Reading, wRiting, and Roaming with Author Valerie Biel

The December installment of the 2021 Author Series wraps up our first year of asking published authors to share the advice they would give to their pre-published self along with what they wished they'd known before they published their first book. But this is not the end! I will continue featuring published author wisdom in this space in 2022!!

Author and literary agent Tina Schwartz joins us this month. I first met Tina as a fellow author, long before she began her agenting career, but back when she was negotiating her own book contracts. I'm guessing a number of my blog readers pitched their work to Tina at the UW-Madison Writers' Institute through the years. (Indeed, that's how I ended up joining Tina's literary agency as a client myself!)  

ABOUT TINA... Continue Reading

When I began my professional writing journey about thirteen years ago, I really didn’t know any other writers or publishing industry folks. Indeed, I wrote rather in secret that first year before attending my first writing conference, the University of Wisconsin Writers’ Institute. I’ve previously talked about how that conference changed my writing world—allowing me to find “my people” for the first time. I’m still connected with so many of those fine writers today, which is especially important now that the conference (along with the entire UW Continuing Studies writing program) is no more. I penned an ode to this conference here. But that conference was just the beginning of building a writing... Continue Reading

I just finished reading Where Echoes Lie by Shannon Schuren last night . . . at midnight  . . . as the clock ticked over to the beginning of All Souls Day. How perfect! 

Why?

Because this is a story about a lost soul -- a ghost story -- a fabulous, eerie, page-turning ghost story. 

But what makes this book so special is the rest of the story surrounding the legend of the ghost bride and the modern-day characters who interact with her. What does she want? What does she need? Will she harm them to get it? Shannon Schuren does a fabulous job of intertwining a coming-of-age story with the secrets of the past. As a stellar storyteller, Schuren creates characters we immediately care for,... Continue Reading

Given that it’s now October and we've entered the spooky season, I’m writing about the ghost-like feeling that plagues writers: imposter syndrome. Putting ideas onto the page and then releasing them to the world for critical feedback is a risk. The most successful writers, including Sandra Brown, have revealed doubts about their writing talent.

As parents or psychologists will tell you, external praise won’t change a person’s self-esteem. For writers, who experience... Continue Reading