Do Christian authors have to follow mainstream publishing trends to write middle grade and YA books kids will love? Absolutely not!

When my seven kids were little, finding clean, age-appropriate books sometimes felt like walking through a minefield. Now that I'm a grandmother, I'm still asking the same question: Why is it so hard to find squeaky-clean reads for tweens and teens?

A conversation with my fourteen-year-old granddaughter in a bookstore brought that question right back to the surface. And yes, I'm climbing onto my soapbox!

In this episode, I'm sharing three things I don't include in my middle grade and YA fiction as a Christian author—and what I write instead.

We're talking about:

• No spice. Why I leave sexual content out of my books and focus on friendship, trust, and character growth instead.
• No hopeless worlds where all adults are absent or evil. Why trustworthy adults and hope matter, especially for kids with trauma histories.
• No same-sex romantic relationships. Why I choose not to include them, even as supporting-character relationships or passing references, and how Christian book-review sites help parents identify content in today's fiction.

I'll share examples from my Sera Craven Mysteries and Brightwood Shadows, discuss Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel, and explain why Christian writers don't have to compromise their convictions to tell a compelling story.

Mystery? Yes. Adventure? Absolutely. Courage, friendship, family, and hope? Give me more!

If you're a Christian author, parent, or grandparent who cares about the stories we're putting into young readers' hands, this episode is for you.

Want to write your own middle grade novel?

Grab my Middle Grade Magic workbook! It walks you through practical steps to take your story from idea to finished book.

Get Middle Grade Magic: https://kgauthor.myflodesk.com/middlegrademagic

Resources mentioned:

• Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel by Jessica Brody
• Redeemed Reader — https://redeemedreader.com
• Plugged In Book Reviews — https://www.pluggedin.com/book-reviews/
• Matthew 18:6

You don't have to write what everyone else is writing. You can write stories that reflect your faith and give young readers hope.

Your kids are grown and flown, you finally have a little more time, and that book you’ve been thinking about writing for years keeps coming back to you.

But where do you actually start?

Once you tell people you’re going to write a book, everyone has advice. Your family, friends, people at church, other writers—everybody wants to help. And that’s a good thing.

But getting advice and talking to other writers is not writing your book.

In this episode of Novel Writing for Christians, I’m sharing five practical things you can do to move from thinking about your book to actually getting ready to write it.

We’ll talk about:

• How to create your main character and get those ideas out of your head
• Why you need to know what your character wants—and what’s standing in their way
• How to create a backstory using mind mapping and character interviews
• Why your story needs a blackest moment and how to start figuring out what it is
• Why even a pantser needs some sort of outline before writing a first novel
• How studying books in your genre can help you understand what readers expect
• Why you don’t need to stop writing while you learn the craft
• How to schedule your writing time so the book actually gets written

I’ll also share some of what I learned when I started writing cozy mysteries after writing thrillers, why I still study the books I’m reading, and why research can be helpful—but you can’t let research take your writing time.

You don’t have to know everything about writing a novel before you begin.

Do some pre-writing. Create your character. Figure out what they want. Give them an obstacle. Create their backstory. Decide on their blackest moment. Make some sort of outline.

And then write.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Middle Grade Magic Workbook — Use the character interview, mind mapping, and other exercises to start developing your characters and story.

https://kgauthor.myflodesk.com/middlegrademagic

How to Write a Cozy Mystery by Natasha C. Sass

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody

Sponsored by Winter Wedding Murder -https://www.amazon.com/Winter-Wedding-Murder-Maplewood-Goldendoodle-ebook/dp/B0FSK57NJV

You finally have the time to write your book. Now it’s time to start.

Thinking about self-publishing your first book but wondering if it’s the right choice for you?

In this episode of Novel Writing for Christians, I’m sharing 3 benefits of self-publishing for authors and why being an indie author gives you more freedom than you may realize.

We’ll talk about taking ownership of your author business, choosing the editors and cover designers you want to work with, and setting a writing and publishing schedule that actually works with your life. I’m also sharing some of the things I’ve learned as a full-time indie author—including the business side of writing that I’m still learning!

And if you’ve been waiting for an agent, publisher, or someone else to tell you that you’re ready to write and publish your book, I have a bonus reminder for you:

There are no gates anymore.

In this episode:

• Why self-publishing means taking ownership of your author business
• The freedom to choose what you write and when you publish
• How to choose your own editor, cover designer, and marketing strategy
• Why indie authors need both freedom and self-discipline
• How to create a writing schedule around your real life and family
• Why your first book doesn’t have to be perfect
• Why you don’t need someone else’s permission to become an author

If you’re a Christian woman wondering how to write a book, become a self-published author, and build an author business, this episode will help you understand some of the opportunities available to indie authors today.

🎧 Self-Publishing Made Simple: A Beginner's Guide

Sponsored by Fatal Fixer-Upper -https://a.co/d/092EOCBN

Your story matters. And it’s not too late to start.

Can your past trauma actually make you a better writer?

If you’re a Christian writer trying to figure out how to write characters with more depth, your own experiences may have given you tools you don’t even realize you have.

In this episode, I’m sharing 3 reasons your past trauma can make you a better writer — from the empathy you bring to your characters, to your understanding of trauma, triggers, and healing.

As a trauma-informed Christian author, I’ve learned that we don’t have to give our characters our exact stories to use what we’ve experienced. We can take the emotions, understanding, and healing we’ve gained and use them to create realistic characters and powerful character arcs.

We’ll talk about:

• Why empathy is a superpower when you’re developing fictional characters • How your own experiences with little-T and big-T trauma can help you write realistic emotional scenes • Why you don’t have to wait until you’re perfectly healed to write your book • How to use your experiences without giving your character your story • Why healing isn’t linear — and your character arc shouldn’t be either • How God can redeem the difficult parts of your story and use them in your writing

If you’ve been wondering how to write a book with deeper, more relatable characters, your past doesn’t have to disqualify you from writing the story God placed on your heart. It may have equipped you to write it with more empathy, understanding, and hope.

📚 Mentioned in this episode: A Positive Adoption Story by Kathleen Guire

https://www.amazon.com/Positive-Adoption-Story-Theology-Reality-ebook/dp/B07J2V3CX4

Trauma-Informed Character Workbook -https://kgauthor.myflodesk.com/traumacharacterworkbook

Other Helpful Episodes:

How To Create Characters With Depth: 3 Character Development Tips For Fiction Writers

How To Create A Trauma-Informed Character Readers Will Root For

Your story matters. And it’s not too late to start.

Does your character have a traumatic backstory—but somehow that trauma disappears when the actual story begins?

If your character has experienced abandonment, abuse, neglect, loss, or another significant emotional wound, that history can affect how they think, react, build relationships, make decisions, and respond when something in the present bumps into a wound from the past.

In this episode, we're talking about how Christian fiction writers can create trauma-informed characters without allowing trauma to become the character's entire identity.

I'll share a little of what I've learned from my own trauma-informed training and why the difference between "I won't" and "I can't regulate right now" changed the way I think about behavior. Then we'll take those principles onto the page and look at Harper from my Cozy Corner Mysteries to see what trauma responses can actually look like inside a novel.

We'll look at Harper's abandonment wound, what happens when Ben tells her he's leaving, the physical responses that show up when she reaches her "red zone," and the patterns Harper begins to recognize in herself. We'll also talk about her decision to go hiking even when anxiety shows up and the small moment when faith begins making its way back into her life.

We'll talk about:

• How emotional wounds can create beliefs that affect your character's present-day choices
• The Five Bs—Brain, Biology, Body, Beliefs, and Behavior—and how they can help you think more deeply about your character
• How to use the formula: If my character believes _____, then they will _____ whenever _____
• Why trauma responses should show up through behavior instead of living only in your character's backstory
• How fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses can affect what your character does when they're triggered
• Why "won't" and "can't regulate right now" aren't necessarily the same thing
• How relationships can reveal your character's limiting beliefs and coping mechanisms
• Why trauma-informed doesn't mean trauma-defined
• How Christian writers can leave room for faith, resilience, hope, healing, and growth without rushing a character through an unrealistic healing arc

Trauma-informed doesn't mean trauma-defined.

Your character is more than what happened to them.

Give them wounds, but also give them strength. Give them struggles, but also give them joy, relationships, purpose, faith, and room to grow.

Wound → Belief → Behavior → Growth.

When we write with truth and leave room for hope, we can create characters whose struggles feel real—and whose stories remind readers that the wound doesn't have to get the final word.

• Creating Trauma-Informed Characters With Depth and Heart Workbook — https://kgauthor.myflodesk.com/traumacharacterworkbook
• Sponsored by Fatal Fixer-Upper -https://a.co/d/092EOCBN

Do your fictional characters feel like real people—or do they sometimes feel a little too perfect, predictable, or flat?

Creating characters with depth means knowing more than what they look like, what they do for a living, or what role they play in your plot. Your character's backstory, relationships, fears, past experiences, and the lines they don't want to cross all influence how they react when the story gets difficult.

In this episode, I'm sharing three character development tips that will help you create believable, layered characters your readers can connect with.

I'll share what I learned when I first started writing stories where everybody got along and nobody had any real problems, why I create a backstory before I write the book, and how a mind map helps me understand what shaped my characters. We'll also talk about why your main character needs other people who can reveal things they would never say about themselves—and why sometimes the best thing you can do for your character is make them cross the line they swore they wouldn't cross.

I'll also take you behind the scenes of my Cozy Corner Mysteries and show you how Harper's backstory, her best friend Sage, and everyone's favorite barista, Zoe, help me create a character with more depth.

We'll talk about:

• Why your character needs a backstory—even when most of it never makes it onto the page
• How past experiences and trauma can affect the way your character reacts in the present
• How to use a character mind map to explore relationships, motivations, dreams, obstacles, and conflicts
• Why sidekicks and supporting characters can reveal things about your main character that they wouldn't reveal themselves
• How to avoid info dumping everything you know about your character into the first chapter
• Why your character needs a line they don't want to cross—and what happens when the story forces them to cross it
• How Character + Goal + Action + Obstacle can lead to meaningful change and growth
• How Disaster + Dilemma can create the difficult choices that make readers connect with your character

You don't have to tell your reader everything you know about your character.

But you need to know what shaped them.

Because when you understand your character's past, relationships, fears, and motivations, you can create reactions and choices that feel believable on the page.

We're not here for perfect characters. We're creating characters with depth, heart, struggles, and room to grow.

• Middle Grade Magic Workbook — https://kgauthor.myflodesk.com/middlegrademagic
• Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody — https://www.amazon.com/Save-Cat-Writes-Novel-Writing/dp/0399579745
• Sponsored by Fatal Fixer-Upper -https://a.co/d/092EOCBN

Have you been saying you want to finish writing your book — but somehow everything and everyone else keeps coming first?

If you've been struggling to create a consistent writing habit, make time to write, or turn your book idea into a finished novel — you're not alone. The problem may not be that you don't know how to write. It may be that you don't consistently come back to your book.

In this episode, I'm sharing the three reasons I believe so many aspiring authors don't finish writing their novels — including the one I've struggled with myself for years.

We'll talk about people pleasing, guilt, writing motivation, learning novel structure, and why finding a writing community matters. I'll also share why I once thought my entire kitchen had to be clean before I could write, what The Big Leap taught me about making room for my writing, why watching another episode of Poirot isn't always "research," and what bad apples, brown bananas, and the first terrible song I ever wrote have to do with finding your writing people.

We'll talk about: • Why putting everyone and everything else first can keep you from finishing your book • How to make time for writing even when the laundry, dishes, and life aren't finished • Why having a book idea isn't the same as knowing how to build a complete novel • How learning novel structure can help you move from an idea to chapters, conflict, dilemmas, and a finished story • Why guilt and shame aren't enough to create lasting writing motivation • How finding a supportive writing community can help you keep going when writing gets hard

You don't have to finish your whole novel today.

You just have to come back to your book.

Stop looking backward at all the days you didn't write. Open the manuscript, find where you left off, and keep pressing forward.

Your stories matter. And it's not too late to start.

Sponsored by Fatal Fixer-Upper -https://a.co/d/092EOCBN

The Big Leap -https://www.amazon.com/Big-Leap-Conquer-Hidden-Level-ebook/dp/B0026772QU

Have you ever opened your manuscript after your editor sent it back and thought, "Oh my gosh. Look at all these comments. Why am I even writing books?"

If editor feedback, developmental editing, or revising your novel sends your imposter syndrome into overdrive — you're not alone. I've written more than twenty books, and I still get that wave of panic when I open an edited manuscript and see all those comments waiting for me.

In this episode, I'm taking you behind the scenes of the editing process for Winter Wedding Murder and sharing actual comments from my editor — including one pretty big character-name oops!

We'll talk about how to approach editor feedback without letting overwhelm or self-doubt convince you that you're not a "real" writer. I'll also share how I break novel edits into manageable pieces, why editing takes a different kind of brain power, and why you should actually celebrate when your manuscript comes back covered in comments.

We'll talk about: • Why editor feedback can trigger imposter syndrome — even for experienced authors • How developmental editing helps uncover plot holes, missing clues, confusing details, and story problems • Why you don't have to tackle every editing comment at once • How to work through novel revisions at a pace that doesn't overwhelm you • Why an editor's suggestions don't mean you failed as a writer • The character-name mistake my editor caught in Winter Wedding Murder

Your editor didn't write the book.

You did.

They're helping you polish the story you've already created — and sometimes they're helping you remember that you've already used the name Dale in another book.

Your stories matter. And it's not too late to start.

This episode was sponsored by my free cozy mystery novella - Dead Quiet At The Library - Grab your copy - https://kgauthor.myflodesk.com/cozymystery

Or listen on Audible -https://a.co/d/0bvwGD7f

Save The Cat Writes A Novel - https://www.amazon.com/Save-Cat-Writes-Novel-Writing/dp/0399579745

How To Write A Cozy Mystery: Step By Step - https://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Cozy-Mystery-Reader-Favorite-ebook/dp/B0BLQF3PK3

Winter Wedding Murder : 👉 https://www.amazon.com/Winter-Wedding-Murder-Maplewood-Goldendoodle-ebook/dp/B0FSK57NJV