Susan Marlene
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Timeless Significance For Every Day

PENS OF PRAISE CHRISTIAN WRITERS GROUP, FEBRUARY MEETING

2/13/2022

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​PENS OF PRAISE
CHRISTIAN WRITERS GROUP
Tuesday, FEBRUAY 15, 2022

 
6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
 
JITSI online MEETING.
 
Meeting Held at Your Home - USA
Your sofa or chair. Your choice of refreshments—from your fridge—no running to Kathy’s house for treats! 😊
 
“THE WORLD OF WEBSITES” is the topic this month. Susan Marlene is facilitating the meeting but we are all sharing the most wonderful and useful websites we have found during our writing careers. My mind is reeling with curiosity for wondering about the shares and inspiration we can and will talk about! I’m excited—how about you?

PROMPT:  MY FAVORITE RESEARCH STORY. Yes, think of something funny, inspiring, and don’t forget loving. This is Valentines Day month. And by the way—happy Valentine’s Day to you!
Inspired readers given excellent take-away = return readers!
           We are a safe place to share and Pens Meetings are free.
 
As always, if you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to contact Becky McLafferty @ rebeccamclafferty@gmail.com or
Susan Marlene@ susanmarlenewrites@gmail.com
 
 
 

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Pen's Meeting--A Hurrah for Rebecca McLafferty and Susan Marlene, Tuesday, January 18th

1/22/2022

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It was wonderful to meet and greet and share at our Pen’s meeting on January 18th. We had a couple of months off, but hey, writers can’t stay apart for long. The return meeting was excellent. Rebecca McLafferty and Susan Marlene shared a lesson. The nights highlight was Rebecca’s handouts via email since we enjoyed a Jitsi online meeting and her enthusiastic sharing of publishing possibilities!

Some shared their current projects with our group, and that is always an encouraging time and inspiring!

Susan spoke about character development and then put us all to work. We had to write a short outline or story—very rough draft—to practice our new insights. Everyone did a fabulous job. Especially when asked to do so with such short notice. Hurrah to all of those who kindly participated!

We may have a new location to meet. We will keep you posted on any developments for our future meetings.
​
Mega blessings in Him,
Sue
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Handout for Pens of Praise, Christian Writers Meeting  January 18, 2022

1/18/2022

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            WELCOME TO PENS OF PRAISE CHRISTIAN WRITERS GROUP
Tuesday, January 18, 2021
 
JITSI MEETING
 
Prayer
Introductions for new guests.     
Devotion-- Susan Marlene
 
LET THE TEACHING BEGIN
“DRAFT TO—WHAT? AND CHARACTERS” is this our topic for January! Rebecca McLafferty and Susan Marlene will facilitate the lesson. May we be blessed and a blessing in all our endeavors in 2022!
PROMPT: Write whatever you can for this short notice announcement! LOL! You can write a one liner story or a devotion or article! Challenge—what can you share that can uplift someone?
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
            Remember to pray for one another as we write for HIM! Thank you!

Review on D2D’s (Draft to Digital publishing)
https://blog.reedsy.com/draft2digital-reviews/
TheFamily.net WEMI  FM

Gab is a Christian, politically conservative social media platform that my Christian conservative son recommended .  You might be interested in it.   
https://news.gab.com/what-is-gab/
Visit Sue Fink here  https://gab.com/susanlfink

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/recommended-reads/books-for-writers/
Thanks, Sue F.
Christian Devotions is looking for devotions. This is not a paid site, but one to give to the Lord and share your message with others!   www.christiandevotions.us 

​https://www.paperrater.com/
www.grammarly.com   free download         
https://www.loc.gov/about/   Library of Congress website
http://www.hemingwayapp.com/


                                                                REMEMBER:
Inspire your reader with excellent take-away from your stories or writings = return reader!
                     
                   God’s abundant blessings on you as you write for His glory!

 
 
 

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PENS OF PRAISE, CHRISTIAN WRITERS GROUP, Tuesday January 18 2022

1/17/2022

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​PENS OF PRAISE, CHRISTIAN WRITERS GROUP  Tuesday, JANUARY 18, 2022

6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Jitsi Meeting

I’ll send the link to our Pens of Praise email list tomorrow before the meeting.
​
 All we have to do is click on the link in the Pens of Praise email.
Meeting Held at Your Home - USA
Your couch or chair.

Your choice of refreshments from your fridge—no running to Kathy’s house for treats! 😊
 
The topic this month “DRAFT TO—WHAT? AND CHARACTERS” will be facilitated by Rebecca McLafferty and Susan Marlene. Strap yourselves in and revve up that computer for this Jitsi meeting that is sure to benefit those who are serious about being published!
PROMPT: Write whatever you can for this short notice announcement! LOL! You can write a one liner story or a devotion or article! Challenge—what can you share that can uplift someone?

Remember

Inspired readers given excellent take-away = return readers!
We are a safe place to share and Pens Meetings are free.
 
As always, if you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to contact Becky McLafferty @ rebeccamclafferty@gmail.com or
Susan Marlene@ susanmarlenewrites@gmail.com
 
 
 

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PENS OF PRAISE CHRISTIAN WRITERS MEETING OCTOBER 19, 2021

10/19/2021

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Art by Aria


PENS OF PRAISE

CHRISTIAN WRITERS GROUP
October 19, 2021
Tuesday 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
 
Jitsi Meeting
From the comfort of your own home!
                                      
 
Discussion time for writers. One topic we will look at is launching a book. There are so many layers and styles to a book launch. This is a discussion, and I’ve not prepared a message. Still, there is much we can share with one another and use to plan our own book launches!

PROMPT: October Bliss! Write a page worth of poetry, devotion, short story, or essay in your genre, and we will be blissfully attentive!
susanmarlenewrites@gmail.com
​
Inspired readers given excellent take-away = return readers!
We are a safe place to share, and Pens Meetings are free.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to contact Becky McLafferty @ rebeccamclafferty@gmail.com or
Susan Marlene@ susanmarlenewrites@gmail.com
 
 

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Award-winning Author, Regina Scott, At Pens of Praise Christian Writers Meeting!

8/18/2021

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Regina taught LESSONS FROM THE FIELD and she covered such topics as writing what you love to knowing your market. We asked questions and she answered each one to our satisfaction! We were truly blessed to have such an experienced author generously share her tried and true experiences and humor!

This was such a fun and informative night with Regina Scott! Everyone appreciated her wisdom and entertaining answers to very puzzling questions concerning our individual writing careers! 

Thank you so much, Regina, not only can you write novels, but you can teach others to do the same!!! 

Regina can be found on her website: www.ReginaScott.com.
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PENS OF PRAISE CHRISTIAN WRITERS GROUP HANDOUT

8/17/2021

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​WELCOME TO PENS OF PRAISE CHRISTIAN WRITERS GROUP
Tuesday, August 17, 2021
 
JITSI MEETING
 
Prayer
Introductions for new guests.     
Devotion-- Susan Marlene
GRAMMAR TIDBIT--Rebecca McLafferty
 
LET THE TEACHING BEGIN
"Lessons from the Field" is this our topic for August! Award-winning author, Regina Scott, will facilitate the lesson. May we be blessed and a blessing in all our endeavors this year!
PROMPT: My Favorite Topic -- I double-triple dare you to write a piece that you could turn into a devotion, short story, or article!
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
            Remember to pray for one another as we write for HIM! Thank you!
To join Susie Larson’s PREPARE HIM ROOM  Launch Team here is the link: APPLICATION LINK: https://bit.ly/3ApnXXl
TheFamily.net WEMI  FM
  • Thanks, Sue F.
Christian Devotions is looking for devotions. This is not a paid site, but one to give to the Lord and share your message with others!   www.christiandevotions.us 
  • ; https://www.paperrater.com/
www.grammarly.com free download          
https://www.loc.gov/about/   Library of Congress website
 
REMEMBER:
Inspire your reader with excellent take-away from your stories or writings = return reader!
God’s abundant blessings on you as you write for His glory!
 
 
 
 

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PENS OF PRAISE CHRISTIAN WRITERS MEETING, August 17, 2021

8/13/2021

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​ 
PENS OF PRAISE
CHRISTIAN WRITERS GROUP
August 17, 2021
  Tuesday 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

 

Jitsi Meeting

I’ll send the link to our Pens of Praise email list. All we have to do is click on the link in the Pens of Praise email. You will be asked your name.
 
"Lessons from the Field" is this our topic for August! Award-winning author, Regina Scott, will facilitate the lesson. She will cover topics like getting ideas, publication paths, and marketing--a pretty wide swath, to be sure, and she will talk about things she has learned after more than 50 books. There you have it, this is a delightful, helpful, and experienced writer of clean fiction from both mainline Publishers and self-publishing.

PROMPT: My Favorite Topic -- I double-triple dare you to write a piece that you could turn into a devotion, short story, or article!
 
An inspired reader given excellent take-away = return readers!
We are a safe place to share, and Pens Meetings are free.
 
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact Becky McLafferty @ rebeccamclafferty@gmail.com or
Susan Marlene@ susanmarlenewrites@gmail.com
 
 
 

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Scenes & Pacing & Liar Liar Pants on Fire by Susan Marlene

8/12/2021

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​Scenes & Pacing &
Liar Liar Pants on Fire


Structure of a Scene
  • Each scene has a beginning, middle, and ending. Each chapter of you book may contain one or more scenes.
  • Beginnings should have a hook at the start—the goal of the character strong enough to have a relatable or emotionally charged disruption and an ending that has the reader asking for more.
 
Let’s use information from the book--
EMOTIONAL VAMPIRES by Albert J. Bernstein, PH. D. as motivation for a scene. On pages 75—80, Bernstein shares how liars think and operate to control others.
A liar, if you have one in your story, can be quite useful to spice up a fictional scene. Talk about motivation for story—let’s have a liar mess up the protagonist’s world and then shift the blame on him/her and see what happens.

We shared discussion from the EMOTIONAL VAMPIRES book and did an exercise of writing a scene as a group which ended up as a cozy murder mystery beginning. :) 
 
I also shared how I use information from these amazing author/teachers about plotting story.  

PLOTTING STRUCTURE:    Adapted from: Michael Hauge’s “Six Stage Plot Structure”; K.M Weiland’s STRUCTURING YOUR NOVEL, Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story; and WRITE YOUR NOVEL FROM THE MIDDLE by James Scott Bell

All in all we had a great time and learned from one another! I'm so grateful for our writers! 

***

And I don't want to neglect saying that Sue Fink opened our meeting with prayer, Sarah shared a wonderful devotion that we all encouraged her to publish, and Rebecca McLafferty shared a very special grammar tidbit straight from her family tree--her grandmother! Well done Penzers! See you next month when award winning author, Regina Scott will teach our lesson! 


***
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Pens of Praise Christian Writers  July 2021

7/21/2021

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WELCOME TO PENS OF PRAISE CHRISTIAN WRITERS GROUP
Tuesday, July 20, 2021
 
JITSI MEETING
 
Prayer
Introductions for new guests.     
Devotion-- Sarah Grosskopf
GRAMMAR TIDBIT--Rebecca McLafferty
 
LET THE TEACHING BEGIN
“Scenes & Pacing & Liar Liar Pants on Fire is our July topic facilitated by Susan Marlene. All are encouraged to share their knowledge and experience for this class!   Plenty of discussion will arise as well as laughs as we build a scene together during class! May we be blessed and a blessing in all our endeavors this year!

PROMPT: The Lie That Backfired -- No matter how old you are, no matter if you caused a situation or didn’t, write a piece that you could turn into a devotion, short story, or article!

Steve Laube & Christian Institute    https://stevelaube.com/resources/reference-tools/ shares a lot of excellent and informative website for writers of fiction and nonfiction.
 
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
            Remember to pray for one another as we write for HIM! Thank you!
TheFamily.net WEMI  FM
  • Thanks, Sue Fink
Christian Devotions is looking for devotions. This is not a paid site, but one to give to the Lord and share your message with others!   www.christiandevotions.us 
  • ; https://www.paperrater.com/
www.grammarly.com free download          
https://www.loc.gov/about/   Library of Congress website
 
REMEMBER:
Inspired reader from excellent take-away from you writing = return reader!
God’s abundant blessings on you as you write for His glory!
 
 
 
 

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    Words are not just words. They are thoughts and inspiration that have been behind every relationship and every deed--good or bad throughout time. If you have that burning desire to communicate and explore, come peruse my pages, teachings, and short stories. Allow inspiration to anchor your dreams on the written pages of memoirs, devotions, poems, or stories, both short or long! Luxuriate in the creativity you were born to share!

    Sarah Grosskopf is a beta reader, writer, and copywriter extraordinaire! I highly recommend Sarah and have known her for years. She has taught and encouraged Pens of Praise members with her humor, instinct, and highly praised skill sets. So you may consider this an invitation to discover details about Sarah Grosskopf. Here is a link to her website!
    https://sarahgrosskopf.com/

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"Hope" is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all,​  by Emily Dickinson


susan@susanmarlene.com

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  • Devotions & Short Stories
  • Writers & Pens
  • GLIMPSING HISTORICAL TIMES