Cynthia Hilston – Author & Blogger

by Kelsie Engen

What is one valuable lesson you’ve learned since you started writing?

That’s a hard one, because I feel like I’ve learned many things the more I write.

In fact, writing is one of those things that makes you learn, even if you want to or not.

Or perhaps it just takes an extraordinarily stubborn person to not learn something while learning a new skill in order to truly not learn anything new. ; -)

So in the interest of brevity, I’ll share the three top lessons I’ve learned as a writer.

How exciting to see 19 entries for what became a Halloween-themed flash fiction contest! My students regularly create a flash story as part of my class, and a good competition throws our motivation into high gear. Thank you to my blogging friends, writing friends, and friend-friends who participated and made the collection of stories diverse and compelling. I hope they were as fun for you to write as they were for me to read.

Many thanks to our judge, Laura Kennelly. I always appreciate the objectivity of blind judging (no names/credentials associated with the entries).

Laura worked as a freelance arts columnist and reporter for the Morning Journal in Lorain, Ohio, and served as associate editor for BACH, a scholarly journal about J. S. Bach and his circle, published by the Riemenschneider Bach Institute at Baldwin-Wallace College. At the University of North Texas, she was editor of The 

Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

Galatians 3:22-25

Having stated his case, Paul is now moving to the climax of his letter in this section that begins with 3:22 and continues through 4:7. You’ll see his tone change from frustration to concern as we go, but first, you’ll see the grandeur of what it means to be in Christ.

In these three verses, note that Paul is giving an explanation of the role that the Law played as a “guardian.”  That’s an interesting way to explain it, don’t you think? A “guardian” isn’t a permanent arrangement, for when the ‘child’ is grown, he or…

What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”  So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

Galatians 4:1-7

Sonship! I’m not really sure that is a proper English word, spell check doesn’t like it, that’s for sure, but I must admit…

Writing is something I’ve always felt drawn to. I’d read a book and think, yeah, I could write a book…someday. I actually thought I could write a better book than a lot of those I read. After all, writers do need a bit of ego, or in many cases they possess a lot of ego. With a huge heaping helping of humility, I believe I fall somewhere in the middle. Perhaps some of my friends would disagree. But with all that aside, the someday arrived. I sat down and wrote a book. I let it ferment in a drawer for ten years until I pulled it out, dusted it off, and not having a clue as to what to expect, walked through the doors of a conference room at my local library, and the heads of three men snapped around, with mouths agape they stared at me. “Who is this…