Today’s is a special bonus episode in which we get to hear from some of our listeners about they’ve learned from the past few episodes, what ideas they consider the most important, what questions or confusions they have, and their own advice and/or experience in dealing with the same issues in their writing. Welcome listeners and writers Cat Green, Carol Willis, and Judy Kessler.
By the way, we still have one more spot for YOU to take part in a listener’s roundup. If you’re interested, email me at 7amnovelist@substack.com.
Also, I’ll be teaching at a writing retreat in the Himalayas this April and you’re welcome to join. For more info, go to https://www.himalayanwritingretreat.com/event/international-retreat-with-michelle-hoover/
A few of the craft books mentioned in this episode:
David Jauss’s chapter “From Long Shots to X-Rays: Distance and Point of View in Fiction” from his craft book Alone with All that Could Happen: On Writing Fiction
Robert Boswell’s chapter “On Omniscience” from his craft book The Half-Known World
Watch a recording here. This audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.
To find all of my fave craft books plus books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page.
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Cat Green (they/them) is a graduate of GrubStreet's Novel Immersive for Queer and Trans Writers, and their debut hybrid chapbook, I Am Never Leaving Williamsburg, is out with fifth wheel press in February 2025.
At age sixty, Carol Willis is a recovering physician with an MFA in Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and has published numerous short stories and written several novels, whose current work-in-progress is a contemporary midlife coming-of-age story, HERE COMES THE SUN.
Judy Kessler retired from her career as a technical writer in 2015 to focus on fiction; since then she's drafted 2 novels (one complete, one in progress), published 2 short stories, taken MANY writing classes at GrubStreet and beyond, and volunteers at The Muse and the Marketplace and as a fiction reader for Pangyrus, a Boston-based literary magazine.
Photo by Amber Kipp on Unsplash
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