The Best Books and Blogs for Writers By Amber Schamel
10:14 AM
Today, I am taking part in Amber Schamel's blog tour for her newest book, The Messiah's Sign. Here is a bit about the book:
Dreams…they shouldn’t bother him, but when Tyrus’ worst nightmare is vindicated, he has no choice but to face reality. His wife has been unfaithful, and God has punished her with the most feared disease in the land: leprosy. Banishing her to the leper colony, Tyrus struggles to raise their son alone and protect him from a merciless outlaw. But when Malon begins following the teacher from Nazareth, what remains of their business and reputation is at stake. Can Tyrus save his son from the beguiling lies of a false Messiah before he loses the only thing he has left?
Now, for a great post by Amber:
I've often been asked what my advice for beginning writers
would be, and the answer to that is two parts: First, be teachable, and the
second plays into that, which is LEARN! Learn how to be a better writer, learn
how to market better, and search out this information. The problem is, a lot of
times writers don't know where to start. I have a number of great blogs and
books that I've found, so I thought I'd share them with you.
The Best Writing
Books I've Found:
Rivet Your Readers
with Deep POV by Jill Elizabeth Nelson
This is a book you'll want to add to your keeper shelf. Jill
shows you how to take your writing to the next level and really pull your
readers into the story world through the method of Deep POV. This is a fairly
new method, and I believe this is the first book to be written on it, but it
will make a HUGE difference in your writing. It did for me!
Goal, Motivation
& Conflict by Debra Dixon
I wish I would have read this book years before. I was
missing something in my writing, and I knew I was, I just didn't know WHAT it
was. While reading this book, my light bulb lit up. I had characters with lots
of tension and conflict, lots of terrible things happening to loveable people,
and they even had a motivation at times. But they were ping-pong balls being
bashed around in my story world with no particular goal or purpose. When I
picked up GMC and started reading, I could have hugged Debra for what she
taught me. She has a gift of explaining in terms that we can understand, and
uses lots of examples for those of us that learn that way.
Getting Into
Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors By Brandilyn Collins
This is a great book on developing our characters into
life-like people. One of the best I've read so far.
The First Five Pages by
Noah Lukeman
This book gives you a really good overview of beginner
mistakes and how to avoid them. It's a really great place to start.
The best marketing book I've read is by far Platform by Michael Hyatt.
Michael does a great job at explaining how marketing our
writing works, what works best, and where to start. He's included lots of
extras, examples, and helpful links in his book as well. It's worth every penny
if you are serious about selling books.
My Favorite
Writing Blogs:
Seekerville Blog
Seekerville is an AMAZING writer's blog, and most of you
have probably already found it, but for those of you that haven't, I'm listing
it here. Seekerville was my Writer's University, and I continue to learn from
EVERY SINGLE post. The blog authors are amazing writers who are dedicated to
helping other authors and encouraging them in following God's call to write.
The help, encouragement and wisdom I've gained from this group of authors is
immeasurable. http://seekerville.blogspot.com/
Seriously Write Blog
I discovered the Seriously Write blog about a year ago, but
it has quickly become one of my top five blogs. The posts are timely,
educational, uplifting and practical. They cover topics such as writing tips,
marketing, how to's, connecting with editors and agents, and much more. http://seriouslywrite.blogspot.com/
The Write
Conversation
This is Edie Melson's blog, and she posts a lot of helpful
information for writers, especially those published by small presses, or those
that are going indie. http://thewriteconversation.blogspot.com
Novel Rocket
The Novel Rocket blog is put out by a team of authors with
the goal of helping other writers "rocket" their novel to success.
I'm subscribed to daily updates from this blog, and love it. They have
instructional posts, author interviews, contest updates, and more. http://www.novelrocket.com/
The ACFW Blog
Put out by the American Christian Fiction Writers
Association, this blog has a guest author each day sharing encouragement for
writers, tips, and answers to writer questions. You can subscribe to the blog
without being a member, however if you are a Christian Author, I would highly
suggest membership. http://www.acfw.com/blog/
There are a lot of other books and blogs that I could
recommend, but these are the best of them all.
What are your
favorite writing books and blogs? Will you share them with me?
I'd like
to invite each of you to join me in celebrating my new release with the
Name-A-Character Giveaway! Enter to for a chance to pick the name of a main
character in Amber's upcoming book The Christmas Pardon. Terms and conditions
apply.
In the aftermath of the Civil War, a young lawyer battles
with the U.S. Supreme court. In what seemed to be a Christmas miracle, he had
secured a pardon for his friend from Lincoln himself. The army executed the boy
anyway. On the fifteenth anniversary of his death, will the lawyer finally
clear his friends name and bring justice to his memory?
Best selling author Amber Schamel writes riveting stories
that bring HIStory to life. She has a passion for history, books and her
Savior. This combination results in what her readers call "historical
fiction at its finest". A homeschool graduate from a family of 12
children, Amber found her calling early in life. First published at age 21, she
has continued to hone her craft and is now the author of over half a dozen
books. Between ministry, family and working in their family-owned businesses,
Amber loves to connect with readers. Find her on the Stitches Thru Time blog,
or on any of the major social media sites.
Amber is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, and the
Historical Novel Society.Twitter: @AmberSchamel
Pintrest - http://pinterest.com/AmberDSchamel/
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7073165.Amber_Schamel
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1 comments
Thanks so much for hosting me today, Sarah!
ReplyDeleteAmber Schamel
Bringing HIStory to Life
Www.AmberSchamel.com