Elena Taylor

Sheena Kamal Talks about First Novels, Writing for TV and Film, and Writing Daily

This week we get to visit with ITW Debut Author Sheena Kamal. Sheena was born in the Caribbean and immigrated to Canada as a child. She holds an HBA in political science from the University of Toronto, and was awarded a TD Canada Trust scholarship for community leadership and activism around the issue of homelessness. Kamal […]

Lee Child, CJ Box, and Reavis Wortham walk into Thrillerfest: Day 2

Day two at Thrillerfest 2016 starts off on a high note. I’d volunteered to work the registration desk for a few hours in the morning. My fellow volunteers are friendly and welcoming. It’s fun to meet the other writers, including some of my fellow Debut Authors and bloggers I’ve been communicating with via emails and […]

Spotlight on Deborah Schneider

Deborah Schneider writes Western and Americana romance novels. Her publishing career began when she won the Molly Award for the most unsinkable heroine from the Denver Chapter of Romance Writers of America. She was a finalist in the New Historical Voice contest sponsored by Romantic Times Booklovers Magazine. Although she didn’t win the contest, her consolation prize […]

Spotlight on Nicole J. and Terry Persun

October sees Part III and IV of my extended spotlight, highlighting two exceptional writers, Terry Persun and his daughter Nicole. I had the pleasure of meeting them both at the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Conference in July, when I attended one of Terry’s workshops. Both excellent writers and teachers, I’m pleased to include them together […]

The Interview — Part I

Describe Your Writing Process… TERRY: My process has changed slightly over time, and also changes depending on what I’m writing. Even though I typically work on novels and short stories in the morning and poetry in the evening, I may switch it up if the spirit moves me. I do have a general process though, […]

Spotlight on Nick Stokes

Nick Stokes writes novels, plays, fictions, nothings, arrangements, pieces of prose, and other undefinables. His novel AFFAIR was serialized online at and published as an ebook by The Seattle Star. AFFAIR is available in print and ebook formats at major online retailers. Other writings have appeared with Bumf, Paper Darts, Crab Orchard Review,Word Riot, Creative Colloquy, Mixer Publishing, Atticus Review, Waccamaw, Prick of the Spindle, Knock, and others.  […]

Spotlight on Motivation! How do you keep writing…

The last few weeks I’ve covered some things to think about before you submit that manuscript you’ve been working on for the last ________ (fill in the blank: month, year, decade). These tips have probably given you ideas to take into your next rewrite or maybe confirmed you really are ready for submitting. But regardless […]

Staying Motivated to Write: Part II

Last week I compared writing to going to the gym. You know you’ll feel good after you get there, but it’s hard to get off the couch. I’m going to stick with that comparison again and talk about scheduling your writing time. Just as people are more likely to stay with an exercise regime if […]

Motivation Part I

One of the hardest things about being a writer can be sitting down in front of the computer day after day, without knowing if anything will ever “come” of all the work you’ve been doing. Regardless of whether you are thinking about the New York Times Best Seller List or just finishing a first draft […]

A Few Things To Know Before You Submit

You work for months, maybe even years, and finally get to type those two, beautiful little words: The End.Now what?Look for an agent? Self-publish? Submit to Independent Presses? There are lots of roads an author can go down, but are you ready for that step?June’s Spotlight will highlight some areas you might just want to […]

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