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Day four is at a close! Just two days left... Don't forget to put your day's wordcount in the comments below! Someone's going to get an awesome prize. Recap: Game - Cover Snapshots Author Panel  Contemporary Show-and-Tell Social Issues with J. J. Francesco Worldview Conflicts with Kelsey Bryant Christian Themes in Contemporary with Hope Ann Modernized Retellings with Angie Thompson Children's Contemporary with Erika Mathews Writing Children with Victoria Lynn Handling Technology with Angie Thompson Don't forget, the person who leaves the most comments across ALL of the Indie e-Con posts will win a special prize package. If you leave a review on the book of any Indie e-Con author THIS WEEK on your blog or on Goodreads,  you can enter it towards another giveaway.  (I only have three entries over there!) Sharing the posts via social media (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, ect.) gives you a chance to enter for MORE prizes!  (Sarah Taleweaver has...

Contemporary is the genre closest to reality - and since God is such a huge reality, it's something we shouldn't avoid. But how do you handle those Christian themes? I have Hope Ann here with us to discuss this very topic. Let's plunge in and hear what she has to say. Hope Ann Christian/Fantasy/Retellings Author of Burning Rose Website ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest ~ Newsletter Story Embers Buildings explode. Bullets fly from all directions. Two characters hunker down for a final stand. One of them hesitates, lays his rifle across his knees, and glances at the other. Quickly he pulls a leaflet from his pocket. “So, if you die in this fight will you go to heaven?” The reader’s excitement fizzles out, and before the Gospel message is over they’ve abandoned the story. But there’s an easy fix. Ditch the whole scene. A story plays a supporting role when it comes to evangelism. This isn’t to say God can’t use a book t...

Everyone has their own opinion. And, tempting as it might be to make every one of your characters agree with you ... it's not realistic. Kelsey Bryant is the author of two contemporary novels, which I have not read yet, as well as a Depression-era retelling of Sense and Sensibility where she deals with many of the conflicting worldviews of that time. Beautiful story. (And just goes to show that you can apply many lessons to multiple genres!) Kelsey Bryant Christian/Contemporary/Historical Fiction/Retellings Author of Suit and Suitability Website ~ Blog ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook Copyediting Fiction has the unique ability to mirror real life. So when we include worldview conflicts in our novels and short stories, we can look to how we’d ideally approach them in flesh-and-blood interactions. This is especially true for contemporary fiction because this genre is the closest to the life we live every day. When I think of a novel that handles worldview confli...

Reading fiction, I've found that some of the most powerful lessons are those learned through the eyes of a child. Unfortunately, writing those children can be difficult. Victoria Lynn is the author of Bound , a particularly powerful tale told through the eyes of two kids, both on the run from abusive home lives. Honestly, all of these contemporary authors were on the warpath to rip out my heart and crush it into a million tiny pieces! Let's see what she has to say! Victoria Lynn Christian/Historical Fiction/Contemporary/Mystery Author of Bound Website ~ Blog ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest ~ YouTube ~ Newsletter Victoria Lynn Design This task can sound difficult, but for me, it was surprisingly easy. I can see how it might become hard if you have never been around children that much, but fortunately for me, this was not the case. Here are a few tips to help you create realistic children that are relatable for adults. Dialogue. A...

So, since I don't have any physical copies of contemporary Indie fiction, I went over to my blog and did a listing of my favorite digital reads. Click the pic below! And now for our role call of contemporaries written by our Indie e-Con authors. Again, listing below isn't necessarily an endorsement, as I haven't read every single book by every author, but those I have read have been beautiful. Mild caution for tastefully-handled drug use and child abuse   Mild caution for violence and references to drug use Mild caution for violence Mild caution for blood/medical bluntness, as well as some crude humor Mild caution for reference to suicide

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I'm head-over-heels for a good retelling. Any era, any genre. Just make sure that it's good.  I have Angie Thompson here with us today, and she's the author of Bridgers , which is a modernized retelling of The Good Samaritan that was very well done and I highly recommend. My only qualm is that it should have been two books, as the story climaxed in the middle. All the same, lovely, lovely story, and I really liked her take. And now she's going to talk about bringing stories into the modern era. Angie Thomson Christian/Contemporary Author of Bridgers: A Parable  Website ~ Blog ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads So, I’m here today to talk about modernized retellings. After all, I’ve written one, so I must be an expert, right? *ahem* Yeah, let’s go with that. Or, I could admit right off the bat that I’ve never read a book, attended a workshop, or skimmed a blog post on how to write a modernized retelling. I wr...

 I read a lot of contemporary as a kid. Mostly school fiction. And then the stuff that Rod and Staff put out. Erika Mathews is here today to talk about writing children's contemporary. She has a lovely little story in the genre that she had hoped to have out by now, but, unfortunately, both her illustrator and editor fell through. Anywho, it's an adorable story that reminds me a lot of the Potters books by the Sarah Maxwell, and you guys are in for a treat when it does  release. Erika Mathews Christian/Kingdom Fiction/Contemporary Author of Promise's Prayer Website ~ Blog ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest ~ YouTube ~ Newsletter   All of us book-lovers discovered our passion for reading somewhere in our lives. For some of us, it was from the first moments of picking up books; for others, that love developed later in our lives. Yet one element is crucial to fostering that love of reading: excellent, captivating books: som...

The genius of fiction is that it allows us to discuss complex issues within a safe space. I know that I've tackled a few subjects already through fantasy ... but, in contemporary, it gets closer to reality. I have J.J. Francesco here today to discuss how to deal with social issues within contemporary. His book, Because of Austin  deals head-on with bullying and the repercussions that can come of it. The story had me in tears by the end of it. Powerful stuff, contemporary. J.J. Francesco Christian/Contemporary/Mystery Author of Because of Austin Blog ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook ~ Twitter There’s no way to tackle social issues without someone getting hurt. Take too strong a position, and you will tick someone off who disagrees. Play the middle too much, and you’ll be accused from both sides of being indecisive. And make the commentary too vague and you risk the social issue aspect getting lost completely. What to do? Remember good storytelling rules. Tell your sto...

And welcome to today. And I do mean today, as we are dealing with contemporary, the genre of the here and now. Don't forget, we have a word war going down - so be keeping track of your writing! The person who leaves the most comments across ALL of the Indie e-Con posts will win a special prize package. If you leave a review on the book of any Indie e-Con author THIS WEEK on your blog or on Goodreads,  you can enter it towards another giveaway. Sharing the posts via social media (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, ect.) gives you a chance to enter for MORE prizes! Don't forget to  vote in the Book Awards ! I have a couple authors here to put in their word, and then we'll plunge into all the lovely articles! Why do you write Contemporary? Angie Thomson: I write contemporary because it’s the setting that fit the story I believe the Lord gave me! As corny as that sounds, it’s true; the story came to me as a contemporary, so that’s the way it was written. I’ve never...

One of my favorite inventions for this modern era is the camera. So, I've gone through, snagged some snapshots from several of our authors' books, and have the snapshots below. Your task - figure out the covers I stole these from, and email me at kendraeardnek(at)gmail(dot)com with the titles and authors. BUT, just to be interesting, I do have one cover below that was NOT taken from an Indie e-Con author. She is a popular Indie author, though, and one who I frequently see on my personal "Customers also bought books by these authors" box on my Amazon page. I don't know if she's there right now ... but she's frequently there. The book IS on the "Customers also bought these books" for Sew, It's a Quest . Now edited with answers. How many did you get correct? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16