Fable & The Verbivore

Today, Fable and the Verbivore have the pleasure in sharing the conclusion to our two-part interview with Tiffany Clarke Harrison.

Tiffany is a developmental editor, intuitive writing coach, and self-published author of the novel If I Fell. She has a profound understanding of the inner journey intuitives undertake when they sit down to create and consistently provides gems of advice for writers on her Instagram account @rochellewritersstudio. We also highly recommend checking out the free offerings on her website Rochelle Writers Studio: 1) a guided meditation to help Reclaim your voice and 2) a written guide to help Revise your draft.

In this episode, Tiffany talks about what her coaching sessions look and feel like - as well as her unique approach that focuses on the writer becoming more in tune with themselves and their work while also gaining a deeper understanding of the psychology of their characters.

She also shares advice gained from her experience in her MFA program, cold querying and participating in #PitMad, working with an agent, listening to her gut about her work, and opening up her work for feedback from others. Throughout this episode, Tiffany shared a ton of great advice - but she ended by encouraging creatives to just keep going and not to give up.

We hope you enjoy listening to this episode! Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore

Today, Fable and the Verbivore have the pleasure in sharing part one of this enchanting two-part interview with Tiffany Clarke Harrison.

Tiffany is a developmental editor, intuitive writing coach, and self-published author of the novel If I Fell. She has a profound understanding of the inner journey intuitives undertake when they sit down to create and consistently provides gems of advice for writers on her Instagram account @rochellewritersstudio. We also highly recommend checking out the free offerings on her website Rochelle Writers Studio: 1) a guided meditation to help Reclaim your voice and 2) a written guide to help Revise your draft.

In this episode, Tiffany unpacks a ton of wisdom gained throughout her career helping others enhance their writing, education, and through her own writing journey. A few of the many topics she addresses are:

- How psychologically our minds and emotions can react to stepping out to create

- Being prepared to work through emotional baggage as part of the writing process

- The importance of getting to know your characters psychologically and why they make the choices they do

She also talks about using language to create artistic and visceral experiences. Using a selection of prose from the novel Giovanni’s Room as an example, Tiffany describes how word choices can be used to further the plot, help show who the characters are, and set the tone - preparing the reader for the type of journey that the story will take.

Tune in next week for the second half of our interview with Tiffany, where she digs into some of what she’s learned through querying and working with an agent, as well as her coaching process.

We hope you enjoy listening to this episode! Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore

In today's episode, Fable and the Verbivore revisit one of their favorite classic romances - Jane Austen's novel Persuasion.

In this episode, we discuss how strange this story is as a romantic book. The heroine barely says two words for the first three chapters and the love interest does not appear in the flesh until well into a third of the way through the book. But somehow it works, to us it may start slow but holding some of those things back does serve to amp up the tension and creates anticipation. We also mention how setting up the family dynamics early helps to anchor the story giving much needed context to Anne’s actions.

After having gone many years without reading this novel, we were both surprised to discover how our perception of the book, the heroine, and the theme had changed. The idea of persuasion and the choice that Anne makes at the beginning to give up the man she loves struck us completely differently than when we'd read it previously. This is one of the things that we enjoy about the power of re-reading and discovering something new or that we missed previously.

All of that said, there are also several things about this book that are strange when compared with modern writing rules and preferences. We discuss how in classics the pace tends to be slower, head hoping is accepted, strong narration and telling is often used, and the conclusions often gloss over the best parts.

Even so, we felt that this little gem of a story has something worth the time and effort. And is ripe for a modern retelling.

We hope you enjoy listening to this episode! Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore

oday, Fable and the Verbivore talk with authors Maile Silva and Shawn Smucker (or “Shaile” by their power duo name). They discuss what their writing life has looked like during the pandemic, their podcast The Stories Between Us, and most especially their upcoming workshop The Nine Month Novel.

Early last year, we had the pleasure of interviewing Maile in episode 11 and Shawn in episode 28 - where they shared their individual writing journeys with us. Their podcast The Stories Between Us has been recording since October 2019 and we’ve greatly enjoyed listening to their conversations. Their honest dialogues cover the challenges, truths, and insights that they’ve gained through their writing life; stories about the personal challenges they face as partners and parents; and feature guest authors who openly converse with them about their own unique hurdles, experiences, and knowledge gained as creatives.

As authors who have spent years studying and working on their craft, they each have a lot of wisdom to offer. That’s why, when we heard about their workshop The Nine Month Novel, we wanted to have them come back to share about this course they’ve created for anyone who has been wanting to begin or finally follow through with a story idea that they need to tell and haven’t known where to start or haven’t been able to finish.

We are affiliates of this program. If you decide that this workshop is right for you, signing up through our affiliate link at fableandtheverbivore.com/nine will also help financially support our podcast. More information can be found at http://shawnsmucker.com/the-nine-month-novel//. Registration is now open and set to close on February 24th.

In this episode, Maile and Shawn discuss a lot of things that can help us as writers get from having a spark of an idea to following through to complete the first draft of a manuscript. We hope you enjoy listening to all the great advice that Maile and Shawn had to share!

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

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore

This week, Fable and the Verbivore jump into Part 2 of our discussion about developing and building physical intimacy between characters. If you haven’t already listened to it, we’d highly recommend checking out Episode 71: Let's talk about writing physical intimacy Part 1.

Warning: We talk openly about building physical intimacy and writing about sexual contact in more detail than in our previous episode. This topic may not be suitable for all audiences.

Last year, we released podcast Episodes 15 and 16 which explored creating chemistry - both romantic and platonic - between fictional characters. We mostly focused on describing attraction beyond the physical by showing intellectual attraction, emotional attraction, and social attraction.

Today, we revisit writing romantic pairings to talk about a physical intimacy framework originally presented by romance author Linda Howard for showing a natural progression to intimate connection between two characters. Inspired by the work of Zoologist Desmond Morris’ on Intimate Behavior. Picking up from where we left off last week, we unpack the remaining 4 stages that help demonstrate the progression of intimate contact and look at how some of the books we enjoy approach handling intimate scenes.

We discuss the choices that writers make in their approach to creating romantic and physically vulnerable scenes. The explicit or implicit language that they decide to use, the point of view involved in the scene, and the closeness to the experience that they decide to take all determine how these scenes read.

Throughout the episode, we consider how the unique needs of the project, reader expectations, and the character’s relationship arc can help determine what type of scenes work best for a given story. But we also are reminded that sometimes as writers we need to try to write something several ways and see what ends up working best.

We hope you enjoy listening this episode! Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore

This week, Fable and the Verbivore dive into the subject of developing and building physical intimacy between characters.

In February 2020, we released podcast Episodes 15 and 16 which explored creating chemistry - both romantic and platonic - between fictional characters. We mostly focused on describing attraction beyond the physical by showing intellectual attraction, emotional attraction, and social attraction.

In this episode, we revisit writing romantic pairings to talk about a physical intimacy framework originally presented by romance author Linda Howard for showing a natural progression to intimate connection between two characters. Inspired by the work of Zoologist Desmond Morris’ on Intimate Behavior, these 12 stages start step by step from noticing someone across the room to having an intimate connection.

We look at the first 8 stages within this framework in some detail - from first laying eyes on someone to allowing them to touch your face or neck. We use some examples from books and movies to discuss a few of our favorite pairings and how romantic tension and connection was creating over time in those works.

Towards the end, we discuss how physical intimacy may be complicated by characters past experience or personal preferences and comfort level with touch. Fable mentions how the novel Six of Crows explores this concept in an interesting and thought-provoking way.

Next week, we will be back to unpack the remaining 4 stages.

We hope you enjoy listening this episode! Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore

In this our first book club episode of 2021, Fable and the Verbivore unpack Kim Liggett’s The Grace Year.

Spoiler alert for this episode as we dissect some of the plot twists and the end of this book.

We highly recommend seeking out and reading the letter to the readers that Kim included in the Target exclusive edition, as it gives some great context around the meaning and the author’s intentions.

In this episode, we discuss how the extreme but honest brutality in this book reflects experiences that many young girls face while growing up, as well as how the world that she built explores unchallenged prejudices and injustice within our own society.

We dig into the complex characters she created and many stereotypes that the various individuals accept as truth and how she chooses to call out those beliefs and challenge them over time. We also talke about the many ways that symbols steeped in meaning play into this story - flowers, seeds, and growing things that are never solely what they appear to be at first glance.

Towards the end of the episode, we discuss some of our takeaways from this powerful and thought-provoking story: That we each can make a difference by using the voice we have, that by making a different choice from those that came before we can create positive change, and that hope however small is important. But also that we each individually can choose to be medicine in our world.

Kim Liggett writes mostly YA Horror and Thrillers. She has published five books: The Unfortunates, The Last Harvest, and the duology Salt and Blood and Heart of Ash. In 2019, it was announced thatThe Grace Year is in development to be made into a film. She is on instagram @kim2legit2quit and her website is http://www.kimliggett.com/.

Take care of one another! And keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore

Today we are thrilled to share our latest author interview! In this episode, Fable and the Verbivore have the chance to speak with author, editor, and professional speaker Jo Mercer.

Jo is the author of ten works of fiction in a variety of genres from Women’s Fiction, YA Contemporary, and YA Fantasy that are in various stages of release. During our conversation, we focus on her latest self-published YA paranormal Shady Woods, book one of her Shady Woods series, which debuted on October 13th of this last year. She has also written and personally managed the release process for her books After They Go, Dark and Stormy, Perfection and Other Illusive Things, and Triplicity.

In this episode, Jo covers a lot of ground, providing advice on a variety of writing and reading topics based on her own writing journey. She discusses how she approached creating the fantastical world for Shady Woods, and the need to balance efficient world-building with the need to make sure that the setting feels authentic and rational. Jo also describes how she learned to listen to herself and identify when she needed to step back from a project and let her subconscious do some of the work, rather than forcing things that didn’t work and would have to be rewritten.   

She also shared her own perspective on the self-publishing process, what is needed to be able to approach it with the right mindset, and some reasons to choose it over traditional publishing. Later on in the episode, she talks about beta reading and critique process - both from the perspective of the reader and the writer - and gives some great tips for how to approach both of these parts of the writing process.

Lastly, she reminds us that the best advice is to have patience and to continue to do the work. Knowing that it is a field that you continue to grow in with time, experience, hard work, and listening and connecting with other writers.

Jo shares regularly on her Instagram site with writing prompts, editing tips, and mood photos to help spur creative brainstorming. We also highly recommend checking out her work and connecting with her on her Instagram account @jmercerbooks and on her website at jmercerbooks.com.

We hope you enjoy listening this episode! Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore

In today’s episode, Fable (Beth) and the Verbivore (Laura) revisit the themes they chose in episode 10 to capture their intentions for 2020, to see them in context after year end. They also prepare for 2021, by choosing some new themes to hold.

Laura’s 2020 phrase was stepping into the unknown, the idea of walking through the doors that were open even though she wasn’t sure what they’d hold. And the year definitely reflected this theme, but having that phrase in her mind allowed her to embrace and pivot through the uncertainty of the year. For 2021, she sees herself transitioning towards focusing on daily showing up, shutting down excuses, and doing the work set before her now that she has a better idea how her process looks.

Beth’s 2020 theme was into the woods and the idea that she would be needing to hold herself in balanced tension between different forces, as in a yoga pose. Throughout the year, she learned a lot about the balanced cycle and flow of her work - as with the tide. For 2021, she chose the phrase lean in, both for her writing and personal life. The idea of embracing curiosity and not withdrawing from the work, while also allowing her days to ebb and flow to fit what things are her’s to do on a given day.

We wish you a 2021 that holds some comfort, peace, relaxation, growth, excitement, overcoming fear, joy, and many opportunities for creating something new. We would love to hear if any of our listeners have any words or themes that they are holding onto for the new year!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore

In today’s episode, Fable (Beth) and the Verbivore (Laura) look back on their 2020 goals that they set in podcast episode 9 and prepare for 2021 by setting some new ones.

Laura talks about reaching the goal of completing draft one for the historical fiction novel she’s writing, as well as fighting through perfectionism and working to get out of her own way. Her goals for next year are to polish the manuscript for querying by end of March and to have a draft of the second novel completed by end of 2021.

Beth discusses accomplishing the goal of completing a book and taking it through the querying process this year, as well as the importance that community has made in changing and growing her writing life. Her goals for 2021 are to read and write regularly, and each year to take a new book from writing through to querying.

We hope you enjoy listening to this episode! Keep reading, and writing, and putting your voice out there!

We look forward to continuing this journey in 2021!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore