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 paragraph outlining the … Continue reading Query Letters: The Author Bio →

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 … Continue reading The Perfect Magical Fantasy for the Holidays →

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 … Continue reading Query Letters: The Pitch →

Query Letters: The Basics

A query letter should: Place your work within the market,Provide a brief, compelling description of the manuscript, andShare 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 standard letter … Continue reading Query Letters: The Basics →

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 … Continue reading To Query or Not to Query →

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 … Continue reading Free Read Fridays: Brothers in Magic →

Farewell, 2020

Our classic interdisciplinary course Ecology Through the Writers Lens ran under a different format this year, with local day trips instead of week-long overnight visit to the Flint Hills. Of course, everyone masked up. Photo by Amy Milakovic. As this extraordinary year winds down, I find myself reflecting not so much on what 2020 took … Continue reading Farewell, 2020 →

Reconnecting

Normally this time of year I would be at my annual Women's Writing Retreat, more affectionately known as Dollbabies Week. Like so many other spring activities and conferences, that plan was washed away by the tide of Covid-19. My literary colleagues and I have organized a remote edition instead. It won't be the same, but … Continue reading Reconnecting →

Inconceivable!

Every year around this time, I look at my August calendar and say, "Who are you, and what have you done with my summer?" Classes start at Avila this week. Wait, what? Classes start this week?? Why does time always takes us by surprise? I once read a theologian who argued this was evidence of … Continue reading Inconceivable! →

Undine – and where our stories come from

Saturday I attended a meeting of the Heartland Authors Guild, which goes by the wonderful acronym HAG. We did a flash fiction workshop including an exercise based on sensory prompts. Prompts were given to us by chance - drawn from a deck of cards. Mine read as follows: the sound of a garden hose What … Continue reading Undine – and where our stories come from →