As I write this post in early 2022, I’ve closed out my 2021 Virtual Writers Sabbatical (“VWS”) and started fresh. I mentioned in my Discovering the Art of Book Coaching post in December that my 2022 VWS would include focusing on completing a book coach certification program and starting a book coaching business. I’m at… Read more »
Hello, word nerds and other lovers of language! Hopefully, by now, you are fully into your new writing schedule or project that will carry you through 2022. If not, if you are perhaps still trying some ideas out, just tell everyone you’re going through your experimental period and have a blast! After all, authentic emotion… Read more »
I love reading. It is my main hobby. I am always on the lookout for new authors and books to enjoy. But, I also get recommendations from friends, magazines and the Internet that I ignore. Because of my ever-growing TBR list, I have more books to read than I could ever get to. Lately, I’ve… Read more »
Last summer, on a hectic day before a month-long vacation, I went to the print shop for my final errand. I’d spent the past ten months working on the second draft of my latest novel—submitting chapters to my writing group, fixing the clunky narrative arc, and generally solidifying my sketchy first pass. Now the dogged… Read more »
Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing JK Ellem. We’ll be talking about Ravenwood, a serial killer domestic thriller, and the sequel to Mill Point Road, the Amazon US & UK #1 Bestselling Thriller. Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an exciting new monthly newsletter, especially for… Read more »
When I was in college, I had the privilege of taking a course titled “Writing Back to Empire.” It was a study of postcolonial literature taught by the brilliant Professor Kathleen Renk, but the course title alone did more to describe that school of theory & criticism for our young minds than any other definition… Read more »
Browsing Twitter last week, I saw a tweet from a colleague of mine that read, “I’m curious, for writers who have published books, what was the editing process like? Especially curious about your first book. From whom and at what stage did you receive edits? To what degree? Does this question even make sense? Why… Read more »
If you read my last post, you’re probably wondering why I’m talking about Maus today. The answer is simple. Shortly after I shared my last post, in which I listed twelve books that I’ve owned for a long time and vowed to read in 2022, a school board in Tennessee banned Maus, the graphic novel… Read more »
Over the years I’ve struggled to establish a regular writing routine. I was constantly adjusting my schedule to accommodate school, internships, and a variety of part-time jobs. But even once I settled into a full-time job with a steady schedule, my writing routine still faltered. I tried to squeeze time into lunch breaks and scheduled… Read more »
Hey, y’all. I come before you today, standing at the precipice of possibility. The place where inertia becomes action. The moment where I engage in the act of sitting down and actually writing. This winter, I invested in a masterclass program that walked me through the process of taking an idea, creating a high-level outline,… Read more »
