Florida Writer Podcast

No longer do you need to worry about Plotting or Pantsing your next book! In this week's Florida Writer Podcast, host Alison Nissen chats with the Plottr team of Cameron Sutter (creator) and Ryan Zee (marketer) about how writers can outline their books with this easy-to-use program. Plottr offers drag & drop visual timelines to help you create eye-pleasing plots that are built to help you outline...

Using your own experiences is a great way to create immersive settings. In this Florida Writer Podcast episode, Nancy Nau Sullivan gives her unique spin on how to find authenticity in settings.  Nancy is a writer of memoir, mystery, and a novel about a woman who teaches in a boys' prison. The novel, THE BOYS OF ALPHA BLOCK, was published in April.  SAVING TUNA STREET, the first in a mystery series...

Building strong, multi-dimensional characters for young adult literature is Ian Dawson's specialty. To make characters believable, give them the confidence to take on challenges and enough fear and doubt in themselves that they struggle.  Ian Dawson is an author, playwright and screenwriter based in Los Angeles. He has a Bachelor of Arts in dramatic art from The University of California Davis and...

When author Diana McDonough began to tapdance around the subject of racism in her novel Stuck in the Onesies , she realized that facing the challenging topic head-on was not only more authentic to her characters, but to her own voice as a writer.  Diana's first novel, Stuck in the Onesies grew out of her experiences living outside the nation's capital in the 1960s and 70s when social issues first...

The challenge: Time. The solution: send your family away for a week each summer. Author Ann Brooks manages to take a writing vacation each summer by sending her kids and husband out of town. With just a simple plot outline, Ann finishes her rough draft in a few days. Her first published novel, A Lost Woman , is a story of loss, family secrets, and hopeful redemption. This domestic suspense, with a...

The challenge to writing authentic intercultural fiction is not only conducting massive amounts of research but finding individuals who will help you decipher how you address sensitive topics. Author Hannah Edington Tekle talks with Florida Writer Podcast host Alison Nissen about the challenges of finding sensitivity readers who help ensure her work's credibility and sincerity.  Hannah Edington Te...

Building a house and creating a character--and turning a house into a character with speculative fiction is Ian Kirkpatrick's specialty. Join host Alison Nissen as she uncovers Ian's simple plotting techniques, creative website name, and desire to build a community of writers.  Ian Kirkpatrick is a speculative and satirical author with interesting credentials: an MFA in Creative Writing from the U...

Words, sounds, and images are the foundation of emotional storytelling. Experiencing an immersive story is the foundation of Stasha Boyd's writing to create a comprehensive whole, and ultimately, rich connection for audiences and her clients--museums, exhibits, parks, and more. An audio description consultant and scriptwriter Stasha specializes in audio description program design; access consultin...

When the perfect title reveals itself, an author must act. McKenzie Cassidy used his own life as a jumping point to build an unreliable character caught in the web of his father's lies--discovered at his father's funeral in the book Here Lies a Father .   McKenzie is a writer, journalist, marketer, and professor living in Fort Myers, Florida. His work has appeared in the anthology Walk Hand in Han...

Is a disability something that is subjective or is it objective? Is a diagnosis opinion or fact? The Final Fence: Sophomores in the Saddle authored by Marc O'Brien takes a creative and honest look into a life filled with support due to well meaning individuals that think before they speak.  In this Florida Writer Podcast, host Alison Nissen chats with Marc O'Brien about growing up with a disabilit...

Jean Morciglio has experience writing and publishing literary essays, short stories, and research papers for industry journals and colleges, most recently publishing creative non-fiction in the Story Circle Network Journal and the Florida Odet Literary Journal. She is co-author and originator of Like Finding Water in the Desert, an anthology of autobiographical stories about women with Latin roots...

Ideas come from everywhere. In this edition of the Florida Writer Podcast, host Alison Nissen sits down with author Tom Lee to chat about how writing a series of tongue-in-cheek emails and the encouragement of friends led to a love of writing. 

How can brackets help you write faster and more efficiently? Discover Kristin Durfee's writing and editing process of search and find in this edition of the Florida Writer Podcast with host Alison  NIssen. From overcoming a learning deficiency in third grade to becoming a published author, Kristin believes that books help transport and heal us and give us a window to a world other than our own. Kr...

Listen to this edition of the Florida Writer Podcast as host Alison Nissen and guest Mike Lutz discuss the untapped market of writing audio descriptions for museums, sporting events, movies, and more. Mike Lutz is the author of the Blovel "Skimming Thru Life."  A Blogging Novel found on his website skimmingthrulife.com.

Michael J. Polelle is the author of The Mithras Conspiracy (M.J. Polelle: Lido Press: 2019) , a history-based novel in the mystery category popularized by Dan Brown. This debut novel was a 2020 finalist in the Royal Palm Literary Awards and the Eric Hoffer Book Awards. It also received this year an Honor Medallion from IndieBRAG, LLC.  www.mjpolelle.com

When Louis K. Lowy sits down to write, he doesn't select a genre, it selects him. A former firefighter, he is the recipient of the Florida Individual Artist Award and his most recent novel The Second Life of Eddie Coyne won the  President's Book Award Winner for the Florida Author's and Publisher's Association. For more information about Louis, visit LouisKLowy.com.  

Accomplished author Jenna Mather has achieved more during high school than most writers dream about. Having already completed two novels; won several achievement awards including the prestigious Florida Writers Association Royal Palm Literary Award for her short story "Fluorescent Freedom"; and been published in magazines and journals, Jenna offers advice about plot outlining, the value of backing...

Michael Jordan's debut novel,  The Company of Demons , was awarded Silver in the 2019 Florida Writers Association Royal Palm Literary Competition, published thriller/suspense category, the Gold Medal in the 2018 Florida Book Awards Popular Fiction category, and was the winner of the National Indie Excellence Awards in Crime Fiction. In 2020, he was awarded the Gold in the Florida Writers Associati...

What do tap dancing, marching music, and grammar have in common? Found out in this edition of The Florida Writer Podcast with guest Arlene Miller--Grammar Diva and author of 12 books! Arlene writes and publishes grammar books, produces a weekly blog post, provides copyediting, services, and presents grammar talks and workshops. Discover more at bigwords101.com  

A 20-year passion project has created a book for spiritual healing for all people. When Paul Wheelhouse began to teach a World Religions course in 2009 at a local community college, he had already begun writing Global Prayers for All People , his first published (self-published) book in 2010. In the spring of 2013, he completed Human Dignity: Faith and Spirit . He has since published the most comp...

Find ways to make your story different. Shutta Crum is the author of several middle-grade novels and many picture books, poems, and magazine articles. THUNDER-BOOMER! was an ALA and a Smithsonian "Notable Book." MINE! was reviewed by the N.Y. Times as "a delightful example of the drama and emotion that a nearly wordless book can convey." Her books have made Bank Street College lists as well as sta...

New writers often struggle with staying on track. Author Geralyn Vilar shares suggest using Scrivener to keep on track, finding the pace you need to make daily progress, and not to worry about the small details in the beginning.  Geralyn Vilar's first novel, One Spring Day was published on March 12, 2020 and is available through Amazon.com. For more information about Geralyn, visit GeralynVilarAut...

Have your characters ever taken on a life of their own, as if by magic? Romance writer McKenna Dean shares how her characters steal the scene--as if they have control of a Ouija Board. In this episode of the Florida Writer Podcast, host Alison Nissen and McKenna discuss strong characters and McKenna's favorite place to bring characters to life.  McKenna Dean has been an actress, a vet tech, a sing...

Journalist turned novelist Gail Hulnick shares her struggles with writing loglines and book blurbs, the difference between creating fact-based stories and fiction, and her favorite amusement park ride with host Alison Nissen in this edition of The Florida Writer Podcast. Gail Hunick moved to Cape Coral with her husband in 2019. Prior to that, she lived in Savannah, Georgia for five and a half year...

When we have better ideas for better decisions, we achieve what our hearts desire. On this edition of The Florida Writer Podcast, host Alison Nissen chats with Dr. Pamela Grey about her book Power Your Decisions Self-Study Workbook , her inspiration, and who Dr. Grey would like to meet living or dead.  Dr. Pamela Grey is the author of  Power Your Decisions Self-Study Workbook . Also a speaker, edu...