writing

November 20, 2023

Musings & Meanderings: Susan Blumberg-Kason talks to me about her new book, BERNARDINE’S SHANGAI SALON, how she wrote near her kids, how dedications get ‘lost,’ and the literary scenes of 1930s; plus reviving a manuscript, curating a writing community, a family ravaged by mental illness in Meg Kissinger’s memoir, more
October 17, 2023

Musings & Meanderings: How can we create if we never rest? Balancing the creative life, plus Debbie Chein Morris on her WE USED TO DANCE about her disabled twin; the psychology of memoir, the arc of songs, the poetics of family archiving
September 27, 2023

Musings & Meanderings What does it mean for a writer to ‘rest?’ Plus, Lang Leav on OTHERS WERE EMERALDS–swooning!-she works on architectural models in her free time, what books Eula Biss turns to, Kathy Fish flash contest, Leah Paulos on book publicity, more
September 11, 2023

Musings & Meaderings: Lynn Alsup on writing with the backdoor open, her experience as an adopted mom, plus StoryStudio Chicago Writer’s Festival, manuscript consultations, artist/conieussier collaboration
August 31, 2023

Musings & Meanderings: How to prep your manuscript and your beta-readers, plus Una Mannion on writing in long stretches, dreaming about the work, and more in TELL ME WHAT I AM, plus Girls Write Now, the creative life, where to submit, more
July 25, 2023

Musings & Meanderings: Shari Lapena, queen of domestic thrillers, says she aims for 1500 words a day, lives in a farmhouse and has recently taken up horseback riding, plus her new book, EVERYONE HERE IS LYING; beta-readers, literary ghost-writing workshops, experimental writing, journal-of-the-month subscriptions, more
July 14, 2023

Musings & Meanderings: What should your final edit look like? Plus Kristy Woodson Harvey talks about being an interior decorator if she wasn’t a writer (I can relate!), summer reads, a podcast, manuscript consultations, conferences, and poetic form
July 5, 2023

Musings & Meaderings: Will Anyone Care? Exploring Writer’s Doubt–Plus, Andrew Michael Hurley’s Starve Acre lands–about grief, the supernatural, English countryside–and it’s going to be a movie, plus writing from photographs, the podcast matchmaker, revamping your writing group, more
June 23, 2023

Musings & Meanderings: Can we mother differently and still be good mothers? What about women’s intuition, ‘just knowing,’ envy and regrets? Ashley Audrain talks about that and more in The Whispers; plus visual poetry, micro CNF, more
May 26, 2023

MUSINGS & MEANDERINGS: How to ask for feedback, Mental Health Awareness Month + debut novelist Mirinae Lee talks about 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster, the book that recently riveted her, being a ‘slow writer,’ summer writing workshop offerings, more