Category: On Writing
Intuitive Writing and Character Formation
Inspiration is a funny thing. Mysterious and mystical, it’s difficult to know where it comes from. And unless one writes biographical fiction, characters are inspired by something. Before I started writing books, I imagined that somehow characters formed by themselves without too much effort, as if they leapt onto the page fully formed. Even when […]
AUTHORS INTERVIEWING CHARACTERS: MELONY TEAGUE
A PROMISE TO KEEP: Research librarian Savannah Sanderson wants to escape into her happily-ever-after novels with their larger-than-life fictional heroes. But a promise to her late husband has her attending her dreaded twenty-year high school reunion, drinking ghastly punch, and taking desperate measures just to keep her vow, even if she has to hide behind […]
How Writer’s Block Enriched My Life
Every writer experiences some form of writer’s block. For some, it’s the inability to come up with a topic to write about at all, even though they desperately want to write something. For others, it’s the blank next-page, not knowing where to go next in the midst of a piece that was moving along but […]
Authors Interviewing Characters: Sarah Steele
Sarah Steele is the author of THE MISSING PIECES OF Nancy Moon, in which Flo Connelly recreates a vintage wardrobe from a box of 1962 dress patterns, and travels around Europe to find out what happened to the woman who originally made them. Sarah originally trained as a classical musician, and before writing this, her debut novel, she was […]
CHARACTER INTERVIEWS: LAURA JAMISON
ALL THE RIGHT MISTAKES (on sale 8/4, She Writes Press) is an uplit novel about the relatable messiness of adult friendship and life ambitions by Laura Jamison, in the vein of Camille Pagán’s I’m Fine and Neither Are You and Allison Pearson’s I Don’t Know How She Does It. Five Dartmouth college friends are all approaching forty at various points […]
Why My Readers Inspire Me
Writers are complex individuals; we are inspired by many different things. The world around us is a constant source of stimulation and we derive our ideas from people, places, current events, influences from our own lives. But if you ask a writer the question who do you write for, the answer will often be ‘I […]
Ali Mercer: Writing My Mother’s Choice
When I was four years old I was knocked off my feet by a wave on a beach in north Cornwall and my dad, who was a strong swimmer, promptly went into the sea to get me out. A couple of years after that my parents separated and then divorced, and I didn’t see all […]
The Kitchen is My Refuge, By Meera Ekkanath Klein
Self-reliance and simplifying one’s life has never been more attractive. With Shelter-in-Place orders, there seems to be a need to find that magical inner combo of Marie Kondo and wise grandmother. Old-time wisdom, especially in the kitchen, is in high demand right now. I’m a product of my family and so when I need inspiration […]
How Studying Psychology Has Influenced My Writing
This is a ‘what came first – the chicken or the egg’ kind of question for me, or as my daughter asked me last week – the seed or the tree? Did my study of psychology influence my writing, or did my love of stories and characters develop into a love of psychology? Even as […]
A Life Of Missteps Leads To First Book After Age 50
A pair of borrowed four-inch heels with black organza ruffles inspired me to write my book, Rules for the Southern Rulebreaker: Missteps and Lessons. Actually, falling off of those borrowed four-inch heels onto then President Barack Obama inspired me. Mishaps like this happened throughout my life and when I recounted them to friends, co-workers and […]
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