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WRITING TIPS AND PUBLISHING ADVICE FROM INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS

Writers are expected to dole out ‘writing tips’. As I learned more of the craft, I realized how little I knew, so I went and asked those who knew better than me.

Over the years, Daily (w)rite has hosted formidable authors, editors and literary agents who have been kind enough to share their insights and creative writing tips on short stories, flash fiction, and novels. Each of these experts have provided fiction writing advice from the vantage point of years, and often decades, of experience. In the last decade, the interviews have grown to include other publishing professionals, like editors, book reviewers, and bookstore owners.

I hope you would find useful writing and publishing tips in the following links (each name is linked to a guest post or interview):

Writing Tips from Literary Agents

Karen Dionne

Karen Dionne is the #1 Internationally bestselling thriller author, whose smash hit The Marsh King’s Daughter sold in 25 languages and is being released as a major motion picture starring Daisy Ridley, Ben Mendelsohn, Garrett Hedlund.

M K Pagano

M K Pagano is the author of GIRLS WHO BURN, a YA Thriller coming out Summer ’24 from Penguin Teen. She is represented by Barbara Poelle and Sydnie Thornton of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency.

J L Delozier

J.L. Delozier is a retired Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at Penn State. Her 2016 debut thriller, Type & Cross was nominated for a “Best First Novel” award by the International Thriller Writers organization. Storm Shelter followed, and Blood Type X completed the trilogy in 2019. Her fourth novel, Con Me Once, published in 2020 and won a Silver Falchion Award. Her latest book, a Gothic murder-mystery entitled The Photo Thief, recently won an Ippy Award for Best Mystery and was nominated for a Best Audiobook Thriller Award.

Mike Lasgana

Mike Lasagna is a romance writer and bookseller with seven years’ experience. When he isn’t helping you find your next favorite book, he enjoys watching F1 and Hockey. He lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife, son and giant dog.

Mary Kubica

Mary Kubica is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of many suspense novels. Her first novel THE GOOD GIRL was an Indie Next pick in August of 2014, received a Strand Critics Nomination for Best First Novel and was a nominee in the Goodreads Choice Awards in Debut Goodreads Author and in Mystery & Thriller for 2014.

LOCAL WOMAN MISSING was an Indie Next pick in May of 2021, a nominee in the Goodreads Choice Awards in Mystery & Thriller for 2021, and a finalist for an Audie Award.

Mary’s novels have been selected as Amazon Best Books of the Month and have been LibraryReads selections. They’ve been translated into over thirty languages and have sold over 2 million copies worldwide.

Lisbeth L. McCarty

Lisbeth L. McCarty has worked for 41 years as an appellate criminal defense attorney. She has represented and met murderers, including several who were on death row

Lois Winston

Former literary agent and USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Lois is an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.

Nancy Lynn Jarvis

Nancy Lynn Jarvis left the real estate profession when she began having so much fun writing the Regan McHenry Real Estate Mysteries series that she let her license lapse. That series ended after seven books and she is currently writing a second cozy mystery series.

Kimberly Belle

Kimberly Belle is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of eight novels, including The Personal Assistant, The Marriage Lie, a Goodreads Choice Awards semifinalist for Best Mystery & Thriller, and the co-authored #1 Audible Original, Young Rich Widows. Her books have been published in more than a dozen languages and optioned for film and television.

Lucienne Diver

Lucienne Diver joined The Knight Agency in 2008, after spending fifteen years at New York City’s prestigious Spectrum Literary Agency. With her sharp eye and gift for spotting original new voices, Lucienne is one of the most well-respected agents in the industry. A lifelong book addict, she graduated summa cum laude from the State University of New York at Potsdam with dual majors in English/writing and anthropology. Over the course of her dynamic career she has sold over a thousand titles to every major publisher, and has built a client list of more than forty authors spanning the commercial fiction genres, primarily in the areas of fantasy, science fiction, horror, women’s fiction, romance, mystery/suspense and young adult.

Anne Tibbets

Former TV writer’s assistant and script writer Anne Tibbets is the author of four novels of post-apocalyptic science fiction, including The Line Series: Carrier and Walled, and Extinction Biome: Invasion and Dispersal (written as Addison Gunn). She also works as a book doctor and literary agent.

Kirsty McLachlan

Kirsty McLachlan is a literary agent at DGA Ltd.  and co-director of London Writers’ Club with over twenty years publishing experience. She also brokers the film/TV/stage deals for DGA Ltd. Her list ranges from narrative non-fiction, children’s novels, graphic novels and crime writers. Full list here.

Jayapriya Vasudevan

Jayapriya Vasudevan is the founder of the Jacaranda Literary Agency.

Maria Vicente

Maria Vicente is an associate literary agent at P.S. Literary Agency, providing support to her clients through all stages of the writing and publication process. Maria is dedicated to managing authors’ literary brands for the duration of their careers. She has affinities for literary prose, strong character development, original storytelling formats, and anything geeky.

Helen Mangham

Helen Mangham has been a Partner Agent at Jacaranda Literary Agency since 2012.  As part of her role with Jacaranda, Helen attends the Frankfurt and London Book Fairs and meets with international publishers from across Southeast Asia, Australia, the UK and US. She started her career in London, at Curtis Brown Literary Agency. She has worked with the publicity departments of a number of the UK’s leading publishing companies, helping with publicity campaigns for a number of high profile books.

Andrea Pasion-Flores

Andrea Pasion-Flores is the former Executive Director of the National Book Development Board of the Philippines, where she was known for her pioneering work introducing high-impact literary events to the country. Andrea is an author, a copyright lawyer, and teaches English at the University of the Philippines as a member of the faculty of the Department of English and Comparative Literature. She brings her experience in these fields into her role as an agent with the Jacaranda Literary Agency.

Abby Saul

Abby Saul is a literary agent. She founded the Lark Group after a decade in publishing at John Wiley & Sons, Sourcebooks, and Browne & Miller Literary Associates. She’s worked with and edited bestselling and award-winning authors as well as major brands. At each publishing group she’s been a part of, Abby also has helped to establish e-book standards, led company-wide forums to explore new digital possibilities for books, and created and managed numerous digital initiatives.

A zealous reader who loves her iPad and the e-books on it, she still can’t resist the lure of a print book. Abby’s personal library of beloved titles runs the gamut from literary newbies and classics, to cozy mysteries, to sappy women’s fiction, to dark and twisted thrillers. She’s looking for great and engrossing adult commercial and literary fiction. A magna cum laude graduate of Wellesley College, Abby spends her weekends (when she’s not reading) cooking and hiking with her husband. Find her @BookySaul on Twitter.

Writing Tips from Editors

David LaBounty

David’s name has written stories for literary journals and essays for scholarly journals, and his book reviews have appeared in daily and weekly newspapers. He edits and publishes Workers Write! and The First Line.

John Haggerty author

John Haggerty

John Haggerty’s work has appeared most recently in Hobart, Monkeybicycle, Nimrod, Salon, and the Pinch. He is a member of the online writers’ collective The Fiction Forge, and one of the founding editors of  Forge Literary Magazine.

 

Michelle Elvy

Michelle Elvy is a writer, editor and manuscript assessor. She is editing an anthology of New Zealand flash fiction / prose poetry with James Norcliffe and Frankie McMillan. Her fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction and travel essays have been widely published and anthologized. She lives on her sailboat, Momo, and currently in East Africa.

Michelle Ross Short Story Author

Michelle Ross

Michelle Ross is the author of There’s So Much They Haven’t Told You (2017), which won the 2016 Moon City Press Short Fiction Award. Her fiction has recently appeared or is forthcoming in Alaska Quarterly Review, Colorado Review, Epiphany, Hobart, The Pinch, Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading, and other venues. She is fiction editor of Atticus Review and was a consulting editor for the 2018 Best Small Fictions anthology.

Mary-Jane Holmes

Mary-Jane Holmes is chief editor of Fish Publishing Ireland where she teaches the longest running online course dedicated solely to Flash fiction. She is also consulting editor at The Well Review, a new international poetry journal.

Writing Tips from Authors

Romesh Gunesekera

Romesh Gunesekera was born in Sri Lanka, and now lives in London. His first novel, Reef, was short-listed as a finalist for the Booker Prize, as well as for the Guardian Fiction Prize.

Hank Philippi Ryan

thriller author Hank Philippi RyanHank Philippi Ryan is the nationally bestselling author of 11 mystery novels. She has won multiple prestigious awards for her crime fiction: five Agathas, three Anthonys, the Daphne, two Macavitys, and for The Other Woman, the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. National reviews have called her a “master at crafting suspenseful mysteries” and “a superb and gifted storyteller.”

Tom Benjamin

https://www.damyantiwrites.com/2020/07/05/writing-advice-first-novel/06/30/27/11042/guest-post/damyantig/Tom Benjamin began his career as a reporter in north London before becoming a spokesman for Scotland Yard. He went on to work in international aid and public health before moving to Bologna with his Italian wife. Tom’s first job in Bologna at a homeless canteen exposed him to an Italy less travelled and helped inspire his debut A Quiet Death In Italy

Jill Marsh

Jill (JJ Marsh) grew up in Wales, Africa and the Middle East, where her curiosity for culture took root and triggered an urge to write. After graduating in English Literature and Theatre Studies, she worked as an actor, teacher, writer, director, editor, journalist and cultural trainer all over Europe. Now in Switzerland, she writes crime and literary fiction to entertain readers with enthralling stories and endearing characters. Her Beatrice Stubbs crime series topped the Amazon best sellers in “International Mystery & Crime” in Australia, Canada, the UK and the US.

Anne Cater

Anne Cater began writing her blog ‘Random Things Through My Letterbox’ in 2011, as a way to shout about the books that she loves. She is founder of the Facebook group Book Connectors, which has 4000 members, a thriving and vibrant community where authors and bloggers connect. She reviews commercial women’s fiction for the Books on Friday feature in the Daily Express. She is a judge for the 2020 CWA Dagger Awards.Anne Cater began writing her blog ‘Random Things Through My Letterbox’ in 2011, as a way to shout about the books that she loves. She is founder of the Facebook group Book Connectors, which has 4000 members, a thriving and vibrant community where authors and bloggers connect. She reviews commercial women’s fiction for the Books on Friday feature in the Daily Express. She is a judge for the 2020 CWA Dagger Awards.

Barbara Copperthwaite

Barbara is an Amazon, Kobo and USA Today bestselling author. Her writing career started in journalism, writing for national newspapers and magazines. During a career spanning over twenty years Barbara interviewed the real victims of crime – and the culprits. She’s fascinated by creating realistic, complex characters, and taking them apart before the readers’ eyes in order to discover just how much it takes to push a person over a line.

Barbara Copperthwaite is an Amazon, Kobo and USA Today bestselling author. Her writing career started in journalism, writing for national newspapers and magazines. During a career spanning over twenty years Barbara interviewed the real victims of crime – and the culprits. She’s fascinated by creating realistic, complex characters, and taking them apart before the readers’ eyes in order to discover just how much it takes to push a person over a line.

 When not writing feverishly at her home in Birmingham, Barbara is often found walking her two dogs, Scamp and Buddy, or hiding behind a camera to take wildlife photographs.

Mark Lawrence

Mark Lawrence was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, but moved to the UK at the age of one. He went back to the US after taking a PhD in mathematics at Imperial College to work on a variety of research projects including the ‘Star Wars’ missile defence programme. Returning to the UK, he has worked mainly on image processing and decision/reasoning theory. His first trilogy, The Broken Empire, has been universally acclaimed as a ground-breaking work of fantasy, and both The Liar’s Keyand The Wheel of Osheim have won the Gemmell Legend award for best fantasy novel. Mark is married, with four children, and lives in BristolMark Lawrence was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, but moved to the UK at the age of one. He went back to the US after taking a PhD in mathematics at Imperial College to work on a variety of research projects including the ‘Star Wars’ missile defence programme. Returning to the UK, he has worked mainly on image processing and decision/reasoning theory. His first trilogy, The Broken Empire, has been universally acclaimed as a ground-breaking work of fantasy, and both The Liar’s Keyand The Wheel of Osheim have won the Gemmell Legend award for best fantasy novel.

Jacqueline Ward

Jacqueline Ward is a Chartered Psychologist and her debut psychological thriller, PERFECT TEN, was published by Corvus Atlantic Books in 2018 to national reviews. Her second psychological thriller, HOW TO PLAY DEAD, will be published in November 2019.Jacqueline Ward is a Chartered Psychologist and her debut psychological thriller, PERFECT TEN, was published by Corvus Atlantic Books in 2018 to national reviews. Her second psychological thriller, HOW TO PLAY DEAD, will be published in November 2019.  Jacqueline is the author of the DS Jan Pearce crime fiction series and a speculative fiction novel SMARTYELLOW and enjoys writing short stories and screenplays.

 

Lillian Ann Slugocki

Lillian Ann Slugocki has been nominated for Best of the Web, a Pushcart Prize, and winner of the Gigantic Sequins prize for fiction. She’s been published by Seal Press, Cleis Press, Heinemann Press, Spuyten Duyvil Press, among others. Her latest book is How to Travel With Your Demons, Spuyten Duyvil Press, 2015.

Karien van Ditzhuijzen

Karien van Ditzhuijzen’s debut novel A Yellow House was published by Monsoon Books in 2018. This poignant coming-of-age story, told in the voice of inquisitive ten-year-old Maya, explores the plight of migrant domestic workers in Singapore and the relationships they form with the families they work for.Karien van Ditzhuijzen’s debut novel A Yellow House  was published by Monsoon Books in 2018. This poignant coming-of-age story, told in the voice of inquisitive ten-year-old Maya, explores the plight of migrant domestic workers in Singapore and the relationships they form with the families they work for.

 

Suanne Schafer

Suanne Schafer, born in West Texas at the height of the Cold War, finds it ironic that grade school drills for tornadoes and nuclear war were the same: hide beneath your desk and kiss your rear-end goodbye. Suanne's short works have been featured in print and on-line magazines.Suanne Schafer, born in West Texas at the height of the Cold War, finds it ironic that grade school drills for tornadoes and nuclear war were the same: hide beneath your desk and kiss your rear-end goodbye. Suanne’s short works have been featured in print and on-line magazines. Her debut women’s fiction novel, A Different Kind of Fire, explores the life of Ruby Schmidt, a nineteenth century artist who escapes—and returns—to West Texas. Suanne’s next book, Hunting the Devil, explores the heartbreak and healing of an American physician caught up in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Kiran Manral

Kiran Manral is a bestselling and award-winning author of 13 books, blogger, journalist, TEDx speaker, columnist, mentor and feminist.Kiran Manral is a bestselling and award-winning author of 13 books, blogger, journalist, TEDx speaker, columnist, mentor and feminist.

Tania Hershman

Tania Hershman is the author of a poetry chapbook, Nothing Here Is Wild, Everything Is Open (Southword, 2016), two short story collections: My Mother Was An Upright Piano: Fictions (Tangent Books, 2012), and The White Road and Other Stories (Salt, 2008), and co-author of Writing Short Stories: A Writers’ & Artists’ Companion (Bloomsbury, Dec 2014). A third short story collection (Unthank Books) and her debut poetry collection (Nine Arches Press) will be published in 2017. Tania is curator of ShortStops, celebrating short story activity across the UK & Ireland.

Hannah Mary McKinnon

What thrillers have you read recently? Would you like to recommend any? When reading a thriller, what else fascinates you, other than the pace? If you’re not a thriller fan, what other books have you been reading lately?Hannah Mary McKinnon was born in the UK, grew up in Switzerland and moved to Canada in 2010. After a successful career in recruitment, she quit the corporate world in favor of writing. While her debut, TIME AFTER TIME, was a rom com, she transitioned to the dark side thereafter. Her suspense novels include THE NEIGHBORS, HER SECRET SON, SISTER DEAR and the upcoming psychological thriller YOU WILL REMEMBER ME. Hannah Mary lives in Oakville, Ontario, with her husband and three sons.

Leanne Treese

Leanne Treese AuthorLeanne Treese lives in New Jersey with her husband of twenty-five years and their three wonderful children.  A passionate student, Leanne’s dream life would include going back to college and majoring in everything. Leanne is a graduate of Lafayette College and The Dickinson School of Law. A former attorney, Leanne is now lucky enough to write full-time.

Chrys Fey

Chrys Fey authorChrys Fey is the author of Write with Fey: 10 Sparks to Guide You from Idea to Publication. Catch the sparks you need to write, edit, publish, and market your book! From writing your novel to prepping for publication and beyond, you’ll find sparks on every page, including 100 bonus marketing tips. Fey is an editor for Dancing Lemur Press and runs the Insecure Writer’s Support Group’s Goodreads book club. She is also the author of the Disaster Crimes series.

Louise Beech

Louise Beech once bet her mum ten pounds that she’d be published by the age of thirty – her first newspaper piece was published at thirty-one. But it took many, many years, many, many rejections, and four novels to finally get a book deal in 2015.Louise Beech once bet her mum ten pounds that she’d be published by the age of thirty – her first newspaper piece was published at thirty-one. But it took many, many years, many, many rejections, and four novels to finally get a book deal in 2015.

Her debut, How to be Brave, got to No4 on Amazon and was a Guardian Readers’ Pick; Maria in the Moon was described as ‘quirky, darkly comic and heartfelt’ by the Sunday Mirror; The Lion Tamer Who Lost shortlisted for the Popular Romantic Novel of 2019 at the RNA Awards and longlisted for the Polari Prize 2019; and Call Me Star Girl longlisted for the Guardian’s Not The Booker Prize and was chosen as Best magazine’s Best Book in the Big Book Awards 2019.

I Am Dust will be released in April 2020, and Louise just finished book seven. She still hasn’t given her mum the tenner.

Aki Schilz Literary Consultancy

Aki Schilz

Aki Schilz is a writer and editor based in London. She is co-founder of the #LossLit Twitter writing project alongside Kit Caless, and co-editor of LossLit Magazine. Aki works at The Literary Consultancy, where she is the Editorial Services Manager, and in her posts she provides not just writing tips but also on the journey to publication.

Melanie Lee

Melanie Lee AuthorMelanie Lee is a writer and lecturer. She is the author of the award-winning picture book series The Adventures of Squirky the Alien. She is also the author of Imaginary Friends: 26 Whimsical Fables for Getting on in a Crazy World.

Patrick Holland

Patrick Holland lives between Brisbane, Saigon and Beijing. He is the author of the travel book Riding the Trains in Japan: travels in the sacred and supermodern east, as well as the short story collection The Source of the Sound, which won the Scott Prize. His novels include The Darkest Little Room, a thriller set in Saigon, and The Mary Smokes Boys, a story of horse thieves which was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and shortlisted for the Age Book of the Year.

Author Krishna Udayasankar

Krishna Udayasankar

Krishna Udayasankar is the author of the bestselling Aryavarta Chronicles series (Govinda, Kaurava and Kurukshetra), and 3 – a novel based on the founding myth of Singapore. She is also the author of Objects of Affection, a full-length collection of prose-poems and the co-editor of Body Boundaries: The Etiquette Anthology of Women’s Writing.

Omar Musa

Omar Musa is a Malaysian-Australian author, rapper and poet from Queanbeyan, Australia. His debut novel “Here Come the Dogs” was long-listed for the Miles Franklin Award and he was named one of the Sydney Morning Herald’s Young Novelists of the Year in 2015.

Michele Lee

Michele Lee is an Asian-Australian playwright and author who works across stage and audio. Her works are about identity, otherness, intimacy and chaotic worlds. Michele’s produced works are in radio and audio theatre: Going and going, Radio National, 2015, See How The Leaf People Run, Radio National, 2012 (winner of an AWGIE for Best Original Radio Play in 2013); and Talon Salon, Next Wave Festival 2012, and remounted for You Are Here Festival 2013 and Darwin Festival 2013.

Dr. Tanu Shree Singh

Dr. Tanu Shree Singh is a Professor of Psychology, specialising in Positive Psychology. Tanu runs two online reading groups of around 45k people, and has set up two libraries, and assisted 11 others.Dr. Tanu Shree Singh is a Professor of Psychology, specialising in Positive Psychology. Tanu runs two online reading groups of around 45k people, and has set up two libraries, and assisted 11 others.  Her book Keep Calm and Mommy On is much loved and acclaimed. She has written for anthologies for children. I’d Rather rRad published by Red Turtle is a collection of experiences and anecdotes about favourite books and libraries.  Her latest is a biography of C.V. Raman with DK Books. She also writes for leading online dailies. Her Indian Express Podcast on ‘Difficult Conversations with Children’ is currently the second most popular on the platform. Dr Tanu Shree Singh is also the Regional Advisor for SCBWI – India

 

Writing advice from author Mark NoceMark Noce

Mark writes historical fiction with a passion. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, he’s an avid traveler and backpacker, particularly in Europe and North America. He earned his BA and MA from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. By day, he works as a technical writer, having spent much of his career at places like Google and Facebook. His debut novel is published by Thomas Dunne Books (an imprint of St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan). It is the first in a series of historical fiction novels set in medieval Wales.

Alyssa Songsiridej

Alyssa Songsiridej is a fiction writerAlyssa Songsiridej is a writer and editor living in Cambridge, MA. Her work can be found or is forthcoming at StoryQuarterlyThe Offing, and Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art, and has been honored by the Ucross Foundation, the VCCA , the Ragdale Foundation, the Vermont Studio Center, and the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. Her first novel, Little Rabbit, is forthcoming from Bloomsbury. She is also an editor at Electric Literature.

D. B. Carter

Writing advice D. B. CarterD. B. Carter lives with his family in rural Devon, England. The son of two artists, he grew up in a world of creativity, studying painting techniques under his parents’ tutelage. In his 20s, he took a degree in Computer Science, and followed up with research in AI and Machine Learning. He went on to run his own business for twenty years. A lifelong bibliophile, he is firmly of the opinion that there is no such thing as too many books, only insufficient shelf space.

Maureen Connolly

Author Maureen ConnollyMaureen Connolly’s background in science and love of the natural world informs and inspires her writing. LITTLE LOVELY THINGS is her debut as a novelist. She is also an award-winning poet, published in diverse outlets such as Emory University’s Lullwater Review and Yankee Magazine.

Jane Camens

Jane Camens founded Hong Kong’s international literary festival in 2001, with Sri Lankan writer Nury Vittachi. After completing an MFA in Writing at Vermont College in the USA, and receiving an MA at the University of East Anglia, UK, she returned to Australia and founded the Asia Pacific New Writing Partnership, an international collaboration of universities, literary organizations and others interested in supporting new writing from the region. Jane won the 2010 Fish Publishing Short Story Prize.

Ranjani Rao

https://www.damyantiwrites.com/2019/09/02/essay-personal-fiction/22/00/05/9852/guest-post/damyantig/Ranjani Rao is a scientist by training, and a writer by avocation. Originally from India, and former resident of USA, she currently lives in Singapore. Her essays have appeared in print and digital publications like San Jose Mercury News, Mutha Magazine (USA), The Hindu (India), The Straits Times and Singapore Unbound (Singapore). Her e-books “No longer NRI: How I left America for my homeland; essays on the adventures of resettlement” and “Negative Space and other stories”, are available on multiple digital platforms. Watch out for two new e-books, “Train Friends,” an essay collection inspired by Mumbai local trains as well as her contribution to an anthology titled “Desi Modern Love”. Ranjani is co-founder of Story ArtisanPress.

 

Jo Furniss

Jo Furniss is the author of the Amazon Best-seller All the Little Children (Lake Union Publishing, September 2017). Originally from the UK, Jo is a former BBC journalist who has lived in Cameroon and Switzerland, and now resides with her family in Singapore.

David Powers King

David was born in beautiful downtown Burbank, California where his love for film inspired him to write. His works include the internationally published YA Fantasy Woven and The Undead Road: My Zombie Summer.David was born in beautiful downtown Burbank, California where his love for film inspired him to write. His works include the internationally published YA Fantasy Woven and The Undead Road: My Zombie Summer. An avid fan of science fiction and fantasy, David also has a soft spot for zombies and the paranormal. He now lives in the mountain West with his wife and four children.

Pippa Goldshcmidt

Pippa Goldschmidt is based in Edinburgh. Her short stories, poetry and non-fiction have appeared in a wide variety of publications including New Writing Scotland, Gutter, the New York Times, and in anthologies such as ‘Best American Science and Nature Writing 2014’.

Her novel ‘The Falling Sky’ (published by Freight) was a finalist in the Dundee International Book prize in 2012. Her short story collection ‘The Need for Better Regulation of Outer Space’ (also published by Freight) was longlisted for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award.

Suchen Christine Lim

Born in Malaysia but educated in Singapore, Suchen Christine Lim was awarded the Southeast Asia Writer Award 2012. In 1992, her novel, Fistful Of Colours, won the Inaugural Singapore Literature Prize. Critics have described her first novel, Rice Bowlas “a landmark publication on post-independence Singapore”, and A Bit Of Earth as “a literary masterwork as well as a historical document” that was “un-put-downable – a sure sign of a master storyteller.” A short story in The Lies That Build A Marriage, was made into a film for national television. Awarded a Fulbright grant, she is a Fellow of the International Writers’ Program in the University of Iowa, and its International Writer-in-Residence. In 2005, she was writer-in-residence in Scotland, and has returned to the UK several times as an Arvon Tutor to conduct writing workshops and read at the Edinburgh Book Festival.

Michael Dellert

Michael Dellert is an award-winning writer, editor, publishing consultant, and writing coach with a publishing career spanning 18 years. He currently lives and works in the Greater New York City area.

Guilie Castillo Oriard

A Mexican writer and dog rescuer who moved to Curaçao “for six months”—and, twelve years later, has yet to find a reason to leave. Her work has been published online and in print anthologies. THE MIRACLE OF SMALL THINGS is her first book.

Alex J. Cavanaugh

Alex J. Cavanaugh is the author of Amazon bestsellers CassaStarCassaFire, and CassaStorm and Dragon of the Stars, works in web design, graphics, and technical editing. A fan of all things science fiction, his interests range from books and movies to music and games. Online he is the Ninja Captain and founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.

Marc de Faoite

Marc de Faoite‘s short stories and articles have been published both in print and online in Malaysia, Singapore, India, France, and Ireland. Tropical Madness, a collection of his short stories, was longlisted for the 2014 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize. When he’s not writing, he’s generally busy doing other stuff, like reading, drinking tea, wandering around rain-forests like a lost ascetic, or splashing about in waterfalls.

Elaine Chiew

Elaine Chiew is a London-based writer and her stories have won the Bridport Prize, been shortlisted in the BBC Opening Lines (2015), MsLexia (2014) and Fish Short Stories Competitions (2012), among others, and published in anthologies and literary magazines (most recently, in Unthology 7 (Unthank Books, 2015). She is the editor and organiser of Cooked Up: Food Fiction From Around the World (New Internationalist, 2015).

Dee Cohen

Dee Cohen is a poet, prose writer, and photographer, currently living in Albuquerque New Mexico. Her poetry has been published in various journals, including Spillway, Kimera, Perihelion, Stirring, RipRip, Mal Pais Review, Adobe Walls, Mas Tequilla Review, Anthology of Orange County Poets, Fixed and Free Anthologies and others.

Her book of poems, Lime Avenue Evening, was published by the Laguna Poets.

Sucharita Dutta-Asane

Sucharita Dutta-Asane is a writer and independent editor. She received the inaugural Dastaan Award (Papercuts) for her short story “Rear View”. In 2008, she received the Oxford Bookstores debuting writers’ (second) award for her anthology, The Jungle Stories. Her short stories have appeared in various national and international anthologies. Besides writing, Dutta-Asane edits fiction and non-fiction manuscripts with independent authors, publishing houses, and literary agencies.

Trish Nicholson

Dr Trish Nicholson is a writer, photographer, social anthropologist, and author of short stories, and narrative nonfiction on ethnography, travel, popular science and writing craft. Her latest titles are, Inside Stories for Writers and Readers, and Write Your Nonfiction Book: The Complete Guide to Becoming an Author.

Emily R King

Emily R. King is the author of The Hundredth Queen Series and forthcoming Evermore Chronicles. Born in Canada and raised in the USA, she has perfected the use of “eh” and “y’all” and uses both interchangeably. Shark advocate, consumer of gummy bears, and islander at heart, Emily’s greatest interests are her four children. She lives in Northern Utah with her family and their cantankerous cat. You can find her at emilyrking.com.

Frances Gapper

Frances Gappers  Absent Kisses, her first story collection, was published by Diva Books in 2002 and The Tiny Key, a flash fiction chapbook, by Sylph Editions in 2009. Her most published story is ‘Pink and Blue’, which appeared first in Pretext 5, edited by Ali Smith and Julia Bell, then in Absent Kisses and then in ‘Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off: Love Quarrels from Anton Chekhov to ZZ Packer’, a Penguin anthology edited by Ali Smith, Sarah Wood and Kasia Boddy.  Her novel Saints and Adventurers was published by the Women’s Press in 1988 and a children’s novel, Jane and The Kenilwood Occurrences, by Faber in 1979. The latter featured in Paul Magrs’s 2014 list of ‘100 books for children that I think are great’.

Fiona Mitchell

Fiona Mitchell is an award-winning writer who has  worked as a journalist for twenty years. She spent almost three years living in Singapore and now lives in London with her husband and daughter. The Maid’s Room, published by Hodder & Stoughton on 16th November 2017, is her first novel. She is currently working on a second.

Janet Beard

Born and raised in East Tennessee, Janet Beard moved to New York to study screenwriting at NYU and went on to earn an MFA in creative writing from The New School. Her first novel, Beneath the Pines, was published in 2008, and her follow-up, The Atomic City Girls in 2018. Janet has lived and worked in Australia, England, Boston, and Columbus, Ohio, where she is currently teaching writing, raising a daughter, and working on a new novel. 

 

Melissa de Villiers

Melissa de Villiers is a writer and journalist. She grew up in South Africa but now lives between Singapore and London. Her debut short story collection ‘The Chameleon House’ has  been longlisted for the Frank O’connor award.

Shannon Mayer

The USA Today bestselling author of the Rylee Adamson urban fantasy series. After a 2 year period waiting on her agent to actually do something, Ms. Mayer dropped the agent, and self-published her first trilogyA Zombie-ish Apocalypse which includes Sundered, Bound and Dauntless. For more info on Shannon Mayer and her writing, visit her blog or follow her on Twitter @TheShannonMayer

Rebecca Reynolds

Rebecca Reynolds is a teacher and non-fiction writer. Her main places of museums work have been the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and the Museum of English Rural Life, Reading. She blogs here.

Tara L. Masih

Tara L. Masih is the editor of The Rose Metal Press Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction and The Chalk Circle (both ForeWord Books of the Year), author of Where the Dog Star Never Glows, and Series Editor of the annual Best Small Fictions anthology. Her flash has been anthologized in Word of Mouth, Brevity & EchoFlashed: Sudden Stories in Comics and Prose, Flash Fiction Funny, and Stripped, and was featured in Fiction Writer’s Review for National Short Story Month. She received Wigleaf Top 50 recognition and finalist placing for the Reynolds Price Prize in Fiction.

Jaime Lynn Hendricks

Jaime Lynn Hendricks is an author with nearly 20 years experience in print media and marketing. Finding Tessa is her first novel. She lives with her husband in New Jersey.

Audrey Chin

Audrey Chin is a Southeast Asian author whose work explores gender, faith and culture. Her Asian Gothic mystery, The Ash House has received a lovely reception.

Yasmin Angoe

Yasmin Angoe is a first-generation Ghanaian American, the 2020, recipient of the Sisters in Crime Eleanor Taylor Bland Award for Emerging Writers of Color and is a proud member of SinC, Crime Writers of Color, International Thriller Writers, and Mystery Writers of America. Yasmin was an English teacher and currently works with authors as a developmental editor and sensitivity/authenticity reader.

Shannon Lawrence

Shannon Lawrence writes primarily horror and fantasy. Her stories can be found in over forty anthologies and magazines, and her three solo horror short story collections and her nonfiction title, The Business of Short Stories, are available now. You can also find her as a co-host of the podcast Mysteries, Monsters, & Mayhem.

Lynne Legrow

Lynne Legrow is an established book reviewer who reviews books from major publishers and with reputed book tour sites. Before life as the book blogger Fictionophile she was a fiction cataloguer in Nova Scotia.

Michael Mammay

Michael Mammay is a science fiction writer and a retired army officer. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and is a veteran of Desert Storm, Somalia, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. His debut novel, Planetside came out in July, 2018, and was selected as a Library Journal best book of 2018. The audio book, narrated by RC Bray, was nominated for an Audie award.

Thomas Henry Pope

Thomas Henry Pope is a journalist, actor, and songwriter. His boyhood travels behind the Iron Curtain exposed him to the failings of Materialism and laid the groundwork for Imperfect Burials. His novel The Trouble with Wisdom, unpacks a trans-continental quest by four intrepid souls in the post-apocalyptic world of 2055. He has worked in Hollywood, written for HuffPost, traveled widely, and taught English to foreigners.

Bonnar Spring

Bonnar Spring writes eclectic and stylish mystery-suspense novels with an international flavor. An inveterate traveler, she hitchhiked across Europe at sixteen and joined the Peace Corps after college. For twenty-five years, Bonnar has been teaching ESL—English as a Second Language—at a community college.

Ren Hutchings

Ren Hutchings is a speculative fiction writer and history grad. She’s spent most of the past decade working in game dev while also plotting twisty space novels. Ren’s debut novel, UNDER FORTUNATE STARS, was released by Solaris in May 2022.

Melanie P. Smith

Melanie P. Smith served nearly three decades in the Special Operations Division at her local sheriff’s office working with SWAT, Search & Rescue, K9, the Motor Unit, Investigations and the Child Abduction Response Team. She now uses that training and knowledge to create stories that are action-packed, gripping and realistic.

Dan Antion

Dan Antion was born outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He grew up and attended college in the area around western Pennsylvania. Dan has written and published the popular No Facilities blog since 2011. Knuckleheads, published in June 2022, is the first book in the Dreamer’s Alliance Series. This story introduces the main characters in this series, in which the next two books will follow in late summer and early winter 2022.

Carrie Ryan

Carrie Ryan is the New York Times bestselling author of the Forest of Hands and Teeth series and many more. Her novels have sold in over 22 territories, and her first book is in development as a major motion picture. A former litigator, Carrie now lives in Charlotte, NC with her husband and various pets.

JL Buck

After retiring from the legal system, Ms JL Buck wrote sixteen fantasy books under the pen name of Ally Shields, before turning to Regency-era mystery fiction.

Harini Nagendra

Harini Nagendra is a professor of ecology at Azim Premji University, and a well-known public speaker and writer on issues of nature and sustainability. She has earned many accolades over time. Her non-fiction books include Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present and Future, and two books co-authored with Seema Mundoli – So Many Leaves, and Cities and Canopies: Trees in Indian Cities, which received the 2020 Publishing Next Awards for best English non-fiction book in India, and was featured on the 2021 Green Literature Festival’s honor list. The Bangalore Detectives Club is her first crime fiction novel.

Rob Samborn

Rob Samborn is the author of The Prisoner of Paradise, a dual-timeline thriller set in Venice, Italy, published by TouchPoint Press and the first of a series. His second book, The Painter of Paradise, is set for release on October 25, 2022. For more information about Rob and his work, please visit www.robsamborn.com.

Wendy Trimboli

Wendy Trimboli is blithely enthusiastic about dense 19th century novels, morbid history, and flawed yet relatable characters. She has an MFA in creative writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts and lives in Colorado with her family, border collie, and far too many books.

Writing Teachers and Authors

David Corbett

Corbett’s short fiction and poetry have appeared in journals as diverse as Mission and TenthThe Smoking Poet, and San Francisco Noir, and his stories have twice been selected for inclusion in Best American Mystery Stories (2009 and 2011). His story “Babylon Sister” was named one of the Top Five Stories of the Week for the two year-period 2015-2016 by Narrative Magazine, while his story “It Can Happen” was nominated for a Macavity Award and has been adapted for TV as a pilot for a Hulu series based on the anthology in which it appeared, San Francisco Noir. His story collection Thirteen Confessions was published in 2016.

He serves as co-chair for the highly regarded Book Passage Mystery Writers’ Conference, where he has served as a faculty member for over ten years. He has also taught at the UCLA Extension’s Writers’ Program, Litreactor, 826 Valencia, and numerous writing conferences across the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Julia Bell

Julia Bell is a writer and Senior Lecturer at Birkbeck College, London where she teaches on the Creative Writing MA and is Project Director of the Writers Hub website. She is the author of three novels, most recently The Dark Light to be published in May 2014, the co editor of the Creative Writing Coursebook as well as three volumes of short stories most recently The Sea In Birmingham. She also takes photographs, writes poetry, short stories, occasional essays and journalism, and is the co-curator of spoken word night In Yer Ear.

Roy Kesey

Roy Kesey’s latest books are the short story collection Any Deadly Thing (Dzanc Books 2013) and the novel Pacazo (Dzanc Books 2011/Jonathan Cape 2012). He is the winner of an NEA grant for fiction and a PEN/Heim grant for translation. His short stories, essays, translations and poems have appeared in about a hundred magazines and anthologies, including Best American Short Stories and New Sudden Fiction. He is currently the Writer-in-Residence at Washington College.

Sarah Butler

Sarah Butler writes novels and short fiction, and has a particular interest in the relationship between writing and place. She has been writer-in-residence on the Central line and at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Her novel, Ten Things I’ve Learnt About Love, is published by Picador in the UK and in fifteen languages around the world. Her latest book is Before the Fire.

Patrick Wensink

Patrick Wensink is the bestselling author of Broken Piano for President. The book’s viral popularity led him to appearances in New York Times, NPR’s Weekend Edition, Forbes and others. The New Yorker once wrote one entire sentence about him. After which he had a heart attack. He is the author of four other books, including Fake Fruit Factory. His articles appear in the New York Times, Esquire, Men’s Health, Salon, Oxford American and others. HarperCollins will publish his first children’s book, GORILLAS A-GO-GO, in 2016.

Suzy Vitello

As a founding member of what the Oregonian has dubbed Portland’s “hottest writing group,” (whose members include Chuck Palahniuk, Chelsea Cain, Lidia Yuknavitch, Monica Drake and Cheryl Strayed), Suzy’s name has graced the acknowledgement pages of many a book. Her own award-winning writing has appeared in a bunch of journals and anthologies. THE MOMENT BEFORE is her debut novel. Suzy lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, Kirk, and son, Carson.

Susannah Rickards

Susannah Rickards is a UK author who lives near London. Her collection of short stories Hot Kitchen Snow won the Scott Prize.  Her work has won and placed in a number of awards including The Conan Doyle, Society of Authors, Commonwealth Short Story, BBC Opening Lines, International Pen, CWA Debut Dagger, Eastside, Ian St James and The New Writer.

Jude Higgins

Jude Higgins is a writer, writing tutor and writing events organiser. She founded the International Bath Flash Fiction Award and co-runs The Bath Short Story Award and Writing Events Bath. Jude has an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University and writes short stories and flash fiction. Her work has been successful in many writing competitions and she’s published in Visual Verse, Landmarks,  (the 2015 Anthology for National Flash-fiction day), The Fish Prize Anthology, 2014 and Cinammon Press.

David Swann

David Swann was Writer in Residence at H.M.P. Nottingham Prison. A book based on his experiences in the jail, ‘The Privilege of Rain’ (Waterloo Press, 2010), was shortlisted for The Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry. He teaches modules in fiction, poetry, and screenwriting at University of Chichester. His short stories and poems have been widely published and won many awards, including  seven successes at the Bridport Prize and two in The National Poetry Competition. He is now hard at work on a trilogy of novels and other writing projects. Find out more about him here.

Felix Cheong

Felix Cheong is the author of nine books, including four volumes of poetry and a collection of short stories, Vanishing Point, which was long-listed for the prestigious Frank O’Connor Award. His latest book is a collection of satirical flash fiction, Singapore Siu Dai.

Conferred the Young Artist of the Year for Literature in 2000 by the National Arts Council, he was named by Readers Digest as the 29th Most Trusted Singaporean in 2010. Cheong has been invited to read at writer’s festivals all over the world: Edinburgh, West Cork, Austin, Sydney, Brisbane, Christchurch and Hong Kong. He holds a Masters in creative writing from the University of Queensland, and is currently an adjunct lecturer with Murdoch University, University of Newcastle, Temasek Polytechnic and LASALLE College of the Arts. (His second guest post here.)

Tim Tomlinson

Tim Tomlinson is co-founder of New York Writers Workshop, and co-author of its popular text, The Portable MFA in Creative Writing. Stories and poems appear or are forthcoming in The Blue Lyra Review, Caribbean Vistas, Coachella Review, Writing Tomorrow, and the anthologies Long Island Noir (Akashic Books), and Fast Food Fiction (Anvil Publishing). He teaches at New York University’s Global Liberal Studies program.

This list will get updated as each new interview or guest post goes up on Daily (w)rite. Each post, linked to the guest name, contains fiction writing tips highlighted for your reference.

Paul McVeigh

The Good Son, Paul McVeigh‘s debut novel, won The Polari Prize and The McCrea Literary Award. It was shortlisted for The Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award, The Guardian’s ‘Not The Booker’ Prize and a finalist for The People’s Book Prize.

Born in Belfast, Paul’s work has been performed on stage and radio, published in print and translated into seven languages. His short stories have been published in anthologies & literary journals like The London Magazine & The Stinging Fly. They have been read on BBC Radio 3, 4 & 5.

Roz Morris

Roz Morris is an award-nominated novelist (My Memories of a Future LifeLifeform Three), book doctor to award-winning writers (Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2012), has sold 4 million books as a ghostwriter and teaches writing masterclasses for The Guardian. Her first non-fiction collection, Not Quite Lost, is now available. Find out more here. When not at her desk, her favourite place in the world is on the back of a horse, exploring the old commons, byways and woods of Surrey, UK. Her website is here, her blog is here, her Facebook page is here, you can tweet her as @Roz_Morris.


About Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas lives in Singapore. Her short stories have been published in magazines in the US, UK, and Australia, and she helps edit the Forge Literary Magazine. Her second literary crime novel, The Blue Bar, was published in January 2023 by Thomas & Mercer.

THE BLUE BAR by Damyanti BiswasHer debut literary crime novel,”You Beneath Your Skin,” published by the fab team at Simon and Schuster IN is optioned to be a TV series by Endemol Shine.

readers loved You Beneath Your Skin

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