#32 Parallel Lives: Meshing Journalism Skills into Fiction Writing with Vanessa Hua

Vanessa Hua is the author of the national bestsellers A River of Stars and Forbidden City, as well as Deceit and Other Possibilities, a New York Times Editors Pick. A National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow, she has also received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and a Steinbeck Fellowship in Creative Writing, as well as awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Asian American Journalists Association, among others. A former longtime columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, her work has appeared in publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, and The Atlantic. She is a Visiting Writer at Saint Mary's College of California, and has taught at the Warren Wilson MFA Program, Sewanee Writers Conference, and elsewhere. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family.

In this episode:

• How Vanessa meshes her journalism background into her fiction writing

• Tips for building scenes in your writing

• Pantser or Plotter: Which is she?

• How Vanessa has shifted genres throughout her career

Connect with Vanessa:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/vanessa_hua

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mononoke97/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/vanessahuawriter

Website: www.vanessahua.com

Connect with Estelle:

Website: https://estelleserasmus.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/EstelleSErasmus/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EstelleSErasmus

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@estelleserasmus

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/estelle.sobel.erasmus/

Estelle's Classes: https://estelleserasmus.com/teaching-speaking/

Estelle's Substack: https://estelleserasmus.substack.com

Writing That Gets Noticed: Find Your Voice, Become a Better Storyteller, Get Published: Available for pre-order. https://lnkd.in/eyxFTpcA

Email Estelle: freelancewritingdirect@gmail.com