Tag: women writers
The Story Behind the Story: A Good Family
People often ask me: what was the inspiration behind your debut novel, A Good Family? Several years ago, I wrote my first book – a young adult novel – and was unable to find an agent to represent me. Frustrated, I said to myself: “I’ll show them! I’m going to write a page-turner that no […]
The Ultimate Pick-Up Line: Why Your First Sentence Matters
by Katherine Fawcett Even since that one guy got tired of hunting and gathering, sat down on a rock near the fire, waved for others to gather around, cleared his throat and said the words “Once upon a time in a land far, far away…” we’ve been suckers for a good tale. And we’re either […]
The Mill of Lost Dreams, by Lori Rohda: The Story Behind the Story
When Annie died, it left a hole in my heart that has never healed. For forty years, this petite, quiet, woman loved and guided me when my mother couldn’t. She raised me. I am literally rooted in her and draft off her amazing courage every single day. I wanted to write about Annie as a […]
Add One Mid-life Crisis To A Media Hate Narrative: The Inspiration for PRECIOUS YOU
Add one mid-life crisis to a media hate narrative: the inspiration for Precious You By Helen Monks Takhar In my twenties, I deeply resented how going for a jog involved running the gauntlet with street harassers. Before leaving my flat, I’d have to ready myself for those men who feel entitled to call at women […]
Down the Forest Path – in Sunlight and in Shadow
Inspiration for THE SHADOW BIRD by Ann Gosslin I’ve heard some writers say that story ideas hit them like a bolt of lightning. Others describe how an enticing idea came to them slowly over time, like bits and pieces of a puzzle to be solved. A character here, an important image there, as they built […]
A COOKING TOUR OF PROVENÇE
“So, who would like to join me on a traditional cooking tour to Provençe?” our culinary instructor asked one evening during a cooking class. Without hesitation, I put down the artichoke I was trimming, and my hand shot up. Could this be an answer to a dream calling my name? Less than a year before, […]
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 […]
Improving Writing Productivity Amid a Pandemic
Damyanti Biswas lives in Singapore, and supports Delhi’s underprivileged women and children, volunteering with organisations who work for this cause. Her short stories have been published in magazines in the US, UK, and Asia, and she helps edit the Forge Literary Magazine. Her novel You Beneath Your Skin will be free between 7th and 11th August […]
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