“Many stories from real life, when told exactly as they happened, lie flat on the page because most of them lack inherent narrative force – nothing happens after they finish; nobody undergoes an inner journey as a result. It’s the writer’s work to put together a series of seemingly inconsequential
“My favorite writing time and ritual is waking pre-dawn…The morning can be wonderful, as exhilarating as a Barton Springs swim. Other mornings I feel stuck, useless, and tired. But I have never regretted waking up, never regretted sitting with the page in those dark, early hours.” -Owen Egerton From writing books
“In all cases an author needs to find a way to make their book and themselves stand out in the crowd. It all starts by getting specific about your market, developing a niche, and crafting your content and marketing to suit.” –Shennadoah Goodson Shennandoah Goodson is Director of Marketing and
“Kurt Vonnegut said there are only two possible reactions to life: you can laugh, or you can cry. Laughing is more fun. And probably better for you.” -Greg Garrett Greg Garrett is the author or co-author of over twenty books of fiction, memoir, and nonfiction, including the acclaimed novels Free Bird, Cycling,
“Smart writers keep themselves open to whatever suggestions will help their work. This can be a comment on how a sentence can be reworked, a character deepened, a plot rearranged—or about the course of your whole career.” -Thomas McNeely A native of Houston, Texas, Thomas H. McNeely is the author of
“When I decided to get serious, I chose mystery because it was a genre I both liked and ‘understood;’ I’d read hundreds of them and felt I’d internalized what went into a mystery.” -Karen MacInerney Karen MacInerney is the author of numerous popular mystery novels, including the Agatha Award–nominated Gray
“Being confined to What Could Really Happen feels as confining to me as being allowed no figures of speech.” -Katherine Catmull Katherine Catmull is the author of Summer and Bird (Dutton Young Readers/Penguin), one of Booklist’s 2012 Top Ten First Novels for Youth and a TLA Spirit of Texas Reading
“No matter what the story is that you are trying to imagine, creating a work of fiction also demands that you create (or re-create) the world in which your story is set, and research helps give you the concrete details you need to make that world convincing.” -John Pipkin John
“For me, what’s important is that looking at scenes, focusing in on them, helps me understand the complex structure of a novel.” -Brian Yansky Brian is the author of five published YA novels and over a dozen short stories for adults. His last three novels were published by Candlewick Press
Christine Wicker’s next book will be about how FDR’s spirituality guided him as he led the nation through depression and war, changing America forever. It will be published by the Smithsonian Press. Her seventh and most recent book, My Spirit Took You In, is a memoir about the fiancée of
