Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Elizabeth Gonzalez James. Elizabeth’s stories and essays have appeared in The Idaho Review, The Rumpus, PANK, and elsewhere, and have received numerous Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominations. She is also a regular contributor to Ploughshares Blog. Her debut novel Mona at Sea was a finalist… Read more »
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman. Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman have been great friends for over 20 years and are now co-authors. Their friendship has sustained them through the ups and downs of raising kids, juggling careers, and creating new family traditions. Girls with Bright Futures, their debut… Read more »
Many people dream of becoming an author but there’s one pesky thing that stands in their way: writing the book. In your head, it all seemed so easy. You envisioned grabbing a cup of freshly brewed coffee, sitting down at your laptop, and writing 10,000 words on a rainy afternoon. But in reality, sometimes when… Read more »
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Rebecca Fish Ewan. Poet and cartoonist, Rebecca’s passion is mingling text with visual art, primarily in ink and watercolor, to tell stories of place and memory. Her hybrid-form work has appeared in After the Art, Brevity, Crab Fat, Survivor Zine, Hip Mama, Mutha, TNB, Punctuate & Under the… Read more »
Books with multiple timelines are some of my favorites to read—and to write. At times the storylines can seem disparate and disconnected, and then bam, you get that particular satisfaction as you figure out how they converge. Multiple timelines add layers to story that, when done right, can deepen plot and characters. When I began… Read more »
Do you think you are good at taking feedback? You: “Hey, do these sentences look okay? Could you take a look? They’re from a work in progress: The Blue Arrow Gallery is a newish silver box with large windows in the front. It sits a half dozen blocks from downtown on the edge of the… Read more »
Over a decade ago, in one of my first college writing workshops, I commented that a story’s eclectic vocabulary jarred me out of its narrative. The author’s suave, privately-schooled best friend was in our class, and he volleyed my critique back: “It would’ve taken seconds to look up aquiline on your iPhone.” I had a… Read more »
I listen to birdsong first thing in the morning while the coffee is brewing. Stepping out on the front porch to listen, I laugh out loud at the insistent squeak of the pileated woodpecker as he makes his loopy flight to the palm tree. I smile at the cheerful songs of the curve-billed thrasher and… Read more »
I was finally on my way! I had started my Young Adult (YA) Fantasy novel over 20 years earlier, building the world, the characters, and the story in fits and starts on vacations or in between life’s daily demands, mostly surrendering to my reality. Then in July of 2019, I retired and I promised myself… Read more »
A writers conference is a magical, wonderful event. Writers conferences put you in contact with authors, agents, publishers, editors, and, of course, other writers like you. Then there are all of the classes and panels to teach you new skills or help you hone the ones you have. Even these days, where most conferences are… Read more »
