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This week on the podcast, I am delighted to be speaking with my friend Sara Power. We're talking about short stories! Sara has just published her first collection of stories, to much acclaim. We talk about the story as an offering and staying true to the story. If you're a lover of short stories, you don't want to miss this episode!

Sara Power’s stories have appeared in journals across Canada, the US, and the UK, and most recently in Best Canadian Stories 2024. Sara was a finalist for the RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award and received a nomination for a National Magazine Award in the fiction category. Her stories have been recognized with fiction awards from The Malahat Review, Riddle Fence, The Toronto Star, Prairie Fire Magazine, and The New Quarterly.

Sara completed a Bachelor of Science from the Royal Military College of Canada and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia. Originally from Labrador, Sara currently lives in Ottawa with her husband, three children, and coonhound. Her debut work is a collection of short stories: ART OF CAMOUFLAGE, just out with Freehand Books.

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This week on The Resilient Writers Radio Show, I'm chatting with Savannah Gilbo. Savannah Gilbo is a certified developmental editor and book coach who helps fiction authors write, edit, and publish stories that work. She’s also the host of the top-rated Fiction Writing Made Easy podcast, where she delivers weekly episodes full of simple, actionable, and step-by-step strategies that you can implement in your writing right away. When she’s not busy crafting her own stories, you can find Savannah curled up with a good book, a cozy blanket, and her three dogs. 

In this episode, we get into how to start writing a novel, covering five key areas that authors should consider before drafting: theme, genre, protagonist, setting, and plot.

Savannah emphasizes the importance of addressing these areas to create a solid foundation, which helps prevent common pitfalls like writing without a clear direction or having a protagonist without a clear goal. She also discusses the value of community for writers, sharing experiences, and overcoming self-doubt.

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This week on The Resilient Writers Radio Show, I’m chatting with my friend Danika Bloom. Danika is a USA Today bestselling romance author and the lead cheerleader at AuthorEverAfter.com where she mentors and supports pre-published romance writers to finish and indie publish their first books. Her most recent book is The Billionaire's Shrubbery.

We talk about writing romance novels, how to write sex scenes, as well as self-publishing, book promo and what makes for a great book cover...among other things!

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This week, I'm speaking with Beth Kaplan -- a fellow Canadian author -- about writing non-fiction. We get into finding the right shape for memoir,  finding the thematic "hot moments" for your story, and the true nature of drafts.

Beth is a former actrress and the author of a biography and two memoirs -- All My Loving and Loose Woman. The latter was a finalist for the Whistler Independent Book Award. She also the author of True to Life, a textbook guide to creative writing. She has taught nonfiction writing at two Toronto universities for thirty years and is the winner of the University of Toronto’s Excellence in Teaching award.

Her new memoir-in-essays, Midlife Solo: Writing through Chaos to Find my Way in the World, was described in a newspaper review as “an extraordinary life, written with tremendous heart, insight, and humour.”

It’s currently available from the publisher, Mosaic Press,

https://mosaicpress.ca/products/midlife-solo 

More information about Beth, her teaching, books, articles, and blog, on her website

https://bethkaplan.ca/ 

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This week on the podcast I'm speaking with Beth Barany,  and we get into story structure, play and experimenting -- especially for Science Fiction and Fantasy.
 
Beth is an award-winning novelist, master neurolinguistic programming practitioner, and certified creativity coach for writers. She's also an experienced international speaker and podcaster. When she's not helping writers, Beth writes magical tales of romance, mystery, and adventure that empower women and girls to be the heroes of their own lives. And she makes short films and TV shows. You can learn more about Beth and sign up for her newsletter here. She also has a great podcast for Science Fiction and Fantasy writers, called How to Write the Future.

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This week, I'm chatting with Karen Lea Armstrong, about her novel DROWNPROOFING, which is set in Northern Ontario. We talk about what it means to write a so-called "regional novel" -- one with such a strong sense of place. And we talk about Karen's publishing journey. Karen was in my First Book Finish program, so it's such a delight to see this book out in the world.

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In this week’s episode, I’m speaking with Elizabeth Chatsworth, who is the author of the steampunk fantasy series, The Brass Queen. She’s also been in my First Book Finish program. We talk about how she wrote the sequel to The Brass Queen – Grand Tour: Brass Queen II – while facing some challenging life circumstances, and the roller coaster ride of publishing that followed.

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Writing can be challenging at times, even more so when we’re tired. The problem nowadays is that it seems like we’re all always tired. Doesn't it feel that way to you?

If we want to write for the rest of our lives and finish our books, we need to make sure we’re getting enough rest so we have the energy to write. But don’t fret—there are lots of little steps we can take to make a big impact on how we generate new energy as part of our creative process.

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In this final episode of Season 3, I'm going back to interviews with writers who answered my final question: "What does it mean to you to be a resilient writer?" Listen to see if their answers match up with your understanding of what it means.

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In this final episode of this Finishers mini-series, I am sharing some of the lessons I've learned in the past four years from helping nearly 200 writers to finish their books -- finish drafts, revise, edit and get their books out into the world