Rae's Writing Cafe

So let's do it . . . let's talk Valentine's Day. My husband and I are not big fans of Valentine's Day. Why? Well, we feel every day should be a day to love your spouse , to do kind things for them, and so on. We practice this as a couple...actually, maybe 'practice' isn't the right word--it's now something we just do for each other. I'll never forget walking into church that one Sunday morning after getting back from our honeymoon. Several couples made their way to us saying something to the effect of, "Welcome back! Now that the honeymoon is over, real life begins ," and "This honeymoon won't last ." I remember walking away and glancing at my new husband. He returned my same awkward smile and furrowed brow expression. Later, in the privacy of our car ride home, we shared what we thought of those comments. And what we shared that day became our standard for the future of our marriage . Negative comments and words of utt

This post just couldn't wait. In fact, I could hardly contain myself to even fathom waiting until today to post it. This past weekend my husband and I had a long overdue date night. I'd been wanting to see this movie but hadn't had the chance yet, so when my in-laws offered to watch the kids . . . well, you know . . . We are frequent movie-goers, and we've seen good movies, great movies, and movies that have disappointed. Other than classic, vintage musicals (i.e. Seven Brides For Seven Brothers) we're not big fans of modern musicals. And we are not fans of "R" ratings, perversions, burlesque, erotica, and other movies of those sort. So when we find a "good" movie that's fun for the family to watch we are fans that follow through. And this is where I'll begin my review of... THE GREATEST SHOWMAN Up until I saw this movie I had not even heard any of the compositions from it (except for what was shown on the movie trailers)--and I

If you've followed my writing path in the last 5 years than you've probably noticed that I've "gone dark" these last few months.  Never fear. Sometimes the writing route takes a detour. Why? Because life happens. For the majority of the Christian Author population, many female authors are moms. Some are new moms, others are well-seasoned, and most are mothers to grown children.  Me? I'm somewhere in the middle. Just when I think I have a handle on this whole mom business, whoop! I've been thrown a curve ball!  By now, you'd think this mom-of-5 would have the routine down pat. I mean, how many other moms come to me for some one-on-one/woman-to-woman/mom-to-mom advice? I must have it all under control, right? Well, sort of.  Being mom is tough work. It's being on call, on duty, 24/7--no weekends, no holidays, no 2 hour delays. Throw in the fact that I've got to somehow get one novel and two novellas written in the next 10 months, and I

Writing a book is much more complicated than it seems. Perhaps that's why I receive so many queries ever year from aspiring authors who ask the question, "How do I get published?" "Where do I start?" and, "Where do I go from here?" I never tire from these inquiries because I was there once. I was the one asking all the questions and wrapping my mind around the intricacies of the novel writing process. How is one to learn the answer without posing the question, right? --And it's good that you DO ask those questions. You never want to jump into the publishing pool without knowing what lurks beneath the surface--there are sharks. And those sharks will make or break your future writing career.  But I'm getting ahead of myself. That's another article for a future post. So, you want to know how to get your book idea published. Let me give you the same advice I give to every single aspiring writer who comes my way. Whether you have the nex

Once each year a small group of writers and authors come together for a day of retreat and rejuvenation. Of course, I am one of those authors who impatiently awaits this day. This year's Writing to Inspire mini-conference consisted of just 3 writing sessions led by authors, Roseanna M. White , Carrie Fancett Pagels , and myself ( Rachel D. Muller ) with author Rita Gerlach as our facilitator. To our delight, this year's conference grew in number, selling out all seats. We knew God was planning to do great things by this one-day writer's retreat.  And great things did come! Roseanna taught the rules of writing and when it's okay to break them. Everyone has questions when it comes to grammatical writing and dialogue. When we should intrude as author and when to let our story speak for itself. In her session, she cleared up many of those inconsistencies between English 101 and authorship.  With a Ph.D. in Psychology, Carrie Fancett Pagels taught the art of intervie

I love how the aroma of fresh book releases leads me to another great read! At the beginning of the year I made a point to keep a list of the top 10 books of the  year. So far that list has grown, but this month a new leader has topped off that list.   I picked up Rachel Hauck's Once Upon A Prince because of author's fantastic reviews--word of mouth so-to-speak. I'm not a big reader on modern romances but my mind is always open to something new. And from what I heard, this book was "something new".  I loved it. Plain and simple, I could NOT put this book down. I wasn't satisfied until I knew what path the hero and heroine chose to take. Rachel Hauck had all the elements, ingredients, and personalities to create a beautifully written and woven story of secret identities, damsel in distress, and two worlds colliding together in a match that was sure to crash and burn. If one were to ask me which book to pick up right now I'd have to say, Once Upon