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 »
What is it about a book that compels readers to stay up far later than they should on a weeknight? What makes a story a so-called page turner? Unputdownable. Why is it we have trouble getting to the end of one book, yet we fly through another? The answers have a lot to do with… Read more »
I hit a wall halfway through writing my debut novel. This is not unusual; as writers, this happens to most of us at one time or another. When I get blocked, it’s often only for a few days. I know all the tricks to fix the stoppered bottle of my brain: get outside, go for… Read more »
Since the onset of the 21st century, writing has undoubtedly evolved in a lot of remarkable ways. Now, more than ever, writers from all niches have access to more resources to help them create genuinely outstanding literature. While the scope of available writing tools might have expanded and access to resources increased, the fundamental principles… Read more »
As human beings, our work is very important. Choosing a career is one of the biggest decisions we make in life, and we often put a ton of time and energy into it. But what about our characters’ jobs? How much thought do we put into that? We authors recognize the importance of strong characterization,… Read more »
We’ve all experienced it. We finish a story or a draft and we know deep down that something is missing. It’s a good story–but it’s not great. It doesn’t have the pop and sizzle that we’ve achieved in the past or maybe that we’ve witnessed in another writer. But what’s missing? Before you take a… Read more »
Theme is one of the most important parts of a writing a book — but it’s also hard to execute without feeling like you are beating the reader over the head with “and the moral of this story is…” Thankfully, there are a few tricks to incorporating theme into your first draft that don’t involve… Read more »
Hey there word nerds! Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Shanthi Sekaran, author of the new novel Lucky Boy (affiliate link), a book that has been getting a lot of pre-publication buzz and is an Indie Next Great Read pick for January 2017. Lucky Boy is a moving story about two unforgettable women in California: an… Read more »
Welcome to another episode of DIY MFA Radio! Today I’m doing things a little bit differently. Instead of an interview, I’m bringing one of my team members on the show as a co-host and we’ll have a conversation about books, writing and the creative life. This episode is part of a new series I’ll be doing… Read more »
“Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.” – Kurt Vonnegut Conflict, rising tensions, epic rivalries; we writers love to finger paint with all of it. But what if you could use the same raw materials of story to map out your marketing efforts? How fun would that be?… Read more »
