Hey there Word Nerds! Today we’re doing something totally new at DIY MFA Radio. We’ve had co-authors on the show before, but this is the first time we have an author-illustrator team. In this interview I talk with writer Pamela S. Turner and illustrator Gareth Hinds about their book Samurai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto… Read more »
This past week, I set myself two writing goals to accomplish every day. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I achieved my goals with no problem. But Thursday was a different story. I finished my morning writing, but when it was time to work on my afternoon project, I found myself staring down the dark tunnel… Read more »
I’ll be forever grateful to Susan Cain for making introversion cool. Her book QUIET: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking, helped millions of chatty extroverts understand why our culture’s preference for people-saturated experiences exhausts some of us. She gave an excellent Ted Talk, too. I finally felt celebrated! We introverts… Read more »
Hey there Word Nerds! I’m so glad you joined me for this episode of DIY MFA Radio because it’s going to be a juicy one. Today I’m speaking with L.S. Hilton, author of Maestra. She grew up in England and has lived in Key West, New York City, Paris, and Milan, and after graduating from… Read more »
It’s hard to say which plot point is most crucial to a story. Each has a purpose for moving our characters physically and emotionally from Point A to Point B. However, the inciting incident has a unique responsibility. It’s not just the first major event – it’s the launching pad that thrusts a character into… Read more »
I just returned from 32nd Washington Romance Writers’ Retreat. In the Company of Writers was the title of the event. In the company of family was more like it. I don’t know what it is about writers. Maybe at our core we just have the same dreams, the same goals, the same struggles. But… Read more »
In this installment of “Writer Fuel” I show my true colors in all their geeky glory. Warning: things are going to get a bit nerdy up in here. Just saying. As with previous installments, this topic first came up in the DIY MFA newsletter. If you’re already an email subscriber, you can help me choose letters that get featured here by… Read more »
Hey there Word Nerd! Today I’m thrilled to interview Megan Dowd Lambert, author of Reading Picture Books with Children and children’s literature expert. Megan is a senior lecturer at Simmons College, where she earned her master’s degree in children’s literature after completing a B.A. at Smith College. She writes for Horn Book Magazine, served on… Read more »
I talked before about the first stages of editing, from pre-round edits, to cover copy, to round one content edits. We attacked details with gusto, but moving into copy edits and final line edits, the details went microscopic. Clarity of prose, sensitivity of subject matter, echo words, punctuation—we looked at every sentence as through a… Read more »
My first book releases in less than two months. There are so many promo things I’m supposed to be doing, even though the editing was done ages ago. The list of stuff authors are supposed to do for book promotion keeps getting longer. We’re told we need more followers, more reviews. We need a website, a… Read more »
