Category: creative writing

• Seaside Proverbs

  Just a few months ago, I was walking barefoot along the beach. Salty mists buffeted my face. Cold waves stung my toes. I had arrived here for Dollbaby Week, a gathering of women writers and friends. Once a year, the Dollbabies come together at Virginia Beach. We share stories, laughter, love, and tears. We celebrate…

  Karin Rita Gastreich

  July 11, 2022

  creative writing, fantasy, friendship, life, love, nature, spirituality, traveling

• The Negative Review

  For the published author, a negative review can sting hard. We tend to confer disproportionate power on bad reviews, allowing a single sour note to negate all the wonderful things readers have said about our work. For this reason, many of my friends and colleagues resolve not to pay attention to reader reviews, but let’s…

  Karin Rita Gastreich

  March 1, 2022

  Books, creative writing, fantasy, publishing, writing

  author life, writing advice

• Eolyn: Legends and Lore

  My 2021 mini series on The Query Letter was a lot of fun for me, and well-received by my followers. So, I’ve decided to do another series for 2022, centered on a theme I haven’t discussed in a long time: the mythological and historical foundations of Eolyn’s world. With each post, I’ll reveal hidden backstories…

  Karin Rita Gastreich

  February 15, 2022

  creative writing, Eolyn, fantasy, magic, women’s magic

• Query Letters: The Author Bio

  This marks the fifth installment of an ongoing series on query letters. So far, we’ve covered: Why query? What goes into a query letter? How do I place my book in the market? How do I pitch my book? Today we will talk about the Author Bio. Most query letters finish with a single, short…

  Karin Rita Gastreich

  January 11, 2022

  creative writing, publishing, querying, writing

  amquerying, amwriting

• The Perfect Magical Fantasy for the Holidays

  I’m participating in a number of writer challenges on Instagram. One recent challenge asked: Why is my story important? To answer this question, I focused on EOLYN, Book One of the Silver Web Trilogy. What drew me into Eolyn’s story was the immense courage and strength she demonstrates when confronting a brutal system intent on…

  Karin Rita Gastreich

  November 5, 2021

  creative writing, Eolyn, fantasy, magic, story telling, Women and Fantasy, writing

  epic fantasy, fantasy, magic, romance, witchcraft, witches

• Query Letters: The Pitch

  So far in this brief series, we’ve covered three topics: Why Query? The Basic Structure of the Query Letter Placing Your Work in the Market Today, I’ll talk about the pitch. The pitch consists of a few sentences that describe the central conflict of your novel in a compelling manner. The pitch is distinct from…

  Karin Rita Gastreich

  November 1, 2021

  creative writing, fantasy, publishing, querying

  #amquerying, agents, editors, publishing, query letters, querying, writing

• Query Letters: The Basics

  A query letter should: Place your work within the market, Provide a brief, compelling description of the manuscript, and Share relevant information about you as an author. Each of these essential functions corresponds to one paragraph. All three paragraphs are assembled to craft the full letter. Taken together, the entire letter should fit on a…

  Karin Rita Gastreich

  July 20, 2021

  creative writing, fantasy, publishing, querying, writing

  amquerying, queries, query letters

• To Query or Not to Query

  I had an interesting exchange with author Sierra Godfrey (@sierragodfrey on Instagram) that got me thinking about the whole question of querying. Sierra posted a great “pep talk post” encouraging authors to get their work into the querying cue. I, too, am an advocate for querying, though I understand why many authors are reluctant to…

  Karin Rita Gastreich

  June 25, 2021

  creative writing, fantasy, publishing, querying, writing

  publishing, querying

• Free Read Fridays: Brothers in Magic

  I’m testing the waters with some video content on my Instagram account. Called “Free Read Fridays,” each episode will include a brief (1-minute) reading from a randomly selected page in my novel EOLYN. I will occasionally cross-post here, but the best way to catch Free Read Fridays is to follow me on Instagram. This week’s…

  Karin Rita Gastreich

  March 12, 2021

  creative writing, Eolyn, fantasy, feminism, magic, story telling, Women and Fantasy, women’s magic

  fantasy, feminist fantasy, magic, witches

• Farewell, 2020

  As this extraordinary year winds down, I find myself reflecting not so much on what 2020 took away, but on the surprise gifts this year left on my doorstep even as it demanded a transformative, dramatic shifts in pretty much everything that I do. Nothing will recover the 340,000+ American lives lost this year due…

  Karin Rita Gastreich

  December 30, 2020

  creative writing, ecology, life, politics, spirituality, writing

  2020, 2021