All posts by Sharon Hinck

A Visit from Eric Reinhold

Visiting Authors

Each week since the Motiv8 tour in early October, I’ve been highlighting one of the Christian authors of fantasy fiction that I toured with.

This week it’s Eric’s turn. Here’s a photo of Eric and I signing our books for the staff at the TBN studios in Seattle, right before the taping of an interview.

Eric is the father of three who took the bedtime stories he told his children and developed them into the imaginative book, Ryann Watters and the King’s Sword.

Eric is the president of a financial planning firm, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, and an all-around cool guy. He had non-stop energy, carting in and setting up signs, unpacking boxes of books, loading up the van, and helping in every way. Be sure to visit his website to read about his
first book as well as the soon-to-be-released second book. He has book videos to watch, artwork to enjoy, and plenty to read at his site. And if you are looking for a Christmas gift for the “Tweeners” on your list, be sure to order a copy of Ryann Watters and the King’s Sword!

Blessings!
Sharon Hinck

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A Visit from Donita K. Paul

Visiting Authors

Last September, I was part of a huge Christian fiction author’s book signing at the Mall of America.

The photo shows my friend Vicki Tiedi (on the left) who hosted the panel discussions in the Bloomingdale Rotunda. On the right of the photo is Donita. She and I did a panel on the genre of fantasy, and took questions from the crowd. It was so fun to share the stage with her, and we knew we’d have a good time together on the Motiv8 Tour, as well.

On the tour, she kindly looked out for me when I was under the weather. It was fun watching throngs of children surround her at our events, bringing her pictures they’d drawn or sculptures of dragons they had made for her.

One day while riding in the car with a pile of stuffed animals for give-aways, her friend Penny said, “Donita, there are dragons blocking my line of vision.” Not a sentence you hear in normal daily conversations. Just one example of the fun and adventure that is part of Donita’s life.

Be sure to visit her website and learn about her books.

Now, in honor of Thanksgiving approaching, Donita shares ten things she’s thankful for:

1.Jesus (of course!)
2.Family and Friends
3.Church
4.Business Associates—the WaterBrook Staff, the Alive Communications staff, especially my editors and my agent
5.American Christian Fiction Writers
6.The Internet social networks—Shoutlife, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkdIn
7.The Internet Read groups—GoodReads and Shelfari (Anytime I think everyone is watching Netflix and playing video games, I visit these reader spots and breathe a sigh of relief)
8.Living in USA
9.Finding my niche, professionally
10.The knowledge God has provided and still encourages me to pursue

Thanks, Donita! And blessings on all your upcoming projects!

His,
Sharon

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A Little Too Busy

Devotional Musings, The Writing Life

Saturday I did a book signing at the Twin Cities Christian Community Fair. I had a ball meeting people, chatting, talking about books. I helped one fellow with info on where to find armor when he saw my sword on the table next to the Restorer books. And I got to visit with Susie May Warren whom I admire and always learn from. And I met the owners of ShoutLife and have a great chat with all they are doing to build the Christian online community. It was a fun event at the end of a string of events that have been spooling out since . . . well, probably July.

Preparing for the release of Stepping Into Sunlight, I began doing more speaking events, more store visits, more interviews, more teaching . . . so many events I had no time to update the events page of my website or blog about them all.

For someone who is a blend of extrovert/introvert like me, years of writing alone in my office take a toll, and I truly treasure the opportunities to spend time with real people instead of fictional characters. On the other hand, I always underestimate how much energy and time each event takes to prepare for and recover from. And how difficult it is to get back into the fictional world and actually WRITE during these too-busy stretches.

This Thursday I’m doing a workshop at the Minnesota Library conference, but that is the last in my long string of events. (Well, except for a December signing, some radio and blog interviews, and writing retreats that I host at my home . . . but those are spread out with plenty of open days between). I’m determined to be better about keeping margins in my life. I loved the book of that title (Margins) and have a whole library of books on simplicity, balance, rest. Yet somehow I’ve just gone through several months that got a little too busy.

It sneaks up on me. What about you? Are you a little too busy? Besides the problem of exhaustion, when I’m too busy plowing through my “to do” list, it’s harder for me to hear God’s gentle prompts to serve in an unexpected way that wasn’t on my list. I’m not as patient with people who need me. I don’t have time to NOTICE the needs of others, much less meet them.

Lord, teach us to order our days. And thank you for today. If it’s okay with You, I’ll start my tasks–but I’m listening for You to steer me if there are new directions where You want me to go. Amen.

Blessings!
Sharon

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A Visit from Christopher Hopper

Visiting Authors


I’ve always loved books. Growing up, authors were mysterious and amazing gifts to my little world. So once I became a novelist, one of my favorite perks was the opportunity to get to know other authors and spend time with them.

Each week I’m sharing a little about one of the authors from the Motiv8 Fantasy Fiction Tour. I toured with these authors from October 3-12, 2008, all over the West Coast. You get to know a lot about an author when they get up at 4:00 a.m. to hit the road for another long day of events, or you see them sit beside a child in an oncology unit to share a book, or you teach an English class side-by-side with them. I hope whatever genres you read, you’ll enjoy hearing about the HEART of each of these authors.

Today I’m giving a shout out to Christopher Hopper. I got to know him on the first tour, and marveled at his ability to meet new people in the aisles of stores and within minutes be sharing God’s love with them. He has a passion for worship, for youth (he’s a youth pastor) and for making his life count. When I was a teen, I was blessed by a radio ministry and Christian community in upstate New York who were excited about using all the arts in worship and outreach. We discovered that he grew up in that community–which made us feel like spiritual siblings (a generation apart) 🙂

If you haven’t yet discovered his books, be sure to look for his White Lion Chronicles. You can learn about that at his website.

Blessings!
Sharon

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Twitterpated

The Writing Life

I own the music book from Bambi, which includes the song “Everything is Twitterpated in the Spring.”

I’m humming it this morning, because I’m feeling twitterpated.

I follow quite a few blogs, especially those related to the Christian publishing industry, writing craft, or lives of friends. My hubby tends to avoid blogs. But there is one he really enjoys: Michael Hyatt, President and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers.

He’ll often mention a topic that Michael blogged about.

So when my hubby said that Michael encouraged authors to Twitter, I finally stopped digging in my heels and signed up. I enjoy Facebook, and try to stop by ShoutLife from time to time. I’ve recently blogged about my decision to continue “half-baked blogging.” So why yet another internet “connection tool”?

I’m not entirely sure. I like that I could connect my Twitter with my Facebook. (I also am figuring out how to upload my blog posts to Facebook.) And Twitter forces me to be brief (a useful skill I still haven’t mastered). And PERHAPS Twitter will be a bit more immediate and helpful if I’m doing an event and want to let friends know about it, or if I plan to run a contest at my website. We’ll see.

So, if you are also twitterpated, you are welcome to “follow” me . . . (my oh-so-creative code name at Twitter is SharonHinck) although I have no idea where I’m going. I may yet decide to swing back toward my Luddite tendencies and unplug everything. But for now, Twitter is another part of the world of cyber-connection I’m willing to explore. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Blessings!
Sharon Hinck

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TitleTrakk

Interviews, The Writing Life

As an author, I deeply appreciate sites that showcase art depicting themes of faith. Movies and music seem to get a lot of “air time” but when a site includes novels alongside other forms of art and entertainment, that site gets cyber-hugs from me!

TitleTrakk is a fun site that has posted reviews of several of my books, as well as an in-depth interview.

TitleTrakk also has frequent contests, fun features, and enough content to keep you happily exploring for hours.

They are currently running a terrific contest – so pop over there to enter!

Blessings!
Sharon

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A Special Visit with the Motiv8 Authors

Devotional Musings, Stepping Into Sunlight, The Writing Life

This week, my cohorts from the Motiv8 Fantasy Fiction Tour (October 2008) are blogging about me. I hope you’ll have time to visit their blogs and leave comments. It’s great fun!

Bryan Davis
L.B.Graham
Donita K. Paul
Eric Reinhold

have their posts up already, (with some great questions or inside info you don’t want to miss – hee hee!) and I’ll let you know as others appear.

But Wayne Batson’s blog is extra special.

He’s featuring an in-depth discussion that we hope will offer help for the hurting. It’s a lengthy post – and more about life than about our books. So pour a cup of tea, put your feet up, and click on over to Wayne’s blog.

Blessings!
Sharon Hinck

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Kind Words for Stepping Into Sunlight

Stepping Into Sunlight, The Writing Life

I recently blogged about being okay with my half-baked blogging skills.

However, the casual approach doesn’t extend to my work as a novelist. I’ve always had a passion for pursuing excellence in working at my art – whether that was in theatre, music, choreography, or writing.

Trying to capture an artistic vision sharpens the critical eye. That’s good. It pushes me to keep working, honing, trying to get closer to conveying something with power and beauty.

The pursuit can also be discouraging, because I never quite reach it, and often grow hyper-critical and see my work falling far short of where I’d like it to be.

That’s why I’m grateful when God sends encouraging words my way . . . when someone else applies their critical eye to the work and believes it captures something of value, and lets me know that. Today, a reviewer sent me this assessment of my new novel, Stepping Into Sunlight.

By the way, if you haven’t yet picked up a copy, you can get one personalized and autographed by me at Signed by the Author.

Now, it’s time for me to get back to work on studying, honing, reworking, doubting, and hoping.

His,
Sharon Hinck

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A Visit from L.B. Graham

The Writing Life, Visiting Authors

I’ve always loved books. Growing up, authors were mysterious and amazing gifts to my little world. So once I became a novelist, one of my favorite perks was the opportunity to get to know other authors and spend time with them.

Each week for the next two months, I’ll share a little about one of the authors from the Motiv8 Fantasy Fiction Tour. I toured with these authors from October 3-12, 2008, all over the West Coast. You get to know a lot about an author when they get up at 4:00 a.m. to hit the road for another long day of events, or you see them sit beside a child in an oncology unit to share a book, or you teach an English class side-by-side with them. I hope whatever genres you read, you’ll enjoy hearing about the HEART of each of these authors.

As we prepared for the Motiv8 tour, I was delighted that L.B. Graham was joining the tour. His primary target readership (like mine) is adults. Critics have compared his epic five-book series to Tolkien – a true traditional high fantasy.

What impressed me about L.B. as I got to know him on the tour, was his humble brilliance. We co-taught a high-school class at one of the venues, and his ability to answer questions, draw in examples from classic literature, and EDUCATE blew me away. When he spoke at events, his love for Christ always shone. Yet he was also gracious about taking a back seat (literally – that van was crowded!), and serving in any way that was needed. He was particularly kind to me at one point on the tour that I was feeling pretty yucky physically – in reminding me that if I had to leave the tour and fly home, no one would think less of me. Those compassionate words made a huge difference to me on a rough day.

It was also fun to discover that L.B.’s wife is from Australia, since I was “visiting” an Australian book group on my return from the tour. His heritage of faith (and how it ties in with Australia and his books) is truly inspiring.

Visit his blog to learn more about him, and if you enjoy epic fantasy, grab the Binding of the Blade series. I have the first book on my To-Be-Read pile right now.

Blessings!
Sharon

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