On this episode, Barry and I talk with a wonderful writing duo, Ted Chiles and Chella Courington.

Chella Courington (she/her) is a writer and teacher whose poetry and fiction appear in numerous anthologies and journals including DMQ Review, The Los Angeles Review, and Anti-Heroin Chic. She was raised in the Appalachian south and now lives in California with another writer and two feline boys. Her recent microchaps of poetry are Good Trouble, Origami Poems Project; Hell Hath, Maverick Duck Press; and Lynette’s War, Ghost City Press. Her novella, Adele and Tom: The Portrait of a Marriage, will be re-released by Impspired Magazine (England) in February 2023. Twitter: @chellacouringto  Instagram: chellacourington  Web Page: chellacourington.net

Ted Chiles has published short stories, flash fiction and nonfiction in a variety of literary journals. In his former life he taught economics, the most dramatic of the Social Sciences. He lives in Santa Barbara, California with a writer, two avocado trees and two cats.

You'll enjoy hearing how two authors navigate the writing life in the same household. 

Today, we speak with Ashley B. Davis about self-publishing and more. 

Ashley B. Davis writes the ordinary and extraordinary. She has poetry and short work appearing in Trembling With Fear, The Grey Rooms Podcast, Months to Years, Liquid Imagination, Jamais Vu, and Eunoia Review.

When she is not living in fictional worlds, she lives with her partner, her seven-year-olds, and two rescue cats in southern California, where she manages rental property.

Her debut YA fantasy The Space Between You and Me debuted on November 14, 2022. You can find it on most online retail sites.

To connect with Ashley...
on her website: www.ashleybdavis.com
Instagram: @shleybdavis
Twitter: @shleybdavis
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13755985.Ashley_B_Davis

Elizabeth Burton is a working writer whose fiction and non-fiction have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies. She holds an MFA from the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University. She lives and teaches in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, with her husband and a plethora of animals.

On this episode, Elizabeth shares with us literary journal submission etiquette, as well as what she's writing, and more. (We can't wait to read her WIP!) 

The delightful Melissa Hamilton joins us on this episode to talk about her MFA experience, her work in science, puppetry, and planning unicorn parties! 

Let’s submit everything on your computer BEFORE the end of the year! 

We’ve just put the finishing touches on the six-week Pitch Your Pants Off Challenge from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15 which contains the same steps we’ve used to publish nearly everything we’ve written since we graduated with our MFA’s. 

This is a complete challenge that gives you everything you need to know to get your writing out into the world. 

• A FREE “Pitch Your Pants Off” submission tracker (And it’s not an ugly ol’ basic excel tracker, either!) 
• A FREE submission checklist that you can follow step-by-step to send your writing out the door! 
• A FREE PITCH SUBMISSION COURSE SENT VIA EMAIL TO YOU EVERY WEEK OF THE CHALLENGE outlining where and how to pitch  
• A FREE pitching tips calendar

Love the idea but feel like you’ll need a bit of extra accountability or help focusing? We’ve got you!

Not only do we have MFA’s in Creative Writing, so we’ve been there, but Drēma is also a certified life coach, so goal setting is her game. Contact her at info(at)mfapayday(dot)com to schedule a coaching call. She’ll critique your first pitch with you to be sure it hits all of the crucial pitching points.

Please understand that the results we’re sharing with you are not typical. Your results may vary.

That being said, the challenge is TOTALLY free when you register at www.mfapayday.com. 

Here’s hoping this has you in a pitching state of mind. 

Let’s get published!

Drēma  and Barry 

Andrew Najberg is the author of the speculative horror novel Gollitok (Cactus Moon Press, 2023), the collection of poems The Goats Have Taken Over the Barracks (Finishing Line Press, 2021), and the chapbook Easy to Lose (Finishing Line Press 2007). His short fiction has appeared in Prose Online, Psychopomp Review, Bookends Review, Wondrous Real,  Utopia Science Fiction and others. 

His poems have appeared in dozens of journals online and in print, including North American Review, Asheville Poetry Review, Cimarron Review, Another Chicago Magazine, and Good River Review. An AWP Intro award recipient and the 2022 National Poetry Month Brain Mills Press grand prize winner, he received an MFA in poetry from Spalding University and an MA in creative writing from University of Tennessee at Knoxville. 

Currently, he teaches for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and is serving as a senior editor for Symposeum magazine.  Symposeum Issue 4 has just been released, and is the product, Andrew says, "of a lot of work and collaboration" and he's proud to be a part of it. 

On this, episode one of MFA Payday, we interview Matt Berman who sees himself has half writer, half photographer. We love this deep dive with Matt into how his after-the-MFA journey has developed. 

Join us here and over at mfapayday.com. There, you can get your very own "Pitch Your Pants Off" FREE submission tracker when you sign up for our newsletter. 

You’ve spent countless hours and thousands of dollars earning your MFA in Creative Writing. Now what? 

 How do you build your writing career with intention? 

What are the tools and tricks to keep your creativity alive after you’ve turned in that last assignment? 

We’re Drēma Drudge and Barry Drudge. Join us as we explore how to make your MFA pay on our new podcast, MFA Payday!

Through interviews with MFA graduates and publishing industry insiders, we will share the most up-to-date information on what to do with that degree in your hand. 

Coming Fall 2022. 

 www.mfapayday.com 

This episode of Writing All the Things not only explains but also tells you how to go about creating a reader magnet.

In a relaxed, folksy manner, the Drudges approach literary fiction as if it's accessible to all -- BECAUSE IT IS! 

And that music Barry wrote for the show! Get outta here! 

(Go to writingallthethings.com for show notes and links mentioned on the episode.)