January FREE Writing Workshop: Finding the Right Market for your Writing

“Publishing your work is important. Even if you are giving a piece to some smaller publication for free, you will learn something about your writing. The editor will say something, friends will mention it. You will learn.”— Tim Cahill

When: Monday, January 11, 20100, 6:30p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Where: Stone Chapel, 280 East Woodmen Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80919
Workshop Description: Whether you’re looking to boost your income, work on your writing craft, sell reprints, or boost your publishing credits, finding the right market to publish your work is a crucial skill to learn. Dianne Butts, a working writer who is published regularly, will show you how to:

• find magazines and book publishers looking for your articles, stories, and books
• build valuable files on potential markets for your work
• analyze markets to maximize your chances of getting published.

Speaker: Dianne E. Butts has published over 200 articles and short stories in more than 50 Christian magazines, including Focus on the Family magazine, Discipleship Journal, and On Mission, and fifteen books including Chicken Soup for a Christian Soul II and Zondervan's New Women's Devotional Bible. Her writing has appeared in Great Britain, Bulgaria, Poland, Canada, and Korea. When she's not writing, she enjoys riding her motorcycle with her husband, Hal, and gardening with her cat, P.C. They live in Pueblo, Colorado. www.DianneEButts.com

The cross. A symbol of fashion, fad or faith?

"Christianity is a religion founded on the mystery of the cross of Christ." —Leo the Great, Pope from September 29, 440 to 10 November 10, 461

Book Review: The Mystery of the Cross: Bringing Ancient Christian Images to Life

Author: Judith Couchman

Paperback: 227 pages

Publisher: Intervarsity Press

ISBN-10: 0830835393/ISBN-13: 978-0830835393

The cross. What does it mean to you? A symbol of fashion, fad or faith?

Occasionally, I read a Christian book that grabs my interest and my heart. I confess…the majority of modern-day, nonfiction Christian books recycle the same old yadda, yadda, yadda making me question, “Have I become a skeptic regarding the profoundness of today’s Christian literature?”

Then a book comes along that offers a refreshing and authentic look at faith, provokes deeper thought and prompts tears from deep within. The Mystery of the Cross: Bringing Ancient Christian Images to Life by Judith Couchman provided to me one of those rare reading experiences that engaged my biblical, artistic and historical inquisitiveness, spiritual intellect and emotional core.

Couchman deftly weaves forty art images of the cross and little known historical facts with biblical passages. The spiritual insights, like a quiet beckoning, intertwines with the reader’s heart to investigate not only the meaning of the crosses we carry in our lives, but the cross carried by Jesus and Christ followers in bygone times.

It’s rare that a writer can turn factual information and antiquated artifacts into penetrating spiritual insights that pierce the heart. Drawing upon a vast array of resources, Judith steps outside the common Christian reference material. The author traces the enigma of the cross’s appearance in pre-Christian times, other cultures and religions. Yet she skillfully transports the mystery of the cross back to how the cross imprinted ancient Christians and our lives today. A master writer, Judith’s command of research, vocabulary and spiritual depth enhances an intriguing read, plus the reader’s takeaway—factually, artistically, theologically, emotionally, and spiritually. Many of her stomach-grabber meditations compelled me to stop to reflect upon the truths fleshed out. Yet I felt a delightful tension and curiosity urging me to continue reading until I’d consumed the last page.

The book also includes the award-winning artist Anne Elhajoui’s delicate line drawings, a classy interior book design, and notes for each chapter. My only wish for this book? More pictures or illustrations of the artifacts described. Readers can also access a free, downloadable study guide.

Judith writes, “The forty short chapters can be read for art appreciation, historical information, personal meditation, spiritual formation, small-group discussion, Lenten observation, or worship insights.” The Mystery of the Cross: Bringing Ancient Christian Images to Life invites readers to delve into the mystery of a deeper walk in their faith journey with Christ.

This book, an enriching addition any devotional library, is not another fashion or fad book—it’s designed to become a classic.

Read the introduction.

Read an excerpt The Mystery of the Megolith.

Author Bio

Judith Couchman is an author, speaker, writing coach, and art history instructor. She's published more than 40 books, workbooks, and compilations. Her books cover topics as diverse as discovering your purpose, shaping the soul, thriving in difficult times, body image, art history, church history, flower gardening, and breadmaking. Judith presents seminars based on her books and serves as a writing coach for people who want to publish nonfiction.

Judith also teaches art history courses as a part-time instructor for the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Judith holds a B.S. in education (English and journalism), an M.A. in journalism, and an M.A. in art history. She lives in Colorado. Visit Judith's blog and website.

What Are Other's Saying about Judith's Book?

Read the reviews and endorsements

Take the book's blog tour

Buy The Mystery of the Cross: Bringing Ancient Christian Images to Life

Table of Contents

Part One: Ancient Echoes of Christ: The Cross in Pre-Christian Times

1. The Mystery of the Megalith

2. Egyptian Signs of Life

3. The Healing Cross

4. Ugly Roman Power Symbols

Part Two: The Pain and the Glory: The Cross and the Suffering Savior

5. Shouldering the Cross

6. The Garden and Golgotha

7. Inscription Insights

8. The Man of Sorrows

9. Descent from the Cross

Part Three: Early Signs of Faith: The Cross and the First Believers

10. Crucified with Christ

11. The Everywhere Cross

12. Graffiti Marks and Mocks

13. The Sign of Jonah

14. The Outstretched Hands

15. Signs of the Cross

16. The Absent Crucifixion

Part Four: The Great Conversion: The Cross and Early Religious Freedom

17. The Emperor’s Vision

18. Searching for the Real Thing

19. A Cross in the Desert

20. The Missionary Cross

21. Becoming More Christian

Part Five: Daily Signs of Salvation: The Cross in Ancient Everyday Life

22. A Cross for the Darkness

23. Hoping for the Cross

24. Fear No Evil

25. The Trustworthy Standard

26. Coins for the Kingdom

Part Six: Ways to Worship: The Cross in Early Church Life

27. Walking the Cross

28. Follow Me

29. The Cross and the Water

30. Breaking the Bread

31. Take This Cup

32. Decorating the Sacred

33. The Iconoclastic Cross

Part Seven: Enduring Mysteries: The Cross and Its Eternal Power

34. Pilgrims of the Cross

35. The Ecumenical Cross

36. Desperately Seeking Sanctuary

37. Hearts Up

38. The Veiled Cross

39. The Eternal Kingdom

40. To Rise Again

A free copy of this book was provided to the reviewer.

November FREE Workshop: What’s Missing from Your Writing Toolbox? Get the Power Tools You Need to Power Edit Your Manuscript

When: November October 9, 2009, 6:30p.m.–8:00 p.m.

Where: Stone Chapel, 280 East Woodmen Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80919

Workshop Description: Do you want to push your writing to the next level? Do you want publishers to take you seriously?

• Kris, a prolific, beginning writer, has no clue how to self-critique or edit.
• Kelly, an intermediate, published writer, submits self-edited articles with obvious sloppy, editorial faux pas.
• Kyle, a published and experienced writer, doesn’t recognize lazy writing habits that drive critique group members and editors crazy.

What do they all have in common? Their writing toolbox lacks crucial power tools to ramp up their writing from good to great. Scoti Domeij’s jam-packed workshop includes:

• Top 10+ must-know ways to develop the skill of self-critiquing to edit your manuscript—tomorrow.
• Self-critique/editing checklists to polish your manuscript—next week, next month, next year.
• Discover quick fixes for common and not-so-common mistakes
• Learn 2 easy ways to flip dull, passive sentences into active, powerful copy.
• Find out 3 user-friendly tips to figure out your most common writing errors and how to fix recurring problems.
• A valuable list of online resources and recommended books to further your writing and editing skills.
• An interactive critique and editing time to mark your WIP (work in progress).

Bring 1-2-3 pages or your entire WIP, colored pencils or highlighters and one blood-red pen. And don’t forget a little extra spit to shine your rough draft to polish ready for submission.

Speaker: Scoti has used her writing, editing and research skills to write educational curriculum for Standard Publishing, David C. Cook, Rainbow Publishers, Christian Ed Publishers, Harvest House Publishers, Precept Ministries International, Focus on the Family, Gospel Light Publishers, and The Association of Christian Schools International.

As Senior Research Assistant/Art and Editorial Production Coordinator for the 27-part film series entitled That the World May Know. Scoti also wrote Favorite Bible Heroes and co-authored: Wrong Way, Jonah! with Kay Arthur. Her stories were included in The Mommy Diaries: Finding Yourself in the Daily Adventure edited by Tally Flint (Revell) and Christmas Miracles by Cecil Murphy and Marley Gibson (St. Martin’s Press). She’s written over 300 articles, some of which have appeared in The New York Times, Contemporary Christian Music, Family Life Today, School Daze magazine, Southwest Art, Bookstore Journal, Single Adult Ministry Journal, The Orange County Real Estate Digest, World Report, Get Up and Go, Charlotte Parenting, Focus on the Family magazine, and other parenting magazines. Currently, Scoti, the Colorado Springs Single Moms Examiner, writes a daily column for www.examiner.com and a monthly Solo Parenting column in Colorado Springs Kids magazine

Find out more about Scoti:

The Writing Road blog

Daily Reflections for Single Parents

Colorado Springs Single Moms Examiner

New! Springs Writers Critique Group

Springs Writers will offer a critique group opportunity on one Saturday each month at Scoti Domeij’s home. Writers will receive feedback on their manuscripts and also learn how to critique other writer’s manuscripts. Dates and details will be available soon.

Please note: Springs Writers does not meet in December to help you enjoy the holidays with a little less stress.

Snow Policy: If School District 20 closes, the evening workshop will be cancelled. If the school district is not closed, we will make our decision to cancel a workshop by 3:00 pm and email the Springs Writers E-News subscribers. You may also call 719-548-9723 for snow closure information.

Breathing New Life into Faith

“I see more passion for trees in the Sierra Club than I do for Jesus in the church.”—Richard Dahlstrom

Breathing New Life into Faith

Author: Richard Dahlstrom

Paperback: 272 pages

Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (July 1, 2008)

ISBN-10: 0736922148

ISBN-13: 978-0736922142

About the book

Your physical body needs oxygen in order to survive. Inhale, exhale ... one leads naturally to the other. Inhale too long and you feel as if your lungs will burst. Exhale too long and you get light-headed.

The same rhythm is essential in the life of faith. You inhale life-giving strength from God through things like prayer, study, solitude, and silence. You exhale generosity, hospitality, and service to the poor. If you try to do one without the other, you wont' last very long.

This fresh perspective on the classic disciplines of the faith will empower you to process the oxygen of the Spirit. Discover how you can develop a balanced spirituality that reflects the life of Jesus and keeps your faith growing stronger.

About Richard

Richard Dahlstrom is Senior Pastor of Bethany Community Church in Seattle, WA, in the heart of the city, among university students, young professionals, families, the homeless, and the elderly. He is also a popular teacher in North America and Europe for the Capernwray Missionary Fellowship of Torchbearers. He holds a M.Div. from Talbot Theological Seminary.

For more information

Check out Richard's blog.

Watch a video about the book.

Follow Richard on Twitter @raincitypastor.

October FREE Workshop: Dialogue: Everybody's Talking About It

When: October 12, 2009, 6:30p.m.–8:00 p.m.

Where: Stone Chapel, 280 East Woodmen Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80919

Workshop Description: In fiction, dialogue allows your readers to eavesdrop on your characters. When you're eavesdropping on someone, you never know what you're going to hear. In the same way, your readers never know what your characters are going to say. If your dialogue bores your readers, you'll lose them-every time. In dialogue, every word must count. Count for what? What is your dialogue accomplishing? In her workshop Dialogue: Everybody's Talking About It, author and editor Beth K. Vogt:

• reveals five things dialogue can accomplish
• shares two surefire ways to use your dialogue to your advantage
• lists the 10 ways to make sure your dialogue is "done right," so that it passes an editor's standards
• provides interactive time for you to create dialogue using writing prompts.

Speaker: Beth is a national speaker and author of Baby Changes Everything: Embracing and Preparing for Motherhood after 35. She is the editor of Connections, the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International leadership magazine. She contributes regularly to MomSense magazine and to the Hearts at Home blog. Beth is also the national Parenting Toddlers to Teens Examiner for Examiner.com, the fastest-growing local content network in the U.S. Her stories are included in Chicken Soup for the Soul: A Tribute to Moms and The Mommy Diaries. Beth has been published in Discipleship Journal, Virtue, ParentGuide, ParentLife, and The Christian Communicator.

Find out more about Beth:

Beth’s website

Mommy Come Lately blog

The Writing Road blog

7 Secrets Every Christian Writer Needs to Know

The following outline is taken from Lorraine Pintus' Powerpoint.

1. What it means that you are “called” to write.

· Faithful servant multiplies the gift and is praised. (Matthew 25:21)

· Worthless servant buries the gift and is rebuked. (Matthew 25:30)

· The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:24

2. That obedience is more important than a publishing contract

3. The power of the written/spoken word

· My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the SPIRIT’S POWER, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on GOD’s POWER. 1 Corinthians 2:4

4. The value of your writing toolbox. Your toolbox is:

· T: Technique

· O: Others

· O: Observe Trends

· L: Library

· S: Solitude

5. The importance of wrestling

· “The author who benefits us most is not the one who tells you something you did not know before, but the one who gives expression to the truth that has been dumbly struggling in you for utterance.”—Oswald Chambers

6. The priority of the Three W’s: Worship, Wait, Write

7. The need to maintain a growth mindset

· Mindset: A collection of individual thoughts that, over a period of time, influences how we perceive life.

· Fixed mindset: Human qualities/abilities are determined early on; they are fixed, established traits

· Growth mindset: Human qualities are something we cultivate. Central attitude is LEARN, LEARN, LEARN!

· “Our mindset is not a personality quirk; it creates the mental world in which we live. It shapes our goals and attitudes and predicts whether or not we will fulfill our potential.”–Carol Dweck, PhD, The New Psychology of Success

· Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your power of your out-stretched arm. Surely nothing is too difficult for you. Jeremiah 32:17

Recommended Books on Writing for Beginning Writers

A Complete Guide to Writing for Publication by Susan Titus Osborn

AP Stylebook (for editing newspaper and magazine articles)

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

Creating Fiction by Julie Checkoway

Eats Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss

Fiction Writing Demystified by Thomas B. Sawyer

Getting into Character by Brandilyn Collins

On Writing Well by William Zinsser

Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell

Scene and Structure by Jack Bickham

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King

Stein on Writing by Sol Stein

Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight Swain

Telling Lies for Fun and Profit by Lawrence Block

The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes (and how to avoid them) by Jack Bickham

The Artists Way by Julie Cameron

The Chicago Manual of Style (for editing books)

The Christian Writer's Market Guide by Sally E. Stuart

The Elements of Style 4th Edition by William Strunk and E.B. White

The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing by Evan Marshall

Writer Tells All by Robert Masello

Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass

You Can Market Your Book by Carmen Leal