[Editor’s Note: As a part of DIY MFA’s ongoing mission to promote unique voices, regular columnist, Sara Farmer, has been conducting a limited series of interviews featuring authors with unique and diverse voices. You can check out her past interviews of Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Marcie Rendon, Ausma Zehanat Khan and Adam Smyer.] About Sheena Kamal Sheena… Read more »
Hello, readers! I’m so excited to share with you my interview with Finola Austin, an historical fiction author who just published her debut novel in early August 2020. Finola and I connected at the Writer’s Digest Conference in 2018 and I’ve eagerly cheered her querying and publishing successes. Finola has some fantastic tips for writers,… Read more »
[Editor’s Note: As a part of DIY MFA’s ongoing mission to promote unique voices, regular columnist, Sara Farmer, has been conducting a limited series of interviews featuring authors with unique and diverse voices. You can check out her past interviews of Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Marcie Rendon, and Ausma Zehanat Khan.] About Adam Smyer Adam Smyer is… Read more »
[Editor’s Note: As a part of DIY MFA’s ongoing missions to promote unique voices, regular columnist, Sara Farmer, has been conducting a limited series of interviews featuring authors with unique and diverse voices. You can check out her past interviews of Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Marcie Rendon.] About Ausma Zehanat Khan Ausma Zehanat Khan is the… Read more »
Can poetry change the world? Just ask Andrei Voznesensky, a Russian rock-star poet who sold out stadiums for his poetry readings in the 1960s. Yes. Stadiums. Voznesensky said, “If you want to change the world’s spirit, I will suggest that only poetry can do this.” Poetry Is Play Poetry, for the most part, is playful,… Read more »
There are years I barely remember – what happened to all 365 days of grade four? The only thing I remember is Mrs Vanbuskirk getting so mad she yelled at me in front of the class. I remember her white coat with the red embroidered designs of polar bears. She had impossibly black hair and… Read more »
Why vote? I never ask myself this question and here’s why. At nineteen, I went on my first trip abroad. It was Fall 1980. My plan was to traipse across Europe with my bestie, starting in October, have grand adventures, become more worldly, and be home by Christmas. I thought I had prepared for the… Read more »
During an interview for the promotion for my most recent book, it dawned on me we have never actually discussed, in this column, the relationships between “pure” historical fiction and the adjacencies that might be either sub-genres or just tangentially related. The interviewer asked how historical fantasy differs from historical fiction – and answering that… Read more »
If you’ve been following my last two articles on scene analysis, you know how valuable I believe it is for writers to understand how to determine if a scene either advances the plot and/or develops the character(s). This is especially important if it is the opening chapter of a novel. Before I became a Certified… Read more »
Shortly after I submitted my last Speculations, COVID-19 made its presence felt. The world shut down and we all self-isolated and waited for health authorities to tell us that the danger had passed. It hasn’t. Then May 25, 2020 arrived, and 8 minutes and 46 seconds changed everything. Though George Floyd was not the first,… Read more »
