For over 24 years, Associate Editor Susan King has served at The Upper Room, a daily-devotional magazine that reaches millions of readers in more than 100 countries. One of her greatest joys has been representing The Upper Room every year at several of 23 different Christian writers conferences in the U.S. and Canada.
Two years ago, she retired from 27 years of teaching English and feature-writing classes, most recently for Lipscomb University but also for Biola University and Abilene Christian University. Formerly, she served as writer, book editor, and radio-program producer/on-air talent for The Institute of Scriptural Psychology; wrote magazine features as a freelance writer; and functioned as a seminar facilitator in leadership and group dynamics.
Susan will be teaching two workshops this year: Turning Personal Experience into a Devotional Message and
Finding Our Creativity and Setting it into Motion.
Visit the Workshop page to learn more.
We asked Susan a few questions to help you get to know her a bit.
How do you deal with writer’s block? I freewrite or brainstorm. I put the topic of the article—or chapter—at the top of am MSW file, then for 10-15 minutes type everything that comes to mind about that topic—without stopping to edit myself./Then, I isolate the good ideas and, in turn, put each of those sub-topics at the top of a new file and go through the process with each one.
Do you read for relaxation? If so, what authors do you keep close by? I love mysteries—especially cozies—but also police procedurals, political intrigue, and law-firm settings. My favorites include Carolyn Hart, Cleo Coyle, Rex Stout, Laurie R. King, Lisa Scottolini, Robert K. Tanenbaum, David Baldacci, and David Rosenfelt.
Do you have a favorite scripture, if so, how has it helped you? Just as with most categories of favorites, I have a hard time narrowing them down./ Romans 8:28 is a perennial favorite because it gets at the heart of living as a Christian./In my teen years, 1 Corinthians 10:13 helped keep me on the straight and narrow. Ever since the first time I was interviewed for a magazine feature, I have quoted Ps. 37:4 because I desired to be an editor in my high-school and college days but didn’t know how so I set aside that desire for decades until God brought me to my first editing position and then my second long-term position (24+ years) at The Upper Room—long after I had stopped looking. Ironically, today I’m back to the same Psalm but a different passage—37:5-9—which is helping me to back off and put everything in God’s hands
Visit the Upper Room’s website to find out more about writing for them.