Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an exciting new monthly newsletter, especially for our podcast listeners. Every month, you’ll get an email from our podcast producer with recaps of the most recent episodes, a curated Listening List of episodes on a particular theme, and other fun goodies we only share via email. Best of all, it’s free to join! The theme for February is Romance, and you can become an insider by signing up with your email at diymfa.com/insiders.

In this episode Alana Quintana Albertson and I discuss:

• What inspired her to turn Shakespeare’s tragedy into a rom-com and how she pulled it off.
• How she kept raising the stakes for her characters, while keeping it realistic.
• Using world building to convey deeper elements of culture and community in her story.

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About Alana Quintana Albertson

Alana Quintana Albertson is a Latina bestselling romance author (her book Badass hit #3 in the entire Amazon paid store, she has had multiple novels in the top 100 paid store, and her Se7en Deadly SEALs romantic thriller serial has over one million views on the Radish fiction app). She has written thirty books and landed a three-book six-figure deal with Berkley Publishing for the upcoming Latinx romantic comedy series, Love and Tacos. The first book in the series, Ramón and Julieta, was recently optioned for television. Alana holds a Masters of Education from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Stanford University. She’s the former President of Romance Writers of America’s Contemporary Romance, Young Adult, and Chick Lit chapters. She’s the founder of the non-profit dog rescue, Pugs N Roses. She lives in Poway, California, with her husband, two sons, and too many pets.

You can find her on her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Ramón and Julieta 

When fate and tacos bring Ramón and Julieta together on the Day of the Dead, the star-crossed pair must make a choice: accept the bitter food rivalry that drives them apart or surrender to a love that consumes them.

Ramón Montez always achieves his goals. Whether that means collecting Ivy League degrees or growing his father’s fast-food empire, nothing sets Ramón off course. So when the sexy señorita who kissed him on the Day of the Dead runs off into the night with his heart, he determines to do whatever it takes to find her again.

Celebrity chef Julieta Campos has sacrificed everything to save her sea-to-table taqueria from closing. To her horror, she discovers that her new landlord is none other than the magnetic mariachi she hooked up with on Dia de los Muertos. Even worse, it was his father who stole her mother’s taco recipe decades ago. Julieta has no choice but to work with Ramón, the man who destroyed her life’s work—and the one man who tempts and inspires her.

As San Diego’s outraged community protests against the Taco King take-over and the divide between their families grows, Ramón and Julieta struggle to balance the rising tensions. But Ramón knows that true love is priceless and despite all of his successes, this is the one battle he refuses to lose.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 395

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 395: The Many Levels of Character and World Building in a Rom-com – Interview with Alana Quintana Albertson appeared first on DIY MFA.

However, as much as I truly value and enjoy this continual pursuit of knowledge, sometimes I need a break. We all need downtime while working on long projects, in between manuscripts, or even from just life in general.  

As such, this column will give you a handful of books, movies, and podcasts that are enjoyable enough to qualify as entertainment, yet still expand your base of literary knowledge. The items that will appear here are great for when you need a break from the world, lazy Sundays, or hanging with your (soon-to-be?) culturally inclined friends and family.  

Finally, I would like for you to know that, as a children’s picture book author, I am making it a point to include at least one item that is family-friendly or that can be enjoyed with school-age kids. This month’s pick masquerades as a children’s book but tells the remarkable story of the couple behind Curious George.  

That gem was found during my latest session of literary-cool-hunting, and so were these others: 

The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts by Joshua Hammer 

How did anyone pull this off? How did everyone pull this off? are the questions you’ll ask while reading through the escapades covered in this true story. 

Bad-Ass Librarians tells the harrowing story of an unassuming government archivist who, along with a network of citizens, became one of the world’s greatest smugglers of literature, saving over 350,000 Islamic and secular manuscripts from Al-Qaeda. 

This book should make all writers take pause, as it documents the undeniable evidence of just how important the written word is to a society.  

The Booksellers (1 hr 38 mins; Amazon, Apple TV, among other streamers) 

If you love bookstores, then this is the movie for you. 

It is a documentary released in 2020 and narrated by Parker Posey. This indie film gives the viewer an inside look at New York’s antiquarian book market. Watchers are given access to labyrinthine bookstores and book sellers who reside in apartments-turned-bookshops. Of course, the books themselves are objets d’art. 

Swooning is guaranteed.   

The Journey that Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey by Louise Borden 

Did you know that the manuscript for Curious George escaped, along with the author-illustrator couple, from Paris under Nazi Germany’s advancing threat? 

The husband-wife duo fled France on bicycles, traveled by train through Spain and Portugal, eventually taking a boat to Brazil. This extremely well-illustrated biography is styled as a lengthy picture book and worth checking out for the visuals alone. 

Although this book is listed as appropriate for ages 8-12, it truly makes for an interesting adult read.  

The Madman’s Library: The Greatest Curiosities of Literature by Edward Brooke-Hitching  

The Madman’s Library is a lushly illustrated collection of odd literary ephemera. It’s kind of like the Mutter Museum of books. From the chicken poet of Massachusetts to a book made of American cheese slices, this sometimes macabre compilation is wonderful to pick up and wander through if you have a few moments. 

It’s a personal favorite to consult when I need something interesting to write about and it has yet to let me down. 

WARNING: May cause excessive texting, OMGs and furious communication with other book lovers. 

Muse of Fire: A Shakespearean Road Trip (1 hr 23 mins; iTunes, Amazon, YouTube) 

It is my absolute pleasure to share this documentary with fellow DIY MFA word nerds. Muse of Fire started out as a grassroots project to explore Shakespeare’s works in contemporary times and garnered enough of a reputation to include Tom Hiddleston, Ewan McGregor, Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen and several other names you will recognize. 

From students required to learn Shakespeare, to prisoners needing something that sparks their humanity, to the formidable list of award-winning actors, they all come together for this film has it all: two friends, one crappy car, and a review of iambic pentameter.     

(If you don’t mind a movie broken up into 4 parts, you can view it for free on YouTube: Part 1   Part 2   Part 3   Part 4 Courtesy of the Ewan McGregor Vault) 

Tell us in the comments: How are you going to start your Leisure Learning this month?

Melissa Haas is the author and illustrator of Catula: The Misadventures of Dracula’s Cat and The Night Before Christmas (NOW WITH CATS), among other books. Follow Catula’s whereabouts on Instagram @CatulaTheCat or download a free coloring page at www.catulathebook.com.

The post January 2022 Leisure Learning appeared first on DIY MFA.

The fact that the play being parodied was Romeo and Juliet clinched it for me. Why? Because Romeo and Juliet is perhaps Shakespeare’s most overrated (and ridiculous) play. On one hand, this play features one of Shakespeare’s most complex, interesting and all-around badass characters (i.e. Mercutio). On the other hand, this play also centers around the star-crossed lovers–Romeo and Juliet–who might just be the two most banal, boring characters in all of literature. (In case you haven’t noticed, have very strong opinions about Shakespeare.)

I simply HAD to see how Ryan was going to apply his choose-your-own-path model to this particular play. Let’s just say, the result did not disappoint. In fact, it was even more awesome than I anticipated.

If you aren’t familiar with Ryan North’s work, he is a NYT bestselling author and cartoonist, and his first choose-your-own-path Shakespeare book, To Be or Not To Be, became Kickstarter’s most-funded publishing project when it first launched. Now with Romeo and/or Juliet he has crafted a story with over 40 quadrillion possible journeys for a reader to take. It’s sort of like a book-meets-video-game with over one hundred possible endings and original illustrations from amazing artists.

In this episode Ryan and I discuss:

• The power of memorizing poetry
• Choose-your-own-adventure and the art of storytelling
• Shakespeare’s big mistake
• Keeping track of everything when your story has many moving parts
• Making sure that your characters have choices that feel real and have an impact while coping with the reality of the world they live in.
• Engaging readers in with the text

Plus, Ryan’s #1 tip for writers.

Romeo And/Or Juliet

In this choose-your-own-path version of Romeo and Juliet, you choose where the story goes every time you read! Romeo and/or Juliet has over 40 QUADRILLION possible journeys for a reader to take. Readers can choose to play as Romeo or Juliet, as Romeo and Juliet together, as Juliet’s nurse, or even as an unlockable fourth mystery character. All of the endings—there are more than a hundred—feature original illustrations from incredible artists.

Written with the unique humor that fans of Dinosaur Comics and the Adventure Time comics know and love, Romeo and/or Juliet turns the Bard’s beloved play into fodder for madcap comedy. Shakespeare has never been this entertaining, or this weird. We can’t think of a better way to… “celebrate” the 400th anniversary (2016) of Shakespeare’s death.

To learn more about Ryan, visit his website or follow him on Twitter. If you want to get a copy of Romeo and/or Juliet (and you totally should because it’s hilarious!) we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where DIY MFA gets a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 104

(Right-click to download.)

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• Learn about their strengths and their weaknesses.
• Find out how to develop stories that create the most dramatic conflict for these archetypes.
• Discover how to implement these ideas to create memorable stories that resonate with your readers.

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If you liked this episode…

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Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome.

The post Episode 104: Gaming Shakespeare – Interview with Ryan North appeared first on DIY MFA.

Today I want to tell you about something else that I am thankful for: the ability to read Shakespeare in the original English. Shakespeare’s work has made a huge impact on me. King Lear and Twelfth Night are two of my favorite plays and his sonnets are among my very favorite poems of all time. In this episode I will be deconstructing a sonnet that is near and dear to my heart: Sonnet 90. I’ll share my interpretation with you, but I also want to hear your take. What does this sonnet mean to you? Tell me in the comments.

I’m so glad you’re here to enjoy this wonderful work of literature with me. Also, if you haven’t yet, check out the podcast page on iTunes and subscribe so you can get new episodes as soon as they’re released. Thank you so much for being part of this podcast!

As I have said previously, reading short form literature is a powerful way to strengthen your understanding of the craft of writing. Shakespeare’s sonnets are dramatic and evocative, and the themes at their heart are love, passion, and loss.

Sonnets are all fourteen-line poems. They can be structured in one of two ways:

• The Elizabethan sonnet contains three four-line stanzas followed by a couplet.
• The Petrarchan sonnet is comprised of a grouping of eight lines followed by a grouping of six lines.

Here is Sonnet 90 for you to read and analyze along with me. Listen to the episode for my analysis of this poem.

Then hate me when thou wilt, if ever, now,
Now while the world is bent my deeds to cross;
Join with the spite of fortune, make me bow,
And do not drop in for an after-loss:
Ah, do not, when my heart hath ’scaped this sorrow,
Come in the rearward of a conquered woe.
Give not a windy night a rainy morrow,
To linger out a purposed overthrow.
If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last,
When other petty griefs have done their spite
But in the onset come; so shall I taste
At first the very worst of fortune’s might;
And other strains of woe, which now seem woe,
Compared with loss of thee will not seem so. 

I could talk for hours just about this one sonnet but now I want to hear from you. What do you think about this sonnet? Does it resonate with you and ring true? Do you have anything to add or a different interpretation? Share your thoughts below. Also, is there a poem that has made an impact on you? Please tell me in the comments.

Link to Episode 18

(Right-click to download.)

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!

If you’re traveling this weekend, I hope you have a safe journey and wonderful holiday. Next week we’ll be doing a post-NaNoWriMo episode about revisions so be sure to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome.

The post Episode 18: Deconstructing Shakespeare’s Sonnet 90 appeared first on DIY MFA.