By Susan Harrow Top literary agents get about 400–1,000 unsolicited queries every month from hopeful book authors. Publishing houses sometimes juggle 5,000. Most of my private clients and participants in my seminar “How to Get a Six-Figure Book Advance” ask me, “How is a non-fiction author supposed to get an agent’s attention when there is … Read more
By Magdalena Ball You’ve got writer’s block? So did I, for more than five years. I had plenty of grand ideas about what I wanted to write —the literary masterpieces which would stun the critics, the lofty poetry. With idols and role models like Joyce, Woolf, Yeats and Faulker, it isn’t surprising that my meager … Read more
By C. Hope Clark Your heart races, banging against your ribs, your chest, your throat. Fingers grip a pen to disguise the shake. The other hand flattens on your leg, your side, and your leg again drying the moisture that never disappears. You did not bargain for exhibition when you entered the world of writing. … Read more
By Uma Girish I often feel like a motor car, for I have starting trouble. Pen poised over paper, I wait for the words to trickle. Rarely do they gush from the word “go.” When my brain does the freeze-mode act, I flick the computer on and run through my “Favorites” list. I look for … Read more
Word Court: Wherein Verbal Virtue Is Rewarded, Crimes Against the Language Are Punished, and Poetic Justice Is Done By Barbara Wallraff Review by Andrea M. Chester Barbara Wallraff’s Word Court: Wherein Verbal Virtue Is Rewarded, Crimes Against the Language Are Punished, and Poetic Justice Is Done reminds me of my favorite English professor, and her … Read more
By Linda Alice Dewey “Congratulations! Your poem has been selected for our next anthology.” Every year, these words bring tears to the eyes of thousands of poets, first from joy— then from anger. Why the anger? Because in many cases, they’ve been swindled. Submitting work to a legitimate writing contest can be a rewarding experience, … Read more
Interview by RoseEtta Stone Lois Duncan is a multiple award-winning author of more than forty books, most of which are YA (young adult) metaphysical/ paranormal-themed suspense novels. She’s received fifteen international young readers’ awards. There are so many questions to ask you; why don’t we begin with your banned books? You knew that Killing Mr. … Read more
Book Review: 45 Master Characters: Mythic Models for Creating Original Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt 45 Master Characters: Mythic Models for Creating Original Characters. By Victoria Lynn Schmidt Writer’s Digest Books 298 pages 2001 Amazon.com price: $13.99 Victoria Lynn Schmidt is a screenwriter for both film and television who was once told at film school … Read more
