Author Archives: Hesse Phillips
Eulogy for an Unpublished Novel
Let’s start with the good news before we get to the complicated feelings: my debut novel Lightborne is coming out next year. And I am ecstatic! Lightborne is a historical novel about Christopher Marlowe, an Elizabethan playwright and contemporary of…
The Big Pitch: 4 Questions Literary Agents Want You to Answer
Last year, I took a shot. I applied for the Irish Writers Centre’s international Novel Fair. If you haven’t heard of it, I suggest you click that link right now. Picture two days of intense speed-dating with a selection of…
Three Virtuosos of Dread
Dread is an instrument. Its sound varies depending on how you play it. We’ve all heard it before, in the background of movies and TV series: there’s the high-pitched note that stretches on and on, the irregularly thudding heartbeat, the…
No Words for What I’m Feeling: Writing Emotions
I sometimes wonder whether, growing up, anyone ever uncovered my “dirty little secret.” I was not always good at hiding it: I misread social cues. I struggled to focus on conversations. I made few friends. I mimicked behavior I saw…
Communication Breakdown: When reading body language is a necessity
Just over a year ago, in a paroxysm of post-election whythehellnottery, my wife and I packed up our books and moved from Boston, MA to Madrid, Spain. My Spanish was shaky at best, and still is. I spend most days in…