Christian Indie Writers' Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever sat down with the intention of crafting a wonderful read, only to find yourself staring at a blinking cursor and a blank page for hours, wondering how or even where to begin?   What if I told you the secret to banishing the blank page had nothing to do with plotting, or planning, or forming a plan of attack, but had absolutely everything to do with charging ahead - l...

Send us Fan Mail It is more than the excitement of writing a novel in just thirty days that causes people to start thinking about this event an entire month in advance! No, dear Indie, the truth of the matter is far more consequential: you NEED a plan for NaNo! That is, of course, unless you are the hartiest of the die-hard pantsers and  like to open your cursor at midnight on November first and l...

Send us Fan Mail When the topic of “framing your story” came up, all of us Co-hosts were not sure exactly what we should include in the episode. We all sort of scratched our heads and asked, “what do you mean?” Well, Indies, we’ve since wrapped our minds a bit more around the concept, and we’ve determined that what each writer could use, on occasion, is a bit of a “refresher” on what actually make...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever felt like just giving up? You're not alone. That's why exhortation is so important. Join us today as we discuss Exhortation, how to encourage people, especially fellow Christian writers, encouragement tips, and why it is so important to be there for each other.

Send us Fan Mail With all the social media platforms out there for writers to navigate, Pinterest is one that is largely overlooked. But should it be? Join Tina, Jamie, Jen and Rhonda as they discuss using Pinterest for writers and the possibilities that lie within the highly visual platform. They will also come up with their own goals for their author Pinterest accounts.

Send us Fan Mail Do you have a bit of internet spinach in your teeth? Or a piece of bathroom tissue stuck to your shoe, in a virtual sense? In Episode 101, the ladies discuss social media etiquette for writers.

Send us Fan Mail Join Jamie, Tina, Rhonda and Jen as they look back on 100 episodes, discuss how they've grown and what they've learned, and share not only their own Drabbles, but also some fan Drabbles!

Send us Fan Mail Last week, the ladies discussed the importance of description when writing your characters. In this episode, the conversation continues with setting descriptions. Is story setting important? Is it dependent on genre? How do you set a scene? All these questions and more  will be discussed today.

Send us Fan Mail The more we  examined the issue of description, the more we realized that eyes are not the only physical feature we had difficulty describing with any sort of originality whatsoever. Thus, episode #98 was born. In it, we hope to broaden your (and our own!) horizons, so to speak, when it comes to providing physical descriptions of characters in (y)our novels.

Send us Fan Mail We are talking all things social media, including what the ladies plan to do to up the podcast's social media game

Send us Fan Mail So, how does a plotter know when “enough plotting is, (FOR REAL!) ‘enough’?” Tune in this week as our resident plotters, Jen and Rhonda (as well as Tina, who’s a self-professed “plantser” - a plotter/pantser hybrid),  try to navigate this tricky topic. For special fun, we’re bringing on Rhonda’s mom, Barb, the other half of the mother/daughter writing team “De De Bouman.” They’ll...

Send us Fan Mail Ready for some unsolicited advice? This week, the ladies going to tell you what they wish someone had told them at the beginning of their journeys toward publication, advice which would have saved them hours of agony and a puddles-worth of frustrated tears.

Send us Fan Mail Join the ladies as Jen tries to convince Jamie that a Book Launch strategy is right for her.

Send us Fan Mail We writers know that our writing inspiration does not come in some predictable manner, such as a spring-fed stream which perpetually and inexorably flows from higher elevations to the lower. Inspiration is more like the wind, or perhaps like a wisp of vaporized sea, lingering - even faintly tastable on the tongue - yet impossible to directly grasp. This sounds like bad news, until...

Send us Fan Mail Human behavior is a response to human experience, which is not universal. Today on the podcast, we will discuss how these acts of human behavior which make us stand up and take notice can help us develop characters that come alive for the reader.

Send us Fan Mail Last week on the podcast we covered Trauma in your writing. This week, we are going to talk about your joys - how they can be used to make your writing better. Join Tina, Jamie, Rhonda and Jen as they discuss life's joys and how to take that joy and carry it into the pages of your novel, where it can inspire others to look for joy in the everyday. Todays sprint prompt: Write...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, the ladies discuss how traumas in your life influence your writing.

Send us Fan Mail BETAs?! ARCs?! Who can keep it all straight?!  That’s why we at the Christian Indie Writer’s Podcast wanted to do this series on Launch and Review teams. We’ve already covered BETA readers, and now we’re going to sort the ALPHA’S from the BETA’s from the ARC’s. Won’t you join us?

Send us Fan Mail If you’ve been around the independent publishing world for any amount of time, you’ve heard writer’s speak (often, lovingly,) of their “Team.” Sometimes, they specifically mention a “beloved BETA reader,” or a treasured member of “my ARC team.” This week on the podcast, we discuss what a BETA reader is, why you want one, and where you can find one. In future episodes, we’ll cover...

Send us Fan Mail Sometimes a babysitter is just a babysitter. But, sometimes, the babysitter shows up later in the book to save your heroine from a burning building.  But, how do you know when to develop a side character or when to let them just show up? How does one accomplish the feat of Scribing Superlative Side Characters? The Secret is in this week’s episode.

Send us Fan Mail Lex Luther. Darth Vader. Loki. The Joker. Sauron. The Wicked Witch of the West. Cruella De Vil. Mr. Potter. Sure, little kids run around in Superman t-shirts and sleep in Batman pajamas, but where would our beloved superheroes be without their ferocious foes.?  The antagonist. Just like your protagonist needs to fulfill a certain role in your novel, it is just important to write a...

Send us Fan Mail As a writer, you want your protagonists to be the best that they can be. But, what does that look like? What is the formula for penning the perfect protagonist? Does such a thing exist? Find out this week on the podcast.

Send us Fan Mail Research. You either hate it or you love it. But how important is it? Join Tina, Rhonda, Jen and Jamie as they learn together this week the “do’s” and “don’ts” of research, and how important it is to get your facts straight, even when you are writing fiction.

Send us Fan Mail You've seen it portrayed in movies. You've heard it bantered about in writing groups. You might have experienced it yourself. Writer's Block. Those two dreaded words that plague so many of us as some point in our writing journeys. Join Jamie, Rhonda and Jen as they harass, uh, er, I mean...as they discuss with Tina her current writing struggle.

Send us Fan Mail Even before you type the words, “The End,” you begin to feel it creep in -  the almost irrepressible desire to share what you have created with the world. We at the podcast have been there.  Each of us has either witnessed or committed ourselves some sort of faux pas with regard to sharing writing before it is really the right time to do so. Therefore, in this episode, we  would l...