DIY MFA Radio

Hey there word nerds! Joe is a bestselling writer, novelist, and a dad. He leads The Write Practice community, an award-winning community of creative writers. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife Talia and three kids and enjoys coffee and corpse reviver no. 2s. In this episode Joe and I discuss: The inspiration behind Crowdsourcing Paris A small, but powerful trick to overcoming writer’s block  Finding awe in the ordinary Structuring a memoir Creating risks and stakes in any story Developing a writing practice Plus, his  #1 tip for writers. For more info and show notes: www.diymfa.com/305

Hey there word nerds! Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Helen J. Darling. Helen is the author of two humorous women’s fiction novels: Terms and Conditions and I’ll Know Me When I Find Me. She is also the resident self-publishing expert and columnist at DIY MFA. Helen worked in publishing for twenty years before acknowledging she’d like to write something herself. When she’s not writing or spending time with her family, she dabbles uncontrollably in hobbies from photography and painting to gardening, carpentry, and home renovations. She reads three or four books at a time. She also keeps bees. That’s why she takes so long to write her novels. You can learn about her latest distractions by joining her mailing list or following her on social media. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, two children, a codependent beagle, and a cat who owns them all. In this episode Helen and I discuss: How working in academic publishing led to Helen’s writing career The flexibility that comes with self-publishing How self-publishing has changed Why writers choose self-publishing over traditional The two most important people on your self-publishing team Choosing the right people for your self-publishing team An overview of the editorial and publishing process The main parts of a book launch Plus, her #1 tip for writers. For info and more notes: diymfa.com/304

Hey there word nerds! Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Sonja K. Solter. Sonja graduated from Stanford University and earned an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University, with a critical thesis on writing trauma in middle grade and young adult realistic fiction. She is currently a creative writing mentor to youth with the Society of Young Inklings and enjoys writing poetry and prose for children of all ages. When You Know What I Know is her gorgeous debut novel. Visit her website and follow her on Twitter and Facebook. In this episode Sonja and I discuss: The inspiration behind When You Know What I Know Plot points in a character-driven story Writing a book in verse instead of prose How an ensemble cast effects the main character Writing about trauma in middle grade and YA How attending a conference led to publication Plus, her #1 tip for writers. For more info and show notes: www.diymfa.com/303

Hey there word nerds! Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Jade Dee and Wilnona Marie, the “And I Thought” Ladies! Jade is the 2019 Poet of the Year, and Wilnona is Advocate Awarded. Both ladies recently accepted the job as US correspondents for UK TV show Chrissy B on Sky TV. They recently made the list of 20 Iconic Authors according to Every Writers Resource Magazine. This dynamic duo has contributed to eleven books: The And I Thought Series & The Miss-Fit Guides. In addition, Jade and Wilnona are the Co-Founders of The Inspirational Women in Literature Media and Journalism Awards, The Thoughtful Book Festival, the 25 Hottest Authors Magazine & And I Thought Literary Magazine. They starred in docuseries Just Writin Life about authors. They will be starring in the film Create, Aspire & Inspire. They have co-hosted conferences on three continents. They have read poetry for loving fans in Australia, the U.K., Greece, and Canada, by Invitation for a regional poet laureate, and at the U.K. literary book festival. In July they were on their fourth European book tour reading their poetry, promoting their magazine and their movie. In this episode Jade, Wilnona and I discuss: The power of writers championing other writers The myth that you’ll never make money as a poet Understanding the impact of your writing  Using past success as inspiration to keep going Stepping into the limelight Taking a piece from page to stage Plus, their #1 tips for writers. For more info and show notes: www.diymfa.com/302

Hey there word nerds! Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Jeff Garvin. Jeff is an author, musician, and podcaster and his debut novel, Symptoms of Being Human has received a ton of accolades. It is an ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults Selection, Lambda Literary Award Finalist, and has garnered starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly.  Before becoming a novelist, Jeff acted on TV and toured as the lead singer of a rock band. He has a BFA in Film from Chapman University and lives in Southern California. Now, I have been looking forward to this episode since last July, when Jeff and I met at a ThrillerFest cocktail party. We connected right away and when Jeff told me about his new novel The Lightness of Hands I knew I just had to have him on the show. This book grapples with some heavy topics, but one in particular that really hits home for me: mental health. I am so thrilled to be recording this interview (finally! After 8 months!) and to introduce Jeff and his moving (sometimes gut-wrenching) YA novels to my word nerd listeners. In this episode Jeff and I discuss: How real life experiences inspired Lightness of Hands Living with Bipolar II Breaking the stigma around mental illness Starting a book with a question you can’t answer Writing a character that is hyper-attuned to her inner life The power of mindfulness meditation The hero’s journey, applied to writing and life Plus, his #1 tip for writers. For more info and show notes: www.diymfa.com/301

Hey there word nerds!  Welcome to the three hundredth episode of DIY MFA Radio! The original plan for this episode was to unveil our first-ever DIY MFA live event—Writer Igniter LIVE—which we were planning for October. In light of current events, we’ve put the planning  for that on hold. That said, we still wanted to honor this special milestone episode by doing something a little bit different. To that end, I’ve gathered Team Awesome together to talk about a new approach we’ve been taking with DIY MFA. While from an outside perspective DIY MFA has been chugging away as it always has been, over the past three months the team and I have been doing a lot of internal work, getting our house in order and making key shifts to how we approach the work that we do. One of these key shifts is the concept of building mental theme parks.  Now, theme parks hold a special significance for me. For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated with theme park design. Most kids go to Disney World for the rides; I was that weirdo kid begging her parents to let her take the behind-the-scenes tour of the underground tunnels.  When I was twelve or so, I decided I wanted to design a ride for Epcot Center. You see, while the World Showcase features many different countries, there isn’t a single one from South America. (Sorry Mexico, but you’re not in South America). I thought it was a travesty that an entire continent would be overlooked like that, so I decided to design the Brazilian Pavilion (I mean, the marketing copy practically writes itself. Most normal kids spend their summers traveling or going to camp. I spent my summer researching 18th century Brazilian architecture, drafting up design drawings, and brainstorming possible corporate sponsors. I even mapped out a ride. I designed everything, from the menus of the pavilion restaurants to the types of souvenir shops and what they would sell. Then I packaged everything together and mailed the envelope to Mr. Michael Eisner, CEO of Disney. A few months later, I got a reply with a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo about not being able to consider unsolicited submissions, blah blah blah.  The result was disappointing. As a kid, I didn’t care about the money, I just wanted to see my idea out in the world and getting the envelope sent back without them even considering the concept was hard. Still, that one experience has shaped my life in many unexpected ways. I continue to be obsessed with theme parks and other themed environments (Las Vegas, etc.) and this idea of “theming” is woven into everything I do as an author, teacher, and entrepreneur. To this day, I think of everything I build—whether it’s a book, a course, or a podcast—I think of it as an experience I’m creating for the audience (i.e. you, my word nerds). This idea of DIY MFA as a theme park for the mind has become central to our team and what we do at DIY MFA. Listen in as Team Awesome and I jam about DIY MFA and building theme parks for the mind. In this episode Jeanette, Bess, Lori and I discuss: How DIY MFA is like a theme park for your mind How this DIY MFA theme park is designed and operates The different roles of Team Awesome in the park How we’re moving forward as a team and a business during Corona Virus and beyond Team Awesome’s tips for being creative in spite of Corona Virus Free DIY MFA resources to help writers right now What’s ahead for DIY MFA this year Plus, their #1 tip for writers. For more info and shownotes: www.diymfa.com/300

Hey there word nerds! Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Chris Banks! Chris Banks is the CEO and Founder of ProWritingAid. In his varied career, he has built neural networks to model language learning, worked on the BBC’s scriptwriting product, written books, been a ski guide, and given talks on creativity, artificial intelligence, and language technologies. He started ProWritingAid to help with his own writing, but he soon saw how useful it was for everyone else. Now, he wants to help more people put their ideas into words and those words into the hands (and hearts) of readers. In this episode Chris and I discuss: How a broken ankle led to the creation of the ProWritingAid Software How ProWritingAid can help improve your writing  Approaching writing like building a building Taking your writing from good to great How a thesaurus can be a powerful writing tool Plus, his  #1 tip for writers. For more info and show notes: www.diymfa.com/299

Hey there word nerds! Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Brandy Colbert, the critically acclaimed author of several YA and Middle Grade novels. Her books include Pointe, Stonewall Award winner Little & Lion, Finding Yvonne, The Revolution of Birdie Randolph, and her 2020 releases, The Only Black Girls in Town, and The Voting Booth. Her short fiction and essays have also been published in several critically acclaimed anthologies for young people. Born and raised in Springfield, Missouri, Brandy spent a few years living in Chicago before relocating permanently to Los Angeles. She is very active on social media and also works as a copy editor for magazines and books. She is also on faculty at Hamline University’s MFA program in writing for children. In this episode Brandy and I discuss: The inspiration behind The Revolution of Birdie Randolph Exploring black friendships and experience in The Only Black Girls in Town How books can functions as both mirrors and windows Exploring the theme of family over multiple books Grappling with race in the context of a contemporary story Moving into middle grade after writing YA   Plus, her #1 tip for writers. For more info and shownotes: www.diymfa.com/298

Hey there word nerds! Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing E.J. Wenstrom J. Wenstrom believes in complicated heroes, horrifying monsters, purple hair dye and standing to the right on escalators so the left side can walk. Her award-winning fantasy series Chronicles of the Third Realm War (City Owl Press) features a peculiar mashup of Greek mythology, Judeo-Christian folklore, and an extra dash of her own special brand of chaos. The series includes Florida Writers Association’s 2016 Book of the Year Mud, Rain (which is the prequel), Tides, and—most recently—Sparks, which concludes the series. In this episode E.J. and I discuss: How an internship led E.J. to discover a love of writing How research on monsters became the inspiration for finding Adem’s voice Finding hope in the midst of a seemingly hopeless story Setting up a satisfying series ending How E.J. uses an “ugly draft” to facilitate writing a book a year The benefits of publishing with a small press Plus, her #1 tip for writers. For more info and shownotes: www.diymfa.com/297

Hey there word nerds! Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Curdella Forbes. Curdella is a Jamaican writer who lives in Takoma Park, Maryland, and teaches at Howard University. Her latest novel, A Tall History of Sugar, has been praised by BuzzFeed, Essence, Bookish, The Rumpus, Electric Lit, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, SyFy, and many others. Writing for the New York Times Book Review, Veronica Chambers said of the novel: "Forbes’s writing combines the gale-force imagination of Margaret Atwood with the lyrical pointillism of Toni Morrison.” In this episode Curdella and I discuss: The inspiration behind A Tall History of Sugar Writing about the experience of not belonging Moving between third and first person The dark origins of fairy tales The story behind the title “A Tall History of Sugar” Plus, her #1 tip for writers. For more info and show notes: www.diymfa.com/296