Oh, yes, I taught 13 and a half years. I taught English, first at a Catholic school and then at El Toro High School in Lake Forest, Calif.

But if you don't understand that story is character and not just idea, you will not be able to breathe life into even the most intriguing flash of inspiration.

If your home is a ministry, shouldn't that ministry become a passion? Shouldn't your feelings and emotions be involved when it comes to the people and place you love? And shouldn't your work be done passionately? Your labors should be labors of love!

Prayer enables you to tap into God's wisdom anywhere, anytime, no matter what's going on.

Remember to say what you mean, but don't say it meanly.

When God is in sharp focus, then life is also undistorted.

I have to know the killer, the victim and the motive when I begin. Then I start to create the characters and see how the novel takes shape based on what these people are like.