it to complaint-filled reviews. I decided to sound off on the issue, in hopes people will pass the information on.  Because books don't have a rating system like movies, readers have difficulty gauging content. This is a problem for people who like 'clean' books and unknowingly get one that has explicit content. It can also be a problem for people who prefer explicit content or don't like a heavy religious theme, but I'm going to focus on the former for this post. Let me pause to say, I'm not labeling specific content as good or bad, and I'm not promoting one genre or category over another. I'm simply educating folks so they can be better informed consumers. Let's assume the reader wants 'clean' books with zero-to-minimal language, violence, and sex. How do they find books that suit? The best way is to stick with Christian F...

Today I'm excited to introduce Christian fiction author Noelle Marchand who's joining us with a guest post on POV. Noelle is a member of both the RWA and ACFW . She won national and state awards for journalism as a student and sold three books before graduating from college (this month). Noelle is represented by Karen Ball of the Steve Laube Agency. Here's Noelle... Point of View: From Ordinary to Extraordinary The Basics It doesn’t take long to figure out the basic principles of POV. A simple internet search will yield a treasure trove of information. If you’re going to write for the Christian romance market like I do, it becomes even easier because most publishers prefer third-person limited. That’s a fancy way of saying they expect you to write in past tense, use internal dialogue, and construct the book’s universe only from what the hero and heroine (and perhaps a villain) are aware of through their memory, senses, or learned information throughout the story. If yo...

Romance writers, especially those interested in writing Christian Fiction, will enjoy today’s guest, Fay Lamb. Fay wears many hats, but she’ll be speaking to you today as ‘Fay Lamb, published author of romantic suspense.’ Please, give her a warm welcome and enjoy the article. Writing Romance: When Less is More There are certain Bible passages that lift my heart or stir deep feelings in me no matter how many times I’ve read them. Genesis 26:8 is one of those. “And it came to pass, when he [Isaac] had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.” In this instance, sporting refers to a caress. And what a caress it must have been for a king to immediately realize Isaac was more to Rebekah than a brother. In fact, the next verse tells us that in that caress the king knew Rebekah was Isaac’s wife. There’s nothing scandalous in the Bible’s account, so what makes it touch hearts so deeply...