For last year’s NaNoWriMo, I chose to write about my WIP, a modern fantasy YA setting in the Caribbean. I had already finished the novel’s first draft in mid-2022, but something felt off about the writing. I didn’t even want to look at some chapters. It wasn’t disgust: it was detachment. That’s because when you… Read more »
Once you make a habit of writing, there are things you come to expect, like characters ignoring the plot, one revision after another, and long hours spent in front of a computer talking to yourself, often out loud. What you don’t expect, is to discover a secret ingredient that brings your writing to a new… Read more »
Today, Lori is interviewing Courtney Maum. They’ll be talking about honesty in memoir and her book The Year of the Horses. 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… Read more »
When I told a writing instructor I wrote historical fiction, she replied, “Don’t put too much history in it.” I blinked. Say what? How can we have a clue about where we’re going if we don’t know where we’ve been? Historical fiction can take us to the foreign country that is the past, can make… Read more »
Let’s be honest, defining genres can be a real bear, and one of the blurriest lines is the one between Science Fiction and Fantasy. If you’re like me, your manuscript has elements of both. So how do you market it? Cue the glazed eyes and the descent of that nebulous SFF cloud. But what does… Read more »
I am so excited to share this interview with Rochelle Bilow just ahead of Valentine’s Day. I’m relatively new to the romance genre, but I love it. By definition, we know it’s going to end with a happily ever after…but the fun part is seeing how the characters get there. It’s the journey, not the… Read more »
In many ways, freelance work is a dream gig. You get to make your own hours. You get to choose the projects you want. And, best of all, you get to earn your living doing what you love. But that doesn’t mean that it’s all hearts and flowers always. Every silver lining has a cloud,… Read more »
Ok guys, so full disclosure here, I totally borrowed the term “palate cleanser” from a very gifted writer friend of mine. She’d just finished the final round of edits on her epic Sci-Fi love story, (though she’ll seriously kill me for calling it that). Her female protagonist is a kick-butt, yet deeply complex character, who… Read more »
Today, Lori is interviewing Jenna Miller. They’ll be talking about her publishing experience as a debut writer with her book Out of Character. 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… Read more »
When you look at the cover for Two Boys Kissing, you get a pretty good idea of what this book will be about. Then you read the synopsis on the inside cover and your idea becomes a bit more defined, a bit clearer. Finally, you sit down to read the book, only to discover that… Read more »
