Inspirational Journeys: Stories that Matter

Have you ever thought about taking your art to the next level? This week my special guest, Donna Edman, explains how she used her photography to help women over 50 share their advice to their 20-year-old selves and share their stories. Donna is an award-winning portrait photographer with a passion to honor people and encourage them to share their legacy. Her ability to engage with clients helps th...

I’d like to introduce you to yet another member of the 540 writers community. My special guest Althea Damgaard and I celebrate the launch of her debut novel entitled Champions of Light. If you watch the YouTube video, you’ll see Althea decked out in her 540 writers community t-shirt. Come along and celebrate with us in the comfort of your living room, or while you’re walking, jogging, running erra...

Have you ever planned to have a conversation with someone, only to have God change the direction of your conversation from start to finish? This is exactly what happened with my special guest Cherrilynn Bisbano and me in today’s episode. I invite you to join our conversation and let the Holy Spirit speak inspiration into your life and your writing as we discuss her book, her writing and teaching....

In today’s solo episode, I talk about the importance of finishing what you start, because God has a purpose and a plan for our lives. We all have a message to share and when we complete the task God has set before us, He can use our writing for His glory. The passages I used to illustrate my points are: 2 Corinthians 8:10–11; Ephesians 2:10; 3:20–21; and Romans 8: 28–30. All passages of scripture...

Benecia Ponder is a Story Coach and Book Publishing Mentor to Inspirational Authors—faith-driven creators who share their God-given gifts and life experiences through powerful stories that inspire and impact lives. Benecia is the award-winning author of six books of her own and has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs make a bigger difference and profit by getting their stories out of their hearts and...

The Holy Spirit speaks to us through powerful whispers. That’s what my special guest Christa Speath and I discuss, along with her writing process in today’s episode. Be sure to have your journal ready, because there are some golden nuggets you’ll want to walk away from this conversation with. Christa Joy Spaeth is the founder of Christa Joy Ministries. It was founded in 2022 when Minnesota-based a...

Do you connect with the Holy Spirit as you write? Do you find joy in your writing? These are some of the topics my special guest and I discuss in today’s episode Kyllie currently resides in Redding California with her husband and two children. A New Zealand speaker and author passionate to see the Kingdom of God fully expressed here on earth. After years of moving from one trial to the next she fo...

A Kingdom connection is always orchestrated by the Holy Spirit, especially when the connection is between two like-minded fiction authors. This is what happened when Wendy Jo Cerna appeared as my first guest in my brand new Kingdom Connections interview series. Come join us as God shows us how he can provide the inspiration needed to write life changing fiction that meets people where they are so...

When writing in the fantasy genre or any of its subgenres such as contemporary fantasy, Urban Fantasy, and Magical Realism, I’ve found that the best to make sure your characters drive your story in a way that satisfies the reader is to create some rules. These rules include rules for ghosts, angels and other spiritual supernatural characters; rules for any team or group of characters who work toge...

In honor of memorial day, I’m re-airing an episode from back in October of last year. This week, my special guest shares the story of surviving the loss of his brother, who was killed in action while they both served in Afghanistan and overcoming grief, survivors guilt and PTSD, in order to share his compelling story with the world. He also started a podcast to share the stories of others who’ve s...

Do you love stories about faith, courage, and grit? Do you love stories where the protagonist learns to trust in God to give her the faith and courage to face life’s challenges in order to complete the tasks He sets before her? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Today, my special guest and I talk about her women’s fiction with Faith, Courage, Grit, a hint of Romance, and in her latest book, su...

In this episode, I explain how my tech assistant, Jack and I recorded my poem entitled Open Air, set to music with some outdoorsy stuff in the background. You can watch me dance to this accidental music track here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWfqRfKNm4c&t=13s You can also read the poem and listen to the before and after versions of the recording here: https://www.annwritesinspiration.com/2023...

In today’s episode, Riley Cross joins me to talk about her writing process and her debut novel entitled Disconnected. As Riley and I talked about her writing process, we coined a new term for writers who plot a little and pants a little. NaNoWriMo calls us plantsers, but we coined the term plotser to describe us. Come join in the fun filled conversation, where you’ll find a few nuggets for writers...

In this episode, I share my reflections of my 3 day coffee fast, and how the Lore showed up in a bog way. I also have a song recommendation. The song is entitled Job Suite by Michael Card. You can listen to it on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7XVS1VIzHc Visit www.everyday-excellence.com and use promo code Inspirational Journeys to get 10% off any product on the site. Support this...

I am taking a big leap of faith, guided by the Holy Spirit. I want to ask you to bath my new middle grade magical realism book entitled Shadows On the Wall: Spirit Writer Society book 1 in prayer, because I believe with all my heart, that God can use entertainment and the genres that children love to draw middle school kids closer to Him. I pray that he touches the lives of parents and encourages...

What story will you tell your audience? Let me tell you a story. That’s the topic of today’s episode. The Holy Spirit led me to share my story of how I became an author and the reason for my podcast title. This episode was inspired by a TEDX talk entitled The Danger of a Single Story, which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4a7oQ5vwP4 Visit www.everyday-excellence.com and use pr...

In this episode I explain why my process for the second book in my Spirit Writer Society series is vastly different from the first. I also encourage you to trust your process, no matter where you are in your writing journey. Visit www.everyday-excellence.com and use promo code Inspirational Journeys to get 10% off any product on the site. Support this podcast with a monthly donation by visiting: h...

God is leading me to take a step back from podcasting. I’m not giving up on the podcast, my episodes will be less frequent. In this episode I explain why Visit www.everyday-excellence.com and use promo code Inspirational Journeys to get 10% off any product on the site. Support this podcast with a monthly donation by visiting: https://anchor.fm/inspirational-journeys/support  or you can give a one-...

Today is a day to celebrate my milestones as I walk with God as a writer. First of all, I want to say happy 4th anniversary of Inspirational Journeys: Stories that Matter! My second milestone is that I finished editing my Middle Grade novel and uploaded the manuscript to Google Docx and shared it with a few select beta readers. I have a couple more people to share it with, but now I’ve done what I...

In today’s episode, I give a few updates on my writing life and share some encouragement with you to help you move forward in your calling to advance the Kingdom of God and change the world with your words as you follow God’s calling to write. Visit www.everyday-excellence.com and use promo code Inspirational Journeys to get 10% off any product on the site. Support this podcast with a monthly dona...

In today’s episode, Lynda Lambert and I talk about her connect between her art, painting in particular, and her writing. Here’s Lynda’s bio in her own words. My mission statement: Seeking euphoria through art and writing, I reveal what is forgotten, lost, or invisible. My books: Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage, Kota Press, (2002) Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage, Kota Press (2002) Walking b...

Today marks the launch of Mark Snoad’s debut middle grade novel entitled Maggie and the Mountain of Light. Join us as we celebrate this book launch and learn a little about how God called Mark to write. Mark Snoad is an author and teacher living in Aotearoa New Zealand. As a professional make-believer, he strives to find the magic and joy in everyday life. It’s definitely there, at the edges. You’...

In the second episode of my benefits of journaling for writers series, I discuss the following benefits of keeping a writing journal for non fiction: listing blogpost, article or nonfiction book ideas; taking notes during your online research, copying URLs of sources; taking notes during expert interviews. Visit www.everyday-excellence.com and use promo code Inspirational Journeys to get 10% off a...

In today’s episode, God has anointed my conversation with Beth Jones about her latest book and the two new books He has given her for the near future.. Pray with us and have your Bible and a method for taking notes handy, because this conversation has some golden nuggets about prophecy and writing the vision and making it play, as the Lord states in Habakkuk 2:2. Beth also shared Isaiah 30:21 with...

To start my mini series on journaling benefits for writers, I’m going to talk about the benefits of keeping a fiction writing journal. A journal is a place to dump unwanted thoughts and feelings, to  write your prayers and responses from the Holy Spirit, capture new ideas, develop your new ideas, brainstorm plot points for stories, flesh out your characters and keep track of your story’s timeline....