It’s always been hard to explain the difference between sympathy and empathy. It’s even harder to describe being an empath versus feeling empathy, but the best I’ve been able to come up with is this: empaths are highly absorbent emotional sponges in human form. Unlike sympathy, which is essentially identifying someone’s emotional state and reacting […]
The Chaos of Covid for a Downunder Writer
It’s Narelle here. I hope and prayer everything is well in your corner of the world. In recent months we’ve all had to adjust the way we live to facilitate a safe path through the pandemic. I thought I’d share with you today an insight into my life in Australia. My part-time job is classified […]
Inspy Romance Isolation Projects
How are you? Not the pat answer you give without thinking, but the raw answer that comes from deep within after a few weeks of drastic schedule change because of a global epidemic. Me? Overall, well. I am able to focus on the health of my family here with me and in my hometown in […]
What God Always Knew + #giveaway
Greetings from Ohio, USA! I don’t know how winter fared in your region, but it was a pretty mild season in our neck of the woods. My mom, in Upstate NY, saw tulips coming up. I have a feeling those flowers will see some snow still, but overall, I can’t complain how the first few […]
A Thankful Heart (and #Giveaway)
Do you know what your calling in life is? Has it changed over the years? Do you think that there are some callings that don’t ever change? Here we are in the weeks between the Canadian Thanksgiving (October) and the American Thanksgiving (November). During this Thanksgiving season, I think about the many things I am thankful […]
Twenty-Twenty Hindsight
Do you have twenty-twenty hindsight that makes you look at your own life and circumstances more critically than usual? Do you think of questions that begin with any of these starters? It would be easier now if I had… Things would be different now if we were… I wish I never did… Those things crossed […]
If music be the food of love?
Okay, I promise those of you who know the quote, I’m not going to misquote Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night! When Duke Orsino says If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die, he wants so much music played he gets sick of […]
Herein is Love… (and #Giveaway)
Suddenly, it’s February. Valentine’s Day is almost here. So I felt like I need to talk about…LOVE! As an author of Christian Romance (and Christian Romantic Suspense, but that’s outside the scope of this blog), I keep in mind that, at the end of the day, I am writing about two people falling in love […]
What Resolutions?
And here we are. It’s already eleven days into 2019, friends. Some will say “Hooray!” and some will say “Yikes!” Have you executed your new year resolution yet? Or did you decide to not have any new year resolution this time around? Even though I like checklists, the one thing I try to avoid at […]
My 2018 Writing Retreat – Gold Coast, Australia plus #giveaway | Narelle Atkins
Last month I was fortunate to have the opportunity to visit with my writing friends Andrea Grigg (pictured, right) and Catherine Hudson (pictured, center) for a week long writing retreat. The retreat was timed to coincide with Andrea’s birthday celebrations on the weekend. We stayed in Andrea’s home on the gorgeous Gold Coast in sunny […]