Hey there word nerds! Today I am so excited to have Michael Zadoorian on the show! Michael is an author and recipient of numerous awards such as the Michigan Notable Book award, and the Kresge Artist Fellowship. His writing has appeared in several prestigious journals including The Literary Review and American Short Fiction, as well… Read more »
We writers are always urged to find our voice in writing. Develop our voice. Be true to our voice. But in the middle of all of that furor over voice, what voice is often gets lost. As readers, we have favorite authors. We form fierce attachments to their work. Each new novel, collection of short… Read more »
Earlier this month, I was invited to be part of a career fair at the school where I teach. The fair administrators wanted me to talk to the third, fourth and fifth grade students about balancing writing with my teaching job, how I’ve been published, and why the students should consider a writing career for… Read more »
Theme is one of the most important parts of a writing a book — but it’s also hard to execute without feeling like you are beating the reader over the head with “and the moral of this story is…” Thankfully, there are a few tricks to incorporating theme into your first draft that don’t involve… Read more »
Hey there word nerds! Today I have the pleasure of interviewing author Cynthia Grady on the show! Cynthia has earned master’s degrees in Children’s Literature, Library Science, and the Classics. She taught elementary school in her home state of California and was a children’s librarian for seventeen years before relocating to New Mexico where she… Read more »
Last year, I wrote a two-part series on The Hero’s Journey. In the second of those columns I mentioned discovering Kim Hudson’s The Virgin’s Promise and vowed to return to the topic once I’d had a chance to study the book. Now that I’ve done my homework, I’m going to write another two-part series on… Read more »
Ah, revenge. It’s one of the classic literary masterplots, where the protagonist believes he’s been wronged and seeks to retaliate against the antagonist. But did you know that revenge can also be a literary theme? How it manifests through the plot and characters will depend on what kind of story the author wants to tell…. Read more »
Sometimes even the best of intentions can go wrong. You have a plan to write, but then Monday turns into Friday and your goal is nothing but a distant memory, cast aside for the completion of daily errands. Or you pull up your writer’s chair and sink in with ideas flowing, but the doorbell chimes… Read more »
OMG word nerd, I am so excited to share today’s post with you. For months, my team and I have been secretly working behind-the-scenes on a new project that is truly epic. It’s called the Writer Igniter Thriller Summit and it happens one week from today. This Thriller Summit is essentially like a free online… Read more »
Today I am so excited to be speaking with NoNieqa Ramos on the show! NoNieqa is an award-winning educator, literary activist, and writer of “intense” young adult literature. She is also a passionate supporter of the #weneeddiversebooks and #ownvoices movements. Her debut novel The Disturbed Girl’s Dictionary has gotten stunning reception including a Booklist starred… Read more »
