For all that is good and holy in the world, what possessed you to become an author? I absolutely love telling stories. It has always been the most natural thing to me, to write down my thoughts and create. I can’t even imagine my life without a WIP in it. How did you conceive the…
Category: General Interest
Meet the IWOTY Finalist: Stephanie Reisner
How did you conceive the idea for your latest novel? My work in metaphysics brings some really bizarre emails to my inbox. In recent years I’ve received several threatening emails, allegedly from various secret societies/Satanic cults, that promise everything from curses to bodily harm. So naturally, when I received the most recent one last summer,…
Short Story Craft, Part 4: Conclusion
In preparation for the 2020 RMFW anthology, I’ve covered three critical elements of the short story: plot, character, and setting. These are the building blocks of short fiction; conquer them, and you’re guaranteed a good story. But a great story? A tear-in-the-eye, punch-in-the-gut, knock-it-out-of-the-park story? That requires a killer ending. In my opinion, the ending…
My Takeaways from the 2019 RMFW Annual Event
Writers really want to talk to people. We had a ton of people sign up for one-on-ones, including pitches, first pages, query letters, and synopses, as well as just talking shop. Those writers realized getting another set of eyes—especially experienced, professional ones—on their work can only benefit them. (Oh, and by the way, those professionals…
She Cried a River: Best Blogs for Writing Emotion
If you’re like me, when writing on deadline you just toss words into the scene during the rough draft. This helps the pace and power of the scene. Without pondering each sentence to find the precise word, it’s easier to capture the excitement of the scene and accurately present the conflict. After the dust has…