Interview with Anne Walsh Donnelly, Runner Up in the WOW! Q1 2024 Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest

  Anne Walsh Donnelly lives in the west of Ireland, writes prose, poetry and plays and loves to experiment with form in her writing. She dares to be different. Anne is the author of the poetic memoir The Woman with an Owl Tattoo, which tells the story of her coming out journey in mid-life and the poetry collection, Odd as F*ck. Her fragmentary novella, He Used To Be Me, was published by New...

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Leave a Comment anne walsh donnelly, Contestant interview, Renee Roberson, Runner up, WOW! Q1 2024 Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest

Friday Speak Out!: Seeds of Truth in Fiction

By Mary Fleming People often ask me: “Where do you get your ideas?” They generally express this question with wonderment, as if I must have lived a wildly adventurous life. Or as if they see me sitting down at my desk, picking up a pen or opening the computer and Bang, the plot and the characters strike like a bolt from heaven and out flows a novel. If only. I collect the seeds for my fiction from...

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1 comment fiction ideas, Friday Speak Out!, Mary Fleming, novel writing, writing ideas, writing tips

Fake It 'til Make It

"Fake it 'til you make it!"That is the motto of a close friend of mine and, considering they started a successful business in their 20s, I'm happy to take it.Too often I find myself worrying that I can't write well enough, don't know enough about a topic or am competing against scads of people who are just better at this writing game than I am. But then I have to give myself the "Fake it 'til you...

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1 comment confidence, Jodi M. Webb, networking, writing tips

Finding My “Northern” Tribe

I wrote a few weeks ago about my experience at the AWP conference, held in Kansas City this past February. While there, I had an opportunity to join an editor at a signing table for an anthology in which one of my essays—taken from my memoir draft—is included. Awakenings: Stories of Body & Consciousness was published in October 2023. Several months before publication, editor Diane Gottlieb...

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6 comments Ann Kathryn Kelly, anthology, Awakenings: Stories of Body & Consciousness, book promotion, bookstore reading, Print Bookstore, writing

INTERVIEW WITH CARIE JUETTNER, RUNNER UP IN THE WOW! FALL 2023 FLASH FICTION CONTEST

Carie Juettner taught seventh grade English for nineteen years before leaving the classroom to write full time. She is the author of The Ghostly Tales of Dallas, The Ghostly Tales of Delaware, and three more books in the Spooky America series for young readers. Her poems and short stories have appeared in over fifty print anthologies and online publications, including Daily Science Fiction, The Twin...

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Leave a Comment Fall 2023 WOW! Flash Fiction Contest, interview, Runner up, Sue Bradford Edwards

5 Tips for Winning Your First (or Next!) Literary Award

By Nicole BreitWhen I got serious about getting published, the advice I received from my mentor was game changing. Enter writing contests.An award-winning poet, novelist and former lit mag editor, she had an insider’s perspective on the literary market. I wasn’t sure my work was good enough to enter in a contest, but she convinced me to give it a try.Even if I didn’t win a contest an award nomination...

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Leave a Comment Nicole Breit, Spark Your Story coupon code, winning literary awards, writing contest tips

Interview with Rebecca Tiger: Q1 2024 Creative Nonfiction Runner Up

Rebecca’s Bio: Rebecca Tiger teaches sociology at Middlebury College and in jails in Vermont. She’s written a book and articles about drug policy, addiction and celebrity. Her stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Bending Genres, BULL, Dorothy Parker’s Ashes, Emerge Literary, Hippocampus, Mom Egg Review, Peatsmoke, Tiny Molecules and others. She divides her time between Vermont and the Lower...

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Leave a Comment Anne Greenawalt, contest runner up, Q1 2024 Creative Nonfiction Contest, Rebecca Tiger

Friday Speak Out!: The Wednesday Morning Writing Group

by Dena Rueb Romero The sun streams in the large windows of Jane’s house. Outside, winter still reigns, but as members of the Wednesday Morning Writing Group, we are oblivious to the weather. We first met in 2009 in a memoir writing class, and when the class ended, decided that writing personal stories was something we needed to do. Of the thirty plus students in the class, fifteen agreed to...

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2 comments Dena Rueb Romero, Friday Speak Out!, writer inspiration, writing groups

Review: Reedsy How to Write a Novel Master Class with Tom Bromley

 By Angela MackintoshI’ve always wanted to write a novel, but I find the length and process overwhelming. I’ve participated in NaNoWriMo several times and have even “won” twice, writing fifty thousand words in one month. After cutting pages of summary and exposition and plain bad writing, the usable scenes became fodder for pieces that I’ve had published in literary journals. Although I have...

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1 comment Angela Mackintosh, Reedsy How to Write a Novel Master Class Review, Reedsy Learning, Tom Bromley

Having Fun While Finding My Voice

My first “grown-up” book was And Then There Were None, found on my cousin’s dresser during a holiday visit when I was about 11. I was instantly captivated by a world and people so different from my small town Pennsylvania life. The murders were fun too! I quickly gobbled up every Agatha Christie book in my local library and I’m sure this led to my love of the genre.Although I’ve read scores of murder...

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3 comments genre writing, Jodi M. Webb, mystery, writing contest

Interview with Marie Davis: Fall 2023 Flash Fiction Contest 3rd Place Winner

Marie’s Bio: Marie Davis is an epidemiologist who works in global HIV prevention and began writing fiction for fun a few years ago. She's currently working on her first novel, exploring themes of family, belonging, and girlhood. Overpriced cappuccinos, other people’s dogs, and pithy books about angsty women who don’t really do anything fuel her creativity. Seeking ways to streamline her writing...

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Leave a Comment 3rd Place Winner, Anne Greenawalt, Marie Davis, WOW! Fall 2023 Flash Fiction Contest

Disrupted by B. Lynn Goodwin: Blog Tour & Giveaway

I'm excited to announce that author B. Lynn Goodwin returns to us again with a new book called Disrupted. Join us as we celebrate the launch of her book and interview her about her writing journey. You'll also have the chance to win a copy for yourself.Before we get to that, here's more about her book:The San Ramos High students are busy rehearsing their performance of Our Town when the school and...

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14 comments author blog tour, author interview, B. Lynn Goodwin, book giveaway, Disrupted, YA fiction