- I’ve mentioned the Collaborist podcast before. This recent episode on “How to Take Criticism” was really good.
- Did you listen to Kerry Hammond on the recent Rocky Mountain Writer podcast, talking about writing mystery stories? Kerry is an example of how to take an obsession—in her case, her love of Agatha Christie—and pour it into your writing. (And how to make it look easy, too.)
- Also, Kerry got a short story in the 2023 edition of “Best Mystery Stories of the Year” anthology – edited by Amor Towles – after entering a short story in a conference anthology for Malice Domestic.
- That’s a great tip—if you see a call for submissions for a short story anthology, consider it a prompt. Why not try?
- Okay, one more key tip from Kerry about submitting your short story to one of these anthologies. At a recent panel at the Killer Nashville conference, Kerry said she heard an editor talk about the selection process. “They said that in in the days where you have to read hundreds of short stories to decide what’s going to go into your book … that what’s accepted is the ones that are just the most done, the most polished, and the most ready to just be put on the page.”
- So, polish.
- And polish again. Make it easy on those editors!
- I loved this piece on how to avoid info-dumps in deep point of view. More specifically, how to build your world organically. (This link courtesy of online friend Jan Marshall.)
- It’s Banned Book Week. Could you write a book in hopes it would be banned? Would you? What’s the best “banned” book you’ve ever read?
- The American Library Association reports that “libraries in every state are facing an unprecedented number of attempts to ban books.” Specifically, 1,262 “demands” to censor library books and resources in 2022, “the highest number of attempted book bans since ALA began compiling data” 20 years ago. Most of the initiatives were focused on LGBTQIA+ persons and Black, Indigenous, and people of color, the ALA reports.
- The theme of the ALA’s campaign this year is “Let Freedom Read.”
- Let freedom write, too.
(Photo by Francesca Grima on Unsplash)
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