Do I only represent Christian Writers? by Terry Burns

Well now, that's a good question?

I'm not sure, because I don't ask people about their faith in the submission process. I suspect since people can clearly see that this is a Christian agency (even though we do work in the secular market as well) that they would probably be comfortable with that if they were going to submit to us.

But I don't ask.

I do know one thing, an atheist or non-Christians might be decidedly uncomfortable in my client group. You see, I require all clients to be in a private online group which gives me the ability to contact them all at once. The group offers three options, priority messages only (I'm the only one that can send a priority message), on digest, and on full access where they can talk directly not only with me but with other clients as well.

I do watch what the group talks about and do participate, maybe more than I should. Once the group was set up another interesting aspect came out. They turned out to be an amazing group of prayer warriors who genuinely care for each other and pray for one another with great effectiveness.

See why I think a non-believer would probably not be comfortable in the group?

Then there is the fact that I am drawn to content that has a good faith message. Yes, that narrows the possible places it can be submitted but that is after all why I decided to start doing this. Will I represent something that does not have faith content in it? Sure, we need good family entertainment as well as Christian books. Saying that you can tell I don't park my beliefs and morals at the door even if I am doing general market books.

My mother has passed on now, but she is still my measuring stick for projects. If it is something that would have offended my mother then it isn't something I want my name associated with. It's a measuring stick that I'm comfortable with and I don't mind if people shake their head and say I'm giving up sales. Of course I am, but they aren't sales I want to make. There are plenty of agents that do those, they don't need me doing it.

But I'm taking the long road around the mountain answering the question. Do I only represent Christian authors? Probably. Is it intentional? No, I just think all of my clients are Christians, and whether I actually ask someone or not, that is who I am likely to end up with.

Story is king by Terry Burns

When I make that statement in a workshop, particularly if there is a pastor or two in the group, someone is sure to say "No, it's the message I want to impart that is important."

Maybe that's what is important to them, but if the story doesn't work chances are someone is not going to read far enough to get the message. And the message should never overshadow the story if it's going to work. The story must be king.

I think most of us are storytellers. When my brother and I were young we might begin playing together by setting up a scenario something like this: "What if I was a Sheriff back in the old west?"

"And what if I was an outlaw?"

"And you robbed a bank."

"And you came after me but I was too smart and set an ambush."

"But I saw the ambush and . . ."

We'd go on and on, our imaginations setting scenario after scenario, often the planning for it taking more time than we actually spent playing. Other cousins would often join in.

That where so many stories come from, a character, a place, a thing or an idea and beginning to ask "what if?"

So many of us lose touch with that storyteller instinct. We forget we know how. Then again, being able to tell a story and being able to write it in a manner that it is worthy of publication are two entirely different things. We can learn the latter if we apply ourselves to it, but the ability to come up with and tell good stories, even if we all know how to do it, the ability to do it well can be an elusive gift.

I did a workshop for the school system in the little town of Groom, Texas. Students from the 5th grade through high school were in the session. We did the what if game they immediately jumped into the spirit of it.

I asked one student for a what if and she said, "What if I had a puppy?"

I asked the boy next to her and he said, "And what if that puppy was really a space alien?" Trust a boy to go that way with it. We went on for some time building our story and it was fascinating. The high school kids were a little "too cool" to really get into it, but it reinforced my idea that we all know how to play the game.

Have you ever gone shopping for a story idea and just focused on something, almost anything, and just asked, "What if?"

Nearly time for ACFW by Terry Burns

It's nearly time for the ACFW Annual Conference. That is the American Christian Fiction Writers if you are somehow unaware of them.

This is a very large writing conference and will have hundreds of attendees. This large attendance makes for very strong programming and allows for an opportunity to do a substantial amount of networking. It is the strongest and most impressive conference that I go to, and I do on average a couple of conferences a month.

It is for fiction writers, but I know quite a number of people who write only non-fiction yet say they learn a great deal at the conference and that the contacts they make there work just as well for them.

But the size of the conference also presents some challenges that people need to be aware of. First, there will be so much content available that choosing what you want to go to and thus NOT go to is a definite challenge. Some people solve this by ordering recordings of the sessions they couldn't make. Also, some people who can't afford to go to the conference have found that they CAN order the conference recordings and that helps some for not being able to attend.

Another challenge presented by the size is the number of attendees makes individual contact with agents and editors very difficult. It holds the number of appointments an attendee can schedule to a bare minimum and puts a strong emphasis on casual contacts an attendee might have during the event. There will be hundreds of these casual contacts taking place and rising above the din takes skill and planning.

The primary tool for taking advantage of a contact at a meal, or a casual contact in the hall or an elevator (certainly not at their room or some place like a restroom) is your elevator pitch. You should have a short, interest garnering one sentence pitch prepared on your project that is polished and can be drawn like a gun to deliver at any opportunity. This may be invited by a comment like "What do you write?" or you may have to initiate it yourself by asking "May I give you my elevator pitch?"

Hopefully it will interest them and result in a proposal being invited. If not immediately forthcoming, ask "May I send you my proposal on it?"

The editor or agent is generally not going to want to take anything more than a business card with them. If you have a physical appointment with them, maybe a one sheet, but most don't even want that. They will want it sent to them. I very often don't make it home with things I have pressed on me at a conference.

Editors and agents are attending to learn of good projects, but the magnitude of this even makes brevity and conciseness a virtue. Launch into a long synopsis of your project and you'll see their eyes glaze over and see them edging away talking about how late they are to be somewhere. The process is simple, elevator pitch, ask for the sale (can I send a proposal?) and ask for their card to send it. I promise they will appreciate this solid, business-like approach.

I hope you are going to be at the conference and I hope with a little forethought that you will be able to make it work very well for you and know that you will be able to do a huge amount of networking.

Writing distractions by Terry Burns

I've gotten enough of the negative campaigning by both political parties, name-calling, half truths, inuenndos and outright lies. I said something about it online, and then wrote a personal blog on it on my website. I want the character assassination to stop and for them to get down to talking about issues . . . how they are going to fix this country.One lady agreed with me, then went on to say that Republicans should wear white hoods so we would know them for what they are. Oh yeah, she got what I was saying.

But my purpose here is not to get political on a literary site. The point I am leading up to is all this has me very distracted. At the Oregon Christian Writer's Conference we were talking about writing time, and one of the biggest thieves of this time is distractions.

I've heard it all of my writing life. "When the kids grow up and move out I'll have time to write."

"When I retire I'll have plenty of time to write."

"When I finish doing (insert big project here) I'll have lots of time to write."

There is never time to write. We don't have it now, and we aren't going to magically have it down the road when some big life change event happens. Life expands to fill available time. Writing time has to be carved out of whatever we are doing at the time and jealously protected. That can be difficult if those in our life haven't "gotten it" yet and aren't helping us to do it. If we aren't getting that support at home we have to take steps to get those closest to us to see that we are serious about our writing, that it isn't just our newest hobby.

I've been lucky. The two people closest to me in my life 'got it.' Mom was the one that really pushed me to write in the first place and was my biggest supporter. I'm so happy she got to see me achieve some measure of success at it before she passed away. My wife, Saundra, is the strongest supporter a man could want. Both of them not only would help me carve out the writing time, but would get on me if I wasn't doing it.

These days writing has to a large extent given way to working as an agent, spending my time trying to get the work of my clients out instead of writing myself. I still get to write some but for the most part my focus has changed. But I still have to work to carve out the time for it because life is still there, still expanding to fill my time, and distractions are still rampant, like social networking . . . and political campaigns.

A writing lesson from the movies by Terry Burns

So many writers think they are through when they write the story. 

Actually that's when crafting the story should begin. Like a director of a movie that takes all the raw scenes that he's shot and goes into the cutting room to weave them into a movie, the writer takes the raw chapters and starts working on the pacing and the flow, engaging the reader here and picking up the pace there. This is where the writer moves scenes to push a reader at the end of a chapter into the next one, watching to see that the story doesn't slow down at a point to where the reader loses interest. 

I get several hundred submissions a month of people wanting me to represent their work, and this is probably the greatest failing in them. The author may have a pretty good story concept, but it just doesn’t flow, it doesn’t guide the reader through it. In fact, a great number of them fail to get the reader off the very first page.

A major portion of rejections occur right at that point, I call it the “Barnes and Noble test.” If we want to learn how manuscripts are rejected, we just need to sit in a bookstore for a while and watch the patrons. They pick up a book, read the back cover and the first page, maybe sample a little more, but those two are all that we can count on. They keep doing this until one of them pushes them off that first page and down into the book. When that happens they will usually carry it to the checkout stand. 

Editors know this and judge them the same way. We can have the greatest story in the world, but if we don’t get them off that first page, it doesn’t matter. This is part of putting on that director hat and directing the book after we get the basic story written. Did you ever hear somebody tell a joke that was hilarious, then later hear someone else tell the joke using the exact same words and it bombs? The difference is delivery, the pacing and flow, knowing the timing necessary to get the laugh. George Burns told the same old tired jokes for 50 years but they were always funny, because his timing and delivery were impeccable. 

No, we couldn't possible handle as many submissions as we get. That means a good manuscript is not good enough. It has to be exceptional, it has to stand out from the crowd. A big secret to taking that manuscript past good and on to exceptional is realizing after we take off the writer’s hat and put on the editor’s hat to clean up a story once it is written, that is just grammar and copy-editing and formatting. Too few writers change the hat the third time to put on that director’s hat, go into the cutting room and think of nothing but how to make their story flow so it pulls the readers in and then subtly guides them through it. 

More writers need to be doing that – no, actually, I think all writers need to take that step.

Doing Workshops and Programs by Terry Burns

I do a lot of programs and workshops, generally one or two a month. I have some that continue to be asked for even though I have done them for several years, and I add new ones from time to time as they are requested or as they occur to me.

I have one I call "Too Shy to Pitch and Promote" which is one I have done the longest. I started doing it on the spur of the moment at one conference when I realized how many writers were there that were simply too shy to take advantage of the opportunities to pitch an agent or editor. Then I discovered that a lot of writers have trouble with that even if they aren't the shy type. They have trouble because they don't know how to present themselves as a writer. I touch on both in the program now. Maybe I ought to re-title it "Developing a Writer's Personna." Whatcha think?

One that has been very well received when I have been asked to present it I call "Writing to Reach the Unbeliever." I maintain that writing with that goal in mind is 180 degrees different from writing for the family of the faithful. Writing for the Christian market the readers expect to see very strong faith content and see it very early or they will probably decide the book is not what they want to read. With a nonbeliever strong faith content right up front will probably make them put it down. In this program I talk about why I think that happens and what to do about it to reach that market. I also believe that a "crossover book" is not one that is written to reach both, that usually ends up not doing a good job of reaching either, but one that does an awesome job of aiming one market or the other and manages to cross over and be read by the other market as well.

"Editor and Agent Pet Peeves" - Hartline agent Linda Glaz and I have worked on collecting these little gems from a variety of agents and editors, as well as from a lot of writers speaking of their pet peeves ABOUT agents or editors and we both do a program on them that is both enlightening and interesting.

"Just Say Yes" is my strongest faith based program. I've done it as a keynote, testimony, dinner speech or devotional, as well as a regular workshop. I was stunned to come to believe that when the Holy Spirit impresses on us the need to do something, there are just two possible answers, yes or no. Maybe, or later, or a variety of other excuses are not alternate answers, they are just another way of saying no. I really don't want to be saying no to God, so coming to this realization has greatly affected my own service to the Lord. This is also probably THE greatest hurdle for people to overcome in making a decision to be saved.

"Survive Your Way to Publication" is a program I did as a month-long online program for the American Christian Fiction Writers. I was asked to do it because of a statement I used to have in my email signature that said "getting published is not a selection process, it is a survival process." This program explores how to survive the many obstacles to publication. It also looks at a proposal not on WHAT should be in them, but why the items are in there and what we want them to do.

"It's Not My Job to Sell Your Manuscript." What? I thought that was an agents job. In this one I talk about the fact that it is OUR job to sell it, not just my job and what writers can do to work with an agent to improve their chances of success.

An agents panel or editor panel are always popular at conferences, but some conferences are too small for that and I do an "Agents Q and A" in such instances as a substitute. Of course I like to do all of my workshops in a Q & A format as much as I can to better reach the needs of the participants.

From time to time I add programs or replace them. Any of them sound interesting to you or do you have a suggestion for one you would like to see done? Have any agent or editor pet peeves you want to toss out?

Should I Quit Writing? by Terry Burns

She caught me off guard with that question. She sat down for an appointment and instead of pitching her projects she launched into how her kids were interrupting her writing time, how church and work and just life in general left her no time to write. She listed obstruction after obstruction and said when she did find time to write that it wouldn’t come, that she was getting nowhere with it. Then she hit me with that question.

I didn’t hesitate a heartbeat but just said “yes.”

She was probably expecting a pep talk or at least for me to commiserate with her. I didn’t. I said, “I think anyone who can quit writing should do so. All of the writers I know CAN’T quit. They have words inside them that have to come out. The serious writer simply has to do it.”

Writing is not easy. There is never time to do it, and there is a huge amount of frustration and difficulty involved. Why would anyone put themselves through it if they didn’t have to? Oh, I know there are those who say “When the kids leave I’ll have time to write.” Or when I retire, or if I come into money, or any other factor in their life that will create this big block of time where they can easily write.

Never happens. Life expands to fill the amount of time available. There is always something to take up the time. The serious writer has to carve out writing time and jealously protect it. Maybe there are people who can dabble at it, a fun little diversion that they do here and there, and they don’t stress over it or worry about it not producing the results they want to have. That’s someone who writes as a hobby, and that’s okay. It makes a nice little hobby if they don’t care about getting a lot of books out and can settle for hobby results, a few books to family and friends, maybe a few outsiders.

But if they have to start trying to write better, to reach more people, to get serious about it. Then it won’t let them be, and it can be a hard taskmaster. Sure, if you can quit, do so, and spend your time on something easier that provides quicker gratification.

She left stone-faced, shaken. I saw her the next day and she said, “I took your advice and felt an immediate peace come over me that I could let it go. But it kept coming back nagging at me. Finally I realized that I really can’t quit.”

I smiled at her. “Then quit making excuses and feeling sorry for yourself. You don’t have any more things fighting to steal your time than anyone else. All writers face it, even the ones that seem to be writing full time and that is all they do. Don’t believe it. They are warding off constant things that want to steal their time. They just have to be disciplined and protect that time no matter what.”

She nodded and said she understood. “Everyone else has been feeling sorry for me and telling me things will get better. You’re the first one that has ever slapped me in the face and told me I should quit or get on with it.”

Really? Maybe there are others who need a wake up call on protecting their writing time. Why did I know what to say so easy? Because being an agent has stolen almost all of my writing time. Oh, the job had some help from family, church and life in general, but I made a conscious decision that helping other writers was more important than my own writing and now I get to do precious little of it. I was talking to myself as much as I was talking to her.

Would You Read On? hosted by Diana L. Flegal

Welcome to Hartline's weekly column,  Would You Read On?
We appreciate you stopping by and welcome your comments below.

 This submission is a middle grade historical novel set in a fictional New England town in the 1870s

Chapter One

What would Aunt Martha say if she knew? It occurred to Amelia that her aunt and caregiver would more than disapprove of her frolicking along the edge of Ridgemont Lake with Ralph when she was supposed to be studying her lessons.

But the day had called to her. It was one of those glorious early autumn days where the elements couldn’t decide if they wanted to let go of summer. The warm breezes danced through her hair and tickled her cheeks. The sun peeked out playfully from between the trees whose leaves were in the midst of their annual change to red, orange, and yellow. 

With bare feet Amelia jumped to the next rock, the moss squishy and slippery underneath her toes. Her slender arms stretched out to help maintain her balance, she exhaled deeply. Oh, if only every day could be like this.

The screech of a hawk drew her gaze up to the sky and threw her off balance. Two strong arms encircled her waist and pulled her unsteadily onto the grass.

“You best be careful Miss Amelia.” Ralph scolded her with a waving finger. “You go home drippin’ wet and Miss Ridgemont is sure to know you ain’t been studyin’.”

Amelia’s hand flew up to her forehead and she pretended to swoon. “How dreadful it would be to have a bit of fun.”

Ralph’s lips curled as he gave a hearty laugh. He turned to pull his fishing pole out of the water. He had tossed it aside when he went to save Amelia from a possible nosedive into the lake.

Last weeks contributing author was Sally Apokedak.
You can learn more about Sally and her passion for YA novels and writing at her blog.


Happy 4th of July to you and yours

A Sample Chapter Online by Terry Burns

My client group is discussing the in’s and out’s of putting the first chapter (or more) of their work in progress online. Work that is put online for a critique group such as our own ‘crit room’ or any restricted access forum is not considered published, but any work that is put online and is accessible by the general public IS considered published. Some of these sites have a major number of followers, maybe even more than a printed version would sell to.

Why would an author want to do this with an unpublished work anyway? The usual justification is hoping an agent or editor would run across it, like it, and contact them asking for more. This has happened, but it is very rare. For the most part agents and editors have enough to wade through without going online searching for more. A majority of agents and editors won’t even go online searching when someone gives them links to material instead of providing it in a proposal as requested, but that’s a different topic. I believe the potential of ruling a work out by publishing it online outweighs any potential on accidentally interesting an agent or editor in the work.

As to the weight any particular publisher would give to material that has been published online, that varies from paying no attention to it to having it rule the project out for them. It would probably depend on how much of the work had been put up. For some publishers if any at all has been put up they don’t much like it.

My own opinion is that I don’t like to put any work online until it is contracted for publishing and even then after consulting the publisher. Some would not want it to be done at all unless they do it themselves and others have rules about how it can be done. I believe they feel there is no point in courting a potential problem when they have plenty of submissions by people who have not made their work public. Most if not all of them who wouldn’t mind restrict it to a maximum of one chapter.

It can make a difference if a work is entered in contests. In contests the judges are sent the contest material without the author’s name attached. If the work has been published online WITH the author’s name attached it can contaminate the judges pool for the work. Many contests will not accept a work if that has happened.

How about blogs or social media? Publishers used to pay little attention to them, but that isn’t the case any more. Audiences for these now go up into the thousands and most publishers consider them a significant marketing tool. The number one sales tool for a book is name identification or “buzz” and having a strong online presence is a major way of doing that, hopefully beginning long before there is a book to promote.

Let’s talk about nonfiction. It used to be that non-fiction books were much easier to sell to a publisher than fiction. Not so much these days, and I believe the reason for that is just what you are talking about, the amount of material that is online for free. If someone pitches me a project and I know all of their research was done online I know all of the material in their book is available for free. It may still have value to a potential buyer since that research has been done and all of the material assembled in a logical order . . . or it may not. There is no telling which way a publisher would come down on that question.

Is an author who has a regular blog now considered ‘published?’ Actually, yes, and the degree of the publishing credit would depend on the number of regular followers. We can look at it like this, a blog with a couple of hundred followers would be like having a writing credit of writing something like a church newsletter. One of my clients has a twitter account with over 40,000 followers. That is the equivalent of being a regular columnist in a small magazine.

The bottom line is that online publishing has changed or evolved in the past few years and many aspects of it are looked upon in quite a different manner. But then that’s the only constant in the publishing industry . . . change.

Would You Read On? hosted by Diana L. Flegal

Welcome to our Wednesday edition of Would You Read On?. We appreciate you taking time out of your busy day to stop by our blog. Kindly comment if you would read on or not.

This weeks contribution is a fiction title: 

Prologue

There was a day when all the host of heaven appeared before the Lord, on his right hand and on his left, and Satan stood among them. “Where have you come from, Satan?” the Lord asked. “Which of my servants will you accuse today?”

Satan stood before the Lord and said, “I have been going from place to place throughout the whole earth. I have seen many who do not fear you, who will not call upon the name of the Lord.”

“Yes, this has long been true, but there are also many who fear me, who worship me and pass on their faith from one generation to the next.”

“In my journey,” Satan said, “I came upon a small town in the United States, in the State of Texas, in the very heart of those who call themselves Christians. They call the place Burning Cedar, as they should, because they have done evil before you and you have given them over to those who would destroy them.”

“For a time, but even now, I hear their cries for deliverance. But that is not why you have come. You have often seen people turn to me when they face hardships.”

“In the town of Burning Cedar, there is a family that has served you for many generations and even the man Stephen Barak is numbered with your saints and written in your book. His father is a deacon in Burning Cedar Baptist Church. His grandfather persuaded many to follow you. His great-grandfather obeyed you and started three churches. But I have watched Stephen and he does not obey you. He hears your voice, but he does not obey.

Would you read on?

We also welcome other courageous authors to share their fiction and nonfiction first pages for critique. Email: diana@hartlineliterary.com with your submissions.
 

SCROOGE by Linda S. Glaz

Just saw a live performance of A Christmas Carol at Meadowbrook Theatre. Man, but they do a wonderful job! I have a bit of a bias since my daughter and son-in-law are in it. Still, it’s my all-time favorite Christmas show. Like Les Mis, another fave, it is a story of true redemption, and I’m a sucker for a good redemption story. There’s just something about when evil rears up, brings harm, rankles with hatred, or simply causes grief by omission, that makes me want to have hope in that individual(s).

I had a friend, overflowing with love, but was so surprised to learn that she didn’t think murderers or rapists or anyone with a dark past had any chance of salvation. Nor did she think they deserved it. I was shocked. I asked her if she understood the Grace of God. “Of course. And we need to work hard to try and deserve it.”

OUCH! His Grace just became so much less. She got really angry when I said we didn’t know just WHO we might meet in heaven. I’m awfully glad she wasn’t the one to make a decision about Paul entering the Pearlie Gates, but I do understand her disgust at the evil that exists in our world. BUT, shouldn’t a killer, or someone even worse, finding Christ be an amazing miracle to see? Isn’t that what the real Grace of God is all about?

Well, I’d better hop down and make room for the preachers, I’m not too good at his, but let me just end with this:
Scrooge brings such joy to my heart. I hope you all love the story as well and that you find joy during this wonderful season of the year. Maybe we can all concentrate on one Scrooge in our lives or on the national or international scene that we feel needs our prayers.

His Grace. His love. His redemption…

Would You Read On? hosted by Diana Flegal

Today we have the first page of another Middle Reader title. Let us know by your comments if you would read on.

Thump.

Porter Booth’s heart answered with a thump of its own and then stopped. He was sure of it. No way could it beat stuck up in his throat.

“What was that?” his cousin whispered.

“Shh!” Porter switched off his flashlight and squatted in the dark.

“What are you doing?”

“Shut up! Get down over here next to me.” Porter reached for James and got a wad of sweaty t-shirt. He held his breath and tried to figure out what was scuffling. “Hear that?” he whispered. “Someone’s coming.”

Sounds must be louder underground when you can’t see, he reasoned. He knew it was people noise, but who and how many? Friendly or dangerous? Kids like himself and James, or a gang down here to take care of business. Whatever business that was.

Dad was right. He shouldn’t have come back to the slough.

His dad hadn’t forbidden the entire length of the Hendricksville slough that carried storm runoff to the Tule River. Just the tunnel part under Main Street. Just this exact spot where he and James were squatting, listening to someone shuffle through a mine-like shaft a few feet away.

He blinked and tried to focus, but it didn’t make any difference in the dark. The artery to the outside was all the way across a cavernous clearing littered with old furniture and wooden barrels. They couldn’t make it through all that junk and out in time.

Porter pulled James toward what he hoped was an old bar front they’d seen against the wall. “Come on, we can hide behind the bar.”

James whistled as he sucked in a mouthful of dusty air. “I can’t breathe.”

“Be quiet!” James’s damp t-shirt stuck to Porter’s fingers. And he could smell it. Is that what would give them away—the sweat? Or would it be the squeaky breathing?

Last weeks submission was offered for comments by the brave writer Lauren Claire. You can find her on Face Book and at her blog titled, Cascading Thoughts. Stop by and offer this young writer an encouraging word.

Would You Read On? hosted by Diana Flegal

This week's First Page is for a Middle Reader title. Please keep that in mind as you make your comments. Thank you in advance for your critique.

Chapter One

Nothing would be alright, not this new house, not this day, and especially not Caleb’s smirking face, until Adrianna rescued her violin from the pits of the U-haul truck. She glared at the orange demon vehicle through the window. “It better be alright,” she mumbled. Of course, when it came down to it, the truck itself wasn’t responsible for the hairpin turns that put the seatbelts to the test. No, that would be Steven’s fault.

Her hands clenched into fists. “Steven!”

Tall and scraggly, with an ugly beard and yellowed teeth, an image of her stepfather appeared in her mind. She pictured a speech bubble above his head, filled with all the different little symbols to censor his natural speech. This man drove the U-Haul. If her violin was hurt, it would be his fault. Anyways, it was because of him that they even had to move in the first place!

She whirled around from the window. She hated this place, this soon-to-be living room, and this awful smell of new carpet. Soon they would have entirely new furniture, and her old life would be completely erased except for one thing. “I want my violin.”

To hold it in her hands would be to hold something familiar. To play it, despite having hands much too large for it now, would be even more wonderful. “Mom!” she hollered, as she stepped into the hallway, “Where is Daddy’s violin?”

Would you read on?

The Reveal: Last weeks contributing author was Timothy Fish. Timothy is a frequent commenter on this column We appreciate Timothy's insightful comments and helpful edits. Be sure to stop by his website and say hello.