Hey there word nerds! Today I am thrilled (pun intended) to have award-winning and bestselling author, Clare Mackintosh on the show to talk about her latest book. Clare spent twelve years in the Thames Valley Police Department, during which time she worked on criminal investigations. After leaving the police force in 2011, she worked as… Read more »
If you ask any romance reader what they love most about their genre, most will say it’s the happily ever after (or HEA, as it’s lovingly referred to). It’s the defining characteristic of what makes a romance a romance. It’s the number one requirement for romances novels entered in Romance Writer of America writing contests:… Read more »
Hey there word nerds! Today I’m interviewing Dale Wiley, author and Missouri attorney, who has some fascinating credits to his name. For starters, he has had a character named after him on CSI, owned a record label, been interviewed by Bob Edwards on NPR’s Morning Edition and made alternative fuel motorcycles for Merle Haggard and… Read more »
For the past six months, Bess McAllister (DIY MFA web editor) and I have been hard at work on a top secret project: scouting and on-boarding new columnists for the website. Today we are thrilled to introduce you to the four newest members of the DIY MFA team. At DIY MFA, we believe building your… Read more »
Hey there word nerds! Today I’m speaking with Elisabeth Barrett, a romance author living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Elisabeth spends her days teaching, editing, writing sexy contemporary romance, and enjoying time with her sometimes-bearded husband and three spirited kids. She is constantly perfecting that juggling act between home/work/writing, but in her free time… Read more »
I spent the first week in July at ThrillerFest, the major conference run by ITW (International Thriller Writers). As someone who spends a big chunk of each year at various conferences, I’m not supposed to play favorites, but come on we all have favorites, and it’s not like I’m choosing from among my children. So… Read more »
Hello and welcome to another episode of DIY MFA Radio! Today I’m so excited to interview best-selling author Steve Berry. Steve Berry is a New York Times and internationally bestselling thriller author and creator of the Cotton Malone series. His books have been translated into 40 languages, with more than 19 million printed copies in 51 countries. A… Read more »
I recently got a rejection saying that the agent was looking for a more “high-concept” story. What the heck does that mean, and how can I get a high concept of my very own? -Out of Ideas Here are some explanations of high concept that I’ve heard: “High concept is an old story with… Read more »
We’re in the downhill stretch now folks! If you missed any of the other genres, you can find them here: Fantasy and Romance Science Fiction, Myster, Thriller, and Horror To continue in our discussion of how to create a professional book cover for your genre, let’s take a look at: Literary and Women’s Fiction Yes,… Read more »
Thanks for sticking with me! We’ve already talked about creating a professional book package for fantasy and romance books, but we’re not done yet. Continuing on our genre cover journey, let’s dive right in: Science Fiction This genre includes several subsets for the purposes of cover design: “hard” and “soft” science, space opera, steampunk and dystopian. In… Read more »
