Be Gritty? Or Be Optimistic?

It’s good to be realistic about how corrupt our world is. But how realistic is too realistic, particularly when it comes to writing stories? Should we be as gritty as today’s news and reveal all the world’s evils? Or be the opposite extreme, too optimistic?

My book review on Laika: Astronaut Dog shows a book giving a tragic historical story a happy ending, even though that ending never happened. I do address the problem of cleaning up history for the sake of avoiding its upsetting elements.

Laika: Astronaut Dog Review

Hannah Mae discusses the dilemma of being too gritty or too upbeat on her FlyingFaith Talks! She shows how the Bible and being ministry-minded guide us on finding that balance.

FlyingFaith: Reality vs. Integrity

New Book Review: Fluffy Fox and The Little Turtle

I wrote another book review for Jennifer Hallmark’s blog! This time, it’s about a fox with a big problem but helps someone else in the midst of it. What is this fox’s problem? Hint: it has to do with her tail.

Fluffy Fox Book Review

Read to Your Kids, Part VI, Ocean Stories with Beautiful Illustrations — M Liz Boyle

Don’t believe teenagers can benefit from picture books? Read this article from M. Liz Boyle’s website.

Sarah Mackenzie, author and founder of the Read-Aloud Revival podcast, says that we should read a picture book every day as kids grow up, even when they’re teenagers! If this sounds odd to you, listen to the podcast to learn how big kids, bigger kids, and adults benefit from picture books. Read-alouds are unanimously a […]

Read to Your Kids, Part VI, Ocean Stories with Beautiful Illustrations — M Liz Boyle

Short Stories, Please

Looking for a quick read for your young children? Try “Children’s Adventure Stories by James Reeves.” It’s a Facebook Page that’s open to the public, and it’s loaded with short stories along with colorful and fun illustrations.

Children’s Adventure Stories

The following picture was on that Page. 🙂

Story Warren also has short stories for kids, and I just read a clever one called “TellUsClope.” The giraffes below are the story’s illustration on the site.

The story is about a giraffe who wishes for a short neck but later learns that a long neck does have a benefit. Want to know what that benefit is? Read more by clicking on the following link:

TellUsClope

Write Truth. Don’t Preach.

When writing a story, have you ever added a quick Gospel message in a way that seems forced? For example, out of the blue you have added something like, “Your brother gave his life for you, just like Christ would have done.” I’ve been guilty of that. But fiction writers are meant to write stories that both entertain and have readers think deeply, not create stories that might as well be PSAs. But how can we do that and bring glory to God as well as shine light to a dark world?

Hannah Mae shares what writing Biblical truth looks like without having to turn your story into a sermon. Click on the link at the bottom to access her podcast, FlyingFaith Talks! There you will find the title, “Averting Over-Preachiness.”

FlyingFaith Talks!

Adding Animals to Your Story?

As you may already know, I’ve reviewed a lot of books with animals in them, and I’ve written stories with animals in them, though I haven’t thought much on how to incorporate wildlife into worldbuilding.

R.M. Archer wrote a blog post that offers tips on how to create animals for your fantastical world. And she introduces a strange animal: the saiga antelope. Look it up; it’s a real animal, and let’s just say it looks quite different. 🙂

Wildlife in Worldbuilding

A Christmas-y Book Review

Hello, everyone! Christmas is a season that’s filled with fun stories. Here is a kid’s book that’s perfect for your holiday collection. It’s called The Christmas Fox by Anik McGrory.

The Christmas Fox Book Review

Don’t have the book but want to read it for Christmas? It is available for Kindle and Nook Book for a quick purchase.

Barnes and Noble
Amazon

There’s also a link to Miss Jen’s read-aloud of the book.

Miss Jen’s Reading Time

Merry Christmas to you all! And may it be a day to remember Jesus, the Light of the world.