Tag: featured

Raising Mental Health Awareness: Writing Jackson

Raising Mental Health Awareness: Writing Jackson

When is the last time each of us openly discussed mental illness with friends or family members? As a parent, can we speak honestly about our fears and desperation when one of our own children is living with this debilitating disease? Can we comfortably talk about it ourselves if we are the ones in crisis? […]

March 7, 2021 | By | Reply More
Ruchira Khanna: Humor In Writing

Ruchira Khanna: Humor In Writing

I write contemporary fiction genre with themes that revolve around the facts of life.   Bowled but Not Out (BbNO) has a subject matter revolving around second chances. Often, an individual who has been let down the first time from a dysfunctional relationship will not have the courage to stand up and look out for another […]

March 6, 2021 | By | Reply More
THE LAST ONE HOME: Excerpt

THE LAST ONE HOME: Excerpt

The Last One Home by Victoria Helen Stone, coming from Lake Union Publishing on 3/30, A razor-sharp novel of suspense about the lies families tell―and those we choose to believe―by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of Jane Doe. Lauren Abrams wants nothing to do with her damaged mother, whose spurious testimony sent Lauren’s father to […]

March 6, 2021 | By | Reply More
Reflections on The Novice Author at Eighty, Now Eighty -One

Reflections on The Novice Author at Eighty, Now Eighty -One

One year ago, I wrote about the novice author becoming eighty. That novice author is me. Now as I approach a year to the day, I am eighty-one on the cusp of launching my new novel “Out of Place”. I posed a question to myself back then, in the words of Mary Oliver: Tell me […]

March 5, 2021 | By | 3 Replies More
If Brevity is the Soul of Wit, Can I Ever Write a Funny Book?

If Brevity is the Soul of Wit, Can I Ever Write a Funny Book?

By Audrey Burges My writing group’s conversation started, as it often does, with a question: can I write a funny novel?  The topic started because I had been trying and failing to expand my satire writing into a full book. My most recent attempt to write a “lighthearted romantic comedy” took a hard left toward […]

March 5, 2021 | By | Reply More
HOW I KEPT GOING IN THE FACE OF REJECTION, AND HOW YOU CAN TOO

HOW I KEPT GOING IN THE FACE OF REJECTION, AND HOW YOU CAN TOO

Elizabeth Breck It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. I had written a novel—a murder mystery. I had gotten a literary agent in less than two months, which is a superhuman feat as anyone who has attempted to get a literary agent will attest. We edited the novel, and then […]

March 4, 2021 | By | 2 Replies More
How to be a Nose for Characters

How to be a Nose for Characters

Near my home, a world-class vineyard and winery nestles into a pastoral valley limned by blue mountains. Yes, Virginia, more than fifty award-winning vineyards make the central part of our state a destination for oenophiles. At Keswick Vineyards, there’s a popular annual competition in which wine club members are invited into the “sacred” cellars. There, […]

March 3, 2021 | By | Reply More
Tammy Euliano on writing Fatal Intent 

Tammy Euliano on writing Fatal Intent 

Tammy Euliano on writing Fatal Intent  Embarking on the writing of a novel is a truly novel (ha!) experience. As a physician, researcher and teacher, who wrote extensively throughout my career in academic medicine, including an introductory anesthesiology textbook with my mentor, I assumed the words would flow and a book would appear. I couldn’t […]

March 2, 2021 | By | Reply More
But what about Penelope?

But what about Penelope?

I have read Homer’s The Odyssey; I have studied it; I have taught it, yet at the end of every reading of the epic story, I always find myself staring at the ceiling in the middle of the night asking myself the same question. But what about Penelope? Don’t get me wrong, in classical literature, […]

March 2, 2021 | By | Reply More
Heather Frese Interviews Evie Austin of The Baddest Girl on the Planet

Heather Frese Interviews Evie Austin of The Baddest Girl on the Planet

“Frese debuts with an impressive examination of small-town island life in coastal North Carolina . . .  dynamic structure and strong voice . . . Readers will find lots to love.” —Publishers Weekly Heather Frese Interviews Evie Austin of The Baddest Girl on the Planet Heather Frese: Hi, Evie. Let’s get started. Hatteras Island, North […]

March 2, 2021 | By | Reply More