How to Make a Beginning
It’s hard to start to write. No matter the number of chapters or scenes or even emails I’ve written, when I have a blank page in front of me, I stop in my tracks. I see half a dozen different…
An Interview with Chip Cheek, Author of Cape May
More people than I can count have told me that Chip Cheek is an amazing–legendary–Grub Street instructor and even better writer, and now that I’ve read his debut novel, Cape May (Celadon, 2019) I get it. Set in 1957, newlyweds…
That Western Lens That Filters Our Words
At the Muse and the Marketplace conference a few days ago, someone said American publishers were looking for stories not filtered through the American lens. I almost laughed out loud. Well said, but it was a false statement. I wasn’t…
Hit Refresh! Editing for unconscious bias
Last year I read a novel that was ruined (for me) by this: A family with adult children finds out that one of the kids, for some urgent business reason, needs $150,000 right away or something horrible will occur. It…
Ten Tips for How to Get the Most Out of Meeting an Agent
Muse & the Marketplace season is approaching! But how can you make the most of the Manuscript Mart? Here are ten tips that I’ve gathered from the collective wisdom of Novel Incubator alumni who have survived their own manuscript marts…
An Interview with Snowden Wright, Author of American Pop
Snowden Wright’s new novel, American Pop, is just out (William Morrow, 2019) and already it is being called spectacular and lauded as a smart and tragic exploration of American history. It is a multigenerational tale of a family that builds…