Fable & The Verbivore

Fable & The Verbivore

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Fable & The Verbivore episodes

  • Episode 86: Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
    This week, Fable and the Verbivore are thrilled to share our April book club episode! However, for this one we decided to approach the conversation a little differently. This month we invited a reader, our friend Sara Laverty, to pick a favorite book for us all to read and to join us on the podcast to discuss it. Sara chose Barbara Kingsolver’s novel Animal Dreams.
    Animal Dreams is a story that takes place in rural Arizona, focusing on a young woman named Codi who returns for the first time in years to her hometown of Grace, AZ to help take care of her estranged father, the town doctor, who is struggling with dementia. The story revolves on themes of rediscovering and exhuming the past, evaluating the personal fictions that we tell ourselves so much we believe them as fact, and the ways in which small acts of hope can change the world.
    In this episode, we dig into the layers of meaning that the author plants and grows throughout the book, discuss how her POV choices help to reveal the character of a narrator who doesn’t see herself or her past clearly, and note that some messages are so intrinsically human that they resonate years after they’re originally written.
    We hope you enjoy this episode! It felt like such a gift to be able to share in this conversation with a friend who fell in love with this story many years ago and who passed on that spark to us. And now we pass it on to you.
    Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!
    Into the woods,
    Fable & The Verbivore
    45 min
  • Episode 85: Author Answers with Ryder Hunte Clancy

    Today, we’re so excited to have Ryder Hunte Clancy with us for our Author Answer episode. Ryder shares her unique experience finding an agent and querying publishing houses. She also shares five helpful tips for when you’re preparing to query.

    Ryder Hunte Clancy is the author of bestselling young adult fantasy, Mystic Invisible, a thrilling and adventure-packed story about a teenage wizard who moves to the mystically jeopardized Highlands of Scotland to find that magic is forbidden in a place where legends run awry. A tried and true stay-at-home mom, she has just as much trouble keeping up with her three small children as she does her fictional teenage characters.

    When not changing diapers or filling in plot holes, Ryder is busy connecting with other authors and readers. She is part of the executive team at Calliope Writing Coach. She has years of experience in developmental editing and loves to teach other writers about the art of landing a perfect pitch.

    You can connect with Ryder on Instagram and Twitter.

    Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!

    Into the Woods,

    Fable & The Verbivore

    11 min
  • Episode 84: The emotional side of querying
    This week, Fable and the Verbivore open up about the emotional and mental struggles that accompany querying our work.
    Last week, we discussed the many ways in which an author can prepare for querying and potentially reduce the number of rejections due to lack of preparation. This week, we talk about some methods for coping with the vulnerability of the querying process. However, we also acknowledge that it’s just plain hard to experience rejection, and in querying our work we face a ton of it. There’s no way around that.
    As individuals, we all experience the steps of the querying process differently and will therefore employ different methods for coping with it and managing and caring for ourselves. It all depends on what works best for you.
    But here are a few things that we’ve found helpful:
    ·     Reframe the experience as a game/Set goals you have control over. Mentally feframing how you see rejection and setting achievable goals you are able to work hard to meet help you feel empowered. For instance, as Fable has done - setting a goal to obtain a hundred rejections. Track them as you would any other goal, acknowledge and celebrate milestones, and have a motivating reward once you accomplished it. This will motivate you to get submitting your work, but takes pressure off the part you have very little control over - whether or not a agent decides to represent you.
    ·     Remember why you’re querying/Reconnect with your motivations. We all have a variety of reasons for querying, so remind yourself of your why(s). But also remind yourself why you took the time to write this particular story. What was the spark that you could not let go of until you had it written down? Or what encouraged you to work to try to get it out into the world? Hold on to that throughout the process.
    ·     Acknowledge your emotions. Check in with yourself to see how you react to the different steps of the querying process and notice what works to help you get through. Check to see what tips and advice other authors have when managing vulnerability hangovers from querying and try them. Journaling and listening to the messages you’re telling yourself can help you get in touch with where you’re at and what works.
    ·     Ask for what you need from loved ones. Tell loved ones when you’re sharing your work, so that they can be prepared and help support you when you’re at your most vulnerable. Realize some rejections will sting more than others. Be honest with those around you about what you’re feeling, and if you need space or hugs or affirmation or chocolate. All of those are valid.   
    We hope you enjoy this episode! Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!
    Into the woods,
    Fable & The Verbivore
    25 min
  • Episode 83: Author Answers with Chandra Blumberg

    For today’s mini-podcast episode we have Chandra Blumberg with us, sharing about her experience querying and finding her agent.

    Chandra Blumberg is a Midwesterner born and raised, and these days calls the Chicago suburbs home. Her love of reading extends to a wide array of genres, but romance novels captured her heart and never let go. Now she pens her own love stories where getting to happily-ever-after is half the fun. Life as a mom of four means most of Chandra’s writing takes place predawn or late into the night, so a cup of coffee is her favorite accessory.

    You can subscribe to Chandra’s quarterly newsletter over at www.chandrablumberg.com or via the sign-up link in her Instagram bio. She also loves connecting with other writers and book lovers on Instagram and Twitter with the handle @chandrablumberg.

    We hope you enjoy hearing about Chandra’s experience with querying and that it offers you some hope and encouragement.

    Keep reading, writing, and querying!

    Into the Woods,

    Fable & The Verbivore

    Music from: https://filmmusic.io
    ’Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
    Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

    10 min
  • Episode 82: Let's talk about querying (preparation)
    Today, Fable and the Verbivore are talking about querying agents and what we’ve found to be true through our own experiences and research. From how to data scrape submission information needed to start submitting, to what to consider when prepping the blurb and synopsis, we dig into some of our lessons learned.
    We recognize that there is no one right way to approach querying and we are by no means experts, but here are some of our querying tips:
    Identify the method you want to use for tracking agent information and submission details/status upfront. We both are using our own excel spreadsheets and color coding the rows to easily separate submissions.
    Check all of the agents professional webpages (Agency website, Manuscript Wish List, Social Media, and any other available website they list) to confirm what types of work they’re looking for and if they’re currently accepting queries.
    Send items you’re submitting (Query Letter, Logline, Synopsis, Etc.) to beta readers for feedback.
    Closely read and follow all agency submission guidelines. Rules vary widely by agency.
    We hope you enjoy this episode! Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!
    Into the woods,
    Fable & The Verbivore
    24 min
  • Episode 81: Author Answers with Kristina Naydonova
    In todays mini-podcast episode we have Kristina Naydonova sharing a about the querying process -- how challenging it can be, how it works, why authors choose to self-publish, and a bit about her own experience with querying.
    Kristina Naydonova was born in Washington D.C. and is currently a thirteen-year-old student in middle school. Ever since she was young, she has derived great interest from reading and writing. At the age of eight, she put her hobbies to the test and published a crime fiction novel, The Black Sisterhood Files, now available on Amazon. She hopes to prove that no matter your age, you can achieve anything if you have devotion.
    You can find out more about Kristina at https://kristina.co/
    Keep reading, writing, and sharing your voice!
    Into the Woods,
    Fable & The Verbivore
    5 min
  • Episode 80: Interview with Ann Kroeker
    Today, Fable and the Verbivore are delighted to share our conversation with podcaster, author, and writing coach Ann Kroeker!
    Ann is the author of three works of nonfiction, including “On Being a Writer: 12 Simple Habits for a Writing Life that Lasts” (co-written by Charity Singleton Craig). Her podcast “Ann Kroeker, Writing Coac‪h”‬ and instagram account @annkroeker contain a treasure trove of useful tips and guidance on the writing craft. We’d also highly recommend checking out the free offerings on her professional website http://annkroeker.com/, including her free mini-course “Make Your Sentences Sing: 7 Sentence Openers to Add Music to Your Prose”.
    In this episode, Ann shares her unique view of writing gained through her experiences working as a poet, nonfiction writer, editor, and writing coach. A few of the many topics she touches on include:
    The mental block that we sometimes face when identifying ourselves as a writer
    How the tools learned in studying poetry can help in creating prose
    Ways in which a writing coach can help fill in the gaps along the writing journey
    Towards the end of this episode, Ann talks about the BAP (Bless, Address, Press) method for reviewing someone’s work. We found this to be a incredibly useful method for helping to clearly identify what the person you’re reading for is wanting in a review of their work. This method originated with The National Writing Project and her podcast episode and write up on this method can be found at http://annkroeker.com/2015/09/21/the-writing-life-podcast-bless-assess-or-press/.
    We hope you enjoy this episode and its encouraging to you wherever you are at!
    Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!
    Into the woods,
    Fable & The Verbivore
    45 min
  • Episode 79: Let's talk about craft books
    Today, Fable and The Verbivore discuss a variety of books that we’ve read on the writing craft.
    In this episode, Fable notes that many craft books tend to cover either the author’s personal writing experience or lay out a method for how best (at least in the mind of the author) to approach the act of writing – and some books that we discuss are a little bit of both. Both these types have something to teach, but we feel it’s also important to remember there is not one right way of approaching the writing craft and not everything will be for you and fit with your personal writing process.
    We also unpack how reading broadly and widely on this topic has been helpful to us in our own writing journeys, as well as how being open to trying new things can help in finding useful tools and methods that may surprise you.
    The list of craft book titles that we share is long, some of them were helpful at different stages in our writing or helped us focus on learning specific things, some we connected with closely and others we didn’t. We also allow ourselves the freedom to put down a book that we’re not ready for or that we’re not connecting with. But for the most part, each book we’ve read has taught us something we needed to hear about this thing called writing.   
    We hope you enjoy listening this episode and that you find it encouraging wherever you are at on your writing journey!
    Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!
    Into the woods,
    Fable & The Verbivore
    29 min
  • Episode 78: Let's talk about The War of Art
    In today’s episode, Fable and The Verbivore discuss our bookclub pick for March – The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles.
    As the full title suggests, this book by Steven Pressfield talks openly and unflinchingly about the challenges we all face when trying to create anything - from writing a book to opening a business to designing a website - and the resistant force that we encounter when stepping up to do our work.
    We found that this book held true with our own experiences as writers, as well as an encouragement for us to keep pursuing our own creative paths. It was also confronting and eyeopening as to some of the areas in our creative lives where we have work to do.
    In this episode, we discuss what goes on within us mentally when we start writing and creating, how both acknowledging the presence of resistance in our process and gaining experience pushing back on it can help us overcome it more readily over time, and that we are ultimately responsible as well as empowered to call ourselves professionals and to take our work seriously.
    We hope you enjoy listening this episode and that you find it encouraging wherever you are at on your creative journeys!
    Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!
    Into the woods,
    Fable & The Verbivore
    21 min
  • Episode 77: Let's talk about feedback and beta readers
    Today, Fable and the Verbivore have a candid conversation about the complications of requesting feedback and serving as a beta reader based on a real world experience we shared together.
    Navigating the feedback process can be vulnerable, especially when we’re first sharing our words and when the work is especially close to us. From first hand experience, we share some truths about figuring out how to work effectively, what our unique process is for sharing and gathering feedback, and taking into account where someone is at on their writing journey when reviewing their words.
    In this episode, we discuss - as writers - internally checking in, analyzing ourselves and our work, and getting honest about what we’re actually looking for from our beta readers while also clearly communicating those things when we’re seeking feedback. This helps to both set beta readers and ourselves up for success.
    We also talk about some methods and practices for providing feedback. Such as: sending a list of specific questions, clarifying what elements you want focused on [pacing, character, plot, etc.], clarifying what lens you want the beta reader to use, and stating if you want neutral feedback or corrective feedback.
    We hope that you enjoy this episode where we open up about our own missteps and lessons learned through doing, and that some of our thoughts about how to approach asking for feedback, and giving it, resonate with you.
    Keep creating and putting your own unique voice out there!
    Into the woods,
    Fable & The Verbivore
    29 min

About Fable & The Verbivore

From the publisher's feed

A podcast for writers who read, readers who write, and anyone who loves words.