DIY MFA Radio

Welcome to DIY MFA Radio, where I do a deep dive into the writing life as well as the craft and business of writing. Today's episode ends our series: Ten Lessons from Ten Years of Podcasting. This is Lesson 10 – Embrace the Journey. Have you gotten the DIY MFA Starter Kit yet? This is a two week email series full of worksheets to help you DIY your MFA, so you can get the "knowledge without the col...

Welcome to DIY MFA Radio, where I do a deep dive into the writing life as well as the craft and business of writing. Today's episode continues our series: Ten Lessons from Ten Years of Podcasting. This is Lesson 9 – Take Baby Steps. Have you gotten the DIY MFA Starter Kit yet? This is a two week email series full of worksheets to help you DIY your MFA, so you can get the "knowledge without the col...

Welcome to DIY MFA Radio, where I do a deep dive into the writing life as well as the craft and business of writing. Today's episode continues our series: Ten Lessons from Ten Years of Podcasting. This is Lesson 8 – Track the Money Have you gotten the DIY MFA Starter Kit yet? This is a two week email series full of worksheets to help you DIY your MFA, so you can get the "knowledge without the coll...

Welcome to DIY MFA Radio, where I do a deep dive into the writing life as well as the craft and business of writing. Today's episode continues our series: Ten Lessons from Ten Years of Podcasting. This is Lesson 482 – Practice, Practice, Practice Have you gotten the DIY MFA Starter Kit yet? This is a two week email series full of worksheets to help you DIY your MFA, so you can get the "knowledge w...

Welcome to DIY MFA Radio, where I do a deep dive into the writing life as well as the craft and business of writing. Today's episode continues our series: Ten Lessons from Ten Years of Podcasting. This is Lesson #6 – Balance is Fallacy. Have you gotten the DIY MFA Starter Kit yet? This is a two week email series full of worksheets to help you DIY your MFA, so you can get the "knowledge without the...

Welcome to DIY MFA Radio, where I do a deep dive into the writing life as well as the craft and business of writing. Today's episode continues our series: Ten Lessons from Ten Years of Podcasting. This is Lesson 5 – Choose Abundance Over Scarcity Have you gotten the DIY MFA Starter Kit yet? This is a two week email series full of worksheets to help you DIY your MFA, so you can get the "knowledge w...

Welcome to DIY MFA Radio, where I do a deep dive into the writing life as well as the craft and business of writing. Today's episode continues our series: Ten Lessons from Ten Years of Podcasting. This is Lesson 4 – Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable Have you gotten the DIY MFA Starter Kit yet? This is a two week email series full of worksheets to help you DIY your MFA, so you can get the "k...

Welcome to DIY MFA Radio, where I do a deep dive into the writing life as well as the craft and business of writing. Today's episode continues our series: Ten Lessons from Ten Years of Podcasting. This is Lesson 3 – Embrace the Power of Iteration Have you gotten the DIY MFA Starter Kit yet? This is a two week email series full of worksheets to help you DIY your MFA, so you can get the "knowledge w...

Welcome to DIY MFA Radio, where I do a deep dive into the writing life as well as the craft and business of writing. Today's episode continues our series: Ten Lessons from Ten Years of Podcasting. This is Lesson 2 – Act "As If" Have you gotten the DIY MFA Starter Kit yet? This is a two week email series full of worksheets to help you DIY your MFA, so you can get the "knowledge without the college....

Welcome to DIY MFA Radio, where I do a deep dive into the writing life as well as the craft and business of writing. Today's episode kicks off our series: Ten Lessons from Ten Years of Podcasting. This is Lesson 1 – Jump First, Build After. Have you gotten the DIY MFA Starter Kit yet? This is a two week email series full of worksheets to help you DIY your MFA, so you can get the "knowledge without...

Welcome, today is DIY MFA's monthly Craft Jam. Once a month, Christa and I jam about the craft. In these episodes, we do a deep dive into various craft topics like character development, story structure, world building and more.  This month's episode is a deep dive into how to craft the perfect book ending.   In this episode Christa and I discuss: The three major components of an ending Types of e...

Welcome, today is DIY MFA's monthly Craft Jam. Once a month, Christa and I will be jamming about the craft. In these episodes, we'll be doing a deep dive into various craft topics like character development, story structure, world building and more.  This month's episode is a deep dive into how to Nail Your Narration.   In this episode Christa and I discuss: Why narration is so important in your w...

Today's episode is our monthly Craft Jam. This is a new feature at DIY MFA, where once a month, Christa and I will be jamming about the craft. In these episodes, we'll be doing a deep dive into various craft topics like character development, story structure, world building, and more.   In this episode, Christa and I discuss: Key aspects and methods to focus on during the revision process. The imp...

Today's episode is our monthly Craft Jam. This is a new feature at DIY MFA, where once a month, Christa and I will be jamming about the craft. In these episodes, we'll be doing a deep dive into various craft topics like character development, story structure, world building and more. This month's episode is a deep dive into Conferences.   In this episode Christa and I discuss: Should one attend a...

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Kathy Reichs. We'll be talking about her book The Bone Hacker and how to craft a bestselling thriller series. Kathy Reichs' first novel Déjà Dead , published in 1997, won the Ellis Award for Best First Novel and was an international bestseller. To date, she has written twenty-two novels featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. Kathy was also...

Today's episode is our monthly Craft Jam. This is a new feature at DIY MFA, where once a month, Lori and I will be jamming about the craft. In these episodes, we'll be doing a deep dive into various craft topics like character development, story structure, world building, and more. This month's episode is a deep dive into Draft Zero.   In this episode Lori and I discuss: What exactly Draft Zero is...

We're back for another episode of our monthly Craft Jam. This is a new feature at DIY MFA, where once a month, Lori and I will be jamming about the craft. In these episodes, we'll be doing a deep dive into various craft topics like character development, story structure, world building and more. This month's episode is a deep dive into how to weave your story's world through world building.   In t...

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing MT Anderson. We'll be talking about his book, Elf Dog and Owl Head, and raising your story's stakes. M. T. Anderson has written stories for adults, picture books for children, adventure novels for young readers, graphic novel adaptations of ancient French tales, and several books for older readers (both teens and adults). His satirical book Feed was a Fin...

Today we have another monthly Craft Jam. This is a new feature at DIY MFA, where once a month, Lori and I will be jamming about the craft. In these episodes, we'll be doing a deep dive into various craft topics like character development, story structure, world building and more. This month's episode is a deep dive into how to perfect your plot.   In this episode Lori and I discuss: Starting with...

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Bianca Marais, CeCe Lyra, and Carly Watters. We'll be taking an inside look at the publishing industry. Before diving in, I wanted to make a quick note. Our wonderful guests are the co-hosts of a fantastic podcast that has a particular word in its title. It would be impossible to talk about their show without saying this particular word, so consider this...

Today, Lori is interviewing Mary Pascual. They'll be talking about her debut novel, The Byways, and creating multi-dimensional characters. Mary Pascual is a writer and artist who believes finding magic is only a matter of perspective. She loves stories about characters with heart and fantastical settings that are more than meets the eye. She grew up in California and enjoys reading, art, traveling...

Today's episode is our monthly Craft Jam. This is a new feature at DIY MFA, where once a month, Lori and I will be jamming about the craft. In these episodes, we'll be doing a deep dive into various craft topics like character development, story structure, world building and more.  This month's episode is a deep dive into how to create compelling characters.   In this episode Lori and I discuss: U...

Today, Lori is interviewing Daniel Weizmann. They'll be talking about his neo-noir mystery, The Last Songbird. Daniel Weizmann got his start at 13 under the nom de plume Shredder, writing for the legendary Flipside Fanzine. He went on to write for the LA Weekly, LA Times, Billboard, the Guardian, and others. He contributed to several books, including Drinking with Bukowski, Hardcore California, To...

Today, Lori is interviewing Jolene Mcilwain. They'll be talking about Sidle Creek and centering a short story collection around a place. Jolene McIlwain's fiction has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and appears in West Branch, Florida Review, Cincinnati Review, New Orleans Review, Northern Appalachia Review, and 2019's Best Small Fictions Anthology. Her work was named finalist for 2018's Bes...

Today, Lori is interviewing Ginny Kubitz Moyer. They'll be talking about how she started writing her debut novel, The Seeing Garden, with the setting. Ginny Kubitz Moyer is a California native with a love of local history. A graduate of Pomona College and Stanford University, she's an English instructor and avid weekend gardener.  Her articles have appeared in a variety of publications, including...