The novella is the comeback kid of literature. (Just ask The Atlantic Monthly and Forbes magazines.) And it’s brought a sidekick, the novelette, along for its return. Of course, I couldn’t be happier. I love novellas. Which comes as no surprise, I’m sure. I bet you love novellas too but don’t realize it. Have you… Read more »
Two of my favorite things to do are travel and spend time in bookstores. Every trip to a bookstore holds the possibility of discovering my new favorite book, author, or both. When I walk into a bookstore, I am happily transported into another world, even if just for an hour or so. Pair this with… Read more »
My kids will be officially young adults in a few weeks, when my son turns eighteen. This threshold into adulthood has stirred up memories from their early childhood. How I sang nursery rhymes to my daughter and had to change the genders of all the heroes in her bedtime stories as I read. How my… Read more »
My next few articles will act as a deep dive into specific short form works. We’ll examine a piece from each short form and dive deep into its inner workings to find the path to success in our own short form pieces. Last month at the Looking Glass Rock Writers Conference, I rediscovered mystery and… Read more »
I adore poetry. Not only do I write poems and have been fortunate enough to have several published, but I also read this brief but powerful form of literature extensively. And I’m willing to bet that many word nerds read (and maybe write) poetry as well. In fact, fellow DIY MFA columnist Brenda Patterson often… Read more »
Graphic Medicine is a growing subgenre among books usually shelved as graphic novels. The driver for this is, in part, modern medicine’s penchant for making everything seem frightening and incomprehensible. Graphic medicine seeks to make clear all the gobbledygook that doctors write and say to describe medical conditions to their patients. I do my own… Read more »
Are you insecure about your art or grammar? Do you need help with deep point of view or writing children’s books? Are you looking for a powerful tool to help your brand? I have five books that can help you through your insecurity and teach you what you need to know to grow as a… Read more »
Greek Independence Day is right around the corner! The ancient Greeks are well known for their contributions to our society, but Greeks of the modern age have their own accomplishments to celebrate. Not only did they win their independence from the Ottoman Empire and make the Nazis’ stay in Greece seriously unpleasant, but they’ve also… Read more »
Unlike fashion, books can’t become so-last-year (unless they started out as the button-down jumpsuit of the literary world). I browsed through books with pictures released in 2018 and below are four of my micro-reviews. I tried to cast a wide net, since there are so many subgenres of what for a long time were just… Read more »
It’s necessary for a writer to get out and view the world through new perspectives. Sometimes that means observing the regulars at your usual coffee shop or talking to folks in a different part of town, and sometimes it means undertaking something more substantial, something long enough to get lost in. A long journey can… Read more »
