Welcome back to the Successful Queries series. In this installment, find a query letter to literary agent Jamie Carr (The Book Group) for Ava Robinson’s book, Definitely Better Now (MIRA). Ava Robinson (Photo credit: Nicky Woo) Ava Robinson is the assistant director of Sarah Lawrence College’s Writing Institute and an alum of the New School’s MFA […]
Photo by Skyler Smith on Unsplash For today’s prompt, start your story in an airport where all the flights have just been canceled, leaving all the crew and passengers stranded. Post your response (500 words or fewer) in the comments below.
By James Aitchison Once, the culture of overworking yourself to death was unique to Japan. “Karoshi”, which literally means death by overwork, claims worker lives from heart failure, stroke, sleep deprivation and exhaustion, mental health issues and suicide — the victims having worked up to 60 or 70 hours per week or more. Worse, the […]
By: James Aitchison Communication A slow soft voicespeaks in my soul.Of wisdom and love,I learn.The tapestry of lives,I clearly see.Of recurring faults,I am aware.To instruction,I awake.The means to overcomeearthly bondage,are mine.Without fear,I will live. A pure heart I ask nothing morethan a pure heart.A heart that does notdiscriminate ordraw distinctions,a mellow heartwelcoming to all.Give me […]
It was cool, late March, early in the day and still wet from all the recent rain. Dodging puddles, I schlepped everything out of the car and onto the stairs down to the cabin—comfortable clothes for three days of writing, extra blankets and sheets in case the provided ones smelled of Bounce or scented detergent, […]
I first met Joyce Carol Oates when she was the John Seigenthaler Legends Award winner at the Killer Nashville International Writers’ Conference. She is a prolific writer, a modern-day legend, and a professor at NYU and Princeton, where her fortunate students learn from one of the best living writers today. (Find more Killer Writers conversations […]
By: Vanaja Malathy There’s no full stop in lifeonly commashere and there semicolons and colonsbut no full stopin grief or triumph we are clueless we journey through life watching through the windowthe fresh colourful beauty outsidewe wish to grip the momentbut it moves back and back… Nay, we move on and on, forward […]
By: Bruce Levine The twelve days of Christmas Focused on the time That three wise men Travelled to Bethlehem Seeking the Nativity Bearing gifts for the child Born in a manger Destined to be a King Fulfilling the prophecy Of peace in the world Wonderful Counselor Prince of Peace As the three Magi Travelled the […]
What a year this has been! For me, it was a year utterly defined by the major life change of buying and moving into a new house. (I’ll talk more about that in my annual New Year retrospective, for those interested in my personal adventures.) On the writing front, this meant I tackled the (possibly […]
For several years running I’ve written a post about my reading experiences through the year. I offer up what I consider to be my favorite book. For 2024, I didn’t have many contenders. Oh, I’ve read several books I enjoyed and that I thought were well crafted. Some that were engaging stories but fairly flawed. […]
You have a killer idea for a novel. It has tension and climaxes and fresh circumstances and innovative worlds, not to mention fabulous characters, two or three, four, a soccer team’s worth, just more than one, each of which is integral to the narrative. You sit down to write. You crank out a few chapters […]
Join author Sharon Short for Character Development: Creating Memorable Characters! When you take this online writing course, you will learn how to create believable fiction characters and construct scenes with emotional depth and range. You’ll take an in-depth look at Write Great Fiction: Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint by Nancy Kress who will give you character development […]
