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Channel: Susan Mihalic's Open Salon Blog
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Craft of Writing Q&A: Scott Archer Jones

 One of the things I most enjoy about the Craft of Writing series is the insight it offers into how other writers work—approaches that are as individual as the writers themselves. It’s easy to get hung...

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Craft of Writing Q&A: Debra Mihalic Staples

A literary dynasty is a lofty thing to contemplate. I recently read Charlotte Brontë: A Writer’s Life by Rebecca Fraser, and while I found it a bit stolid and too reliant on Elizabeth Gaskell’s...

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Craft of Writing Q&A: Deonne Kahler

 We all take away what we need from story. Whether it’s in the form of a novel, an article, a conversation, or an interview, story resonates. Different approaches to writing work for different writers....

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Craft of Writing Q&A: Kate Horsley

Writing is my preferred form of communication. Pick up the phone? I really hate the phone, with its insistent icepick-to-the-brain ring—which isn’t even a ring these days unless you have a special...

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Craft of Writing Q&A: Lauren Bjorkman

 I have an annoying tendency to throw around words and acronyms as if everyone knows what I’m talking about: I’ve never participated in NaNoWriMo, I’m a believer in sim subs, and I love YAs. If you’re...

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Craft of Writing Q&A: Janet Majerus

 Cozy. The word itself sounds snuggly, doesn’t it? Cozy is sitting in front of a fire, sipping cocoa and wearing your slippers, while the snow falls gently and a pot of soup simmers on the stove.Unless...

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Craft of Writing Q&A: Lea Lane

 One of my favorite paintings is from a children’s book I edited, a retelling of the folk tale The Three Sillies, in which a young man leaves his village on a quest to find three people who are sillier...

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The View from the High Road

The drive from Santa Fe to Taos is beautiful regardless of which route you take.After living in Taos for more than 20 years, I learned about a year ago that the route along the Rio Grande is called the...

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Craft of Writing Q&A: Wendy Chin-Tanner

 Years ago, I labored under the illusion that I had to write at my desk—and I do mean labored. Just the act of sitting at a desk applied pressure in a way that made the cogs in my brain jerk to a halt...

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Craft of Writing Q&A: Meg Pokrass

 Of all the writing advice I’ve read and heard over the years, Meg Pokrass may have just delivered my favorite: “Tell the mojo it is time to wank off and let the writer work.” Read on, because the...

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Craft of Writing Q&A: Laura Bogart

 For years, my writing mantra has been Be fearless. By that, I mean Be honest. Tell the truth. Don’t shy away from the details. Don’t flinch. Every time I sit in front of my computer or pick up a pen,...

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Craft of Writing Q&A: Katie Salidas

 Katie Salidas is a writing and publishing dynamo. Author of the Immortalis urban fantasy series, the Consummate Therapy erotica series, and the recently released Chronicles of the Uprising dystopian...

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Craft of Writing Q&A: Summer Wood

  First, yes. Summer Wood is her real name. We share an August birthday (same day, same year—she’s my astral twin). Her mother lived in a walk-up apartment in New York City when she was pregnant, and...

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Craft of Writing Q&A: Melanie Sumner

 Secrets, regrets, love, a missed flight . . . all of it is fodder for writer Melanie Sumner, author of the forthcoming novel, How to Write a Novel (Random House, June 2015.) She has published three...

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Craft of Writing Q&A: AJ Calhoun

  The first half of this week has brought renewed heartbreak for the deep, painful fissures and hairline cracks that race across the map of America. Yet somehow, tomorrow, many of us will be more...

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Craft of Writing Q&A: Savannah Thorne

  In this Craft of Writing Q&A, Savannah Thorne discusses passion, perseverance, and how the practical advice offered by a teacher revolutionized her writing. Savannah received her BA from the...

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Craft of Writing Q&A: Sean Murphy

 Once upon a time, I ran a nonprofit art school in Taos, New Mexico. If this sounds like a cushy job, remember that small, underfunded nonprofits operate on a shoestring budget. Consequently, despite...

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Craft of Writing Q&A: Anna Snow

 No one reads anymore, bookstores are dying, the future of publishing is grim. Shall I go on? I think not. Fear-mongering isn’t confined to politics, and I’d rather not be a part of it. As usual, the...

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Craft of Writing Q&A: Martha Grossman

  As a writer, I’ve always been struck by the special demands of writing memoir. I agree wholeheartedly with Anne Lamott, who wrote, You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If...

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Craft of Writing Q&A: Nikki Stern

Nikki Stern is the author of two published nonfiction books. The first,Because I Say So (Bascom Hill, 2010), details her experiences as a 9/11 widow in the context of our culture’s belief in...

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