MFA Payday

Support the show (https://c6.patreon.com/)

Welcome! In this episode we talk about whether or not you are ready for an agent -- just some things to think about.

We discuss literary news -- from Wild Nights with Emily to the PEN AMERICA Prison Writing Awards. 

Poet Ashley Taylor lets us read two of her splendid poems, Jawbox and Untitled? Gushing ensues, because it's awesome. 

Inspiration: Remember your writing why.

Instruction: Test your manuscript to see if it's agent ready. :-)

In Whatcha Readin' we discuss Emma Donnaghue's Akin, The Unknown Mao, and more. 

Contact us at: [email protected]. We'd love to discuss your first page of whatever creative writing on our show. 

Starting a newsletter and why you should, what we're reading: (Sally Rooney and Lisa Lutz), our reader's first page, and more! 

Write us at [email protected] with comments and your first page. 

Building anticipation in your reader, another first page, what we're reading, and more! 

Hey there! We've avoided podcast fade by recording our eighth episode!! 

This features a reading based on a #Friends# episode, a conversation about clarity, a moment of Brian Wilson adoration, a tribute to Toni Morrison, and a bonus acapella bit of a song B and D wrote years ago about cigarettes after the outro. :-) All of this plus the first page of Nikki Hughey.

Write, revise, and repeat. That's the formula for making your writing the best you can. This episode shares our best tips!

Cold open: 

Hey, I’ve finished my novel. Come and get it world! 

(Crickets sound)

Hello? Hello? Is anyone out there? 

1. This podcast may contain literary language and contagious ideas. Listener discretion is advised. 

 2. Welcome/Intro

 Welcome to WATT, your biweekly home for all things writing instruction, analysis, inspiration, and writing news and trends. Though our podcast is casual by design, we confess to being sometimes pretentious curious.  

 I’m Drema Drudge, author of the forthcoming novel, Victorine, from Fleur-di-Lis Press. I’m a graduate of the Spalding University MFA in Creative Writing Program, and I’m currently a freelance writer and writing coach. My fondest wish is to return to Paris next year with a French translation of my book in hand to celebrate the publication of my novel. To that end, I’m, god help us all, attempting to learn some French. So far I suck at it. 

I’m Barry Drudge, co-host and recent MFA graduate of Spalding University, former ghostwriter and a songwriter and musician who has worked with Grammy winners in Nashville. I am a closet novelist as well. Drema says I’m pretty much winning French on Duolingo.

Literary News and Trends: 

Happy Book Birthday to Katy Yocum. Her debut literary fiction novel, Three Ways to Disappear, comes out July 16.

Here is the book’s description on Amazon: 

Leaving behind a nomadic and dangerous career as a journalist, Sarah DeVaughan returns to India, the country of her childhood and a place of unspeakable family tragedy, to help preserve the endangered Bengal tigers. Meanwhile, at home in Kentucky, her sister, Quinn--also deeply scarred by the past and herself a keeper of secrets--tries to support her sister, even as she fears that India will be Sarah's undoing.

As Sarah faces challenges in her new job--made complicated by complex local politics and a forbidden love--Quinn copes with their mother's refusal to talk about the past, her son's life-threatening illness, and her own increasingly troubled marriage. When Sarah asks Quinn to join her in India, Quinn realizes that the only way to overcome the past is to return to it, and it is in this place of stunning natural beauty and hidden danger that the sisters can finally understand the ways in which their family has disappeared--from their shared history, from one another--and recognize that they may need to risk everything to find themselves again.

With dramatic urgency, a powerful sense of place, and a beautifully rendered cast of characters revealing a deep understanding of human nature in all its flawed glory, Katy Yocom has created an unforgettable novel about saving all that is precious, from endangered species to the indelible bonds among family.

NOTE: Drema was a reviewer; Barry has heard portions of it read aloud by Katy. 

In other literary news, Publishers Weekly reports that “Publishers are holding their breath to see if President Trump’s decision to postpone the imposition of 25% tariffs on $300 billion worth of goods imported from China will become permanent.

The new tariffs, which included books, were proposed this spring. But after meeting with China President Xi at the G20 conference this weekend, Trump agreed to delay any new tariffs as part of an effort to restart trade talks. In his speech, Trump said new tariffs have been delayed “for the time being.””

Analysts aren’t convinced his decision will remain firm. Time will tell. 

And, finally, I mentioned last time I am doing social media work for a popular romance author. Yes, I am happy to report I am Shirley Jump’s current social media assistant. Not only am I enjoying working for her, I’m also learning more about today’s topic: platform building. 

3. Writing Inspiration: We’ve give

Title: Let’s Talk about Writer’s Block, Baby

Episode #5

Note: the preshow music is a sampling of what Barry is writing to accompany Drema’s novel, Victorine. 

1. Advisory: This podcast may contain explicit language and contagious ideas. Listener discretion is advised. 

2. Welcome/Intro

Welcome to WATT, your biweekly home for all things writing instruction, analysis, inspiration, and writing news and trends. We’re sometimes irreverent, but our material is (we hope) always accessible. 

I’m Drema Drudge, author of the forthcoming novel, Victorine, from Fleur-di-Lis Press. I’m a graduate of the Spalding University MFA in Creative Writing Program, and I’m currently a freelance writer and writing coach. 

I’m Barry Drudge, co-host and recent MFA graduate of Spalding University, former ghostwriter and a songwriter and musician who has worked with Grammy winners in Nashville. 

1.  News and trends: 

Fears that Barnes & Noble would close have been allayed by it being acquired by the hedge fund Elliott ‘s Advisors, according to Publishers and Writers. The fund paid  $638 million for what is the remaining largest bookstore chain in the United States. Stay tuned for what if any changes will occur as a result of this purchase. 

According to the bookstore chain’s website, the store’s origins was truly homespun: Charles Barnes started a book business from his Wheaton, Illinois home in 1873. His son, William, partnered with G. Clifford Noble in what became Barnes & Noble in 1917. Their flagship store opened in NYC during the Great Depression.

Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, is coming to the big screen in September 2019. The director of the project is John Crowley, who also directed Brooklyn, the well-received film adaptation of Colm Toibin’s novel. 

Not unexpectedly, Tayari(Ta YAH Ree) Jones won the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction recently, the award often known as the Orange and Baileys for the sponsors. This UK award was given for Jones’ novel An American Marriage. Jones is on the faculty of the Rutgers University MFA program. Her book was an Oprah book club selection in 2018. This is next on my list! Been waiting for this one, and it’s finally available at the library! 

2.  Whatcha readin’?

Barry – Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. 

Drema – Marilla by Sarah McCoy. From Anne of Green Gables series. 

n My Sister the Serial Killer -- satirical

5.  Topic of this episode is: Writer’s Block, by popular demand. 

This topic has been hot on Twitter, with some writers saying it doesn’t exist, while some saying it’s crippling their craft. Emotions are running high. 

Here are our FB group’s members’ thoughts, edited by us for length and clarity but not content. 

Bob Henderson says: 

I feel I suffer from it when writing music. When I'm out rising my bicycle or doing something I can sing something random and be like that would be cool to add as a lyric, but when I sit down and try to force it to be something it's hard to add more content to it. I have a lot of instrumentals that would be fully completed songs, but writers block seems to hinder a lot of that. It’s gotta be natural and in the moment, not forced is what I am learning.

Liz Wilkes notes:

I feel like I'm always dealing with writer's block. With or without an outline, I still struggle to come up with the right word or phrase. To combat writer's block I like to reread what I

Show Notes Episode 4

Topic: Literary Tourism (inspired by Lyndsie Manusos’ article in the June 3 Book Riot newsletter.

1. Advisory: This podcast may contain explicit language and contagious ideas. Listener discretion is advised. 

2. Welcome/Intro

Welcome to WATT, your biweekly home for all things writing instruction, analysis, inspiration, and writing news and trends. We’re sometimes irreverent, but our material is always accessible. 

 I’m Drema Drudge, author of the forthcoming novel, Victorine, from Fleur-di-Lis Press. I’m a graduate of Spalding University’s MFA in Creative Writing Program, and I’m currently a freelance writer and writing coach. You can learn more about my writing at dremadrudge.com.  

 I’m Barry Drudge, co-host and recent MFA graduate of Spalding University, former ghostwriter and a songwriter and musician who has worked with Grammy winners in Nashville. I’m writing my first novel. 

FACT CHECK: Independent bookstores in our area? 

3. News and trends: 

It’s an all-things-Atwood world right now, from Hulu’s adaptation of The Handmaid’s Tale to The Testaments, a sequel to Handmaid, coming September 2019. Now, according to Variety, Entertainment One has picked up the rights to Margaret Atwood’s debut novel, The Edible Woman, published in 1969, to create a TV series. 

We’re happy to relay that the Poetry Foundation tells us that “The Emily Dickinson Museum, located in Amherst, MA, has received a $22 million gift as part of a larger bequest to Amherst College from the late alumnus, William McCall Vickery. "The transformative gift, the largest ever received by the museum, will be known as the 'William McCall Vickery ’57 Emily Dickinson Fund' and is specifically earmarked for the maintenance and improvement of its buildings, grounds and collections."”

It's Pride Month, so salute to all of our LGBTQ friends.  Lambda Literary, promoters and advocates of the LGBTQ literary community, recently announced the winner of the 31st Lambda Literary Awards. (Nicknamed the Lammies.) The Lambda’s Trustee Award was awarded to Alexander Chee; Masha Gessen won the Visionary Award, and lastly, the Publishing Professional Award went to Barbara Smith. These individuals helped the LGBTQ cause. Additionally, twenty-five book award winners were honored. 

4. Whatcha readin’?

La Luministe. Review on dremadrudge.com. 

Barry: Love Poems for Married Couples 

5. Topic of the episode:

Since it’s vacation time for many people, we want to continue talking about

traveling and writing: 

Today’s emphasis is Literary Tourism (From the June 3 Book Riot Newsletter, Lyndsie Manusos – recently moved to Indy. She discusses, which are in our neck of the woods, the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library; The Center for Ray Bradbury Studies.

A quick list of where we’ve been/what lit figure sites we have seen and what you gain from literary tourism. 

Writing Instruction: 

Obviously, if there is an opportunity for you to practice nearby literary tourism, that would be ideal, so seek out museums or libraries or literary locations in your own town and surroundings if possible. 

If not: Maybe you already know all about your favorite author, but if you don’t: choose your favorite author. Then google your author; read the Wikipedia article about them. Find out where your author was born and where (if they are deceased) they are interred, if they are. Then go back to your favorite book by the author and see if what you’ve learned adds another layer

Support the show (https://c6.patreon.com/)

Show Notes Episode Three: Livin' La Vida Nonlocal: Travel and Writing

We discuss how travel can affect and grow your writing. This episode's writing instruction involves an assignment involving travel. 

Whatcha Readin'? reveals what books we are reading, have read, or are looking forward to reading. Stephen King, A. Scott Berg, Alexandra Horowitz, and Elena Ferrante make our lists.

In News and Trends we discuss the faltering of print literary journals and ask readers to buy and subscribe to one if they can to keep them from dying off. (We love online journals, too, though.)

Our First Page segment takes a look at Elizabeth Burton's novel-in-progress, The Puppet's Voice.

Please subscribe, review, and share our podcast. Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list here on our website for updates and offers.

If you'd like us to consider your unpublished first page of creative writing for critiquing on air, please send it to: writingallthethings1(at)gmail(dot)com.
Join in the fun on Twitter: @ThingsWriting, or our Facebook group: Writing All the Things Podcast, and Writing All the Things on Instagram. Find us on Patreon. Thank you and keep writing! 

Support the show (https://c6.patreon.com/)