Writing from the Heart is in part, about having survived the legion of mind games played by acquaintances in my past. We all have a past. What is most important though. Are the friends who hold out their hands to pick you back up so that you can continue along on this road called life. Without their help this world would indeed be a place of darkness. This book is dedicated to the hands that reached out to me.

Writing from the Heart offers us a unique window into what young people have learned about life. This collection of essays captures the values that matter most to teens—values such as love, perseverance, family, and helping others—in their own words. As the young writers reflect on their own experience, readers of all ages will be inspired by their wisdom and hope. From Chattanooga to China, these essays are all extraordinary. They not only celebrate the accomplishments of the young writers, but also offer an opportunity to peer into the hearts and minds of young people around the world. Readers may be amazed at some of the hardships that these teens have faced, but will have a deep sense of optimism for our future. In addition, they inspire us to make the most of our lives as well.

Best-selling New Zealand author Joy Cowley, author of hundreds of books, including the classic Mrs. Wishy-Washy, offers an indispensable manual for those who are called to write for children. Brimming with down-to-earth advice and keen insight, the book draws on Cowley's lifetime of writing and teaching writers. From plot to dialogue, and on through discipline and humor, editing and presentation, Cowley reveals the whys and hows of telling stories that will captivate young readers. Above all, Cowley reminds writers to "keep your serious adult voice under control, and let the child within you grow wings to fly with the child out there."

Writing from the heart provides you with the basics of story creation. It covers creating your setting, characters, writing dialogue and choosing the best point of view for your story. It also talks about the importance of a professional editor and how to get started with promoting and marketing. As a bonus, there is a section on how to add emotion to your writing.

Write to Explore and Express the Wild Beauty of Your Heart Meredith Heller invites you to write as a path toward self-understanding and as a lifelong refuge of steadfast friendship with yourself. She used the power of writing to heal and save her own life, and now she teaches others to do the same. In this book, Meredith shares the techniques she developed to help people from all walks of life explore their emotions, find their voice, and better navigate life’s challenges. Filled with potent exercises and inspiring poems from the author and her students, Writing by Heart is a must-read for anyone, from seasoned writer to novice, who wants to discover the transformative power of writing.

The journal of Frances E. Willard nineteenth-century America's most renowned and influential Woman had been hidden away in a cupboard at the National WCTU headquarters, and its importance eluded Willard's biographers. Writing Out My Heart publishes for the first time substantial portions of the forty-nine volumes rediscovered in 1982. They open a window on the remarkable inner life of this great public figure and cast her in a new light. No other female political leader of the period left a private record like this. Best known for her powerful leadership of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), at that time the nation's largest organized body of women, Willard was a world-class reform leader and feminist. How she achieved this stature has been documented. This compelling journal reveals why. Written during her teens, twenties, and fifties, the journal documents the creation of Frances Willard's self. At the same time, it often reads like a good novel. It stands as one of the most explicit and painful records in the nineteenth century of one woman's coming to terms with her love for women in a heterosexual world. Other sections reveal what impelled Willard to reform the nature and depth of the religious dimension of her life a dimension not yet adequately explored by any biographer. Here we see her growing commitment to the "cause of woman." The volumes written in her late middle age give insight into the years when, world famous, she was part of the transatlantic network of reform, battling ill health, dealing with controversy in the WCTU, and grieving for her mother, a lifelong figure of emotional support. This finale concludes one of the most fascinating of the journal's themes: the nineteenth-century confrontation with sickness and death. Drawn from one of the richest sources in documentary history, knowledgeably introduced and annotated, Writing Out My Heart is a biographical goldmine, rich in the themes and institutions central to women's lives in nineteenth-century America.

This book explores a new model for the production, revision, and reception of Biblical texts as Scripture. Building on recent studies of the oral/written interface in medieval, Greco-Roman and ancinet Near Eastern contexts, David Carr argues that in ancient Israel Biblical texts and other texts emerged as a support for an educational process in which written and oral dimensions were integrally intertwined. The point was not incising and reading texts on parchment or papyrus. The point was to enculturate ancient Israelites - particularly Israelite elites - by training them to memorize and recite a wide range of traditional literature that was seen as the cultural bedorck of the people: narrative, prophecy, prayer, and wisdom.

In Writing for the Ear, Preaching from the Heart, Donna Giver-Johnston teaches preachers how to communicate effectively--how to get away from their notes and make a more personal connection with their listeners. Grounded in a theology of the incarnation, she offers a step-by-step method for writing sermons with the fewest, most impactful and memorable words and delivered by heart to communicate a message that captures the ears and hearts of listeners.

The subtitle of Maggie Ross's new book captures its essence, for it is about silence and our need to behold God. Beholding is a notion that we are in danger of losing. It is often lost in translation, even by the NRSV and the Jerusalem Bible. Beholding needs to be recovered both in theology and practice. Ross is very aware of "poor talkative Christianity." There is a twofold plea to enter into silence--for lack of silence erodes our humanity--and to behold the radiance of God. This is a book full of deep questioning and the testing of our assumptions. Throughout there is a great love for the world and for our humanity, accompanied by sadness that we are so easily distracted . . . . We are invited into a silence that is not necessarily an absence of noise, but is a limitless interior space. Ancient texts are used in new and exciting ways, and many of our worship practices are challenged. She is in no doubt that "the glory of the human being is the beholding of God." --adapted from a review in The Church Times (London) by Canon David Adam.

Travel Art & Travel Writing: A Curious Heart’s Wanderlust in China brings to life a curious traveler’s experiences in China. You’ll taste the food and enjoy the outdoor social life of China. You’ll know how to identify the different temple types by their names and architectural features. You’ll learn about Chinese structures, both traditional and contemporary. And you’ll dive deep into the mythology and folklore of China: exploring the layers of history, ritual, and myth that underlie the customs and folk traditions of China. Travel with me through China and explore its culture: • Chinese travel sites (Chasing an Elusive Ideal in Modern Day Shangri-la), • Chinese customs (Getting Social in Suzhou’s Night Markets), • Chinese holidays and festivals (Ancestors and Immortals: a Foreigner’s Introduction to Ching Ming Festival), • Chinese temples and religious life (A Brief Introduction to Chinese Temples), • Chinese mythology (The Story of the Nian & Myth and Mooncakes: The Cosmological Symbolism of the Zhou Revolution), • Chinese cooking (The Floral Mandarin Fish & Snow Fish), • Chinese contemporary architecture (Post-Modern Architectural Irony in Suzhou’s The Gate To the East). Dave Alber creates Hybrid VR Paintings ™, Travel Art, and Travel Writing. His Travel Art shares an experience of wonder at our cultural continuity and universal humanity. Dave Alber is the inventor of Hybrid VR Paintings ™, which are physical/virtual hybrid paintings that occupy a physical space in the gallery while simultaneously manifesting within the virtual world of 360° panoramic technology. Books by Dave Alber include: • Travel Art: Intimations, • The Heart of Myth: Wisdom Stories of Endangered People, • The Taotie in Chinese Art, Culture, and Cosmology. You can receive Dave Alber’s art book for free at http://DaveAlber.com.