DIY MFA Radio

Today, Lori is interviewing Kendare Blake. They’ll be talking about her new book One Girl in All the World and writing a reboot series. Kendare Blake is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Three Dark Crowns series, the Anna Dressed in Blood duet, All These Bodies, and others. She lives and writes in Gig Harbor, Washington, from under a pile of dogs and cats. You can find her on her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.   In this episode Kendare Blake and Lori discuss: The pros and cons of writing fan fiction, and how it can up your authorial game. Dealing with the drama that comes with writing a reboot for a beloved series. Orienting new readers into an existing world without bogging things down. Plus, her #1 tip for writers. For more info and show notes: diymfa.com/445

Today, Lori is interviewing Iris Yamashita. They’ll be talking about how her experience as a screenwriter helped her create tension in a closed setting. Iris Yamashita is an Academy Award–nominated screenwriter for the movie Letters from Iwo Jima. She has been working in Hollywood for fifteen years developing material for both film and streaming, has taught screenwriting at UCLA, and is an advocate of women and diversity in the entertainment industry. She has also been a judge and mentor for various film and writing programs, and lives in California. You can find her on her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.   In this episode Iris Yamashita and Lori discuss: How culture has affected the trajectory of her career as a screenwriter and novelist. The way her screenwriting background informed her process for maintaining tension and keeping readers on the edge of their seat. Using a multiple voice format to make a shifting, close third POV work across characters with very distinct personalities. Plus, her #1 tip for writers. For more info and show notes: diymfa.com/444

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Mary Robinette Kowal. We’ll be talking about challenging your default assumption about the world and her latest book The Spare Man. Mary Robinette Kowal is the four-time Hugo, Locus, and Nebula Award-winning author of The Glamourist Histories series, Ghost Talkers, the Lady Astronaut Universe, and The Spare Man. She is a cast member of the award-winning podcast Writing Excuses and has received the Astounding Award for Best New Writer. Her stories appear in Asimov’s, Uncanny, and Year’s Best anthologies. Mary Robinette is a professional puppeteer, and she also performs as a voice actor (SAG/AFTRA), recording fiction for authors including Seanan McGuire, Cory Doctorow, and John Scalzi. She lives in Nashville with her husband Rob and over a dozen manual typewriters. You can find her on her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Goodreads.   In this episode Mary Robinette Kowal and I discuss: How she wrote a mash-up of old Hollywood glamour and a futuristic space setting. Why it was important to use fluid pronouns in this novel and what she learned writing it.  What she has learned over the course of writing ten books and how to reset. Plus, her #1 tip for writers. For more info and show notes: diymfa.com/443

Today, Lori is interviewing Amy Christine Parker. They’ll be talking about coming up with unsettling ideas and Amy’s book, Flight 171. Amy Christine Parker is the author of the critically acclaimed young adult thriller novels: Gated, Astray, Smash & Grab, and most recently the horror novel, Flight 171. When she is not busy dreaming up unsettling stories, Amy loves to read, go to the movies, and travel around the world in search of story inspiration. She lives and works in Tampa, Florida along with her husband, their two daughters, and two very high-maintenance cats. You can find her on her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Goodreads.   In this episode Amy Christine Parker and Lori discuss: Where she comes up with unsettling ideas and how she deals with fears on the page. The importance of the first line and why the opening chapters are the hardest to write. How she developed the characterization for the ensemble cast in Flight 171. Plus, her #1 tip for writers. For more info and show notes: diymfa.com/442

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Terena Elizabeth Bell. We’ll be talking about experimental fiction and her book of short stories, Tell Me What You See. Terena Elizabeth Bell is a fiction writer. Her debut short story collection, Tell Me What You See (Whiskey Tit), publishes Holiday 2022. Short stories, poetry, and journalism work have appeared in The Atlantic, Playboy, MysteryTribune, Santa Monica Review, Saturday Evening Post, and more than 100 similar publications throughout the US, the UK, Ireland, and Spain. Short fiction has won grants from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts, and the New York Foundation for the Arts.   She is a 2021 NYFA City Artists Corps winner, a 2018 Arlene Eisenberg Award winner, a 2018 Azbee Award of Excellence winner, and Centre College’s 2014 Distinguished Young Alumna of the Year. Lead editor of the Writing Through the Classics series of books on fiction craft, she has taught creative writing independently and through the New York Society Library, Woodlawn Children’s Home, and Bowling Green State University.   From 2005 to 2015, Bell served as CEO of an international translation company and, in 2012, was appointed to President Barack Obama’s White House Business Council by US Representative John Yarmuth. She holds a BA in English from Centre College and an MA in French from the University of Louisville. Originally from Sinking Fork, Kentucky, she lives in Manhattan, where her landlord once was Philip Roth. You can find her on her website or follow her on Twitter, TikTok, buymeacoffee.com, and medium.com.   In this episode Terena Elizabeth Bell and I discuss: How she merged images and text and other ways she experimented in her stories. Her advice for managing your mental health when writing about difficult topics. What it means to write what you see and how she applied it to her writing. Plus, her #1 tip for writers. For more info and show notes: diymfa.com/441

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Heloisa Prieto. We’ll be talking about all of the puzzle pieces in her book, The Musician. Dr. Heloisa Prieto is one of Brazil's most celebrated children and YA authors. She has sold over two million books in her native country. Her Mano series of YA novels inspired the Time Warner movie The Best Things in the World. She recently published 1,002 Ghosts, and her book Viajantes do Vento was selected for the PNLD Public Book-Purchasing Programme, the biggest of its kind in the world. She has spent a lifetime researching myths and legends-both ancient and modern-and organizing and curating collections of cross-cultural interest. She has created and organized numerous creative writing workshops for children, teenagers, and adults. Heloisa also has a PhD in French literature from the University of São Paulo, and a master's degree in semiotics from the Catholic University of São Paulo. You can find her on her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.   In this episode Heloisa Prieto and I discuss: The different points of view that she used and why she included journal excerpts. How she incorporated her love of fairy tales, mythology, and magic in The Musician. Her process for keeping her story organized as she pieced it together. Plus, her #1 tip for writers. For more info and show notes: diymfa.com/440

Today, Lori is interviewing Deeba Zargarpur. They’ll be talking about family trauma and her book House of Yesterday. Deeba Zargarpur is an Afghan-Uzbek American. She credits her love of literature across various languages to her immigrant parents, whose eerie tales haunted her well into the night.  If given the choice, Deeba would spend her days getting lost in spooky towns with nothing but a notebook and eye for adventure to guide her. House of Yesterday is her debut novel. You can find her on her website or follow her on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Goodreads.   In this episode Deeba Zargarpur and Lori discuss: How to write a creepy book your audience will have to read with the lights on. Why she focuses on the grandparent and grandchild relationship in her book. When to edge the supernatural elements of your story toward the chilling.   Plus, her #1 tip for writers. For more info and show notes: diymfa.com/439

Today, Lori is interviewing Fran Hawthorne. They’ll be talking about her new book I Meant To Tell You and Broad Topic. Fran Hawthorne has been writing novels since she was four years old, although she was sidetracked for several decades by journalism. During that award-winning career, she wrote eight nonfiction books, mainly about consumer activism, the drug industry, and the financial world.  Ethical Chic (Beacon Press) was named one of the best business books of 2012 by Library Journal, and Pension Dumping (Bloomberg Press) was a Foreword magazine 2008 Book of the Year. She's also been an editor or regular contributor for The New York Times, Business Week, Fortune, and many other publications.  But Fran never abandoned her true love: With the publication of her debut novel, The Heirs, in 2018 and now I Meant To Tell You, Fran is firmly committed to fiction. She’s at work on her next novel and also writes book reviews for the New York Journal of Books. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can find her on her website or follow her on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Goodreads.   In this episode Fran Hawthorne and Lori discuss: How to use minor details to show your readers exactly who your characters are Why to shift perspective and how to decide when that shift should happen When to provide release and when to build tension in a story   Plus, her #1 tip for writers. For more info and show notes: diymfa.com/404

Today, Lori is interviewing Carolyn Hays. They’ll be talking about the freedom that can be found in a pen name and her new book A Girlhood: Letter to my Transgender Daughter. Carolyn Hays is an award-winning, critically acclaimed, bestselling author who has chosen to publish A Girlhood: Letter to My Transgender Daughter under a pen name to protect the privacy of her family.  Her novels have been published by Hachette, Simon and Schuster, and HarperCollins; her books are also widely translated. A Girlhood will have four overseas editions, including those by Picador UK and Flammarion in France.  Her past books have been listed as New York Times Notable Books of the Year and Kirkus’s Best Fiction of the Year, and she’s written for National Public Radio and the Washington Post. You can find her on her website or follow her publishers on Twitter at @PressShopPR and @BlairPublisher.   In this episode Carolyn Hays and Lori discuss: Why writing in second person is perfect when writing about gender. How to recognize a scene while you’re living through it. When to write out a scene in your memoir and when to summarize it. Plus, her #1 tip for writers. For more info and show notes: diymfa.com/437

Today, Lori is interviewing Amanda Jayatissa. They’ll be talking about secrets and hidden motivation in her new thriller You’re Invited. Amanda Jayatissa grew up in Sri Lanka, completed her undergrad at Mills College, CA, and lived in the UK before moving back to her sunny little island. She works as a corporate trainer, owns a chain of cookie stores, and is a proud dog-mum to her two spoiled huskies. You can find her on her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.   In this episode Amanda Jayatissa and Lori discuss: How to develop your character’s inner life and voice through journaling What to do when the ending you planned for your book changes How to manage misdirection while still keeping your story fair for your reader   Plus, her #1 tip for writers. For more info and show notes: diymfa.com/436