Life Stands in the Way by Linda S. Glaz

Sitting down to write, edit, review, or any number of other writing jobs, one realizes that the moments stolen from life can be brief. For most authors, writing time is jammed between loads of laundry, crying babies, hungry husbands, and oftentimes, forty hour a week jobs as well.

There has to be an incredible burning and hunger to create stories. Or a severe case of masochism to be a writer. And to be an agent if truth be told. :):):)

I’m going to keep it simple today.

This is just a truth that I shared with a young woman in a writers’ group many years ago. She asked when she would be making a ton of money writing so she could quit the day job. And I told her this: “You might not ever make a pile of money. So decide right now if you are a writer. If you have to write as surely as you have to breathe, then, and only then, are you truly a writer.”

Life stands in the way many days, but if you can’t stop writing because of the burning in your soul, then you are probably a writer.

Christmas Greetings from Joyce Hart and Jim Hart

Merry Christmas!  Are you taking it easy until January or are you writing like crazy to meet a deadline?  Or do those characters in your head demand that you write their story?  I’m always amazed at novelists when they tell me things like “my character wouldn’t let me go this direction with the story.” 

I marvel when an author tells me they couldn’t sleep because they had a story that had to be written.  All of you writers are amazing and it’s such a great joy to work with every one of you who are our clients.

I hope you got your cookies baked, the house decorated, groceries bought and packages wrapped.  Such a busy time.  If you are like me it’s hard to get away from the computer, but I must forget it for a few days, especially on Christmas day.  I have other important things to do, like cook for my family & friends and get those packages wrapped, hoping that I didn’t forget anything.

I love to go to church on Christmas Eve, such a special time to gather with friends and Worship the King of Kings and thank Him for being willing to come to this Earth as a babe and then 33 years later to die a horrible death on the cross for my sins.  What a Savior!  I love Christmas carols – singing about “Christ the King, the newborn King.”   It is so amazing to me to look at all the Old Testament scriptures that clearly portrayed His coming and yet His Disciples didn’t fully understand.  And some people today do not fully understand that he is indeed the King of Kings, Prince of Peace.

Thank you precious Savior for being our King of Kings. Lord of Glory.  My husband always reads Luke 2 with our family before we open our presents and gather for dinner.

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a happy & prosperous New Year serving our Lord Jesus Christ.  I pray your dreams and goals become a reality. 

In His service,

Joyce Hart, Hartline Literary Agency. 

One of my favorite Christmas hymns is “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”.  These four simple lines from Charles Wesley masterfully capture the significance and purpose of Christ’s birth:

            Mild He lays His glory by,
            Born that man no more may die.
            Born to raise the sons of earth,
            Born to give them second birth.

I hope that you’ve had time this Christmas season to pause and reflect on the significance of Christ’s birth. Jesus came to be born at the exact moment in history that God the Father had planned. Jesus grew from a boy to a man, and He also grew close relationships with those that He loved. And that’s still His plan today – to be in relationship with those that He loves – and that’s you, me and every person who ever walked this earth.

Merry Christmas!

Jim Hart

Book People by Andy Scheer

Even if I weren't in the business, I'd still like book people.


But having spent years in the business, I enjoy some insider connections. Tomorrow I look forward to hanging around as the client for whom I just edited a manuscript has a photo taken for the back cover. Afterward he said I could get my picture taken in the classic car that makes a cameo appearance.


That will be fun, but I mostly look forward to talking with him. We communicated during the project, but only about the manuscript--and just via email, as he lives in another state. I'd like to hear his plans for a trip he's planning with his family.


That evening my wife and I hope to get together for dinner with two more friends. I met him at a writers conference, then a book signing. Since then we've gotten together several times a year for a meal, for a special event, to attend the other's church, or just to talk.


I appreciate talking with people with common interests. Especially when those interests include books.


That applies even when I don't know the other person. Yesterday as I was browsing my favorite used book store, I noticed a woman holding several trade paperbacks – and a list.


She glanced at her list and said that without one, she tends to buy books she already has. I said I knew what she meant. We chatted a moment, then continued scanning the shelves.


We may have been checking different genres, but I knew we had much in common. Most book people do.