INTERVIEW WITH BRIGID SIM: WINTER 2024 FLASH FICTION CONTEST RUNNER UP

Brigid Sim completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Counseling from Lewis University. She has a lifelong dream of being an author and has written comedy sketches for the Chicago based comedy troupe Hippohorsey Donkeymonkey. Brigid is currently working on her first novel, which she hopes is a testament to the bonds of love and friendship (but funny). Brigid is a mom to three young sons and two orange cats. 

interview by Sue Bradford Edwards

WOW: Which came to you first for “Captivity and the Indignity of Hunger”? The character of Rosie? Or the plot? How did you develop this story? 

Brigid: The character of Rosie came first. My senior cat was desperately meowing at me to refill his food bowl. I was reassuring him that food was coming, and he gave me a look that said, “I cannot believe that you are keeping me waiting right now.” It led me to thinking about how dramatic he would be if he could talk—as well as how demeaning my own cutesy talk would sound to him. Once I decided not to reveal that Rosie was a cat right away, I wrote the dialogue so that the reader would assume that a woman was being held captive by a creepy man. It was important that those same words could be completely innocent once the reader knows the twist. 

WOW: You’ve done such an incredible job making Rosie a three-dimensional character. What advice do you have about making complex flash fiction characters? 

Brigid:  I focus on only one protagonist whose inner thoughts and motivations are known to the reader. I don’t want to spread my characterizations thin, so I usually add a single antagonist who we only get to know through the observations of the protagonist. I believe that this creates a feeling of intimacy between the reader and the main character.

WOW: Humor is so hard to write. What would you recommend for writers who are new to writing humor? 

Brigid: Some of my favorite humor is rooted in subverting expectations. Readers are naturally trying to figure out what to expect, and it is especially delightful when those expectations are turned upside down in a fun way. Leading the reader to experience a bit of dread can make a humorous payoff that much sweeter. I also find that some of the funniest things that I write come from a character’s interior thoughts. Characters often say one thing and think another. I like to find the humor in their inner monologues. Placing the characters in situations in which they cannot speak their minds freely is a great place to start. Emotions with built in tension lend themselves well to comedy (frustration, infatuation, desperation, to name a few). I believe the key is to start with a base emotion and escalate. A character might start as annoyed and end up absolutely exasperated, their behavior becoming increasingly unhinged. You can play around with it and see what feels right. 

WOW: You write comedy, you’ve written flash, and you are even writing a novel. What advice do you have for writers when it comes to juggling multiple projects? 

Brigid:  Writing should be fun, so if you are struggling with a piece, don’t be afraid to take a break from it. Sometimes all I need to do to unblock my writing is take a little time out to write something else. Then I come back to the main project feeling refreshed. If you are on a deadline, even writing a quick, unrelated paragraph can help. 

WOW: What question do you wish I had asked? And how would you answer it? 

Brigid:  What do I love about flash fiction? My first instinct is to answer that flash fiction can be read and written much quicker than longer works. Life gets busy, and it’s a great way to get a reading and writing fix. My longer answer is that good flash fiction is so carefully and tightly constructed to include only the best parts of a story. Each detail included in the finished story has beat out countless alternatives. An author has to use only one adjective on an object that might have three or four adjectives in a lengthier work. Every word in flash fiction has earned the right to be there.

WOW: Excellent answer! If you are accustomed to writing longer pieces, it can be hard to write something so tight but this is a great lesson in economy. 

Read More »

Leave a Comment interview Winter 2024 Flash Fiction Contest Runner up Brigid Sim Sue Bradford Edwards inspiration

Interview with Anne Walsh Donnelly: First Place Winner of the Q3 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 is the author of the poetry collections, Odd as F*ck, and The Woman with the Owl Tattoo, both published by Fly on the Wall press. Her novel, He Used To Be Me, was published by New Island Books in 2024. Anne is currently working towards her first personal essay collection. 

Facebook: AnneWalshDonnelly

Instagram: annewalshdonnellypoetry

X: @AnneWDonnelly 

 ----- interview by Angela Mackintosh

WOW: Welcome, Anne! I’m thrilled to chat with you about your first-place win – congratulations! All of our judges loved “The Knife Thrower.” The braided narrative of your personal story juxtaposed with Barbara Braun and Sylvester’s knife throwing act is brilliant, and such a powerful metaphor. How did you come up with the idea of marrying the two?

Anne: Thanks Angela. It was such a delight to win. This essay started off as a poem which I wrote about five years ago. The poem was about Barbara Braun and Sylvester, and there’s no mention of my experience in the poem but I do remember when I was writing it thinking of my own experience when I was married. 

 

I go through phases in my writing, writing in different genres depending on what’s going on for me. So, I go from writing prose to poetry to plays. I’m currently in the personal essay writing phase!

 

Writing poetry enabled me to explore painful experiences in an oblique way. Now that I have distance from some of those painful experiences, I am ready to explore them more overtly and the personal essay gives me that scope and space. I hope that makes sense. 

 

So I decided to take the poem apart, really thinking about why I had written each sentence and what I was trying to say and then I just wrote about my experience and weaved the two pieces together. To be honest, I wasn't sure that it worked, but obviously it did. That period of my life (ending of my marriage) has been showing up a lot in the last few months, so the synchronicity of the win is not lost on me. 

 

WOW: It definitely worked! I'm so glad you're focusing on personal essays. I read your last interview with WOW, and I was impressed by your dedication and persistence to finish your essay that took seven years to write! How long did it take you to write “The Knife Thrower,” and how did it change over time?

 

Anne: This essay took even longer to write – 14 years! As I’ve mentioned it started as a poem five years ago, but at that time, I wasn’t ready to write in more detail about my experiences towards the end of my marriage and the aftermath of leaving my ex-husband. 

 

I guess this essay and all my writing have developed and grown in tandem with my personal growth and development and that’s the beauty of writing and of life.

 

WOW: 14 years shows amazing persistence! Your essay examines the important (and not often talked about) topic of emotional abuse. I learned a lot from your piece, including that coercive control is a criminal offense in Ireland, and that unlike domestic violence, the line isn’t as easily drawn, as you explored in this passage: 

 

“I stepped closer and goaded him to hit me. But his hand stopped mid-flight. We both knew that if his fist connected with my eye, I would leave, now that I would be wearing a visible sign of his abuse.” 

 

I appreciate you bringing awareness to the issue, and I’m so glad you had the strength to leave. What do you ultimately hope readers will take away from this piece?

 

Anne: It has taken me many years for me to realise that I had experienced abuse. At the time I partly blamed myself and thought that to name what I was experiencing as abuse was a gross exaggeration. It wasn’t and I know that now. 

 

My biggest hope is that if there is any reader out there who is experiencing what I experienced, they will realise it’s not ok, and to seek support. Coercive control can be very subtle and sometimes talking to an objective person like say a therapist can help you see the situation you are in for what it really is. 

 

WOW: Since we last chatted, your novel He Used to Be Me has been published! I see it’s been highlighted in newspapers and magazines and has great reviews. How has the book promotion been going, and have you learned anything you can share with our writers?

 

Anne: Thanks, yes, it’s going well, and I’ve been delighted with the reviews. The most important thing I’ve learned is to keep in your mind why you write, especially after publishing and not to compare your novel with others. 

 

I didn’t write ‘He used to be me’ for fame, or to win awards or for it to be a bestseller. I wrote it because I had to write it, for writing's sake, for the story’s sake. The most important thing for me now is how it’s affected those who’ve read it. 

 

When someone messages or phones me to tell me how much they loved the novel and how it spoke to them - that for me is the most important thing about the book now. 

 

Publishing a book especially for debut authors can be stressful and it’s important to manage your expectations around your book. It’s a competitive market and not every book is going to be a bestseller but that doesn’t mean your book is not as good as any of the bestsellers. 

 

My book is a short novel, but it’s one you would read more than once. Several people have told me they have read it twice, one person has read it four times! Isn’t that awesome? Another person said that it was a quick read, but she needed to sit for an hour afterwards just to process it. 

 

Writing ‘He used to be me’ was an act of love for me, love for all the marginalised people in the world, who’s stories never get told. 

 

WOW: Oh I just love books you can return to and read again and discover something new. I'm going to read He Used to Be Me. Speaking of reading, in your last interview, you mentioned being a fan of Melissa Febos. I am, too! I’ve read all of her books, and my favorite is a toss-up between Girlhood or Abandon Me. My favorite standalone essay is “Intrusions” (in Girlhood) for the way she seamlessly weaves in pop culture, voyeurism, and privacy with her personal story of getting stalked. It’s such a powerful essay. What is your favorite Febos essay and why?

 

Anne: Crikey, that’s a difficult question to answer. I loved Abandon Me, such a powerful book. I’m a voracious reader and the menopause has wreaked havoc with my memory so if a book stays in my head for more than a few weeks then I know it’s a great book and Abandon Me has stayed with me for more than a few months. It’s hard to pick a favourite essay but I love her essay Thesmophoria, where she writes about her relationship with her mother. The one sentence that really stood out for me in this essay was: “The closer the mother and the daughter are, the more violent the daughter’s effort to disentangle herself can be.” 

 

WOW: That's a great essay and a powerful sentence. I've been reading a lot lately, trying to get back into a regular writing routine. I always find it tough to write during the summer when it’s hot and there are lots of events. What are your favorite tips for maintaining writing motivation and momentum?

 

Anne: I actually find it easier to write in the summer! Probably because that’s when I take my annual leave from work and time off work gives me more headspace for my creative writing. And here in Ireland it tends to rain a lot in the summer! 

 

Having said that, we all struggle from time to time to maintain our writing motivation and momentum. My favourite tips would be to surround yourself with like-minded creatives. Joining a writing group, taking part in writing workshops or having a mentor can also help and allowing yourself to write whatever wants to come out without judging it. Just let it flow. 

 

WOW: Great advice, Anne! Is there anything else you'd like to share? (What you're working on, any recent successes, etc.)

 

Anne: I would like to thank WOW for publishing my essays. As you know this essay is not the first one of mine to place in the top ten! One thing I’ve learned in my writing life is that not every editor or judge will like or ‘get’ my writing, and the fact that all of you lovely people at WOW get what I’m trying to do with my writing – well that means the world to me. 

 

Oh, and some breaking news: a Polish publisher has bought the rights to publish my novel in Poland so I’m really chuffed about having my writing translated and published in another language. 

 

WOW: That's exciting news about the Polish publisher! Thank you for your kind words about WOW and our contests. Wishing you continued writing success, Anne!

 

Writers, you can check out WOW's creative writing contests here:

https://www.wow-womenonwriting.com/contest.php

 

Read More »

Leave a Comment anne walsh donnelly, braided essay, emotional abuse, WOW! Q3 2024 Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest

What To Do If You Lose Track Changes and Other Tips

I’m currently in the phase of motherhood where I’m more Taxi Driver than Helicopter Parent. It’s not an easy stage, but giving up some control and allowing my kids to navigate the world on their own more and more these days gives me the time to absorb truckloads of writerly content while I’m battling highway demons. 

Not only are audiobooks my new favourite, but podcasts are hot on my car stereo rotation. And while listening to Dear Rach and Soph, I learned how to solve a problem I had when I hired an editor and sent her back a clean manuscript. Face plant! 

My last blog was all about my failed manuscript. It wasn’t an easy blog to write and it hasn’t been an easy time in my life. But since I opened up about my situation, it’s been easier for me to move on. 

Step one was to reacquaint myself with my manuscript and decide what to do with it. 

But how can you read a manuscript with fresh eyes? 

Try listening to your manuscript while driving. 

Here’s how it’s done: All you need is the Word app on your phone and connectivity in your car. Then you access your manuscript on your phone, via any file-sharing source like Dropbox or email, etc. and once it’s in Word, hit read aloud. 

Yes, the voice can be a lot robotic, but this is a great way to hear your words in the most usual way, and I find it helps me pick out things that I may have missed while staring at my computer screen while I was writing and editing my little heart out. 

Another way you can read your manuscript with fresh eyes is on your Kindle or the Kindle app on your phone. 

This is a cool way to see your words with fresh eyes. It even looks like a real eBook, minus the cover art, and you can highlight, bookmark and do everything else you can on a Kindle that we all love, like reading in night mode, commenting, and checking words in the dictionary, etc. 

Here’s how it’s done: Open your manuscript via email or any file-sharing app you have on your phone, hit the share button and share to Kindle. 

It’s that easy. All the formatting is done for you! 

After listening to my failed manuscript, I had plenty of food for thought which has helped me to determine that I want to give this manuscript another edit before sending it out again. 

So with that decision, when it comes to editing, looking at your characters is a good place to start. 

Highlight keywords throughout an entire document 

During #editTillEaster this year, I talked about the shrunken manuscript technique. While learning and sharing about this, I worked out how to highlight keywords throughout an entire document, such as character names. At the time I was using this technique to see when certain characters of mine disappeared. Whoops! 

Here’s how it’s done: In Word, first you select the highlight colour you want to use, then you go to edit, find, advanced find and replace, and the replace tab. Type the word you want to highlight in find and make sure the same word is in the replace bar. Then you’ll want to make sure the replace format, highlight is selected and click replace all. Then when you shrink the manuscript (or zoom out) you can easily see when a colour vanishes from your pages. 

Saving the best till last, here’s what to do if you lose track changes. 

Gosh, I wish I had known this earlier. 

If you don’t know the story, when I worked with an editor, I resolved thousands of edits and sent her back a completely clean document. I’d done all the work but there was no way she could see what I’d changed. Triple face plant. After I panicked, I went back through the manuscript and highlighted what I knew the major changes were, looking back on her original comments. Time consuming and not as detailed as track changes. 

Now I know the solution to this problem. 

Rach and Soph is a new podcast I have come to love, and in Episode:8 Rejections, Submissions, and The Editorial Process from about the 47th minute they are just talking casually about track changes when Rach says, “My publisher or editor said, look, leave track changes on if you can. If you can’t stand it, then don’t.” Then soon after Soph says, “The other thing you can do is not track the changes but then do a compare/merge.” When I heard this, I had a major lightbulb moment. Never again will I fear losing track changes. 

So what is this magical feature? 

All you have to do is open Word. You’ll find the compare or combine button in the review tab. Click compare or combine, choose the original document and then the revised document you want to compare or combine with. Then a new document will be created, full of track changes showing any differences.  

Too easy! 

I hope this has been helpful and that at least one of my tips was new to you so that you may continue writing your way onward and upwards, despite any troubleshooting or rejection. 

Write on, Kelly 

P.S. If you enjoyed this blog, I’d love to connect with you. Feel free to comment and share your thoughts or any other tips. Tell me what you relate to. Let’s talk about writing.

Kelly Sgroi is based in Melbourne, Australia. Represented by Beyond Words Literary Agency, Kelly is looking forward to what comes next in her writing journey. She’s an enthusiastic member of the writing community and is published by WOW! Women on Writing, Dream Journal, The Endometriosis Foundation of America, Endometriosis Australia, and a few Medium publications. Visit her website at www.kellysgroi.com

Read More »

Leave a Comment editing tips, kindle, Microsoft Word, Rachel Johns, Track Changes, writing tips

Where Do You Get Your Books?

I’ve started asking my fellow authors this because I’m amazed how many only buy their books from Amazon. I'm not going to say I never shop at Amazon. My cart always has a strange variety of items. My most recent haul included a frame for a painting by my aunt, two frames for kendo certificates, a frame we are using to build a shadow box, and a set of sashiko templates. These are all things I couldn't find locally.

I also add things to my cart that I don’t want to forget. I buy some of them from Amazon, but I also shop at my local independent bookstore. If you don’t know what an indie bookstore is, it is a bookstore that is independently owned. It is a small business. 

Shop at an indie and you are supporting people who live in your community. Last weekend, my husband and I were in a part of St. Louis known as the Loop. We dropped into Subterranean Books. A friend had recently recommended Percival Everett's books, so I decided to cut my teeth on Half an Inch of Water, a book of short stories. They also had my friend Pat's book, Delmar the Dinky and the Olympics. When you shop at an indie store, the author will receive a larger royalty and a local business owner will earn a living. 

In addition to Subterranean Book, my local indies include Half Price Books, Left Bank Books, and Main Street Books. Not sure how to find an independent bookstore? Type your zip code into the Indie Bookstore Finder at Indie Bound and you’ll get a list of the closest stores. 

I’m a realist and I know that books are expensive. So, if you read more than you can afford to buy, visit your local library. No, really. Go to the library. Recently I suggested the library to someone who told me that she hadn’t been there since her children were small. If you live near a public library like I do, it is free to use. 

At this point in time, my husband and I have 2 movies checked out, 2 audio books, and slightly more than 15 books. Whenever you check out, my library tells you how much money you’ve saved. On this last trip, I saved $79.81. So far this year, I’ve saved $4,963.45. 

Not only do I save large sums of money by using my library, but my library also offers so many services that benefit writers. I do research at my library. I’ve attended writing workshops offered by award-winning authors. There are signings, author tours and a wide variety of talks that I mine for writing ideas. No, I’m not taking ideas from other writers. There are speakers who teach about history, astronomy, botany, and more. I’m lucky to live in an area with a lot of available resources. 

Where do you get your books? 

 –SueBE

Sue Bradford Edwards' is the author of over 55 books for young readers.  

• To find out more about her writing, visit her site and blog, One Writer's Journey.  
• Click here to find her newsletter.

She is also the instructor for 3 WOW classes which begin again on August 5, 2024. She teaches:

• Pitching, Querying and Submitting Your Work 
• Research: Prepping to Write Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults 
• Writing Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults 

Read More »

3 comments book buying, book buying habits, indie bookstores, libraries

Interview with T.C. Kemper: Winter 2024 Flash Fiction Contest Runner Up

T.C.’s Bio: T.C. Kemper is an American author of sparky kidlit and speculative fiction. When she’s not lost in a great story, she spends her days hiking woodland trails with her rescue pup, doodling cartoon ghosts, and chasing her adorable, highly opinionated toddler. She is represented by the fabulous Amy Giuffrida of Belcastro Agency and is on submission with what she hopes will become her debut novel. You can find T.C. across all socials under @tckemperwrites, and on her website, tckemper.com. 

If you haven't done so already, check out T.C.'s award-winning story "Wings" and then return here for a chat with the author. 

WOW: Congratulations on placing in the Winter 2024 Flash Fiction Contest! What excited you most about writing this story? 

T.C.: Usually when a story idea pops into my head, it’s like a splinter that has to come out. With “Wings”, the inspiration came from the public’s ongoing focus on bodily autonomy, especially in our current social climate. Once Amelia arrived in my brain, her big, beautiful wings shining in the sun, I knew I had to get her onto the page. But to be honest, I wrote this piece from a place of sadness and frustration rather than excitement. This story shines a spotlight on how so many people are quick to focus on and criticize differences, rather than accept the whole person. 

WOW: I love that image of a story as a splinter that needs to come out, and pairs well with the frustration you felt with the social climate and this topic. What did you learn about yourself or your writing while crafting this piece? 

T.C.: I usually write full-length books rather than short stories, but I’ve fallen in love with flash fiction! Flash fiction, I’ve found, is immediately cathartic—these stories are brain bursts: POP! Here’s a whole tale, in bite size! I’ve learned that flash fiction can be so many things in so few words: blunt, feathery, brutal, heartwarming, wickedly honest, kind, cruel. I’m impressed beyond words at the other writers who have mastered this craft. I absolutely haven’t gotten there yet, but I’m getting better: this is my third piece to earn recognition in this contest, and second to earn Runner Up, which is very cool! 

WOW: That is very cool! I’ve found that writing flash stories improves the line-by-line writing of my longer work, so it’s both a pleasure and a useful tool for other types of writing. And speaking of your full-length books, that’s exciting news that your novel is on submission right now! Can you please tell us more about it? 

T.C.: Right now, I have a middle grade spooky sci-fi out on sub— it’s a kidlit take on The Stepford Wives, with A.I.-powered mind control, a friendship breakup, and suspiciously well-dressed children. My agent, Amy Giuffrida, is the absolute best champion I could ask for, and she’s been incredible throughout my writing journey. 

WOW: Good luck with the publishing process, and it’s so wonderful that you have an agent that you trust in your corner! What are you reading right now, and why did you choose to read it? 

T.C.: I live on audiobooks the way other folks live on caffeine! This month, I’ve blazed through Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s Chain Gang All Stars, Jessica Khoury’s The Dark Refrain, Hannah Nicole Maehrer’s Assistant to the Villain, Paulette Kennedy’s The Devil and Mrs. Davenport, and I’m currently on TJ Klune’s In the Lives of Puppets. I read across all genres, and if someone enthusiastically recommends a book, I do everything I can to get to it! 

WOW: Audiobooks are amazing, and so is this list! Thanks for sharing it with us. If you could give your younger self one piece of writing advice, what would it be and why? 

T.C.: You’ll get there one day, just keep dreaming. 

WOW: Anything else you’d like to add? 

T.C.: Just a big thank you to the WOW team! You all are always fantastic. 

WOW: Thank you for sharing your story with us! Happy writing!

Interviewed by Anne Greenawalt, founder and editor-in-chief of Sport Stories Press, which publishes sports books by, for, and about sportswomen and amateur athletes and offers developmental editing and ghostwriting services. Connect on Twitter @greenmachine459.

Read More »

Leave a Comment Anne Greenawalt, Runner up, T.C. Kemper, Winter 2024 Flash Fiction Contest

Blink and Glow by Raven Howell: Blog Tour & Giveaway

 

I'm excited to announce that Raven Howell is returning with another blog tour. This time, it's with her newest book, Blink and Glow. This beautiful picture book is perfect for young readers to appreciate wildlife and our natural environment. Join us as we celebrate the launch of her blog tour! We'll be interviewing Raven as well as giving away a copy of her book.

Before we get to that, here's more about her book:

Lilly and Leo think it's super to catch fireflies and salamanders—and even more exciting, as they plan to bring their glowing nature finds to show-and-tell the next day. They have a change of heart when Grandma's wisdom guides the children to respect the freedom and light of the natural life in all living things.

Publisher: Tielmour Press

ISBN-10: 173821933X

ISBN-13: 978-1738219339

Print Length: 32 pages

You can purchase a copy of Blink and Glow on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.org. Make sure you also add it to your GoodReads reading list.

About the Author, Raven Howell

Raven Howell writes stories and poetry for children. Having published several award-winning picture books, she enjoys sharing her joy of reading and literature by visiting classrooms and libraries. Raven serves as Creative & Publishing Advisor for Red Clover Reader, writes The Book Bug column for Story Monsters Ink magazine, and is a Collaborating Author for Reading is Fundamental and I am a Promise Books.

She writes for children’s magazines including Ladybug, The School Magazine, Highlights for Children, and Humpty Dumpty. She’s a storybook writer for educational publisher, Reading Gate, and aims for every child’s opportunity to blossom.

You can find her online at:

https://www.ravenhowell.com

https://twitter.com/atpearthkeeper

https://www.instagram.com/atpearthkeeper/

https://www.facebook.com/raven.howell.75/

https://www.facebook.com/RavenHowellAuthorandPoetPage/

https://www.pinterest.com/pickward/_saved/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/raven-howell-5a813015b/

https://www.tiktok.com/@ravenhowell22

--- Interview by Nicole Pyles

WOW: I'm so excited to have you back with us for another blog tour! I love your newest picture book Blink and Glow. What inspired this idea?

Raven: Climate change and in general, care for our environment, has been on most everyone’s radar in recent years. It made me wonder if, and how, children are tuned in to nature and its beauty and wonderment these days. BLINK AND GLOW explores the magic of our natural world, and the storyline demonstrates how a child has the power to respect it and treat it with tender loving care. My wish is that kids will see this caretaking of all living things in a kind, considerate and fun way.

WOW: I think that's so awesome you wrote the book with that intention. It's important for our future generations to care about our environment! I love the names of your characters. How did you come up with them?

Raven: I originally named the main characters, Maurice and Mimsy. I wanted names that were a little unique in addition to wanting to play with alliteration. In the book, they’re portrayed as brother and sister. 

Ann Pilicer, the book’s illustrator, and I have worked together for years. We respect each other’s thoughts and opinions. Ann worked with “Maurice and Mimsy” for a while as I recall, but then suggested a rename. It may have been that she knew someone named Maurice and it had less than happy implications in some way. Ha! I don’t recall specifically, but I was flexible in renaming the characters, so subsequently and happily, the names Leo and Lilly were adopted.

WOW: Ha, I imagine that may have been the case! Are your characters based on anyone you know?

Raven: The child characters in BLINK AND GLOW were developed from how I interacted with nature in childhood. Some of the scenes are based on those summer nights, catching fireflies, and searching for salamanders in streams and deep woods. Only in hindsight did I realize that Grandma is based on my own mother. My mother instilled in us love of nature and gentleness with all living things, and I passed that on to my own sons. Now I see my grandnephews and grandniece experiencing that same kindness and respect for nature. It’s such a valuable thing to learn and adhere to. I’m grateful for my mother’s teachings.

 

WOW: Oh, I love that. I'm so glad your mother passed along the love of all living things, and you are seeing the same in your own grandnewphews and grandnieces. Is there a scene in the book in particular that resonates with you?

Raven: I love the scene where Grandma points out the incredible Luna Moth in the garden to the children. The Luna Moth is a sight to behold with its bold patterns and Ann’s illustrative rendering of it is incredible. It symbolizes spiritual enlightenment and connection to nature. The Luna only lives for one week. It’s fascinating - it never eats. In fact, it has no mouth or digestive system. 

The Luna Moth ends up being the perfect example of beauty, joy, and freedom as the children consider their own decisions on how to handle the firefly and salamander they have jarred for show-and-tell.

WOW: I love it! I don't think I have asked you yet, but who or what ultimately inspired you to become a writer?

Raven: In one sense, I suppose writing may be in my genes. My father was a poet and storyteller. My maternal grandmother, a schoolteacher, also wrote verse, some of which I have tucked away in my memory box. 

As far back as I can remember, I enjoyed words, songs, stories, and composing. My writing career morphed from song writing and music publishing (in my teens and early twenties), to composing greeting card verse, to publishing children’s poems in magazines, to writing picture books. In addition, I work as a freelance children’s writer. I’m a contributing writer for several kids’ magazines, literary organizations, and educational publishers. It’s been an adventurous journey over the past few decades.

I continue to be inspired by the things that captured my heart as a child: nature, kindness, humor, and love are keys to my creativity. I hope I pass on that spark and wellspring to the younger generations through my written word.

WOW: I think you have! What other books have you released lately?

Raven: I’ve had such a blast taking my spring release, KEEP TRUCKING (AMInk Publishing), out to schools to share with students. The picture book is about our truck community – learning about various trucks and how transportation works across the globe. 

Inevitably, in each class, the little truck lovers will somehow gravitate toward me as I’m reading and by the end of the story, they practically have their noses in the book! What I love to see is that boys who are normally bored with “story time”, are wide-eyed and full of comments and questions. After reading, I share a children’s activity using different types of toy truck tire wheels dipped in paint to create interesting patterns on poster board. 

WOW: That must be such an adorable site to see! You have so many publications under your belt, I imagine that you have many experiences. Any you can share? And what is next for you?

Raven: As a freelance children’s writer, I’ve had many wonderful opportunities this past year. I had the pleasure of meeting actor and author Matthew McConaughey to discuss his new picture book. 

Another memorable interview and feature I wrote this year was with the multi-talented Jamie Lee Curtis. Both are passionate about their literary contributions for children.

For me, up next is THE FISHERMAN AND THE FRENCH FLOUNDER, published by Wild Cape Press. It’s an offbeat, humorous tale of a fisherman who has the misfortune of having a greedy wife. The fisherman’s luck turns when he hooks a funny-looking fish with a French accent. I cracked up when one book reviewer said, “This is not a story children will soon forget!” It’s based on Grimm’s "The Fisherman and His Wife." 

I’m looking forward to connecting and meeting with readers in my upcoming book events. My schedule has book stops in various Barnes & Noble stores and I’m participating in several fall children’s book fairs. And my favorite visits are to schools! So, here’s to celebrating books!

WOW: I can't wait to see what you publish next! Thank you so much for your time today. Best of luck on the blog tour! 

--- Blog Tour Calendar

July 22nd @ The Muffin

Our tour begins at the WOW blog, The Muffin. Join us as we celebrate Raven Howell's newest book, Blink and Glow. We'll interview the author and give you a chance to win a copy.

https://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com

July 23rd @ Pages and Paws

Join Kristine who shares a guest post by Raven Howell about how her tomboy childhood inspires her writing today at 60.

https://pagesandpaws.com/

July 24th @ Pages and Paws

Visit Kristine's blog for a review of Blink and Glow.

https://pagesandpaws.com/

July 24th @ Lisa Haselton's Book Reviews & Interviews

Join Lisa for an interview with author Raven Howell and her book Blink and Glow.

https://lisahaselton.com/blog/

July 25th @ Words by Webb

Visit Jodi's blog for her review of Blink and Glow.

https://www.jodiwebbwriter.com/blog

July 28th @ Boys' Mom Reads!

Visit Karen's blog for her review of Blink and Glow.

https://karensiddall.wordpress.com/

July 31st @ Carole Writes

Visit Carole's blog for her review of Blink and Glow as well as an interview with author Raven Howell.

http://carolemertz.com/

August 1st @ AJ Kormon's blog

Visit AJ's blog for a review of Blink and Glow.

https://ajkormon.com/blog/book-reviews

August 2nd @ Little Squirrel's Bookshelf

Visit Veronica's blog for her review of Blink and Glow.

https://www.instagram.com/littlesquirrelsbookshelf

August 3rd @ Boots, Shoes, and Fashion

Join Linda's blog for a special recipe by Raven Howell. You'll learn how to make easy firefly brownie bites and butterfly cupcakes.

https://bootsshoesandfashion.com/

August 3rd @ The Faerie Review

Lily will be spotlighting Blink and Glow on her blog.

https://www.thefaeriereview.com/

August 6th @ Musings of a Literary Wanderer

Join Angela's blog for her review of Blink and Glow.

http://musingsofaliterarywanderer.blogspot.com/

August 7th @ Chapter Break

Visit Julie's blog for a review of Blink and Glow. You can also read a guest post by Raven Howell about whether audiobooks really promote literacy skills.

https://chapterbreak.net/

August 10th@ Michelle Cornish' blog

Stop by Michelle's blog for a guest post about the highest-paid authors and how they make it happen.

https://www.michellecornish.com/blog

August 14th @ BookBunnies

Join Caramel for a review of Blink and Glow.

https://bookbunnies.blog/

August 15th @ Choices

Visit Madeline's blog for a guest post by Raven Howell about today's most popular children's book themes.

http://madelinesharples.com/

August 16th @ A Storybook World

Visit Deirdra's blog for a guest post by Raven Howell, who has a chat with her publisher about the impact of books on young minds

https://www.astorybookworld.com/

August 17th @ A Wonderful World of Books

Visit Joy's blog for a review of Blink and Glow.

https://awonderfulworldofwordsa.blogspot.com/

August 18th @ What is That Book About?

Join Michelle to read an excerpt of Blink and Glow.

https://www.whatisthatbookabout.com/

August 20th @ Rosh's Reviews

Visit Rosh's blog for a review of Blink and Glow.

https://roshreviews.blogspot.com/

August 22nd @ World of My Imagination

Visit Nicole's blog for her review of Blink and Glow. You can also win a copy of the book!

https://worldofmyimagination.com

August 24th @ Wildwood Reads

Visit Megan's blog for her review of Blink and Glow. 

https://wildwoodreads.com/

August 25th @ Jill Sheets' Blog

Visit Jill's blog for her review of Blink and Glow. You'll also have the chance to read an interview with the author herself.

https://jillsheets.blogspot.com/

 

 

***** BOOK GIVEAWAY *****

 

Enter to win a print copy of Blink and Glow by Raven Howell! Fill out the Rafflecopter form for a chance to win. The giveaway ends August 4th at 11:59 pm CT. We will randomly draw a winner the next day via Rafflecopter and follow up via email. Good luck!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read More »

8 comments author interview, Blink and Glow, book giveaway, children's picture book, Raven Howell

Friday Speak Out!: A. S. Byatt’s “A Stone Woman”: A Primer on Making Magic Realism Work

by Cynthia Reeves

One story I never tire of reading—indeed, it affects me ever more deeply as I age—is “A Stone Woman” by A. S. Byatt, a wondrous example of magic realism. The story concerns Ines, an elderly woman who, after her mother’s death, confronts not only the grief brought on by that profound loss but also by her own aging and the peculiar sense that the last barrier to her death has fallen away. The story’s heart is an exploration of the psychology of aging and facing death, or, quoting Byatt, “the way the body intrudes increasingly as it goes about its dying.”

Broadly defined, magic realism is a story in which a detailed, realistic setting merges with the irreal. The most successful magic realist stories deploy certain strategies; “A Stone Woman” presents a case study in which to examine these strategies.

Above all, the “magic” shouldn’t be used merely for effect—it must underpin the character’s psychological metamorphosis. The central supernatural element here is Ines’s transformation from flesh to stone, which functions as a metaphor both for the bodily changes that occur with aging and the ultimate transfiguration from life to death.

Structurally speaking, magic realists can either establish the magic up front and then continue as if all other laws of realism apply or begin with the ordinary and proceed to the extraordinary. Byatt chooses the latter method: a conventionally linear story that moves gradually away from the ordinary. She opens (confidently) with, “At first she did not think of stones,” a matter-of-fact sentence that only in retrospect hints of something strange afoot. Lavished in concrete details—an older woman tending to her mother’s death, her job, and her own aging—the story fools us into believing a realistic story will unfold. That is, until the first inkling that Ines’s body is becoming decidedly unflesh-like.

Little by little, we understand that Ines is turning into stone. Engaged in the world Byatt has created, we suspend disbelief and follow Ines on her mission to find a place where she can rest after she completely solidifies. She discovers an old graveyard where the sculptor/stonecutter, Thorsteinn, lives. Their friendship builds in increasingly spellbinding scenes that culminate in Ines finding the courage to unveil her stony body:

Hot liquid rose to the sills of her eyes and clattered in pearly drops on her ruddy hematite cheeks. He stared.

She thought, He is a man, and he sees me as I am, a monster.

“Beautiful,” he said. “Grown, not crafted.”

Here, human psychology—Ines’s need to be seen for who she is but fearful of revealing herself—grounds the magic in realism.

Finally, recalling that magic shouldn’t be exploited merely for effect, ghosts ought to appear “human.” Byatt concludes with the most supernatural (but inevitable) scene of all, when in death, Ines joins her fellow stone women “spinning and bowing in a rapid dance on huge, lithe, stony legs, beckoning with expansive gestures, flinging their great wide arms in invitation.”

* * *

 Cynthia Reeves is the author of three books: the novel The Last Whaler (Regal House Publishing, 2024); the novel in stories Falling Through the New World (2024), winner of Gold Wake Press’s 2023 Spring Fiction Award; and the novella Badlands (2007), winner of Miami University Press’s Novella Prize. Her fiction, essays, and poetry have appeared widely. Most recently, her short story “The Last Glacier” was included in If the Storm Clears (Blue Cactus Press, 2024), an anthology of speculative literature that concerns the sublime in the natural world.

A Hawthornden Fellow, Cynthia has also been awarded residencies to the 2017 Arctic Circle Summer Solstice Expedition, Vermont Studio Center, Galleri Svalbard, and Art & Science in the Field. She taught creative writing at Bryn Mawr and Rosemont Colleges, and earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson’s low-residency program. In August 2024, she will circumnavigate Svalbard aboard an icebreaker carrying a hundred artists, scientists, and crew.

Find out more at cynthiareeveswriter.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read More »

Leave a Comment Cynthia Reeves, Friday Speak Out!, magical realism, writer tips

Interview with Winter 2024 Flash Fiction Runner Up, Liz Chang

 

Liz Chang was the 2012 Montgomery County Poet Laureate. Her poems have appeared in Verse Daily, Exit 7, Breakwater Review and Stoneboat Literary Journal, among others. Her 2023 chapbook Museum of Things from Finishing Line Press includes the Pushcart Prize-nominated work “On Jolly Holiday.” Chang’s flash fiction has been published internationally in Oxygen: Parables of the Pandemic and Opia no. 2. She is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Moravian University. More information on her forthcoming work and appearances can be found at lizchangpoet.com. 

----------Interview by Renee Roberson 

WOW: Your story, The Ghost of Louise Gluck Takes Persephone Apple Picking for the First Time, pays tribute to Averno, a crater lake in Italy that also serves as the entrance to the Roman underworld. What was your process like in getting the details down on paper, and then polishing and shaping them until you were happy with the final result? 

Liz: I’m pleased you noticed that, but in this case, I can’t really take credit. Averno is the title of Louise Gluck’s collection that has a bunch of poems about Persephone. In the series I’m working on, I use bits of inspiration from the poets or authors whose voices I’m creating. In this case, though, I didn’t use many of Gluck’s exact lines–more like images and settings from the character she created and the speaker in Averno’s reference to growing up near an orchard. I had also recently gone apple picking with my family, so that’s where some of the physical details came from. As an aside, I have been to the cave in Slovenia that Dante visited just before he wrote The Inferno. I crawled about six feet in, on my hands and knees in total darkness, and then instinctually threw my body into reverse to move back out toward the entrance. I’ve discovered that caves are not for me. 

WOW: Ha! I can understand that about caves--they've always struck me as quite unpredictable. What is your favorite line from “The Ghost of Louise Gluck” and why? 

Liz: The one line I did use from Gluck here was the bit about “...in the way one expects of a lyric poet.” I tried to kind of pull off a cheeky self-own, as a lyric poet myself, with the set-up about Persephone comparing apples to pomegranates and how they’re only vaguely alike in a sort of superficial, romantic way. In general, I’m having so much fun with these little flash pieces because I get to pay homage to some of my favorite, departed artists, but also I get to move them around on a little stage in my brain. One of my writer-friends teased me recently, saying, “Your brain must be a strange place to be!” …but that’s the joy that I’m trying to tap into with this project. Even the more somber pieces are fun to craft because they feel like stolen moments with the people I most admire. 

WOW: How did you first discover your love for reading and writing poetry? 

Liz: I was very fortunate to have a lot of support early on as a reader (in second grade) and a writer (in third or fourth). I know not everyone has that. In college, I took a class with Hettie Jones, and even though I felt lost in my major coursework, I always looked forward to writing for her workshop. I would hold off poetry writing until the night before I had to produce something–it was like I got to savor a reward. Living in New York City was rough on me, so I think having the mental space to shut out all of the noise and try to distill my hidden self onto the page was really tied to my weathering that time. 

WOW: Your chapbook “Museum of Things” has such a unique concept—the poems are structured to resemble artifacts in a museum with each piece focusing on a specific item from your past. What advice would you offer other poets and writers looking to find a personal concept such as this one to immerse themselves in? 

Liz: I studied visual art as an undergraduate, and I’ve heard readers mention they generally see a lot of fine art influence in my writing–mostly in terms of color and pattern work, which I have always really enjoyed. 

In this case, I was writing some little micro memoir pieces for a poetry workshop I’ve been in for the last thirteen years. We meet monthly, so I always aim to have something to show them. I was scraping the bottom of my mental barrel, certain that no one would care about these little stories behind all of my accumulated “things” except me. It was my poet-friends who recognized that these were worth revisiting. In fact, my one friend Susan suggested re-conceiving them as ‘museum tags.’ I really enjoy finding an idea’s natural form–both in visual art and writing. I threw myself into the challenge, and I eventually let them be poems. …

But I suppose I’m backing into the advice part here. I would say that the best advice is (and I’m sure I’m paraphrasing someone important here) that the personal is universal. Strong writing moves outward from purely individual experience to connect with a larger audience. If you pay attention to your craft and distill your work until it is as strong as it can possibly be, then readers out in the world will respond. As a poet, I seek to create an emotional experience for the reader on the page, but I am also committed to being a storyteller and to communicate with my reader. If you value that relationship, people will notice. 

I can’t tell you how many times audience members have found themselves in just one line in a piece during a reading–that’s all it takes. For instance, I describe my grandmother wearing “one black shoe and one blue” to teach her kindergarten classes and a gentleman came up to me at a library reading to quietly confess he’d done the same. When someone noticed his shoes, he replied, “I have another pair just like it at home!” 

WOW: In addition to being a poet and writing instructor, you are also a beekeeper. What drew you to this pastime and what do you love most about it? 

Liz: My husband jokes that it was my destiny after I played a honeybee in my second grade play. Also I used to teach an essay that had the line, “what is it about poets and bees?” I still don’t have an answer to that question. But I’d be lying if I didn’t mention that I love the backyard honey. I’m a miserable gardener, so this is the closest I get to appreciating the garden the previous homeowner put in. I also really enjoy having something in my life that’s less about words and more about instinct. This is one of the only spaces where I can quiet my mind and tend. When I’m working to make their lives easier, I don’t narrate what I’m doing in my head. I try to be their guardian instead of their “keeper” (although I do use that shorthand term to refer to myself–I mean that I find the action to be more like protecting and supporting them over owning them). 

WOW: It sounds like such a fascinating hobby and I'm glad you discovered it! Liz, congratulations again for placing in the contest and we appreciate you sharing these insights on the writing life.

Read More »

Leave a Comment Contestant interview, Liz Chang, Renee Roberson, Runner up, WOW! Winter 2024 Flash Fiction Contest

Ask the Book Doctor: About Author Intrusion

 

By Bobbie Christmas

 

Q: Someone online the other day inquired about a quick, easy way to look up questions about writing. People suggested The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, as well as The Chicago Manual of Style. Those are well known. I suggested Bobbie Christmas’s Purge Your Prose of Problems.

 

Now I’ve just looked through that book and your other gem, Write in Style. I think I remember reading something in Write in Style, where you said when writing in third person, the writer’s voice should not have opinions about the story or characters that they impose on the reader. I hope I'm remembering this correctly.

 

I want to be sure I’m not advising a client wrong about her story. If the main character says someone’s a jerk, that’s fine, but the narrator should not be calling that character a jerk. Right?

 

I’d like to quote you (if that’s your position) but I can’t find it in the book.

 

A: You're absolutely right. The issue is one of author intrusion. If the narrative calls a character a jerk, it reflects the author’s opinion and is therefore author intrusion. If a character calls someone a jerk, that’s the character’s opinion, and it’s fine.

 

Example of author intrusion: The jerk who stole Marie’s purse threw it in a trash bin.

 

Example of character’s opinion: Marie looked at her battered pocketbook and said, “The jerk who stole it threw it in a trash bin.”

 

Although I may have covered the issue briefly in Write In Style, I covered it more in depth in Purge Your Prose of Problems. Here’s what Purge Your Prose of Problems says about author intrusion:

 

Strong writing shuns author intrusion, which can happen when a portion of a novel is not written in the viewpoint of a character in the book.

 

Minor author intrusion can be a word choice that implies personal feelings, rather than using a true description.

 

Example: The weather was beautiful. (Beautiful is a personal opinion.)

 

Better: The weather was perfect for kite flying because a slight, steady breeze blew through the treetops. The sun peeked through thin clouds, imparting a warm glow to the vast green slopes of Rocky Top Park. 

 

Sometimes a one-word intrusion occurs when an author chooses adverbs that reflect a personal opinion. Examples of minor author intrusion: Luckily, the car was unlocked. Hopefully, she would heal quickly. Better: He found the car unlocked and breathed a sigh of relief. She hoped she would heal quickly. 

 

We also sometimes see the two-word intrusion, of course. Of course the door was locked. Delete it in narrative. The door was locked. 

 

Sometimes thoughts not attributed to a character can sound like the author’s opinion and therefore constitute author intrusion.

 

Example: (author intrusion) He had better hurry; someone might catch him breaking in. 

 

Better: (action) His hands shook, even as he tried to hurry. (thoughts) I’d better hurry, he thought. What will I do if someone catches me breaking in? 

 

Example: (author intrusion) She shouldn’t have yelled at him. Now he would be angry. 

 

Better: (dialogue) “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have yelled at you. Please don’t be angry.” (thoughts) Why did I yell at him, she wondered. Now he’s going to be angry with me. 

 

Major author intrusion stops the action and dialogue and goes into an explanation.

 

Example: Junior Sol wept into his hands. He felt bad because even though he was a doctor, he couldn’t do anything to save his mother.

 

Better: Intern Junior Sol wept into his hands. A nurse patted his back. He turned to her, almost shouting. “What good were all those years of medical school and all this training? I still feel like a little boy.” He pointed to the body in the hospital bed. “I can’t even help my own mother.”

 

All that said, creative writing has only guidelines and no actionable rules. If an author wants to express a personal opinion in a novel, no police officer will come and make an arrest, but in fiction it's wiser to let those opinions come out of the mouths of characters, rather than the author. Nonfiction is the place where we can express our personal opinions without going against any tenets of creative writing.

 

***

 

Send your questions to Bobbie Christmas, book editor, author of Write In Style: Use Your Computer to Improve Your Writing, and owner of Zebra Communications. Bobbie@zebraeditor.com or BZebra@aol.com. Read Bobbie’s Zebra Communications blog at https://www.zebraeditor.com/blog/.

Read More »

Leave a Comment Ask the book doctor, author intrusion, Bobbie Christmas, narrator

Go With the Flow in Life and Pitching Your Work

The author at the peak of Grandfather Mountain in Linville, N.C.

I’m on vacation with my family this week. Instead of our normal trek to the ocean, we decided to rent a mountain house near where our son will be attending college and appreciate the cooler weather and fun outdoor activities. We had everything planned out, and a lot of our itinerary was based on the advice of my husband, who also attended college in this area thirty plus years ago. 

Our first adventure was tubing down the New River with nothing but the current to carry us and a few drinks packed in a cooler. A shuttle van took us to the drop-off point and we were basically told to “have fun!” We settled in for a lazy two hours in the water, until we noticed we were approaching a bridge that looked—what’s the best way to describe it?—sagging in the middle? We were supposed to just float underneath the bridge but as we got closer, we began to panic. Did we have enough room to clear it? 

We could have tried to stop, drag our tubes out of the water and walk along the riverbank beside the bridge. But instead, we flattened ourselves like pancakes and prayed. We made it underneath the bridge, barely, but we were wondering how the large group of thirty or so people floating a good ways behind us were going to tackle the situation, seeing as how they were all attached to one another and hauling Bluetooth speakers, coolers, and even a charcuterie board in an airtight container! 

The next day we decided to check out a local waterfall less than half a mile from where we were staying. Based on the map in the parking lot, there were three different ways to get to the waterfall and they were labeled by difficulty. We picked one path and headed in. While the ground was full of roots and mud, you can imagine our surprise when we found the waterfall less than a half-mile into our hike. My son, an Eagle Scout, was pretty underwhelmed. We were back out of the park and to our car within an hour all in. We laughed and told ourselves you just must roll with it sometimes. 

Back in May I wrote about putting together an agent checklist for my suspense novel. I selected five different agents and discussed what they requested from writers pitching their books. They were all different I sent out my first batch of queries and quickly noticed something was missing from my submission package. I had a short synopsis as part of my query letter, but I realized some agents also want a longer synopsis where you hit all the main plot points of your book, from beginning to end, in no more than 800 words. 

I pulled my submission package document out again and got to work. Whittling down a synopsis of an 86,000-word-book to only 800 words isn’t easy. But I have a completed draft to send to my next batch of agents. 

My submission package now includes: 

• A one-sentence logline of my book. 

 • Both a short and longer author bio. 

 • An 800-word synopsis of the book, covering all the main plot points. 

 • A brief description of the potential target audience and other comparative titles to mine. 

 • The most polished version of the book, where I can pull the first 10 pages, 25 pages, or 50 pages, depending on what/if the agent wants. 

I’m sure just like our vacation excursions, these different pieces of the submission package will continue to evolve, when and if agents respond. The bright side of continuing to work on these various pieces means the book will have a great marketing package already put together when and if it sells. 

Renee Roberson is an award-winning writer and host/creator of the true crime podcast, Missing in the Carolinas. She’s currently seeking representation for her suspense novel “It’s a Miracle I’m Alive,” which was inspired by her experience podcasting.

Read More »

1 comment agent queries, book submission checklist, pitching advice for writers, Renee Roberson

Interview with Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar: Winter 2024 Flash Fiction Contest Runner Up

Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar is an Indian American writer. She is the author of a short fiction collection Morsels of Purple and a prose chapbook Skin Over Milk. She is currently working on her first novel. Her stories have been published in numerous anthologies and journals including the Best Small Fictions 2022 and 2023. She is the winner of the National Flash Fiction Day Micro Contest and the runner-up for the Larry Brown Short Story Prize. Outside of her day job as a technologist, she is a submissions editor for SmokeLong Quarterly. More at saraspunyfingers.com, Twitter:@PunyFingers Instagram:sara_siddiqui24

---interview by Marcia Peterson

WOW: Congratulations on your top ten win in our Winter 2024 Flash Fiction competition! What prompted you to enter the contest?

Sara: I’ve seen friends’ posts on social media about winning the WOW contest. That combined with the fact that this contest is always open propelled me to submit my story to the Winter call.

WOW: Can you tell us what encouraged the idea behind your story, “The Rest Area at Chautauqua Lake?”

Sara: I know the setting well. My husband and I used to stop at this rest area after dropping our son to college. Sometimes, I peeked into the cars parked beside us and wondered about the people inside them. Those thoughts came to mind one morning and took the shape of this story.

WOW: What do you enjoy about flash fiction writing versus the other kinds of writing that you do?

Sara: Flash fiction is quick and effective for both the reader and the writer. With my full-time job, I am hard-pressed to find time to write. That’s where Flash comes to the rescue. I can write the first draft in one sitting and then complete the story in three or four revisions and that leaves me with a spurt of writerly satisfaction.

WOW: You mention that you’re working on a novel. Can you tell us anything about it, and what your novel writing journey has been like so far?

Sara: My novel is a story of a girl growing up in the backdrop of a loss in the family. She tries to emerge, crystallize her beliefs, and determine her identity and place in the world.

With an unrestricted word count, I have the freedom to build the characters with more depth, expand and detail the scenes, and interrogate internal thoughts with more clarity. On the flip side, it’s hard to maintain the focus and energy throughout the chapters. I have to constantly rein in my thoughts which tend to wander in different directions.

WOW: Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Sara. Before you go, do you have a favorite writing tip or piece of advice you can share?

Sara: Take breaks but don’t give up. It’s alright to not write anything for some time, but please return to the keyboard. We need to keep reading and writing alive in this age of AI and robotics.

***

Read More »

Leave a Comment contest interview, flash fiction runner up, Marcia Peterson, Sara Siddiqui Chansarkar, WOW! Winter 2024 Flash Fiction Contest, writer inspiration

Interview with Anne Walsh Donnelly, Q2 2024 WOW! Creative Nonfiction Contest Runner Up

Anne Walsh Donnelly lives in the west of Ireland, writes prose, poetry and plays and loves to experiment with form in her writing. She is the author of the poetry collection, Odd as F*ck. Her fragmentary novel, He Used To Be Me, was published by New Island Books in February, 2024. Anne is currently working towards her first personal essay collection.

Facebook: AnneWalshDonnelly
Instagram: annewalshdonnellypoetry
X: @AnneWDonnelly

interview by Marcia Peterson

WOW: Congratulations on placing as a runner up in our Q2 2024 Creative Nonfiction essay competition! What prompted you to enter the contest?

Anne: Thanks. I’ve entered the contest several times and have been placed in the top ten five times, coming 2nd last year. It’s lovely when judges ‘get your work’ and obviously the WOW judges get mine! So that encourages me to keep submitting. I also love the critiques they give, they are always very constructive and have helped me improve my essays in the past.

WOW:  Love to hear that! Your entry, “The day you decided not to kill yourself” is quite moving and while it’s very personal, a lot of it will be relatable to others. What inspired you to write this essay?

Anne: It took me seven years to write this essay, it’s about a particular day when I had suicidal feelings and I’ve been trying to write about that day for the last seven years but it wouldn’t come. Finally in January of this year it landed on the page which was a release. It's one of my favourite essays and I'm so proud to have gone through what I've gone through and am now able to write about it.

It’s an important story to tell and I wrote it to give other people hope, even in your darkest moments you can turn your life around. It’s difficult but it’s doable with support from others. All you have to do is ask. The turning point for me was my love for my children and not wanting to leave them without a mother. There’s sometimes a lot of bad press about antidepressants but they saved my life and continuing in therapy while I was on them helped me recover from my depression.

WOW:  You’re also currently working a personal essay collection. Can you tell us anything about it, and how it’s going?

Anne: It’s going well. I’m on a bit of a roll at the moment and am writing a good few essays, thankfully. There’s a lot of ideas and themes floating around my head so I still need to decide on an overarching theme for the collection as a whole but that will evolve during the writing process.

For me craft and form are as important as content when writing a personal essay, so I’m having fun experimenting and trying out new ways and new forms to tell my story.

WOW: What are you reading right now, and why did you choose to read it?

Anne: I tend to have a few books (poetry, fiction and non-fiction) on the go at the same time. One of the books I’m reading at the moment is Seaborne by Irish author Nuala O’Connor. It’s a novel loosely based on the life of 18th-century Irishwoman, Anne Bonny who was an Irish woman tried for piracy in Jamaica in the 1720s. Nuala is a fabulous writer, one of Ireland’s best (in my opinion), and her prose is a delight to read. I’d highly recommend the book to any reader.

I’ve just discovered Melissa Febos’ writing. I’ve been reading some of her essays online and have ordered her book ‘Body Work, The Radical Power of Personal Narrative.’ So I’m looking forward to getting stuck into it when it arrives. Her work is inspiring me to write about different themes in my own creative non-fiction writing.

WOW: Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Anne. Before you go, can you share a favorite writing tip or piece of advice?

Anne: Write for yourself first then edit and polish with your reader in your mind.

***  

Read More »

2 comments anne walsh donnelly, contest winner interview, creative nonfiction essay contest runner up, essay contest, Marcia Peterson, Q2 2024 Creative Nonfiction Contest, writer inspiration

Is the Party Over?

“I’m always late to the party,” I told a writing colleague the other day. Sometimes it’s physically late to be at the place I promised to be. More often it’s not quite so literal: late catching on to a new trend, mastering a new skill or learning about a development in the writing industry.

Once I was early.

We all have a book (or two…or three) in the proverbial drawer gathering dust. Some are what I like to consider practice books. Yes, they’re bad but that’s OK. They showed us what we were doing wrong and give us the knowledge to do better next time. But some get stuck there for reasons that have nothing to do with our writing.

Years ago I attended my first writing conference, armed with my elevator speech and appointments with agents. One agent seemed like my dream agent. I was beyond excited. It’s a miracle my head didn’t just detach from my body and float away. Then came the moment of truth when I pitched my historical novel.

“It’s an interesting idea but can you switch it from World War II to World War I? World War II doesn’t quite qualify as historical fiction so I’d have trouble placing it. I would be interested in seeing it in World War I.”

I smiled. I nodded. Inside I was screaming, “But the premise this book is based on didn’t happen in World War I. I can’t just change 1942 to 1918 and call it good.”

So even though I continued to polish my novel it seemed futile. She was the agent. She knew the industry better than me. Her words kept echoing in my head. I shoved my novel and reams of research in the drawer and moved on to other things.

Unless you’ve been living in the drawer with my abandoned novel you know that World War II historical fiction is everywhere and has been for over a decade. There are authors that specialize in ONLY World War II historical fiction. I toy with the idea of taking out my old novel – focusing on an event I haven’t seen in a novel yet – and polishing it up. But I see agent calls begging for historical fiction NOT from World War II since so much has come across their desks. Can you be too late to the party?

Have you ever been at odds with what the writing industry told you? How do you balance advice from the experts with your belief in your writing project?

Hope everyone's enjoying a fun day full of picnics and fireworks! Stay safe.

Read More »

3 comments historical fiction, Jodi M. Webb, writing advice