For months, my team and I have been secretly working behind-the-scenes on a new project that is truly epic. It’s called the Writer Igniter Thriller Summit and it happens one week from today.

This Thriller Summit is essentially like a free online conference. I’ve hand-picked nine amazing thriller authors who I interview about different aspects of the writing craft and publishing process. As you can see from the picture, this line-up is a veritable who’s who of thriller awesomesauce.

This event is happening between June 7 – 15 and the interviews will be available for a limited time. Make sure you sign up so you can get updates when each new interview airs.

Want in? It’s free to join. Sign up here.

Thriller Summit FAQs

What’s a telesummit and how does it work?

The Thriller Summit is like an online conference, and like its live counterparts, the sessions are only available for a limited window of time. Each day during the summit, we’ll release a new interview, which will be live for 72 hours. During that window you can access it and listen as many times as you want. And get this, it’s FREE!

After the 72 hours are up, the interview will go into the DIY MFA interview vault and will no longer be available to the public. If you miss an interview, don’t panic. I’ll be including these interviews in (spoiler alert!) our new DIY MFA membership community, which I’m unveiling later this summer.

Cool beans, but how do I access the interviews?

Sign up with your email here and you’ll get email reminders each day of the summit with a link to each interview as it goes live. You’ll also get some awesome bonus materials.

When you sign up you’ll get a sneak peek at our schedule so you’ll know exactly which day your favorite author’s interview goes live. Plus you’ll get a bonus worksheet to go with the interviews, so you can take notes as you listen, and put those ideas into action.

Why a time limit? Why can’t we have these for-EVAH?

I know, limits suck, right? Trust me, I know exactly how you feel. Aside from pragmatic reasons (i.e. DIY MFA needs to be a sustainable business and keep the lights on, etc.) there’s another very important reason why we’re limiting the access to these interviews.

While word nerds (myself included) are amazing, brilliant human beings, most of us are also champion procrastinators. I’ve been doing this DIY MFA thing for a long time, and I’ve learned that for most people in this community, an open-ended window can be the kiss of death. The minute we say “I’ll do it tomorrow” we might as well be saying “I’ll do it never.”

We word nerds are busy people, but when we set our minds to something and carve out the time, we get things done. So think of the limited access window as my way of giving you a loving nudge (or shove) away from procrastination. These interviews are among the best I’ve ever recorded, so I really want you to take advantage of this opportunity.

OMG I want the box set! Can I get one?

At the moment, the only way to access these interviews is to listen to them live, or down the road when we open up our members area. As it stands, I don’t have plans to package these as a box set.

That said, I have been known to listen to my word nerds and change things up if you really want me to do something different. I may not listen to authority, but I definitely listen to you guys. So if you feel strongly about this, drop me and my team an email at support[at]DIYMFA[dot]com.

The Thriller Summit starts next week!

Click here to join.

The post Writer Igniter Thriller Summit appeared first on DIY MFA.

I’m so glad you’re here with me today because have a great interview to share with you.

Today Matthew Palmer and I talk about balancing writing and life and creating compelling characters. Matthew is a twenty-five-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service and has worked as a diplomat all over the world.

For his most recent book, The Wolf of Sarajevo, he taps his own considerable experience in the turbulent region to tell a based-in-reality story that feels like it could almost be ripped from the headlines. In this episode, Matthew and I talk about what it’s like to pull inspiration from your own life’s work and craft it into gripping fiction.

In this episode Matthew and I discuss:

• The parallels between writing and diplomacy
• Understanding others’ points of view
• Developing distinct characters
• Finding the time to write

Plus, Matthew’s #1 tip for writers.

Link to Episode 98

(Right-click to download.)

Resources:

About The Wolf of Sarajevo: Twenty years after the end of the wars in the Balkans, the fighting has stopped in Bosnia…but the war is far from over. In his latest riveting international thriller, The Wolf of Sarajevo, career American diplomat and acclaimed novelist Matthew Palmer taps his own considerable experience in the turbulent region to tell a based-in-reality story that could be on the verge of grabbing international headlines. With close personal ties to the Balkans, Palmer portrays a scenario of violent conflict where peace is fragile and nationalism runs deep.

If you want to purchase The Wolf of Sarajevo, we hope you’ll consider doing so via this Amazon affiliate link, where DIY MFA gets a small commission at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

About the Author: Matthew Palmer is a twenty-five-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and is currently serving as the Director for Multilateral Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of Asian and Pacific Affairs. He has worked as a diplomat all over the world and while on the secretary of state’s Policy Planning staff, he helped design and implement the Kimberley Process for certifying African diamonds as “conflict free.”

Matthew’s career as a diplomat has certainly informed and inspired his fiction and he can certainly speak to the challenges of juggling writing with a very busy “day job.” Writing is also practically woven into his DNA, since he comes from a family of excellent thriller authors, including his father Michael Palmer, and brother Daniel Palmer. To learn more about Matthew Palmer, you can visit the Penguin Random House website, or follow him on Facebook.

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, leave a review, and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available. Also, if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please share!

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome.

The post Episode 98: How to Juggle Writing and Life – Interview with Matthew Palmer appeared first on DIY MFA.