Good Morning Christian Writers,
First of all, I want to let you all know that I am working on moving this blog over to one where I can sign in with the same address where I have everyone write and submit. I didn't know I wouldn't be able to change it later when I used my regular writing address, and I can't be signed in to both at one time, so I need to move. If after the move I can change the name back to this one, it won't matter, but in case I cannot, the one I'm moving to will be at ... http://morningwriterbook.blogspot.com if you want it for your records.
Next, as advertised in the headline, I have moved the deadline once more. The new deadline is September 30th, 2007. This move is to welcome writers who will hear about the project at the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference. That conference begins tomorrow, August 7th and runs through Thursday the 9th. For more information, see the website at ... http://www.writehisanswer.com.
If you are an attendee of the Greater Philly conference and have received the flier or other information for the project, I would like to personally welcome you on board. I truly appreciate Marlene for volunteering to spread the word for me, and I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you when you request your own copies of the guidelines and samples. Remember to remove the spaces when you write to me at morningwriter @ gmail.com and don't forget to mention where you heard about the project.
Finally, I welcome all writers who are interested in participating with me in this unique venture into creativity and motivation for fellow writers. The blessings have already been more than I could have asked or thought to ask for. The project has become a joint effort as I have worked with writers to help develop their submissions into pieces they were sincerely satisfied with, and pieces that also met my vision for the finished product. One writer called it "our project" and that is a perfect description. As Christians, we cannot afford to be alone in this world, and this applies to our writing lives as well. What a precious gift to be a part of joining Christian writers together to encourage even more Christian writers all over the world.
May you all be abundantly anointed in every moment you live - and write - for Him!
With Shalom and Blessings in Christ,
~Crystal
Crystal and David
Author with her husband
...and love of her life!
Monday, August 6, 2007
Saturday, August 4, 2007
New Book Blog for Good Morning Christian Writer
Good Morning Christian Writers,
To all who have been keeping up on my other blog, submitting, thinking about submitting, or who have just found this blog, hello and shalom in Christ.
I am moving the blog from http://morningwriter.blogspot.com over to here because I did not realize when I created it that I wouldn't be able to change the e-mail address associated with it once I had set up the account. I wanted this blog associated with the same e-mail address I receive my submissions to so I wouldn't have to sign out and in to different addresses to work on both submissions and the blog.
So, I have moved this here and will move the posts and comments over to here as I get time. Once it's all moved, I may see if I can rename it to use the original address, but I may write to everyone about the change anyway. For now, please look below to read the very first post I put on the very first blog entry.
~Crystal
To all who have been keeping up on my other blog, submitting, thinking about submitting, or who have just found this blog, hello and shalom in Christ.
I am moving the blog from http://morningwriter.blogspot.com over to here because I did not realize when I created it that I wouldn't be able to change the e-mail address associated with it once I had set up the account. I wanted this blog associated with the same e-mail address I receive my submissions to so I wouldn't have to sign out and in to different addresses to work on both submissions and the blog.
So, I have moved this here and will move the posts and comments over to here as I get time. Once it's all moved, I may see if I can rename it to use the original address, but I may write to everyone about the change anyway. For now, please look below to read the very first post I put on the very first blog entry.
~Crystal
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Welcome to Attendees of KCWC 2007
Hello,
If you are visiting here because you heard about the project at the 2007 Kentucky Christian Writers Conference in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, I want to offer you a special welcome and thanks for acting on my recent call for submissions. I look forward to hearing from you in an e-mail request for guidelines and again with at least one submission to the project.
Because of the pace of the conference, we couldn't really tell you everything about the project, but you will learn a whole lot about it and about me through the guidelines and samples. You can also learn something from previous posts at this blog. I will give you a little bit more information here in this post, however, so you won't have to search back for old posts if you are time crunched.
First, I have been a member of Louisville Christian Writers for almost ten years now. In that time, I have learned the value of a good critique. At LCW meetings, we try to dedicate at least one hour of each meeting to critiques so we can help other writers with encouragement and instruction. Learning how to give and receive critiques has helped all of our members gain strength as writers and as self-editors. Recently, our members have pledged to take what we've learned at LCW and pass it on as a mission to strengthen other writers. I believe this project was born out of that desire.
Most writers enjoy writing. Most also enjoy writing prompts to get some focus and direction for their writing days. And, between the Internet and the Writer's Digest Book Club, it's pretty easy to find prompts and exercises to enjoy. But Christian writers (Christians who write) have a couple unique needs that are not often met by the current books available for writers. We need encouragement to remember that our writing is a calling, and we need prompts to remind us that we can write about non-church subjects and still be a Christian writer because we write from a Christian perspective. The Good Morning Christian Writer book will strive to meet both of these unique needs.
To meet these needs, I am requesting submissions for encouraging devotional articles that give examples of those things in your lives that have encouraged you as a writer. Your encouragement could have come in the form of a word from a friend, a message at a conference or workshop, a Scripture, a time of prayer, or just about any word or event that helped you to get to or stay on your "writer's feet." Along with the articles, I am looking for prompts or exercises that relate to the articles and can help other writers apply the inspirations effectively. If a writer cannot supply an exercise or prompt, I encourage him or her to submit anyway because there may be a writer out there who has only a prompt or exercise and can't seem to find a topic for a devotion to go with it.
If you are a writer and would like to see samples of these devotion/exercise combinations, please click here to drop me an e-mail and request the guidelines and samples. The Word 2000 document I will send out will include a letter to writers, the call for submissions, and two sample submissions. It will instruct you on formatting, rights, compensation, and other information you might want to know before submitting.
I hope to hear from you soon and I look forward to working with you in both the submission and editing process. I will try to give you a kind and thorough critique and I will do my best to help your writing pass the qualifications to be published in the GMCW compilation. I believe that if my goal is to encourage other writers, it must begin now with the writers in this project.
Thank you with sincere blessings that you all may be blessed and find shalom in all you do--and write--for Christ,
~Crystal A. Murray
Project Creator & Author
If you are visiting here because you heard about the project at the 2007 Kentucky Christian Writers Conference in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, I want to offer you a special welcome and thanks for acting on my recent call for submissions. I look forward to hearing from you in an e-mail request for guidelines and again with at least one submission to the project.
Because of the pace of the conference, we couldn't really tell you everything about the project, but you will learn a whole lot about it and about me through the guidelines and samples. You can also learn something from previous posts at this blog. I will give you a little bit more information here in this post, however, so you won't have to search back for old posts if you are time crunched.
First, I have been a member of Louisville Christian Writers for almost ten years now. In that time, I have learned the value of a good critique. At LCW meetings, we try to dedicate at least one hour of each meeting to critiques so we can help other writers with encouragement and instruction. Learning how to give and receive critiques has helped all of our members gain strength as writers and as self-editors. Recently, our members have pledged to take what we've learned at LCW and pass it on as a mission to strengthen other writers. I believe this project was born out of that desire.
Most writers enjoy writing. Most also enjoy writing prompts to get some focus and direction for their writing days. And, between the Internet and the Writer's Digest Book Club, it's pretty easy to find prompts and exercises to enjoy. But Christian writers (Christians who write) have a couple unique needs that are not often met by the current books available for writers. We need encouragement to remember that our writing is a calling, and we need prompts to remind us that we can write about non-church subjects and still be a Christian writer because we write from a Christian perspective. The Good Morning Christian Writer book will strive to meet both of these unique needs.
To meet these needs, I am requesting submissions for encouraging devotional articles that give examples of those things in your lives that have encouraged you as a writer. Your encouragement could have come in the form of a word from a friend, a message at a conference or workshop, a Scripture, a time of prayer, or just about any word or event that helped you to get to or stay on your "writer's feet." Along with the articles, I am looking for prompts or exercises that relate to the articles and can help other writers apply the inspirations effectively. If a writer cannot supply an exercise or prompt, I encourage him or her to submit anyway because there may be a writer out there who has only a prompt or exercise and can't seem to find a topic for a devotion to go with it.
If you are a writer and would like to see samples of these devotion/exercise combinations, please click here to drop me an e-mail and request the guidelines and samples. The Word 2000 document I will send out will include a letter to writers, the call for submissions, and two sample submissions. It will instruct you on formatting, rights, compensation, and other information you might want to know before submitting.
I hope to hear from you soon and I look forward to working with you in both the submission and editing process. I will try to give you a kind and thorough critique and I will do my best to help your writing pass the qualifications to be published in the GMCW compilation. I believe that if my goal is to encourage other writers, it must begin now with the writers in this project.
Thank you with sincere blessings that you all may be blessed and find shalom in all you do--and write--for Christ,
~Crystal A. Murray
Project Creator & Author
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Successful Surgery
Hello Everyone,
Well, I am now right at three weeks post-op (the title links to a site that describes the surgery for any who are interested) and so far I have found both success and victory. I did not get a chance to update the blog during the week between my scheduled surgery date and the actual surgery, but in case you were wondering where I went to school, yes I know that May 23rd to June 20th would be four weeks rather than three. What happened?
I did everything I was supposed to do to have surgery on the 23rd. After total preparation, including needles in my legs and arms to monitor my spinal cord, electrodes and glue on my scalp to monitor my vocal cords, a pre-op shot and a dose of Versed, I was taken to the operating room and asked to move from the bed to the operating table. When they started hooking up all the needles and electrodes to the machines, they realized that neither their old machine, nor the newer-but-still-old borrowed machine, was going to work for them ever again. My surgeon would not operate without being able to monitor these important nerve functions, so I had to wake up as much as possible so I could go home and sleep off all the medicine.
When two machines fail, a person has to know that it just isn't God's will for things to happen the way they were planned. My surgery was rescheduled for the 30th and the cord monitor techs were very happy because they got a brand new machine. My surgery the next week went well, and according the doctor, went perfectly. My nephew was able to come out, since his school let out on the 29th, and help my husband take care of me. Not only was it good for us to visit, but we were able to talk about him making a decision to serve God and I was blessed to pray with him. In addition, though I was supposed to be in a private room after the surgery, I ended up in a room with a lady who needed prayer and allowed me to minister to her before I went home the day after surgery.
I have no doubt that all things which came to pass, including the postponed surgery, were to act on whatever God had planned. I believe even the fact that I ended up needing surgery (though I believe in miraculous healing and have experienced it in the past) was a plan in God's perfect will for my life. I trust God in all things and it makes life much more enjoyable.
And yes, this even applies to the GMCW book. Though it has become back burner as I have struggled to keep up with my commitment to the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference with the deficit in my strength and the loss of time given to doctors, chiropractors, and physical therapy, it will get done on the schedule that God intends. And, though I will be adding a job to my already crunched time schedule, I believe I will be able to get more done in less time now that my arms and hands are not going numb and in excruciating pain.
So, while I can't give you a specific date for anything at this time, I can tell you that the project is still near to my heart and that I will move the deadline at least one more time. Since tomorrow is the official start date of KCWC (the social and book signing are open to the public if you happen to be in the Elizabethtown, KY, area on Thursday evening), I will move the date to July 31st and dedicate the month of July to the book project. Though I am still getting a bit tired and having some pain when I type long, as I have today, I expect that by July, I should be able to push myself hard enough to get through the editing and get something written to all my contributors.
In the meantime, I offer thanks and blessings to all who have prayed and are continuing to pray for my health and for the book project. I have felt many of the prayers and know that God has been more than gracious to me in these and all areas of my life. I pray you all will continue to be blessed in every moment you live - and write - for Him.
With sincere wishes for your shalom and blessings,
~Crystal
Well, I am now right at three weeks post-op (the title links to a site that describes the surgery for any who are interested) and so far I have found both success and victory. I did not get a chance to update the blog during the week between my scheduled surgery date and the actual surgery, but in case you were wondering where I went to school, yes I know that May 23rd to June 20th would be four weeks rather than three. What happened?
I did everything I was supposed to do to have surgery on the 23rd. After total preparation, including needles in my legs and arms to monitor my spinal cord, electrodes and glue on my scalp to monitor my vocal cords, a pre-op shot and a dose of Versed, I was taken to the operating room and asked to move from the bed to the operating table. When they started hooking up all the needles and electrodes to the machines, they realized that neither their old machine, nor the newer-but-still-old borrowed machine, was going to work for them ever again. My surgeon would not operate without being able to monitor these important nerve functions, so I had to wake up as much as possible so I could go home and sleep off all the medicine.
When two machines fail, a person has to know that it just isn't God's will for things to happen the way they were planned. My surgery was rescheduled for the 30th and the cord monitor techs were very happy because they got a brand new machine. My surgery the next week went well, and according the doctor, went perfectly. My nephew was able to come out, since his school let out on the 29th, and help my husband take care of me. Not only was it good for us to visit, but we were able to talk about him making a decision to serve God and I was blessed to pray with him. In addition, though I was supposed to be in a private room after the surgery, I ended up in a room with a lady who needed prayer and allowed me to minister to her before I went home the day after surgery.
I have no doubt that all things which came to pass, including the postponed surgery, were to act on whatever God had planned. I believe even the fact that I ended up needing surgery (though I believe in miraculous healing and have experienced it in the past) was a plan in God's perfect will for my life. I trust God in all things and it makes life much more enjoyable.
And yes, this even applies to the GMCW book. Though it has become back burner as I have struggled to keep up with my commitment to the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference with the deficit in my strength and the loss of time given to doctors, chiropractors, and physical therapy, it will get done on the schedule that God intends. And, though I will be adding a job to my already crunched time schedule, I believe I will be able to get more done in less time now that my arms and hands are not going numb and in excruciating pain.
So, while I can't give you a specific date for anything at this time, I can tell you that the project is still near to my heart and that I will move the deadline at least one more time. Since tomorrow is the official start date of KCWC (the social and book signing are open to the public if you happen to be in the Elizabethtown, KY, area on Thursday evening), I will move the date to July 31st and dedicate the month of July to the book project. Though I am still getting a bit tired and having some pain when I type long, as I have today, I expect that by July, I should be able to push myself hard enough to get through the editing and get something written to all my contributors.
In the meantime, I offer thanks and blessings to all who have prayed and are continuing to pray for my health and for the book project. I have felt many of the prayers and know that God has been more than gracious to me in these and all areas of my life. I pray you all will continue to be blessed in every moment you live - and write - for Him.
With sincere wishes for your shalom and blessings,
~Crystal
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Surgery & Recovery
Hello All,
I will make this kind of short since my time - as is often the case - is short. Maybe it's because I'm short (4'10") that time runs short on me so often ;-)
Anyway, I actually did have a longer post completed and was highlighting it to copy and check the spelling as I generally do on all online posts. Apparently, while I was highlighting it, Blogger decided it was time to back up the draft and somehow erased everything I had highlighted. While I was looking for the way to restore the draft (since I had not actually hit the copy command yet), it did another update which means it updated an empty screen! Arghh! And just as I was getting ready to say I had overcome the problems I had with Blogger.
Okay, but I'm not going to be a big baby and throw a tantrum, I'm just going to rewrite the important stuff you all need to know. As it says in the title, I am getting ready to have the surgery I have been putting off for so long now. I have tried all other avenues and continually felt like God had plans for me to have the surgery. Once I became content with that, the door opened for a new and much better doctor, and everything else then fell into place, including school letting out so I will have a relative to stay with me as I recover.
In brief, sometime tomorrow (May 23rd) afternoon, the neurosurgeon will remove the damaged disk between my C6 & C7 vertebrae and replace it with a metal plate and 4 screws. We will then wait for it to fuse together which should prevent any more pressure on the nerves going through my neck and down my arms. Yeah for no more numb fingers and weakness.
So, even though this means I will be offline for awhile, and the project will slow down yet again, I believe it will progress in God's perfect time. Once it is done and I have recovered, I will be able to stay online and write and type longer and without pain, and that will most certainly be a welcome improvement. I have many prayers going into surgery with me, and I welcome all others who would like to pray.
During recovery, I hope to edit some of the submissions I have printed out while I am unable to get to the computer. I will also be continuing in my new job for my chiropractor, which has its own unique story that I may share later. In the meantime, I thank all of you who have submitted and who continue to bear with me on the time I am needing to get this project on a full roll. I ask you to stand with me until we see the book, Good Morning Christian Writer, on the shelves of bookstores and in the hands of Christian writers everywhere.
In the meantime, I have already been wonderfully blessed by some great writing and great communications with writers in the 10 months we have worked at this so far. I plan to create a forum (probably a yahoo group) where we can all talk to each other and even share other writing good news and links as we continue in this worthwhile project. Please continue to pray for God to work in my recovery, my level of energy, my priorities, and whatever else I need to nudge this project to its successful completion.
Thank you all once again.
Shalom with blessings in all you do - and write - for Him,
~Crystal
I will make this kind of short since my time - as is often the case - is short. Maybe it's because I'm short (4'10") that time runs short on me so often ;-)
Anyway, I actually did have a longer post completed and was highlighting it to copy and check the spelling as I generally do on all online posts. Apparently, while I was highlighting it, Blogger decided it was time to back up the draft and somehow erased everything I had highlighted. While I was looking for the way to restore the draft (since I had not actually hit the copy command yet), it did another update which means it updated an empty screen! Arghh! And just as I was getting ready to say I had overcome the problems I had with Blogger.
Okay, but I'm not going to be a big baby and throw a tantrum, I'm just going to rewrite the important stuff you all need to know. As it says in the title, I am getting ready to have the surgery I have been putting off for so long now. I have tried all other avenues and continually felt like God had plans for me to have the surgery. Once I became content with that, the door opened for a new and much better doctor, and everything else then fell into place, including school letting out so I will have a relative to stay with me as I recover.
In brief, sometime tomorrow (May 23rd) afternoon, the neurosurgeon will remove the damaged disk between my C6 & C7 vertebrae and replace it with a metal plate and 4 screws. We will then wait for it to fuse together which should prevent any more pressure on the nerves going through my neck and down my arms. Yeah for no more numb fingers and weakness.
So, even though this means I will be offline for awhile, and the project will slow down yet again, I believe it will progress in God's perfect time. Once it is done and I have recovered, I will be able to stay online and write and type longer and without pain, and that will most certainly be a welcome improvement. I have many prayers going into surgery with me, and I welcome all others who would like to pray.
During recovery, I hope to edit some of the submissions I have printed out while I am unable to get to the computer. I will also be continuing in my new job for my chiropractor, which has its own unique story that I may share later. In the meantime, I thank all of you who have submitted and who continue to bear with me on the time I am needing to get this project on a full roll. I ask you to stand with me until we see the book, Good Morning Christian Writer, on the shelves of bookstores and in the hands of Christian writers everywhere.
In the meantime, I have already been wonderfully blessed by some great writing and great communications with writers in the 10 months we have worked at this so far. I plan to create a forum (probably a yahoo group) where we can all talk to each other and even share other writing good news and links as we continue in this worthwhile project. Please continue to pray for God to work in my recovery, my level of energy, my priorities, and whatever else I need to nudge this project to its successful completion.
Thank you all once again.
Shalom with blessings in all you do - and write - for Him,
~Crystal
Monday, January 22, 2007
Blogger Problems & New Deadline
Hello All,
I will try to keep this short as one of the reasons no one has heard from me is due to nerve pain in my arms from a ruptured disk in my neck. It's hard taking any time to write or edit like this and I've been trying to get something done about it (and avoid surgery) since October.
So, a few times I have come to blogger to try and update, and since they moved everything to the new blogger, I have had a variety of problems. I thought maybe they would be fixed when things got out of beta, but it didn't help. I can no longer post my Psalm 23 parody, "The Lord is my Editor" because my profile won't allow any html tags. When I looked for help on it, nothing came up at first, but I just found the answer and it was supposedly fixed back in September. I also found the answer as to why my favorites (in my profile) suddenly won't react as links anymore and as of January 9th, they know this problem still exists. I guess that's why when I wrote to them for help, I got no response. It's frustrating though because I have always been a big fan of Google (who owns blogger) and have sent a lot of people here, but now I am having my doubts & these troubles keep me online longer than my pain wants me to be here.
Anyway, so that about sums up my lack of communication, other than two family deaths, a computer crash, the holidays, and other general life business. In the meantime, I am trying to get reenergized about this project and I hope to get a whole bunch more submissions, even if it means a whole bunch more work. I enjoy reading the great testimonies and exercises so many writers are sending in, and I guarantee this book will be an awesome work to have on any writer's shelf.
I said all of the above to bring you to the news to please keep writing for guidelines and keep sending submissions. The new current deadline is February 28th, 2007, and I will try to get in touch with everyone by then to let you know what happens from there. I will try to begin working on the proposal next week so we can get a firm contract from the publisher as well.
Take care all and keep living - and writing - for Him.
I will try to keep this short as one of the reasons no one has heard from me is due to nerve pain in my arms from a ruptured disk in my neck. It's hard taking any time to write or edit like this and I've been trying to get something done about it (and avoid surgery) since October.
So, a few times I have come to blogger to try and update, and since they moved everything to the new blogger, I have had a variety of problems. I thought maybe they would be fixed when things got out of beta, but it didn't help. I can no longer post my Psalm 23 parody, "The Lord is my Editor" because my profile won't allow any html tags. When I looked for help on it, nothing came up at first, but I just found the answer and it was supposedly fixed back in September. I also found the answer as to why my favorites (in my profile) suddenly won't react as links anymore and as of January 9th, they know this problem still exists. I guess that's why when I wrote to them for help, I got no response. It's frustrating though because I have always been a big fan of Google (who owns blogger) and have sent a lot of people here, but now I am having my doubts & these troubles keep me online longer than my pain wants me to be here.
Anyway, so that about sums up my lack of communication, other than two family deaths, a computer crash, the holidays, and other general life business. In the meantime, I am trying to get reenergized about this project and I hope to get a whole bunch more submissions, even if it means a whole bunch more work. I enjoy reading the great testimonies and exercises so many writers are sending in, and I guarantee this book will be an awesome work to have on any writer's shelf.
I said all of the above to bring you to the news to please keep writing for guidelines and keep sending submissions. The new current deadline is February 28th, 2007, and I will try to get in touch with everyone by then to let you know what happens from there. I will try to begin working on the proposal next week so we can get a firm contract from the publisher as well.
Take care all and keep living - and writing - for Him.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)