Ellen Meister Churlish. Mean. Difficult. Insensitive. When I first got the idea to introduce the acid-tongued Dorothy Parker to social media, I had no idea I would soon be using those adjectives to describe Facebook. It started in early 2011. I was working on a new novel that resurrected the great 1920s literary wit as […]

Kennedy Ryan I don’t garden. Not even a little bit. My thumbs are so black they are charred, but even I know weeds in a garden cannot be tolerated. This principle, this image of an overrun garden guides me as I think about my life. More specifically, as I manage my heart. One definition of […]

Densie Webb I recently read a blog post titled something to the effect “You Don’t Need Support to Write.” I couldn’t disagree more. Writing in a vacuum, without someone to give you honest feedback, occasionally shake their pompoms in your face or send you emails with lots of exclamation points congratulating you on your latest […]

Holly Robinson I'm in a semi-comatose state after crashing through the first draft of a novel in six months to meet my editor's deadline. Not that I'm complaining. I've been struggling to get to this point in my career for over twenty-five years. After earning a degree in biology, I started writing fiction and went […]

Shannon Donnelly Backstory—the background needed to enrich a story—is one of those things that can drive any writer nuts. How much is too much? When do you reveal more? When do you hold back? Too much backstory can sink a story—because you’re not moving the story forward. You’re giving background, and while that can be […]