#5OnFri: Five Awesome Conference Round-Ups

Happy Fall, Word Nerds! Summer is over, and I’m not mourning. I’m a little too busy anticipating the first Chai Tea Latte of the season, sweaters, and cozy writing days. But boy, was this a busy and wonderful few months! Summer is high conference season, and as we prepared for our own writing conference this… Read more »

From Zero to Pitch in 24 Hours

In my experience, most three hour drives feel like nothing more than numb legs, backaches, and forcing myself to stop checking the clock. But leave it to my first Writer’s Digest Conference to speed that drive right up. I knew ahead of time that I was going to force my driving buddy into helping me… Read more »

How to Instantly Change Your Mind About Book Marketing

The very traits that can make someone a wonderful writer – humility, sensitivity and introspection –  can also conspire to make that same person an absolutely terrified (and ineffective) marketer. That’s a problem because, as you likely already know, the ability to market oneself and one’s books is a must for the modern writer. If this is… Read more »

Creating an Author Bio With Flash Fiction

As we have explored this year, flash fiction is more than a very short story. It is an excellent, skill-building practice. It can be used for various projects and applied to limitless assignments. One of the things everyone needs, especially writers, is an bio. When we submit work to magazines, enter contests, speak at events,… Read more »

5onFri: 5 Lessons Learned at Clarion 2015

This summer, I had the most fantabulous time at the Clarion Writer’s Workshop, doing what I love to do best—writing science fiction and fantasy. 6 weeks. 6 award-winning instructors. Critiquing 4 stories every night and writing a story every week. What did I learn from these 6 most intense weeks ever? I’m going to sneak some of these writing… Read more »

Episode 59: Finding Your Om Factor – Interview with Alka Dhillon

Hey there word nerds! Gabriela here with another exciting interview episode on DIY MFA Radio. Today I’m thrilled to share my recent conversation with Alka Dhillon, author of The OM Factor: A Woman’s Spiritual Guide to Leadership. Alka Dhillon is the founder and CEO of Technalink, one of the leading companies in the Washington Metropolitan area providing… Read more »