I came from a family of great storytellers. Growing up I saw first-hand how stories came about and then took on a life of their own. Some occurrences, which at the time, may have been harrowing experiences, would later be retold as a lighthearted story repeated with laughter and joy at family gatherings. The segments… Read more »
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Jeffrey James Higgins. We’ll be talking about his closed setting thriller novel, Furious: Sailing Into Terror. Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an exciting new monthly newsletter especially for our podcast listeners. Every month, you’ll get an email from our… Read more »
“What about writing about friends and family?” Some version of this question comes toward the end of almost every personal essay class I teach. We’ve already discussed interrogation and discovery as we write. We’ve thought about beginnings and endings. We’ve considered scene, summary, and reflection. We’ve explored where to find ideas. We’ve spent time engaged… Read more »
Creating Your Logo, the Arts & Crafts Way After some enjoyable downtime over the summer, I’m back building my small business with renewed energy. So, I decided to start with tackling some of the areas that I’ve had resistance with in the past – primarily setting up my first website and drafting and designing the… Read more »
Happy Autumn, word nerds! Fall has officially arrived and in just a few days, we will be entering perhaps the most magical month of the year: October. Can you feel the sparkle in the air? My cat and I certainly can (see bio). While not everyone celebrates Halloween, October is a particularly special month for… Read more »
The main character in my novel, Andrea Hoffman Goes All In, is an institutional equity salesperson. Don’t be alarmed if you don’t know what that is. Neither did I until I became one. But it is important that my readers understand the basics of the job and some facts about the stock market and investing… Read more »
Someone once asked me at a reading what I would say to an aspiring writer, and I answered “craft your pain.” I believe a story can uplift, amuse, and encourage, but no matter how lucky you are, by birth or chance, everyone experiences grief. Everyone knows loss, and everyone needs, at one time or another,… Read more »
Today, Lori is interviewing Helen Scheuerer. They’ll be talking about some of the lessons in her new book How to Write a Successful Series. Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an exciting new monthly newsletter especially for our podcast listeners. Every month, you’ll get an email from… Read more »
Notes of a Desolate Man by Chu T’ien-wen was translated by Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-Chun Lin. In my search for gay Asian literature, specifically, I discovered several compelling texts, translated to English from writers of Filipino, Chinese, Vietnamese, and other nationalities. Notes of a Desolate Man is Taiwanese, which I thought an appropriate place… Read more »
The creative life is filled with magic, passion, and adventure. This is the truth. Writing, like reading, transports a soul. This is also true. Even if you’re only in it for the money and fame (ha, ha), if you keep at it, you will discover things about yourself and the world you could know in… Read more »
