DIY MFA Radio

Hey there Word Nerds!

I'm so glad you're here! Today's interview will be a juicy one. I'll be talking to Stephen O'Connor about his debut novel Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings, a profound exploration of the ways in which the institution of slavery warped the human soul, as seen through the story of Jefferson and Hemings. In this episode, we discuss how to approach controversial topics in your writing while treating the subjects with grace and respect.

• Mindful writing about controversial topics and marginalized groups
• Idea evolution from short story to novel
• Writing outside your experience
• Accessing the unconscious mind as part of the writing process
• Issues of point of view

Stephen is the author of two collections of short fiction, Here Comes Another Lesson and Rescue, as well as Orphan Trains, an acclaimed history of a pioneering nineteenth-century child welfare effort, and Will My Name Be Shouted Out, a memoir. His fiction has appeared in many publications, including The New Yorker and The Best American Short Stories. He lives in New York City and teaches at Sarah Lawrence.

Historians have shed invaluable light on the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, yet their internal feelings and motivations remain a mystery. In Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings, O'Connor's protagonists are rendered via scrupulously researched scenes of their lives in Paris and at Monticello that alternate with a harrowing memoir written by Hemings after Jefferson's death, dreamlike sequences in which Jefferson watches a movie about his life, and a chance encounter where Hemings and Jefferson run into each other "after an unimaginable length of time" on the New York City subway.

O'Connor eschews easy answers, aiming to illuminate the horrors of slavery and the hypocrisy of the Founding Father who wrote "all men are created equal," while allowing both Hemings and Jefferson their full human complexity. Jefferson—at once admirable and despicable—becomes a vehicle for understanding a destructive imbalance of power that persists today. Hemings emerges as a powerful force, asserting her right to freedom of body and mind.

To learn more about Stephen O'Connor, visit his website or follow him on Facebook.

For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/093

Hey there Word Nerds!

I’m so glad you’re here! Today's interview will be a juicy one. I’ll be talking to Stephen O’Connor about his debut novel Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings, a profound exploration of the ways in which the institution of slavery warped the human soul, as seen through the story of Jefferson and Hemings. In this episode, we discuss how to approach controversial topics in your writing while treating the subjects with grace and respect.

• Mindful writing about controversial topics and marginalized groups
• Idea evolution from short story to novel
• Writing outside your experience
• Accessing the unconscious mind as part of the writing process
• Issues of point of view

Stephen is the author of two collections of short fiction, Here Comes Another Lesson and Rescue, as well as Orphan Trains, an acclaimed history of a pioneering nineteenth-century child welfare effort, and Will My Name Be Shouted Out, a memoir. His fiction has appeared in many publications, including The New Yorker and The Best American Short Stories. He lives in New York City and teaches at Sarah Lawrence.

Historians have shed invaluable light on the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, yet their internal feelings and motivations remain a mystery. In Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings, O’Connor’s protagonists are rendered via scrupulously researched scenes of their lives in Paris and at Monticello that alternate with a harrowing memoir written by Hemings after Jefferson’s death, dreamlike sequences in which Jefferson watches a movie about his life, and a chance encounter where Hemings and Jefferson run into each other "after an unimaginable length of time" on the New York City subway.

O’Connor eschews easy answers, aiming to illuminate the horrors of slavery and the hypocrisy of the Founding Father who wrote “all men are created equal,” while allowing both Hemings and Jefferson their full human complexity. Jefferson—at once admirable and despicable—becomes a vehicle for understanding a destructive imbalance of power that persists today. Hemings emerges as a powerful force, asserting her right to freedom of body and mind.

To learn more about Stephen O’Connor, visit his website or follow him on Facebook.

For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/093

Hey there word nerds!

Thanks for joining me. Today I'm talking with New York Times bestselling author, C.J. Box, author of sixteen Joe Pickett novels, five standalones, and the short story collection, Shots Fired. He's also won numerous awards including and won the Edgar Award for Best novel for his first standalone, Blue Heaven.

Off the Grid is his sixteenth Joe Pickett novel and it's told with pulse-pounding urgency and insight. It's a timely look at how terror is found—and fought—in the wild expanses of Wyoming, one of the most untouched parts of the United States. This is a part of the United States that Box knows well. A Wyoming native, has has worked on a ranch and as a small-town newspaper reporter and editor. He lives outside Cheyenne, WY with his family.

• The importance of setting in a novel
• How to research setting for your novel and capture the details.
• Using journalistic techniques to get the information you need for your story.
• Infusing technology into natural and low tech settings.

This latest installment begins not long after the terrifying events of Endangered, which left Pickett and his best friend, Nate Romanowski, separated and out of touch…not to mention very lucky to be alive. Nate, in fact, is living off the grid entirely, relying on survival skills he's garnered as a rugged outdoorsman, master falconer and ex-special operator, and leaving no visible trace behind after any of his movements. That is, until an ultra-secretive government agency discovers him and corrals him (blackmails might be a better word) into finding a rogue journalist named Muhammed Ibraaheem. Ibraaheem, it seems, has gone off the grid too…but in a way that the government suspects could lead to bloodshed and mayhem.

Meanwhile, Pickett's daughter Sheridan, a college student, receives a mysterious invitation from her roommate—a nighttime gathering in the wilderness with a group of strangers who may or may not be political activists. Curious—and perhaps against her better judgment, and everything she has learned as Joe Pickett's daughter—Sheridan agrees to go. It's a decision that will place her directly in the middle of danger, as well as in the camp of Ibraaheem and his associates, all of whom are willing to kill for their beliefs. Yet a persistent question remains: Just what are those beliefs? Are they rooted, as Ibraaheem claims, in American individualism and freedom? Or is he truly manifesting a plot more sinister and terrifying than can be imagined?

And what of Joe Pickett himself? Conducting a series of unrelated investigations, Pickett soon finds himself in Wyoming's beautiful but unforgiving Red Desert. Unfortunately for him, he's also about to stumble across Ibraaheem's plans, and it will leave him stranded, miles from any civilization, without water. Even if he makes it out alive, he may be too late to save his daughter and his friend.

To learn more about C.J. Box, visit his website or follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/092

Hey there word nerds!

Thanks for joining me. Today I’m talking with New York Times bestselling author, C.J. Box, author of sixteen Joe Pickett novels, five standalones, and the short story collection, Shots Fired. He’s also won numerous awards including and won the Edgar Award for Best novel for his first standalone, Blue Heaven.

Off the Grid is his sixteenth Joe Pickett novel and it’s told with pulse-pounding urgency and insight. It’s a timely look at how terror is found—and fought—in the wild expanses of Wyoming, one of the most untouched parts of the United States. This is a part of the United States that Box knows well. A Wyoming native, has has worked on a ranch and as a small-town newspaper reporter and editor. He lives outside Cheyenne, WY with his family.

• The importance of setting in a novel
• How to research setting for your novel and capture the details.
• Using journalistic techniques to get the information you need for your story.
• Infusing technology into natural and low tech settings.

This latest installment begins not long after the terrifying events of Endangered, which left Pickett and his best friend, Nate Romanowski, separated and out of touch…not to mention very lucky to be alive. Nate, in fact, is living off the grid entirely, relying on survival skills he’s garnered as a rugged outdoorsman, master falconer and ex-special operator, and leaving no visible trace behind after any of his movements. That is, until an ultra-secretive government agency discovers him and corrals him (blackmails might be a better word) into finding a rogue journalist named Muhammed Ibraaheem. Ibraaheem, it seems, has gone off the grid too…but in a way that the government suspects could lead to bloodshed and mayhem.

Meanwhile, Pickett’s daughter Sheridan, a college student, receives a mysterious invitation from her roommate—a nighttime gathering in the wilderness with a group of strangers who may or may not be political activists. Curious—and perhaps against her better judgment, and everything she has learned as Joe Pickett’s daughter—Sheridan agrees to go. It’s a decision that will place her directly in the middle of danger, as well as in the camp of Ibraaheem and his associates, all of whom are willing to kill for their beliefs. Yet a persistent question remains: Just what are those beliefs? Are they rooted, as Ibraaheem claims, in American individualism and freedom? Or is he truly manifesting a plot more sinister and terrifying than can be imagined?

And what of Joe Pickett himself? Conducting a series of unrelated investigations, Pickett soon finds himself in Wyoming’s beautiful but unforgiving Red Desert. Unfortunately for him, he’s also about to stumble across Ibraaheem’s plans, and it will leave him stranded, miles from any civilization, without water. Even if he makes it out alive, he may be too late to save his daughter and his friend.

To learn more about C.J. Box, visit his website or follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/092

Hey there Word Nerd! Today I have the great pleasure of hosting Julie Duffy on the show. Julie is the founder of the StoryADay May creative writing challenge, which is basically like the short story version of NaNoWriMo. This challenge happens in May, which is only a few short weeks away, and it's an incredible experience.

More personally, though, Julie and I both started our respective projects (her StoryADay, my DIY MFA) the same year and only a few months apart. You could say we're part of the same creative cohort and we've "come up through the ranks" together. Julie is one of my most trusted colleagues, probably the person I most frequently turn to for advice and insights outside the DIY MFA team, and I'm also lucky to count her as one of my good friends. Today it is an honor and pleasure to introduce my word nerds to someone who I've known is AWESOME for quite some time.

Embed Episode Here

• Whether writing one story a day for a month is easier or harder than writing a novel in a month.
• How to keep the creative well from running dry.
• Setting limits and how they can help you be more creative.
• Barriers to overcome in order to be more creative.

Julie Duffy is the founder of StoryADay.org and a experienced public speaker on topics such as creativity, productivity for writers, self-publishing – with an emphasis on ebooks and print on-demand, and short stories. Her first ebook, 21st Century Publishing, was published in 2001 and grew out of her popular newsletter and website of the same name. She has been sharing tools and insights with authors ever since, in publications such as Writer's Digest and Writers' Journal.

Julie has hosted StoryADay May since 2010 and StoryADay September since 2012.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Julie was Director of Author Services at Xlibris, the first company to offer print on-demand services directly to authors. In this role she frequently spoke at writers' conferences about the new age of publishing that was dawning and is now shaking apart the publishing world. She personally worked with a couple of thousand authors from first-time writers to best-selling authors such as Piers Anthony and Daniel Pinkwater.

She knows writers. She knows about the new world of publishing. She is happy to introduce them to each other. If you want to learn more about Julie and StoryADay, visit her website or follow her on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest.

Interested in signing up for StoryADay? Go here to sign up! You can also sign up for email updates to get reminders about upcoming challenges and other StoryADay info. And don't forget to order your copy of A Month of Writing Prompts 2016 (affiliate link).

Need inspiration to jumpstart your story writing? Check out Writer Igniter.

We mentioned That Guy in Your MFA during the show.

Don't forget! Sign up for the Storytelling Superpower Summit.

For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/091

Hey there Word Nerd! Today I have the great pleasure of hosting Julie Duffy on the show. Julie is the founder of the StoryADay May creative writing challenge, which is basically like the short story version of NaNoWriMo. This challenge happens in May, which is only a few short weeks away, and it’s an incredible experience.

More personally, though, Julie and I both started our respective projects (her StoryADay, my DIY MFA) the same year and only a few months apart. You could say we’re part of the same creative cohort and we’ve “come up through the ranks” together. Julie is one of my most trusted colleagues, probably the person I most frequently turn to for advice and insights outside the DIY MFA team, and I’m also lucky to count her as one of my good friends. Today it is an honor and pleasure to introduce my word nerds to someone who I’ve known is AWESOME for quite some time.

Embed Episode Here

• Whether writing one story a day for a month is easier or harder than writing a novel in a month.
• How to keep the creative well from running dry.
• Setting limits and how they can help you be more creative.
• Barriers to overcome in order to be more creative.

Julie Duffy is the founder of StoryADay.org and a experienced public speaker on topics such as creativity, productivity for writers, self-publishing – with an emphasis on ebooks and print on-demand, and short stories. Her first ebook, 21st Century Publishing, was published in 2001 and grew out of her popular newsletter and website of the same name. She has been sharing tools and insights with authors ever since, in publications such as Writer’s Digest and Writers’ Journal.

Julie has hosted StoryADay May since 2010 and StoryADay September since 2012.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Julie was Director of Author Services at Xlibris, the first company to offer print on-demand services directly to authors. In this role she frequently spoke at writers’ conferences about the new age of publishing that was dawning and is now shaking apart the publishing world. She personally worked with a couple of thousand authors from first-time writers to best-selling authors such as Piers Anthony and Daniel Pinkwater.

She knows writers. She knows about the new world of publishing. She is happy to introduce them to each other. If you want to learn more about Julie and StoryADay, visit her website or follow her on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest.

Interested in signing up for StoryADay? Go here to sign up! You can also sign up for email updates to get reminders about upcoming challenges and other StoryADay info. And don’t forget to order your copy of A Month of Writing Prompts 2016 (affiliate link).

Need inspiration to jumpstart your story writing? Check out Writer Igniter.

We mentioned That Guy in Your MFA during the show.

Don’t forget! Sign up for the Storytelling Superpower Summit.

For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/091

Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Anna Harwell Celenza, a music professor of Georgetown University where she teaches courses in music history, radio journalism and the music industry. She has written several scholarly books, is a writer/commentator for National Public Radio's Performance Today, and her work has been featured on nationally syndicated radio and TV programs like BBC's "Music Matters and C-Span's "Book TV."

But the section of Anna's work that I'm most familiar with are her wonderful picture books: Once Upon a Masterpiece, where she tells the story behind a famous musical masterpiece, explains the meaning of the music.

• Looking for the gap on the shelf, for what is not there.
• The process of research and creating historical fiction that jumps off the page.
• How shifting point of view can enhance the story you are trying to tell.
• The impact of technology on music and publishing.
• The self-powered, targeted platform

For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/090

Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with Anna Harwell Celenza, a music professor of Georgetown University where she teaches courses in music history, radio journalism and the music industry. She has written several scholarly books, is a writer/commentator for National Public Radio’s Performance Today, and her work has been featured on nationally syndicated radio and TV programs like BBC’s “Music Matters and C-Span’s “Book TV.”

But the section of Anna’s work that I’m most familiar with are her wonderful picture books: Once Upon a Masterpiece, where she tells the story behind a famous musical masterpiece, explains the meaning of the music.

• Looking for the gap on the shelf, for what is not there.
• The process of research and creating historical fiction that jumps off the page.
• How shifting point of view can enhance the story you are trying to tell.
• The impact of technology on music and publishing.
• The self-powered, targeted platform

For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/090

Hello, hello word nerds!

I'm so excited to share today's DIY MFA Radio episode with you! I'm speaking with Anders Ericsson and his co-author Robert Pool about their new book Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise (affiliate link).

Anders Ericsson is a Conradi Eminent Scholar and Professor of Psychology at Florida State University, where he studies how people become experts in various fields like music, chess, nursing, law enforcement and sports. More important, he looks at how expert performers achieve excellence by acquiring specific, complex cognitive mechanisms–ways of training their brain–through extended, deliberate practice. Today we're going to talk about how writers can use similar techniques to improve their craft and take our writing from average to awesome.

Robert Pool is a nonfiction writer specializing in science and technology and has worked as staff for both Science and Nature. He is the author of three previous books before co-authoring this one with Anders Ericsson.

• The biggest myths about talent.
• How to beef up your brain.
• The ceiling of achievement.
• The components of deliberate practice.

For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/089

Hello, hello word nerds!

I’m so excited to share today’s DIY MFA Radio episode with you! I’m speaking with Anders Ericsson and his co-author Robert Pool about their new book Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise (affiliate link).

Anders Ericsson is a Conradi Eminent Scholar and Professor of Psychology at Florida State University, where he studies how people become experts in various fields like music, chess, nursing, law enforcement and sports. More important, he looks at how expert performers achieve excellence by acquiring specific, complex cognitive mechanisms–ways of training their brain–through extended, deliberate practice. Today we’re going to talk about how writers can use similar techniques to improve their craft and take our writing from average to awesome.

Robert Pool is a nonfiction writer specializing in science and technology and has worked as staff for both Science and Nature. He is the author of three previous books before co-authoring this one with Anders Ericsson.

• The biggest myths about talent.
• How to beef up your brain.
• The ceiling of achievement.
• The components of deliberate practice.

For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/089