Florida Writer Podcast

Want to write a screenplay but don't know how to get started? Do you want to be taken seriously as a screenwriter? Should you publish a novel before selling your screenplay? Discover the answers to these questions and more as Florida Writer Podcast Host Alison Nissen chats with screenplay writer and award-winning author Jennie Jarvis about screenwriting and more!

Jennie Jarvis is an award-winning author, story consultant, and college educator. Her work appeared in Writer's Digest Magazine, The Florida Writer, Bad Apple Zine, Qu Literary Magazine, and more. Her textbook, Crafting the Character Arc: A Practical Guide to Character Creation and Development, is used in creative writing classes worldwide. Find her @JarvisWrites

Jose Pablo Iriarte's short story success lies in his ability to create texture from memories. In this edition of the Florida Writer Podcast, host Alison Nissen chats with Jose about his new position of Director-at-Large for the Science Fiction Writers of America and how to build layers of quality prose by combining past experiences and today's emotions.

José Pablo Iriarte is a Cuban-American writer, high school math teacher, and parent of two. Their fiction can be found in magazines such as Uncanny, Lightspeed, and Strange Horizons, and has been nominated for the Nebula Award, longlisted for the Otherwise Award, and reprinted in various Year's Best compilations. José currently serves as Director-at-Large for SFWA. Learn more at www.labyrinthrat.com, or look for José on twitter @labyrinthrat.

In this edition of the Florida Writer Podcast, host Alison Nissen chats with poet Andy N about how he used his creativity to overcome dyspraxia by focusing on the benefits of writing poetry and ambient music.

Andy N is the author of five poetry collections, the most recent being Haiku of Life and an ambient musician recording under the name Ocean in a Bottle. He also hosts the podcasts Spoken Label, Reading in Bed, Wrestle Up and the Koll, the Andy and Amanda show to name but a few.

Discover more at OneWriterandHisPC.blogspot.com

Ocean in a Bottle is at: oceaninabottle.bandcamp.com

The Sunday Tribune is at: https://www.thesundaytribune.com/

Jimi Fritz's newest book Confessions of an Ethical drug Dealer is a psychedelic travelogue and memoir that takes creative non-fiction to a whole other level. Jimi's advice: write the stories you want to write and edit along the way.

Jimi Fritz is a filmmaker, musician, writer, entrepreneur, roustabout, and trick cyclist extraordinaire. He's written two feature-length screenplays, numerous articles, and a non-fiction book about rave culture.

Want to write a novel but feel the overpowering weight of its commitment? Consider using Bill Cook's logic of writing the literary equivalent of a bag of potato chips--one more chip, one more chapter.

William J. Cook is the author of The Driftwood Mysteries (3 novels and 1 short story) set on the Oregon coast. The latest in the series, Dungeness and Dragons, was published during the pandemic in April 2020. He has also written two volumes of short stories, and is busy completing a third which he hopes to publish by the end of the summer. It's entitled Before Our House Fell into the Ocean: Stories of Love and Death. https://authorwilliamcook.com/

There's no secret formula to finding agent representation. In this Florida Writer Podcast, host Alison Nissen chats with Elle Ire about publishing, strong protagonists, and how she generates fresh ideas.

Elle Ire writes science fiction featuring kick-ass women who fall in love with each other. Her first novel, Vicious Circle, released from Torquere Press in November, 2015, and was rereleased in January, 2020, by DSP Publications. The novels in her Storm Fronts series, Threadbare, Patchwork, and Woven, were released in 2019 and 2020 by DSP Publications. Look for The Dead Things trilogy and Reel to Real Love coming soon. Her work is represented by Naomi Davis at the Bookends Literary Agency.

No longer do you need to worry about Plotting or Pantsing your next book! In this week's Florida Writer Podcast, host Alison Nissen chats with the Plottr team of Cameron Sutter (creator) and Ryan Zee (marketer) about how writers can outline their books with this easy-to-use program. Plottr offers drag & drop visual timelines to help you create eye-pleasing plots that are built to help you outline better and faster.

Plottr.com

Using your own experiences is a great way to create immersive settings. In this Florida Writer Podcast episode, Nancy Nau Sullivan gives her unique spin on how to find authenticity in settings.

Nancy is a writer of memoir, mystery, and a novel about a woman who teaches in a boys' prison. The novel, THE BOYS OF ALPHA BLOCK, was published in April. SAVING TUNA STREET, the first in a mystery series is nominated for best mystery of 2020 at Foreword Reviews. Second in the series, TROUBLE DOWN MEXICO WAY, launches June 29, 2021. Nancy promises to take her amateur sleuth, Blanche Murninghan, to Vietnam next, then Ireland, Argentina, and Spain. Her memoir, THE LAST CADILLAC, won two Eric Hoffer awards in 2016.

A former newspaper journalist, Nancy taught English in Argentina, in the Peace Corps in Mexico, and at a boys' prison in Florida. Nancy lives in Northwest Indiana and, often, anywhere near water. Find Nancy at www.nancynausullivan.com.

Building strong, multi-dimensional characters for young adult literature is Ian Dawson's specialty. To make characters believable, give them the confidence to take on challenges and enough fear and doubt in themselves that they struggle.

Ian Dawson is an author, playwright and screenwriter based in Los Angeles. He has a Bachelor of Arts in dramatic art from The University of California Davis and a master's in screenwriting from Cal State Northridge. His first novel, The Field, was released in 2018 and went on to become a Readers' Favorite Book Award Finalist. The Field was based on Ian's own experience of being abducted and held captive when he was only 13 years old.

When author Diana McDonough began to tapdance around the subject of racism in her novel Stuck in the Onesies, she realized that facing the challenging topic head-on was not only more authentic to her characters, but to her own voice as a writer.

Diana's first novel, Stuck in the Onesies grew out of her experiences living outside the nation's capital in the 1960s and 70s when social issues first bubbled to the surface. My Mother's Apprentice is the sequel to Stuck in the Onesies and the story of the next generation. It was awarded the bronze medal by the Florida Authors and Publishers Association in 2019.

Diana writes creative non-fiction, humor, and historical fiction. You can visit her website at dianamcdonough.com, sign up for her blog, and visit Facebook pages for both books.