While Erasmus’ book is tailored for both aspiring and seasoned writers, the book can be beneficial for any audience. Since writing is an essential skill for daily life, this book is a handy tool even for those whose writing consists of day-to-day emails, messages, texts, or social media posts. Erasmus explained, “My book is geared for anybody who wants to write, who wants to write for publications, who wants to learn more about the craft, working with editors… and I feel that it’s translatable. It’s also tips and tricks for people who have been writing awhile and want to get their platform a bit more elevated, and that’s how you can do that… Writing, it’s so interesting. If you know how to write persuasively and you know how to write to make an impact and get attention and get noticed, you can get your insurance claim taken care of. You can write a good email in business, you can do things in your life that can make a difference, and so knowing how to do this, I feel, is a very translatable skill.”

Start with a story, not a topic. Instead of saying, ‘I want to write about peace in the Middle East,’ you can say, ‘I want to write about people on both sides of the religious walls sharing their philosophy.'”

Look for patterns in storytelling that make it compelling. Either educate, entertain, or emotionally engage the reader with your writing.”

Regarding her writing process, Angoe prefers to focus on character development first rather than the plot itself. “I’m one who thinks for a long time. I like to marinate on my story and hash out all of my issues before I sit down and write it… I have to really know what is motivating my characters and how they’re going to be, how they’re going to behave, prior to sitting down and actually writing it…” She advises, “Know your characters. Your characters drive your story.”

I don’t write in order. I write whatever the scene is that comes to me and that I’m excited about. I feel like it sounds better when it’s something that I really, really want to write.”

There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness.”

In early reviews of House of Marionne , there were many comparisons of Elle’s book to the Harry Potter series. As in Harry Potter, the characters in House of Marionne also attend a modern-day magical boarding school that includes a house system complete with house sigils, colors, and allegiances. Additionally, there’s also a genuine camaraderie within the houses. Elle explains, “There is a similar dynamic here, the difference is that in Harry Potter this is a world in Europe that… all of the schools are in different places and in different countries… in House of Marionne , the houses function more like lords, back as things were years and years ago, and so what you have is the the countries sectioned into territories and each territory has a house that serves that territory, so it’s all here.” House of Marionne also includes themes of power and conformity. “Part of the reason I’m exploring power is I want the people who don’t have power and what happens when a group of people aren’t given the freedom over their own lives… what happens when a person can’t have freedom, when it breeds revenge and who do we blame? … That’s part of what I was trying to create, which is why in this world you have such a very clear picture of an oppressive, powerful system where there are people within it who are clamoring to hold on to their power… “

For me, if the reader doesn’t care about the character, to me I think that the world can only hold a person’s attention for so long, so for me, it’s all about the character. I like to write deep, emotional stories and so the emotion connects to the character, not the world as much, so that’s where I hang my hat.”

Love and magic have a great deal in common. They enrich the soul, delight the heart, and they both take practice.”

Despite the seriousness of the time periods, readers and pastry-lovers will delight in the recipes found throughout the book. In the 1870’s timeline, Lisette opens her own bakery to feed her starving neighbors and keeps a notebook of recipes with personal notes added as she creates her delicious confections. Runyan explains, “It’s not a cookbook, it’s her notebook. It’s Lisette’s notebook, and Micheline starts adding to it… I wanted her to add to it. I wanted it to be a working, living document…” However, she advises readers against actually following the recipes. “…for those of you following along who are avid bakers, I would not suggest trying to follow them because they are, you know, put it in a hot oven. Well, what the heck is a hot oven? Which is about 450 degrees, but it would be easier to find more modern recipes…” As far as incorporating more food in her stories, Runyan has included recipes in a few other books and explains why baking is important in her historical novels. “…It’s really becoming a thing for me… foodie fiction…. I had a baker in my very first book… Baker was one of the most important, esteemed people in the town back in the 1660’s, especially, we can’t overstate the importance of bread in the French diet, and the further back you go the more true that is.”

I think the biggest value that one gets from these [writing] associations is just a sense of community… you don’t have that kind of competition because we’re all trying to lift each other up in the writing industry. I found that the few people that seem hyper competitive don’t tend to make it as well because they’re not supporting the community, and therefore aren’t being supported in turn, at least not as much as they could be.”

Regarding his writing process, Jaworowski explained that he took a different approach to writing this book than what he’s done in his previous works. “This one I decided to take a different path. I said, ‘Don’t worry… sometimes I would stop after two or three sentences and admire my beautiful work and stall, and I said to myself, ‘No. write. Just keep writing. Go back to it later and edit it,’ and there were sometimes that I would write 3 to 4 pages when I finally edited it. I would bring it back to a page or even a paragraph. So, I listened to the characters and followed them along and just kept writing. In the past, I was so concerned about every single word, and this time I wasn’t… I focused primarily on storytelling and on editing. So that’s the big change I made this time around.” And for anyone who aspires to be a novelist, he advises, “Remember your audience. Absolutely. You can’t just write for yourself and for years, I did, and again, I know this is a tough novel at times too, but I think readers can understand what’s happening and I’ve written for them just as much as I’ve written for myself.”

The Greeks believed we should view tragedy to have a catharsis and to release those emotions in us that may not be so pleasant.”

People in small towns, much more than in cities, share a destiny.”

In small towns people scent the wind with noses of uncommon keenness.”

The initial idea for this book came from Thompson’s previous thoughts of social media and the content people post everyday, such as comments, photos, and stories. Sometimes what they think is a good idea to share ends up being a regret and they delete those photos and posts, in hopes that others will forget what they just divulged to the world. Thompson then went on to consider what if the opposite happened. He thought, “What if somebody just wanted to be remembered and they were unable to be because of something being, something that prevented that from happening and it just kept on happening, constantly, and that if it built up enough that they’re able to establish a bit of a life for themselves, across a year, and then it reset. I thought, ‘oh that sounds pretty tragic! That sounds like a pretty good story.’” While the book starts off quite grim and is filled with many heartbreaking moments, Thompson says, “It’s actually a very hopeful, very positive, very optimistic, kind of story… It is a love story, after all. This is the thing… love is the motivator, really. There is a lot of acceptance for what Tommy is going through and love is the thing that pushes him to go, ‘ok, I’m going to find a way around this. I’m gonna try and fix this,’ and that’s kind of where it all takes off.”

You can go from forty-two rejections and then end up in an auction for the rights for a book. Doesn’t that just show how subjective that is?”

As he’s creating poetry, Pollock often finds that working in solitude helps him focus solely on the words he’s assembling for each piece of writing. “For me, what’s most important is the words on a page. I look at it as word art and that’s the most important thing is to make the poem as good as possible, both on the page and off the page, when it’s spoken. So when I’m writing, you’ll also hear a lot of sounds coming out because I’m testing out what sounds good in the air… form is critically important to me… not only does form inspire me but it also, I find it paradoxically liberating. I come up with ideas that… I would’ve never thought of it if I was writing in free verse.” For Pollock, the significance of poetry in society is also more than just conveying artistic expression. He reflected, “I think it does provide insights into the human condition. I think poetry provides so many different perspectives on so many different topics that in a way, it also teaches empathy, and it helps us understand more about our world and about the nature of our existence. So it is an art form and it’s enjoyable and I love the beauty of it but also the craft of it, but it does, I think, have a role in society as well…”

There’s no safety net to fall back on [when writing free verse poetry]. It’s still important to have rhythm and cadence and to manage the tone, but all of that has to be created organically from scratch.”

You must have a certain amount of maturity to be a poet. Seldom do sixteen year-olds know themselves well enough.”

In her book, Cornwell also details her challenges battling an eating disorder. While the experience itself was difficult, writing about it was not. “It was easy to write about. I wanted to write about it. It was not difficult at all and I will say the reason is that I’m not ashamed of it. The reason that I did not get help for so long is I was ashamed and embarrassed and I felt like a failure, and what I learned through therapy was that… not only was I human, but I had overcome this really challenging obstacle in my life and so I’m proud of it… We all have issues in our lives… we’ve all been through things, and I guess that I, for some reason, there is no longer a stigma for me with having an eating disorder, and I think that it’s because I realized that we all have our own demons that we have to battle, but the question is, do you really take it on the right way and learn about yourself and, sort of, let that stigma go and be ok with who you are? …I was thinking while I wrote it of all the young girls who may be where I was when I was going through it and I wrote it with the intention of, I want them to be where I am one day because everybody can get there… realize that you’re not a failure. There’s nothing wrong with you. It’s just life…”

These days, Cronwell works for PGA Tour Entertainment as an announcer and feels very fortunate to work in the peaceful, productive environment that the company promotes. “…they’re living proof that in this, sort of, male-dominated environment… you can still have fairness and equality if you have the right people running the show, and so it’s been such a wonderful experience on the heels of what I experienced at Golf Channel that was the exact opposite. There was a lot of screaming, a lot of yelling, a lot of egos, a lot of tempers, and PGA Tour Entertainment, they don’t put up with it. They would rather sacrifice the product a little bit to create a good working environment and it’s really been a blessing for me. I’m very grateful for that.”

I’m ok with that part of who I am. In a way, I’m grateful that it happened because I don’t think that I would have this understanding that life is really hard and it’s ok to have stumbling blocks had I not gone through that.”

Being free from anger is a beautiful gift, but one that we can only give to ourselves.”

With over 100 published titles to her credit, Hill writes anywhere and any chance she gets. In addition to writing novels, she’s also an assistant professor at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York, and with her busy schedule she has little time to sit down in one place for very long to just focus and write. “My writing routine sort of revolves around how I feel, where I am. I can write essentially anywhere. So, I can be on a bus going downtown and I’ll start writing… I was always a working mom and so I was going to work every day, coming home, and taking care of the kids and family, etc., so I would have to write when I could, and I would write late at night. I wrote Rooms of the Heart , my very first novel, going back and forth on the subway everyday. So I took a notebook, I wrote on my way to work, I would come home, I would write on my way home…I can write on the plane, in middle of a conference, whatever… it was just something that I’ve always been able to do.”

I write on my iPhone, I write on my laptop, I write on my desktop, I write on my iPad, I write on my notebook, I write on index cards, so my writing is chaotic. No one should follow what I do, but this is what works for me.”

Love is the human family’s most precious legacy, its richest bequest, its golden inheritance.”

Many of the other details in the story were also pulled from Milas’ real-life experiences as a Marine. While writing about that time in his life proved to be quite challenging, he found that incorporating the militia house within his story helped to ease some of the negativity and resentment he felt when writing about war. “I’ve struggled to not think about my experiences in the war, so all through college, I tried to write about the military… that work came through only as angry ranting. I was still too close to the experience… there’s something about being out of the military and having some distance between that and being in Afghanistan and, I guess, implementing gothic horror seemed to just give me enough distance to write about it in a way that… it really just tempered the, kind of, the ranting aspect that some of the earlier military writing I did… I guess adding this flavor, adding this genre into the mix with war writing, I think, also is a way that I convince myself that would be more compelling for readers…”

As for his future plans, Milas plans to continue writing but doesn’t anticipate pursuing it full time. With a BA and MFA in creative writing, he’d prefer to teach other aspiring writers. “I would like to teach writing because I think I derive a sense of purpose from working with people and helping people and it’s purposeful for me to write my own work, but I would like to supplement that with actually fostering the talent and efforts of younger writers and give back, honestly, the way that I came up as a young writer with all the people helping and guiding me. I think that would be really rewarding.” For now, he is content with discovering what life will be like after the release of this first novel. “Really, I want to write another book. That’s kind of what I’m thinking about. As an artist, you’re always most excited about the newest thing that you’re working on…”

When I write fiction, what I’m doing is putting a magnifying glass up to questions that I have.”

All war is a symptom of man’s failure as a thinking animal.”