Dear Writer

On our author spotlight section this month we welcomed Jade du Preez. Jade is a lawyer and author based in Auckland, New Zealand. She won the New Zealand Writers College Short Story Competition in 2013 and the Same Same But Different Short Fiction Contest in 2016. She recently launched her debut novel, 'Outsider' - a story of art, identity, secret diaries and legal anomalies set in Japan and New Zealand.

This week we continue our discussion about editing. We talk about whether or not to pay for proofreading, how we do our developmental edits, and share our tips for editing better (and smarter).

This week in our author spotlight we were pleased to welcome AK Nevermore. AK is an author based in New York. She writes in a number of different genres, including Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, and Paranormal Erotica. Outside of her writing life, AK is a Jane-of-all-trades. As a home-schooling stay-at-home mom, her primary job is looking after her kids. However, AK is also a certified chef, restores antiques and dabbles in beekeeping. Her resume includes belonging to the Authors Guild, being an RWA Chapter board member, and volunteering for numerous committees. AK’s goals are to write amazing books, and to inspire her kids and others that, just because you hear “no”, you don’t have to listen.

This week we discuss editing (I know it sounds boring but I promise it's not). We go through the three major types of editing, and give you a window into our process to help make it as painless as possible. Also, apologies in advance for the mic issues!

This fortnight we welcomed Jennifer Safrey to the show. Jennifer is a romance author based in Massachusetts. Before her life as an author, Jennifer was a copy editor at the Boston Herald. While she reflects positively on the experience, she needed a way to decompress from hearing about many real-life, tragic stories, and turned to reading. After her work day had ended, she would often be found reading romance fiction until the early hours of the morning. Eventually, Jennifer began writing romance, hoping to provide readers with a blissful escape and a happy ending. Jennifer’s books feature smart, savvy, accomplished heroines, and heroes you love to love.

This week we celebrate the release of our NEW NOVEL The Price of Pandemonium! We give you some exclusive excerpts and introduce you to our cast of characters. We also treat you to a (hilarious) reading from our first draft of The Price of Pandemonium that was written when we were teenagers!

This week, we continue our discussion about starting your writing journey. We chat about social media, when to publish your first book, and we share some of the mistakes we've made and the lessons we've learned so far.

This week, we give you part one of our guide for new authors! We talk about how we got started writing, the reasons why you might decide to start writing, and how to figure out what to write. We also discuss how start writing your first book and how get over your first bout of writers block.

This week we welcomed D.T. Powell onto the show. D.T. is a Christian writer of fantasy and science fiction, who is based in South Carolina. Since an early age she has been a keen reader, and when she was 9 years old God sent a fictional character into her life which led her on a journey of self-discovery, and to ultimately pick up her pen and begin writing. Her hobbies include hanging out with her husband and their three kitties, reading, playing pickleball, listening to music, and imagining scenes to use in future books.

This week, we talk about how to find and hone your author voice. We then delve into the intricacies of character voice and why it is important to find distinct voices to tell your story.

This week we welcomed Perrie Patterson to the author spotlight. While Perrie's five published novels feature romance as the primary genre, she also crosses into other categories within her writing, including historical fiction, young adult, and new adult genres. In her day-to-day life, Perrie and her husband, Jeff, have raised two grown children. Although they have flown the nest, Perrie keeps herself busy. She is a keen volunteer of a number of different societies and groups in her community, and is the host of The Talking Atlanta Podcast. Perrie’s goals are to write intriguing stories—the type of story you can’t put down, ones which seem to take on a life of their own, with stories that crawl off the pages and into your heart.

This episode of Dear Writer, Sarah tackles the topic of the author's writing style and voice, with part one focussing primarily on the author style. With Ashley absent due to illness, Sarah flies solo and attempts to discuss what writing style is and why it is important, the development of our own personal styles, and tips to discover or hone your unique writing style.

This fortnight we welcomed Paulette Stout to our author spotlight segment. Paulette is a contemporary women’s fiction author based in Massachusetts. Paulette was raised by a single dad in Manhattan, in a biracial/interfaith family, and she weaves this experience into her books. Her writing features diverse characters with the backdrop of New York City. Through her novels, Paulette includes a range of social issues that she feels are too often ignored by society. Paulette believes that fiction is a fantastic way to explore the lives and experiences of those different than ourselves.

This week, we continue our discussion about writing action scenes. We chat about the importance of pacing your action scenes, why action scenes are critical to character development, how to balance dialogue with action, and we give you our tips for writing compelling action sequences.

This fortnight on Dear Writer we were delighted to welcome Sue Tidwell. Sue is an award winning memoir author based in Idaho. Her book, Cries of the Savannah, is a passionate travel memoir about her adventure in Africa. The tagline of her book reads, An adventure. An awakening. A journey to understanding African Wildlife Preservation. When not at the keyboard, Sue can be found atop a paddleboard, enjoying the antics of her grandchildren, or engaged in the latest outdoor excursion with her husband.

This week, we talk about action scenes before taking a deep dive into writing fight scenes! We discuss the types of fight scenes, our challenges writing them, and what we think a compelling fight scene should contain.

In our author spotlight this week we welcomed Mark Love to the show. Mark is a mystery/romance writer based in Michigan. He has released a number of books in his two ongoing series; The Jamie Richmond Mysteries, and The Jefferson Chene Mysteries. Outside of his writing, Mark leads a busy work life. In addition to his career in business, he was once a freelance reporter at a local suburban newspaper. He is also a professor at his local college, and has facilitated writing groups with those who enjoy writing as much as he does.

This week, we continue our chat about writing deep scenes. We discuss the importance of character backstory and internal thoughts in making deep scenes that pack a punch. We talk about how to avoid making your scenes sound cringey and give you some of our tips for writing emotional scenes.

This week we had another of our author spotlight episodes, and we welcomed Dan Rice onto the show. Dan is a young adult urban fantasy author based in the West Coast of the US. Dan’s award winning debut novel, Dragons Walk Among Us, was published in 2021, with the sequel, The Blood of Faeries, released in February earlier this year. Dan hopes to eventually achieve his dream of making a living writing speculative fiction.

This week, we talk about writing the keystone emotional scenes in your novel. We discuss why these scenes are important, how to build up to one of these scenes, and how we draw on our personal experiences to make these scenes feel authentic.