Rocky Mountain Writer Podcast – Episode #1 Interview with Shannon Baker, RMFW Writer of the Year; also talks with Charles Senseman and Suzie Brooks In the inaugural podcast, host Mark Stevens interviews RMFW Writer of the Year Shannon Baker about her new book contract; chats with writer Charles Senseman about his tips on writing the…
Author: Mark Stevens
Whack the Cliché
By Mark Stevens Is it possible to write a 100,000-word novel that is devoid of clichés? Completely scrubbed free of all tired descriptions, predictable scenes, over-used descriptions, seen-them-all-before characters? A panel* on clichés at Left Coast Crime last month in Portland sparked my thinking. First, check this out: The word cliché is drawn from the…
Take A Little Trip
By Mark Stevens Two random tidbits last week got me fired up. The first was from a story in The New Yorker about new research into the positive effects of psychedelic drugs—psilocybin in particular. The second was a line uttered by Alexandra Fuller during a podcast of her Tattered Cover presentation for her new memoir,…
Tales from Long Shots in Book Marketing
By Mark Stevens I hopped in the car and flipped on the radio. Scott Simon (rock star reporter and host on National Public Radio) was wrapping up a Weekend Edition interview with a guy reviewing books. I only caught the tail end of the chat, but Simon said something like: “…and that was our London…
Crossing Colfax: A Story by Story Review
By Mark Stevens Short-story anthologies can be tricky affairs. Collecting short stories in one volume from multiple authors can end in a patchwork mess. Not the case with Crossing Colfax, a sweeping collection of writing from the ranks of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. The only rule was that each story had to touch on Colfax…