A Conversation with Renée Ashley, Author of Because I Am the Shore I Want to Be the Sea BF: When did you discover your love for writing poetry? Can you tell us about the first poem you’ve ever written? RA: It’s…
A Conversation with Marsha A. Moore
A Conversation with Marsha A. Moore: Author of The Enchanted Bookstore Legends Series BF: Can you describe your journey to publishing your first book? MM: I didn’t aim to be a fiction author. My path evolved to this end. While growing…
A Conversation with Nina Foxx
A Conversation with Nina Foxx: Author, Playwright and Filmmaker BF: You were already a successful author before receiving your MFA degree. What made you decide to go back to school, and what did you learn about your writing through the program? NF: I…
A Conversation with NYT Bestselling Author, Omar Tyree
A Conversation with New York Times Bestselling Author, Omar Tyree BF: According to the bio on your website, you discovered your passion as a writer while you were a pharmacy major at the University of Pittsburgh. What exactly spawned this…
A Conversation with Jaime Reed
A Conversation with Jaime Reed: Author of Living Violet BF: Your first novel, Living Violet (Book 1 in The Cambion Chronicles) released at the end of last year. How (if at all) has your life changed since being published? JR: Surprisingly,…
A Conversation with Jennifer Hillier
A Conversation with Jennifer Hillier: Author of Creep BF: Your debut novel, Creep, came out last year. It has been described as a dark and intense psychological thriller. What draws you to dark fiction? Have you tried writing in another…
A Conversation with K.M. Walton
A Conversation with K.M. Walton: Author of Cracked K.M. Walton is not only a talented writer, but she’s also an inspiration—and we’re not just saying that because she shares a literary agent with one of our coeditors. Despite years of…
You Are a Writer: Dress the Part
Some say you are what you eat, while for others it’s all about what you wear. We can achieve a lot in our fiction by how we dress our characters: clothes can indicate setting, either geographical or historical; can reflect…
Leveling Up: An Editing Technique
This week I read about a new editing technique called Leveling Up. It actually came from a colleague in teaching who uses it with his class when they do a piece of creative writing. He hands out cards with terms…
How to Reach Clarity in Your Writing
For me, the hardest part of a first draft is the middle. I start with a very clear beginning and I know exactly where the story is going. But the drift of space in the middle of the story, the…
Rejection Equals Success
This week I received my first rejection of 2014. This may sound odd, but I hope it’s the first of many. You see, receiving rejections means two very good things. First, my work is out there in the world being…
The Writer’s Slow Sprint
Last week I wrote about how sleeping better can help to eke out a little more writing time per day. This week, I’ve been thinking about slowing down. I struggle with being realistic sometimes. I want to write a novel…