Write, Publish, and Shine

During the Lit Mag Love course, writers can join Q&A calls with editors. In this replay episode, you will hear one such call with Mark Drew of the Gettysburg Review . Note that this call happened in the first year of the pandemic, so you’ll get an editor’s perspective on the kind of reflection missing from most writing during an intense moment—at least for this journal. You’ll also hear about...

In this episode, it’s my pleasure to welcome Christina Brobby, a wonderful lyric writer and instructor, to the podcast. We start by getting into what exactly lyric writing is, if you’re wondering, so that will be cleared up right away. Christina also delves into how the “filter is the form” as she wonderfully sums it up. Listen for more of our exploration of empathy for writers. And Christina also...

Memoirist Yolande House sits down with me for a book club conversation about Kae Tempest’s On Connection . It was a real pleasure to read this book alongside her and compare notes. And I hope those of you reading alongside us in our book club enjoy it. About On Connection : This is a book about connection. About how immersing ourselves in creativity can help us cultivate greater self-awareness and...

This is the final episode in my series of special episodes of Write, Publish, and Shine that take a deep dive into the creation of Room magazine issue 46.3, where I was lead editor of the issue. Today it’s my delight to speak to another artist whose work we accepted for inside the issue. Sarah Esmi (she/her) is an Iranian-American mother, writer, collage artist, producer, director and lawyer. She...

This is the seventh, wow!, in my series of special episodes of Write, Publish, and Shine as I take you on a deep dive into the creation of Room magazine issue 46.3, where I was lead editor of the issue. In this issue, I spoke with our cover artist, Amy Friend, who was also the cover artist for the very first issue I edited for Room , called Mythologies of Loss. Amy Friend’s art truly resonates on...

This is the sixth in my series of special episodes of Write, Publish, and Shine as I take you on a deep dive into the creation of Room magazine issue 46.3, where I was lead editor of the issue. In this issue, I spoke with another incredible writer we published in the issue, ViNa Nguyễn. Our conversation went in many beautiful directions, including their choice to deliberately write about joy as a...

This is the fifth in my series of special episodes as I take you on a deep dive into the creation of Room magazine issue 46.3, where I was lead editor of the issue. In this episode, a luminous conversation with Room ’s Book Reviews editor, Micah Killjoy. We delve into reviewing as a practice for writers to understand craft, what Micah did differently with the reviews for this haunting issue, and h...

In this replay episode, Ellen Chang-Richardson and I both speak as editorial collective members at Room , and as editors of the (then) upcoming issue of Room ’s Ghosts issue. Ellen and I get a little into how things work behind the scenes at Room , and how we (the collective) are many people, all rolling up our sleeves to create space in literature, art, and feminism. This episode was recorded liv...

The fourth in my series of special episodes of Write, Publish, and Shine as I take you on a deep dive into the creation of Room magazine issue 46.3, where I was lead editor of the issue. In this issue, to my delight, I sat down with Room ’s publisher, Nara Monteiro. We delve into the role of Publisher and what they do day-to-day at the magazine and get into some Ghosts-issue specifics and a slight...

Welcome to the third in my series of special episodes of Write, Publish, and Shine as I take you on a deep dive into the creation of Room magazine issue 46.3, where I was lead editor of the issue. One of my jobs as editor is to commission one established writer to be featured in the magazine. To do so, I started by searching for writers working in the genre of ghosts and scary stories and was plea...

Welcome to the second Ghost-themed special episodes of Write, Publish, and Shine as I take you on a deep dive into the creation of Room magazine issue 46.3, Ghosts, where I was lead editor of the issue. Why do lit mag editors choose the pieces they do? One answer to this question is “deeply personal”—by which I mean we pick work that resonates because of the deeply personal revelations and subject...

Welcome to the first in a series of special episodes of Write, Publish, and Shine as I take you on a deep dive into the creation of Room magazine issue 46.3, where I was lead editor of the issue. When we made our call for submissions we invited writers and visual artists to come haunt us. And they did. In this episode of Write, Publish, and Shine, you’ll hear my conversation with two writers we pu...

It felt like the right time—in this season when people join writing programs and restart sending out submissions to lit mags—to replay this episode on Staying True to Yourself. Even if you already heard this episode, I suggest a re-listen because it’s a lesson we’re all apparently learning and relearning together…This is a special episode of the Write, Publish, and Shine Podcast where you will hea...

We talk all about the Write, Publish, Shine Intensive, which brings together my three courses, Write and Light, a course to get writers generating new, more profound work, Revision Love, my course on learning to self-edit your writing, and Lit Mag Love, my flagship course on getting published in literary journals. Grab all of the lessons and resources mentioned in the episode up at rachelthompson....

Kavita Das really takes us on an intentional journey with her deep knowledge of social justice work and challenges us to unpack our motivations for writing about an issue and to understand that “writing, irrespective of genre or outlet, is an act of political writing,” regardless of intention. Craft and Conscience: How to Write About Social Issues by Kavita Das, was published by Beacon Press in 20...

If you’re just tuning into my podcast, welcome. I’m on a break, but I will be back in late August. Pick up a copy of our book club read, Craft and Conscience by Kavita Das, to join our book-club conversation, which will appear in this feed here in August. To catch up over the summer, I encourage you to listen to my recent episode series on Agency for Writers, starting with episode 73 in this feed....

Megan Beadle ran her own literary agency for several years. So, if you’ve been listening to the last run of episodes, that word, agent, rings a bell. Ding, ding! We’re still talking about literary agency with the intention of both demystifying the role of agents a little and encouraging you, dear writer, to follow your path with intentionality and self-knowledge. Trends come and go, as she says, b...

This is the continuation of our agency theme on the podcast...I interview another luminous Writerly Love community member, Wendy Atwell, who is earlier in the process than our previous member guest who secured agents, Lacey Yong and Jessica Waite. Wendy is writing and revising her memoir, and I think it’s the perfect time to check in with her because she has made some great choices for her work th...

As this is the third episode in the mini-series of episodes on the theme of agency and finding agency with your writing, we spend the most time talking about Geffen Semach's experience working as a Literary Agent’s Assistant and then cover the multiple roles they have held in the literary business. We also talk about audiobooks, and Geffen’s current role as Publishing Coordinator for Audiobooks at...

The second in our series exploring the theme of agency for writers, our double-entendre theme of both intentionality and finding an agent. Jessica Waite, the author of the forthcoming memoir, The Widow's Guide to Dead Bastards, shares her story of finding an agent slowly and then all of a sudden, and having her book sell very quickly BEFORE it could even go to auction with the big publishers. Host...

The first in our series on the theme of agency—a term both literal (i.e. about finding an agent) and abstract, in that we talk about pursuing your writing life with intentionality. In this episode you'll hear from Lacey Yong, learn about her YA historical fantasy, writing in multiple genres, navigating writing as a new parent, and the idea of agency. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

In this episode it is our Book Club Conversation and we talk about Voice First: A Writer’s Manifesto by Sonya Huber, sharing who we think the book is for, how it helped with our writing, and what it adds to our ongoing conversation about craft. Find episode show notes at https://rachelthompson.co/podcast/72 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reflections on cool loneliness: When I’m not writing enough, I lose track of what I believe, who I am, and who I truly want to be. Also, Book Club Conversation is coming up. Also, Book Club Conversation is coming up. Be sure to check out Voice First: A Writer's Manifesto by Sonya Huber and then listen to our next episode for the low-down on the book. Sign up for my Writerly Love Letters on https:/...

In this episode, it’s part two of our most recent six senses showcase. The writers you will hear all participated in the workshop series I offered last year on the six senses. As I mentioned in part one of this series, we had so much goodness, that we did our showcase over two episodes. That’s why you’ll hear us mention the readers and speakers from our past episode, number 69, which featured Whit...

In this episode, it’s a little peak behind the podcast. I have some real hashtag transparency moments around what I’m working on and what I have heard from writers in our broader community, which—in case you don't know—includes you! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.