Category: On Writing
Authors Interviewing Characters: Michelle McGill-Vargas
AMERICAN GHOUL You can’t kill someone who’s already dead. That’s what Lavinia keeps telling her jailer after—allegedly—killing her mistress, Simone Arceaneau. But how could Simone be dead when she was taking visitors shortly before? And why was her house always so dark? Lavina, a recently freed slave, met Simone, a recently undead vampire, by chance […]
Authors Interviewing Characters: Patricia Leavy, author of After the Red Carpet
“After the Red Carpet is a modern masterpiece and a perfect romance narrative from the more literary side of the book world.” —Readers’ Favorite, 5-star review “Leavy’s writing shines in its ability to delve into the emotional intricacies of a relationship, offering readers a glimpse into the characters’ heartfelt explorations of trust, understanding, and mutual support. […]
Strong Female Authors and Characters: They Can’t Ban Us All!
By Martha Engber If you follow my blog (MarthaEngber.com), you’ll know that when the Utah State Board of Education in the United States banned 13 books from all public schools (New York Times, Aug 6, 2024), I checked the list of books. All but one were written by strong female authors, and all involve strong […]
Overcoming Writer’s Block: Anne Abel
As part of a midlife career shift, I got an MFA in creative nonfiction and began working as a freelance writer. No matter what assignment an editor gave me, I could do it. Whether it required copious research or endless interviews, I did what was needed to send it in, meeting the word count and […]
On Writing Oceansong by C.W. Rose
When I think about what inspired me to write Oceansong, the first thing that comes to mind is my love for the sea and all of her mysteries. After all, the sea is the least explored place on Earth. This fascination began when I saw Disney’s The Little Mermaid for the first time, and later, […]
How Celtic Ancestry Freed My Writing Voice
By L.A. McMurray Three days after my father’s passing, I received a comforting message that my dad was, and always will be, with me. Surprisingly, it was delivered by a hot-headed Irishman driving a Ford Mustang in a murder mystery movie from 1968. Luck of the Irish? Indeed. To begin with, my birthdate coincides with […]
NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOUR CAREER: Why Failure is Good, the Great Ones Play Hurt, and Other Hard Truths : EXCERPT
Erika Ayers Badan is a self-described career “nerd” who loves to work, and it shows. Badan was called a “token CEO” in the media—in reality, she is anything but: after marketing jobs at blue-chip companies like Microsoft and AOL, she became the first CEO of Barstool Sports, transforming a rough-and-tumble sports-and-betting brand and turning it […]
TRANSFORMATION IS POSSIBLE: FROM UNSOLD MEMOIR TO A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTAL CHAPBOOKS
In June, I turned up at a friend’s house with a box of books from my publisher and a bag of props. We didn’t have a plan for my “unboxing video”, but we had three hours and a color story—hot pink, yellow, and black to match the covers. Improvising, we rushed through the house, trailed […]
Vermilion Harvest: Playtime at the Bagh by Reenita Hora: Excerpt
Reenita Hora is the unrivaled ‘Nora Ephron’ of South Asian storytelling, spinning yarns as eclectic as Mumbai’s iconic ‘Bhel Puri’ – a tantalizing concoction of flavors with an occasional bug for that extra crunch! Her stories star a motley crew of characters caught in the whirlwind of gloriously imperfect scenarios, all while stubbornly refusing to […]
Aleighsha Parke: On Writing
I first fell in love with storytelling when I was in elementary school. Reading and books were a big part of my childhood, and I always looked forward to creative writing assignments in school. But I never thought about trying to write my own stories until high school. It was a natural progression—I read hundreds […]
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