I sent off another copy of Surviving Childlessness this week and, as always, I felt like I was saying goodbye to my baby. Birthing a book baby is a strange feeling. I am overjoyed at the result, a book I can hold in my hands that looks and feels exactly as I always imagined it would. But […]
General writing
Tips and skills in writing generally
Why I Write About Childlessness
I relate to the boy with the loaves and fish. In John 6, Jesus fed a crowd of five thousand people by taking an anonymous boy’s food, five loaves of bread and two fish, and handing it out. Not only was everyone satisfied, they had twelve baskets full of leftovers. I feel like that as […]
That’s Risky
There is risk inherent in sharing your story. Speaking up about childlessness is risky. What will people think of you? What will they say? Will they exclude you, mock you, reject you? The risk is real. And that’s not the only risk childless people face. There are risks involved in trying to get pregnant—and in […]
3 Reasons I Love Book Launches
What’s not to love about a book launch? Meeting people, getting to talk for a long time, people hanging on your every word. Book launches are a great ego trip. And you might sell copies of your book too! In fact, I love book launches so much that this time around I’m holding two of […]
My Baby Book
Tomorrow is the launch of my new book, Surviving Childlessness. And it feels like I’m birthing a baby. (It’s possible to give birth, even when you are childless.) This is not the only time I have felt like I have birthed something other than a biological child. When my first book was published, I felt the same way. […]
My Prayer for You
There’s a lot of prayer involved in writing. I pray when I write. It is my prayer that God will use my words, my turns of phrase, to reach people who need to hear from him. Sometimes, when I write, I sense the Holy Spirit nudging me, prompting me to use certain language around the […]
Leaving Legacies
One of the largest pieces of my childlessness grief is the loss of legacy. I wanted to leave legacies like passing on family heirlooms to the next generation. Things like jewellery, ornaments and prized possessions. I wanted to impart a love of books and music, such as Winnie-the-Pooh and classic rock bands of the 60s. […]
Creative Compost
I wrote a blog earlier today. And it stank. It stank like a bucket of prawns in the sun. It stank like a drain. It stank so much it took my mind off the stinky cat litter in the next room. It stank like a compost heap. Why am I writing about a stinky blog? […]
Go With The Flow
When I wake up on my writing day, my brain is often awash with creative ideas and projects. I sometimes have several competing blog ideas swirling around in my head. It can be hard to know which one to blog. And it is not just blogging that fires up my creativity. There is the allure […]
Our Days Are Numbered
Why did the calendar get depressed? Because it felt like its days were numbered. Creatives are plagued with a sense of time constraint. They worry about getting things done, or not, as is often the case. This can be particularly problematic if you have a deadline to meet with money or other important things at […]