We are continuing our quest to craft complex characters and build dynamic worlds that readers with marginalized identities can connect with. In my last column, It’s Messy in The Middle: Answering the Call, we discussed how to find the messy middle of writing underrepresented identities. In this essay, we will explore the historical context and… Read more »
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Claire Stanford. We’ll be talking about her debut novel Happy for You, a contemporary adult fiction novel grappling with tech, happiness, and what living authentically really means. Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an exciting new monthly newsletter especially for… Read more »
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Alana Quintana Albertson. We’ll be talking about her latest book, Ramón and Julieta, which happens to combine three of my favorite things: rom-coms, tacos (and other great food), and of course, Shakespeare references. Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an… Read more »
Some may look at this title and wonder, “Isn’t that a topic that applies to most any author in most any genre?” And they would be correct. Yet for those of us who write historical fiction, the question of “where to start” can, at times, feel a bit daunting. After all, we have five thousand… Read more »
Happy New Year! 2021 is behind us and I, for one, am looking toward the future with plans to blossom in new ways in my life and in my writing. To that end, I’ve decided to take this column in a new direction. In my previous posts, I covered how collaborative storytelling games can aid… Read more »
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Khanh Ha. Khanh is the author of Flesh and The Demon Who Peddled Longing. He is a seven-time Pushcart nominee, finalist for the Mary McCarthy Prize, Many Voices Project, Prairie Schooner Book Prize, and The University of New Orleans Press Lab Prize. He is the recipient of the… Read more »
Writing may seem like a solitary practice, but writers have made use of writer’s groups and feedback circles for a long time. There is incalculable value in receiving outside input about your writing. Other people can see things about your writing that you may be blind to. However, writers’ groups can only critique the work… Read more »
On an old Curly Girl greeting card taped above my desk, a woman’s red-fingernailed hand wraps around a vintage microphone. Artist Leigh Standley’s caption sprawls above the illustration: “Find Your Voice.” Find. Your. Voice. Weaned on this advice, we fiction writers know that when an otherwise well-built narrative lies comatose on the page, only a… Read more »
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Brandie June. Brandie spent most of her childhood onstage or reading, as both activities let her live in fantastic stories. She moved to Los Angeles to study acting at UCLA, and eventually branched out into costume design and playwriting. While she spends most of her free time writing,… Read more »
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Jeff Arch. Jeff grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he spent two of his high school years at a boarding school much like the one depicted in his debut novel Attachments, which we’ll be discussing today. In the ’70s, he studied film/tv/theater production at Emerson College in Boston… Read more »
