The Writescast Network

Okay, so this isn't the final conversation I'll ever have with Dan Schiro, but it is the final conversation to be broadcast by the Writescast Network.

For the penultimate episode of Writescast Network programming, I'm joined by an avid reader who just so happens to be my wife. Over the course of our discussion, we chat about what gets her to pick a book off a shelf, what keeps her engrossed while reading, and what will have her shelving a book just as fast as she picked it up.

Sarah Smith joins the show to discuss her most recent release, SIMMER DOWN, along with what got her into writing romance in the first place, among other topics.

Author M.A. Hinkle discusses the importance of separating one's personal identity from one's writerly self, as well as how writers can go about surviving the, well, *gestures broadly,* we confront on a daily basis.

Dr. Lindsay Weisner discusses her ten steps for finding happiness while pursuing one's creative endeavors.

After an important update on the future of the Writescast Network from host r.r. campbell, Writers' Institute Director Laurie Scheer returns to the show to discuss the dissolution of the University of Wisconsin's Continued Studies in Writing program.

How can we keep readers on their toes? What writing exercises can you do to keep those readers tiptoeing about your pages? In this episode, Ekta Garg explores just that with help from Nick Spalding's LOGGING OFF.

Go ahead: judge a book by its cover. With author and marketer Carol VanDenHende's five principles for book cover design, you'll better understand what makes for a quality cover and how you can be a more constructive participant in the cover design process.

Author of young adult paranormal fiction Mary Jane Capps joins us for a discussion about a truly spooky subject: impostor syndrome. What is it and how can we overcome it? You'll have to tune in to find out.

What can a champion-boxer-turned-CEO teach authors about what it takes to thrive in the world of writing? A lot, it turns out, as Héctor Colón demonstrates through his five virtues for life, leadership, and authorship.

If a picture is worth a thousand words—and words mean everything to authors—how much is Instagram worth to those of us in the writing community? Author and playwright Briana Morgan joins the show to help us answer this question and more.

Author and Facebook phenom J. Scott Coatsworth joins the show to discuss what it takes to create and participate in thriving writer and reader communities on Facebook.

She-Ra. Schitt's Creek. Geopolitics. Maggie Derrick and r.r. campbell cover a lot in this episode, and it's all in the name of helping you better write anti-heroes.

For this episode, R.R. Campbell interviews Meg LaTorre, who happens to be the founder of the beloved iWriterly YouTube channel.

Summer drags on, and with it, uncertainty around the world. To find solace and certainty within ourselves and within the walls of our homes, we turn to four members of the writing community for their words of encouragement and inspiration.

Sometimes a book launch doesn't go as planned, but there's no need to fret.

R.R. Campbell and Maggie Derrick explore the challenge that is synopsis writing. As they discuss and debate, they borrow a few bits from the McElroy brothers and take potshots at their capitalist overlords.

After taking a few moments to reframe how we look at our querying statistics, Amanda Zieba joins the show to discuss the ABCs of authorpreneurship—and how understanding them can help us turn a writing hobby into a writing career.

Ekta Garg explores The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni to develop an understanding of mood: what it is, how we can develop it, and how we can maintain that moodiness throughout our manuscripts.

Author Judith Joy explains that taking advantage of the law of attraction can do wonders to stave off the inundations of negativity that find us so often as writers.

Maggie Derrick is back! And in this episode, she and r.r. campbell fire up the metaphor machine to address the ins and outs of tackling second drafts. Along the way, they discuss magnets (how do they work?), car manufacturing, and, yes, your feedback from our #WritescastChat series.

Lisa Cron explains what it is about human consciousness that's so wired for story, as well as how understanding these phenomena can make us better writers.

Amid social unrest, an ongoing pandemic, and the taunts of temperatures that continue to climb, it can be hard to feel as though our stories are worth the time it takes to tell them—let alone the time it takes to write them. In this episode, Laurie Buchanan, Lynda Drews, and Jeff Nania help us counter […]

Author Valerie Biel returns to the Writescast Network to discuss the how-tos of turning one’s book into an audiobook. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake Press, the Chicago Writers Association, and Kill Your Darlings Candle Company.

With help from the #WritescastChat community, guest co-host Ekta Garg and r.r. campbell discuss the intersection of inner conflict and theme. Don your safety goggles, folks, because the metaphor machine is in high gear for this one!

Sarah J. Carlson describes her journey to becoming a published author while also juggling her career as a school psychologist and her responsibilities as a parent. Thanks to this episode’s sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing, Lost Lake Press, the Chicago Writers Association, and Kill Your Darlings Candle Company.

New Biblio Breakdown host Ekta Garg explores patience in storytelling through WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING by Delia Owens. Along the way, she offers writing exercises to help us embody the beauty at the heart of Owens’ debut and New York Times bestselling novel. Thanks to our sponsors Dandelion Web Marketing and the Wisconsin Writers Association.

This episode is no ordinary listicle. The author of WEEPERS joins the program to discuss how to approach the page while writing a mystery or thriller (or, as he explains, any story), and, along the way, he regales us with tales of mid-20th-century NYC and inevitable, yet surprising endings in funeral homes.

In an episode one might expect to be laden with trauma, r.r. campbell and guest co-host Candice Lee have some fun discussing the intersection of emotional wounds and character motivation.

Not everyone has the means to enroll in a Master of Fine Arts program. The good news? Gabriela Pereira is challenging the status quo of higher education with DIY MFA, which encourages writers to write with focus, read with purpose, and build their community—all on their own time and from the comfort of their own home.

Writers Rita Schunk, Joy Ann Ribar, and Rose Bingham share their tales of encouragement with the rest of the global writing community.

Jennie Nash reads books all day and gets paid for it, and her book by that title—along with this episode—will help you on your journey to doing the same.

Once upon a time, guest co-hosts Avery Ames and r.r. campbell explored the magic of writing retellings.

Writescast Network founder r.r. campbell shares some of the exciting developments the Writescast Network community will have to look forward to in the coming months and years.

After first tackling the ins and outs of launching a debut novel during a time of social distancing, Claribel Ortega details what went in to writing GHOST SQUAD, how it feels to write one's experiences with grief, and, of course, how she came to write a character like Chunk the cat.

In a time of self-isolation, quarantine, and social distancing, writers Lisa Vihos, Ekta Garg, and Larry F. Sommers have the courage to share their tales of encouragement with the rest of the global writing community.

Developmental editor and owner of Booklight Editorial Carly Hayward describes RevPit, an annual online event that offers writers the chance to win feedback on their queries and pages.

Stop promoting. Start connecting. Dan Blank's human-centered approach to marketing has helped countless writers forge lasting impressions, and in this episode, he guides listeners through his philosophy to help us do the same.

Opening lines: every manuscript has one (more than one, in fact!). In this episode, the #WritescastChat community helps r.r. campbell and guest co-host Angeline Boulley define the to-dos for making every opening line a ta-da!

Laurie Buchanan contrasts the business of being with the business of doing, emphasizes the importance of developing mission and vision statements, and talks setting and achieving healthy goals for our creative and personal endeavors.

Samantha Hoffman of the Chicago Writers Association joins us to break down the CWA and its flagship annual event, the Let's Just Write conference.

In our first-ever mini-sode, Wisconsin Writers Association president Barry Wightman discusses what the WWA and communities like it can offer writers before exploring the ins and outs of the WWA's annual Jade Ring Contest.

Fresh off the release of STORM FROM THE EAST, book two in her GLASS ALLIANCE series, author Joanna Hathaway discusses how leaning into writing her passions led her to publication.

It need not be Valentine's Day to talk writing romance; it just worked out that way this time! In this episode, guest co-host Sarah Smith and r.r. campbell take on the challenges of writing romance with either a capital or lower-case R. Topics discussed include favorite romance tropes, how to tease a budding romance, writing sex scenes, consent, and general characterization.

With help from over half a dozen voicemails left for her at our call-in number, conference director Laurie Scheer discusses this year's upcoming Writers' Institute in Madison, Wisconsin.

Our manuscripts are more than words. They live and die by the feel of their prose, by the rhythm and texture of the page. In this episode, r.r. campbell deconstructs the first pages of a number of popular books in order to explore the phenomenon that is voice. Along the way, he proposes writing exercises that creatives everywhere can use to better understand their voices, their stories, and themselves.

In the first installment of Novel Approaches during Roaring Twenties, Part Two: Electric Boogaloo, guest co-host Maggie Derrick and r.r. campbell explore what tropes and clichés are, the role genre plays in determining whether they're fulfilling or unflattering, and the importance of working with editors and sensitivity readers.

Author Tracey S. Phillips joins r.r. campbell to discuss the non-traditional route she took to traditional publishing, as well as how listeners can follow in her footsteps. Thanks to this episode's sponsors: Dandelion Web Marketing, the University of Wisconsin Writers' Institute, and Let's Just Write!

Award-winning author M.D. Neu returns to discuss non-romantic love in fiction. With examples from the magical world of Harry Potter and M.D.'s own work, what's *not* to love?

In this free-wheeling conversation, USA Today Bestselling author Ann Garvin and r.r. campbell discuss what it means to understand your readership, writerly mission statements, and, wait for it—three-legged pairs of pants.

Sione and r.r. do some creative writing calculus by waxing philosophical on the nature of time, space, and their intersection with story. Oh, and all apologies to Richard Gere. You'll understand once you've listened to the episode.