The adage “write what you know” has been a cornerstone of writing advice for decades. It encourages writers to draw from their own experiences, lending authenticity and depth to their work. But this approach can also be limiting. Confining yourself to only what you know can stifle your creativity and lead to repetitive themes and…
Author: Maggie Smith
Ditch the Fear and Embrace Book Marketing
My second novel, Blindspot, releases today so I’ve spent much of the last month getting ready for the launch, which includes podcasts, interviews, social media posts, giveaways, media pitches, and sending out advanced reader copies (ARCs) for review. And as many writers know, the marketing of a book is oftentimes far harder than writing the…
From Subtle Unease to Heart-Pounding Thrills: Using Tension in Fiction
For my second novel, Blindspot, I ventured into a new genre, that of psychological suspense. It’s the type of book I gravitate to as a reader and I’m a long-term fan of anything in the mystery realm (I devoured the entire Agatha Christie oeuvre when I was sixteen) How hard could it be? Insert hubris…
Truths My Podcast Guests Have Taught Me
Hear Us Roar, the weekly podcast I host for the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, has been going since May 2018. The show has been downloaded over 27,000 times and the guests have ranged from authors who later hit the best-seller lists (Julie Clark, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai), won prestigious awards (Barbara Linn Probst, Jeannee Sacken),…
Why I Write
I spin tales, conjure up characters, and bleed ink on the page (metaphorically, of course, although I’ve had a few paper cuts in my day that made my pages a bit more “colorful”). Since my go-to question when writer’s block strikes is always why, it seems only natural to turn that same lens on myself….