The Radcliffe Ladies’ Reading Club by Julia Bryan Thomas: a Book Review

The Radcliffe Ladies’ Reading Club by Julia Bryan Thomas takes escaping through books and using them to make sense of one’s place in the world to new heights.

The Last Carolina Girl by Meagan Church: a Book Review

In The Last Carolina Girl, Leah Payne experiences many ways in which life can suddenly change: from losing the person you love most to the harsh edicts of a corrupt government institution.

A Legacy of Bones by Doug Burgess: a Book Review

In A Legacy of Bones by Doug Burgess, the Hawaiian landscape is the backdrop for a history of misery that will define the Lathrop family.

The Power of Free-range Pens

The world is a scary place that often leaves us feeling the butt of some cosmic joke. But pens are still mighty and capable of giving reality the occasional swift kick in the ass.

Join the Conversation: Reexamining Dialogue

When it comes to dialogue, writers really do need to say what they mean and mean what they say. In other words, you’ve only got so many chances to use your characters’ conversations to their utmost advantage. Make them count.

Writing Contests and Why They Make Us Want to Hurl

Writing contests are great avenues for exposure and constructive criticism. So why do they make all us writers feel physically ill at the thought of entering?

27 Tips I’ve Collected as a Writer, an Editor, and Everything in Between

There are a million things that go into writing a novel. Here are twenty-seven of the handiest tips I’ve collected so far.