A Step in the Write
Direction
December 10,
2012
Thought for the
Day:
WARNING: ADVENT VIRUS. Be on the alert for
symptoms of inner Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. The hearts of a great many
have already been exposed to this virus and it is possible that people
everywhere could come down with it in epidemic proportions. (Anonymous via email)
Laugh for the
Day:
A
single man berated the mothers in his neighborhood for being so hard on their
children. "You need to love them," he'd
tell them. Then he put in a new driveway
and, before the cement was dry, one of the neighbor boys walked through it. The man yelled at him.
"I
thought you loved kids," a mother said.
"I
love them in the abstract," the man replied, "but not in the
concrete."
Writing Hint:
About 20 years ago, shortly after returning
home from a writers’ conference, I received a tearful call from a writer. “I
just got a rejection letter from Guideposts,” she moaned. I shared with her that
one of the classes I had taken at the conference was taught by the Guideposts
editor. At that time, he said, they received around 200 submissions A WEEK, and
of that, they used only 8 (and this was over 20 years ago).
It seems every writer wants the honor of being
published in Guideposts. But here’s a word of advice: While they pay well and
have a worldwide circulation, remember that they buy All Rights, which means you
can’t sell it anyplace else without their permission. You might do better in the
long run to sell First Rights to another periodical, then—after it’s
published—send out Reprint Rights to as many other periodicals/Sunday school
take-home papers, etc., as you like. You may end up making more and having a
larger readership than being published in Guideposts. (More on what rights to
sell in A Step in the Write
Direction.)
Advent Devotion (from my book Preparing Your Heart for Christmas,
available on Amazon for $4.95)
Day
7
Asking
Amiss
You
ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss
(James
4:3).
Five months after our
wedding date, Uncle Sam wrote my husband and said, “I want you,” and he left for
Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri
With the doctor’s
permission, we took a trip in early December to Gary ’s hometown in Kansas
“Oh, honey, we need both
of these,” I said to Gary
I protested, but she
said, “I’d rather get you something I know you need than something you won’t
use.”
“I used to come in here
and beg for a gun and holster and you’d say no,” Gary
“Well,” his mother
laughed, “I think a toaster is more important than a gun and holster, don’t
you?” Gary
How many things have you
asked God for and you didn’t receive them? At the time did you wonder why He
didn’t give them to you? And later on, in retrospect, did you finally understand
the reason?
Perhaps you’re asking
for something special this Christmas season. God may answer with “yes,” “no,” or
perhaps “wait awhile.” If you don’t receive something you want, you can be
assured that what He ends up giving you is far better than what you asked
for.
Lord, You know my
future, and as I enter into this time of celebrating Your Son’s birth, let me be
careful in what I ask for, and be thankful for what You give
me.
Donna
www.thewritersfriend.net
"A Step in the Write Direction--the Complete How-to Guide for Christian Writers"
"A Step in the Write Direction--the Complete How-to Guide for Christian Writers"
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