I’ve wanted to write a novel since the age of five. Throughout my childhood and adolescence, I started several novels but never finished a single one because life always got in the way. Adult life will throw you a curve and often make you think you’re too old for your passions. When I was 34,… Read more »
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Veena Rao. Veena Rao is the author of Purple Lotus: A Novel (She Writes Press), as well as founder, publisher and editor-in-chief of NRI Pulse, a popular Atlanta-based Indian-American news publication. She is in the Limca Book of Records as the first Indian-origin woman to edit and publish… Read more »
In case you’ve somehow missed the announcement, DIY MFA is currently hosting our Sci-Fi/Fantasy Summit! Gabriela recently sat down and interviewed 11 top Sci-Fi/Fantasy authors on topics related to the craft of writing and the process of getting published. This event began yesterday, but it’s not too late to sign up! You can sign up… Read more »
Last week, during my yearly checkup, my doctor told me that she would be retiring in February. I expressed my regret and she decided to tell me why she was leaving. “They say 2020 is the year of reflection,” she said. “I just reflected on my life and I realized that it was time to… Read more »
In the first fiction workshop I ever took, our instructor said to us, “Do you know what the difference between a really good fiction writer and you is? They make better sentences.” I knew even then that there was more of a difference between those writers and us, but his words have always stuck with… Read more »
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Sara Schaff. Sara Schaff is the author of two short story collections The Invention of Love and Say Something Nice About Me. She is a CLMP Firecracker Award Finalist in fiction and a finalist for the 2017 Next Generation Indie Book Award for short fiction. Her writing has… Read more »
I know Indigenous Peoples’ Day was back on October 12th. Heck, Canada’s National Indigenous Peoples Day was way back on June 21st, but I wanted to share some of my favourite Indigenous Science Fiction and Fantasy authors with you in the interest of diversifying your reading. Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse I first encountered Roanhorse’s… Read more »
The Truth about ROI Aside from whether to pursue the traditional publishing route or self-publish, the most frequently asked question I receive from those looking to publish is how much money my book made. The price of publishing comes in different forms – what was your cut, how many copies have you sold, has the… Read more »
We all want to be the great American novelist. But as we’re slogging through the process that is drafting, revising, getting feedback, and editing, sometimes we just need to sit down and write something new and fresh. Flash fiction, generally defined as fiction less than 1,000 words, can do that for you. Here are five… Read more »
A weird flex: I can lay claim to be as formally uneducated in our craft as just about any writer. I’ve never taken a creative writing class, any right-thinking MFA course would have discarded my application at first glance, and I remain unclear as to what a Writers’ Conference even is. Nonetheless, a memoir, a… Read more »
