From the Porch to the Page

From the Porch to the Page: A Guidebook for the Writing Life is Charlene L. Edge's most recent book-a delightful multi-genre collection with something for every reader and writer. Edge's prose is crisp and to-the-point, her voice discerning yet collegial, speaking friend-to-friend, as she shares stories, realizations, and moments of beauty. At the heart of the collection are more than thirty short essays, containing insights into the writing craft, practical exercises, marketing tips, self-publishing advice, and recommendations of books on topics to nourish the emotional and intellectual lives of writers. As well as exploring beloved authors and poets, Edge includes her own work to illustrate and enrich her essays: short-short stories about a character, Melanie Craven, who falls into sticky but enlightening predicaments; poems on themes of growth, love, loss, nature, travel, and being a writer; and a short story about her cult experience in her award-winning, book-length memoir Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International. Beginning with "Readers Become Writers" and ending with "If You Want to Keep Writing," Edge's encouraging and gentle book guides us on a journey from porches to pages, as she highlights the vistas, detours, and delights on the writing path, along with truths we can all apply to poetry, prose, and life.