You’ve finished your manuscript and now what? In 2023 writers have more options than ever to get their stories out to the world. Trad pub, indie, hybrid… they’re all legitimate ways to publish, and our panel is going to talk about those, and attempt to shed some light on the realities of publishing in 2023. […]

When editing your book, how do you know when It’s “finished”? In the writer’s eyes, is a story ever truly finished? How do you lovingly close this project and how do you start thinking about what you’ll follow it up with? We’ll talk about all of it this week.

DON WINSLOW is the author of twenty-three acclaimed, award-winning international bestsellers, including six New York Times bestsellers (Savages, The Kings of Cool, The Cartel, The Force, The Border and City on Fire). Savages was made into a feature film by three-time Oscar- winning writer-director Oliver Stone and a screenplay by Shane Salerno, Winslow and Stone. Winslow’s epic Cartel trilogy has been adapted for TV and […]

Read any how-to book on writing and you’ll get that author’s ideas about what makes the perfect story. Pick up another guide and you might find information that contradicts what the first author told you. Who’s right? Aren’t the rules of storytelling set in stone? The answer is a firm “sometimes”. On this week’s episode […]

Amazon All Star Author Tonya Kappes has written more than 175 southern cozy mysteries, all of which have graced numerous bestseller lists, including USA Today and Woman’s World Book Club pick twice . Best known for stories charged with southern charm, emotion and humor and filled with flawed characters, her novels have garnered reader praise […]

When reading back over that first draft what happens when you encounter that dreaded plot hole. Pin sized plot holes are one thing, and hopefully easily resolved, but what happens when you could fly a 747 through the center of your plot?

Grant Faulkner is the Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and the co-founder of 100 Word Story. He has published two books on writing, Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo, and Brave the Page, a teen writing guide. He’s also published All the Comfort Sin Can […]

We’ve talked about characters, and we’ve plumbed the depths of plot, but what if the story you’re telling is actually one piece of a bigger puzzle, a series? How does editing in light of a series differ from sanding off the rough edges of a standalone story? When is it appropriate to start building a […]

Mark Greaney has a degree in international relations and political science. In his research for the Gray Man novels, including Sierra Six, Relentless, One Minute Out, Mission Critical, Agent in Place, Gunmetal Gray, Back Blast, Dead Eye, Ballistic, On Target, and The Gray Man, he traveled to more than thirty-five countries and trained alongside military […]

In our second week of exploring plot, we look at how to ensure that the action rises and falls in a way that will keep your readers on the edge of their seats. Does your plot serve the story in a meaningful way? Let’s talk about it.

We’ve talked characters for the last couple of weeks, but do you characters actually do anything? Plot is where we tell the story of what happened, and what that happening does to our characters. This week we talk about determining if your characters’ journey is a good one.

The Levee Raised in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, William Kent Krueger briefly attended Stanford University—before being kicked out for radical activities. After that, he logged timber, worked construction, tried his hand at freelance journalism, and eventually ended up researching child development at the University of Minnesota. He’s been married for nearly fifty years to […]

So your protagonist has you feeling good, and you feel like their journey is solid, but what about the rest of the cast? No journey is a solitary one, and your protagonist is no different. How can he or she reach their potential without the help (or antics) of the folks around them? Join us […]

In our second week of rewriting we are going to take a hard look at the characters that we’ve invited into our stories. Are these characters all we had hoped they could be? Do they move the plot forward and add emotional depth to our tale? Are we as writers giving our characters the best […]

It’s time to take that novel that you’ve first-drafted and whip it into shape! Our panel of writers will work through the process–along with you, the audience–and hear from special guests along the way.

Rhett is a USA Today bestselling and Nebula-nominated hybrid author who has been writing Sci-Fi & Fantasy since before he can remember. On the editing side, he has collected works for numerous anthologies through Sci-Fi & Fantasy Bridge, and served as the lead editor of the bestselling Bridge Across the Stars Anthology. He also served […]

Deborah Crombie was born in Dallas and grew up in Richardson, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas, the second child of Charlie and Mary Darden. Her maternal grandmother, Lillian Dozier, a retired teacher, taught her to read at the tender age of four. After a rather checkered educational career, which included dropping out of high […]

Audrey Burges writes novels, humor, short fiction, and essays in Richmond, Virginia. Her presence is tolerated by her two rambunctious children and very patient husband, all of whom have become practiced at making supportive faces when she shouts, “listen to this sentence!” She is a frequent contributor to numerous humor outlets, including McSweeney’s, and her […]

Brad Taylor was born on Okinawa, Japan, but grew up on 40-acres in rural Texas.  Graduating from the University of Texas, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry.  Brad served for more than 21 years, retiring as a Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel.  During that time he held numerous Infantry and […]

AI is certainly one of the buzziest topics as we start off 2023, and lots of writers are exploring what these tools might be able to offer to their personal creative process. Today we hear from a writer and publisher about his thoughts on where we stand with this emerging technology.