The best advice I can give anyone about writing is to remember, first and foremost, that no two writing careers are exactly the same. Yes, we're all in the same business, but it never follows a certain trail, so be ready to work hard, follow your dreams, and open your heart to the Father so He can speak His truth through you.

1) There is a book called The Christian Writer's Market. It's available on Amazon.com, and can also be ordered through your local bookstore. This lists all the different publishers' and editors' addresses, and what they're looking for. This same book also lists magazines that are accepting articles—another great way to break into the business.

2) Plan to go to the Mount Hermon Writer's Conference. It is held annually in March or April at Mount Hermon, a Christian camp in Northern California. There are all sorts of writers' classes, many authors, agents and editors go. Look for workshops on fiction and nonfiction, and you'll be able to meet editors, hear about what they want to publish, and make some important contacts. You'll be finding your place in this writing business, and you'll be surrounded by some genuinely awesome people.

3) I got published in the mid 1980s. I had submitted several proposals before then that had gotten rejected. Touch the Sky was the very first manuscript which I had actually written beginning to end. I sent it to Harlequin and my editor, Nancy Rohrer, phoned exactly five weeks later to say they wanted it. People gasp when I tell them this story, because it happened so fast for me. But I almost got published too fast, because I was literally learning to write after I had books out, after I had readers, and expectations and contracts.

Always be aware, as you are writing, that every word is a training. Never throw anything you've written away. Keep those old manuscripts hidden under your bed and know that someday they may really be worth something. It's all a part of the process. To be a writer you have to have thick skin, because rejection is tough. You have to keep submitting and submitting and submitting.

4) Be willing to do a project from start to finish. So many people talk about writing a whole book, but they never do it. If you'll be willing to push your writing all the way to the end, you will up your odds of getting published a thousandfold.

5) Read writers you admire. Read. Read. Read. When you sit at the typewriter, pretend that you are that writer you admire and let it flow. Be willing to create and not edit yourself. That's when the magic happens, and things come onto the page that you didn't plan.