Lit Service

Our guest, Stacy Whitman, is the founder and publisher of Tu Books, an imprint of Lee and Low that focuses on diverse middle grade and YA books. Stacy was a founding member of the CBC Diversity Committee. She is also currently looking for submissions for their #NewVisionsAward , but submissions close on August 31st, so act fast. Some media we talk about: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas...

This is our fiftieth episode!!! The Lit Service crew discusses when to go "into the weeds" with your writing and when to stay out and summarize

Nicki Pau Preto, author of Crown of Feathers shares the query that got her an agent along with thoughts from her agent about why it worked. Nicki Pau Preto lives just outside Toronto, Canada. After getting a degree in visual arts, a masters in art history, and a diploma in graphic design, Nicki discovered two things: she loves to escape the real world, and she isn’t interested in a regular 9-5 lif...

Livia Blackburne joins the Lit Service crew to discuss beta readers, who you should ask, and, most importantly, how to politely follow up with them. They also critique a bit of fantasy involving elven warriors, magic, and myths. 

As it turns out, writing contemporary novels requires just as much worldbuilding as writing fantasy! Kate Watson and the Lit Service crew discuss the process of researching the real world for your writing.

Caitlin, Cameron, and Kristen discuss the Horcrux Principle (closely related to the objective correlative) with Lisa Mangum. Enjoy fun jokes, references, and a little Regency romance!

People like characters who move, who make decisions, who want things. Caitlin, Cameron, and Kristen discuss how to make this happen on the page. Books and media we talk about: Harry Potter The Hunger Games​ Avatar: The Last Airbender The Great Gatsby The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness If you'd like a first chapter critique from the podcast, please check out our submission guidelines her...

Charlie Holmberg reads the query that got her an agent (and some feedback from her agent about why it worked!) Born in Salt Lake City, Charlie N. Holmberg was raised a Trekkie alongside three sisters who also have boy names. She is a proud BYU alumna, plays the ukulele, owns too many pairs of glasses, and finally adopted a dog. Her fantasy Paper Magician series, which includes The Paper Magician, ...

 This week we talk to Nicki Pau Preto about how she approaches world building and how to keep yourself from feeling overwhelmed and also how to create a lush secondary world. Nicki Pau Preto is the author of Crown of Feathers. She lives just outside Toronto, Canada. After getting a degree in visual arts, a masters in art history, and a diploma in graphic design, Nicki discovered two things: she lo...

Caitlin and Cameron chat with Ben Grange from the L. Perkins agency and Amy Jameson from A+B Works about how to craft the perfect query.

Bonus episode! Listen to our our fabulous guests at FanX (Charlie Holmberg and Brian Lee Durfee) answer questions from the audience. Charlie N. Holmberg is a Wall Street Journal and Amazon bestselling author, whose debut series, The Paper Magician, has been optioned by the Walt Disney Company. Her stand-alone novel, Followed by Frost, was nominated for a 2016 RITA Award for Best Young Adult Romanc...

Have you started a novel you've never finished? Wanted to write a novel and never started? Award winning authors Charlie Holmberg and Brian Lee Durfee join us to talk about their first novels and share tips and strategies for actually finishing.  Charlie N. Holmberg is a Wall Street Journal and Amazon bestselling author, whose debut series, The Paper Magician, has been optioned by the Walt Disney...

You have your fabulous main character, their deliciously dark past, their wealth of relationships, habits, memories, and everything else that makes them who they are-- and then you have to write the first chapter. What can you put in, what should you leave out, and how do you make it interesting? Listen in as we discuss how to best drop your back story in a way that is natural and interesting. Som...

Powerful themes and well-explored issues often make the difference between a good story and a great one. However, many writers struggle to find the balance between exploring issues and sounding "preachy". In this episode, Emily R. King talks with us about how to help our writing have a heart. Emily R. King is a reader of everything and a writer of fantasy. Born in Canada and raised in the USA, she...

Tricia Levenseller is the author of the Daughter of the Pirate King duology and standalone Warrior of the Wild. She likes to describe her books as young adult alternate–world historical fantasies with heavy romantic subplots. One thing that a lot of new writers struggle with is writing a good fight scene that moves quickly and makes sense. In this episode, Tricia Levenseller breaks things down to...

Kelly Barnhill received the Newbery Medal in 2017, won the World Fantasy Award, the Parents Choice Gold Award as well as many other honors. She is a New York Times bestseller, and the author of THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON, THE WITCHES BOY, IRON HEARTED VIOLET, and THE MOSTLY TRUE STORY OF JACK as well as the novella, “The Unlicensed Magician”. In this episode, we chat about using misunderstandings...

We're back with an all new season of Lit Service! Announcement!! We are going to be doing live shows at the Life the Universe and Everything Symposium in Provo, Utah, Saturday February 16th. If you haven't been to a writing conference yet (and you really should go...) this is a relatively inexpensive one, espeically if you are a student. We'd love to meet up and see you at our show! The last time...

For our final episode of the season we chat with Dan Wells about how to incorporate horror elements into our work. Because Dan is really smart, we let this one go a little long. Some of the things we mention: Zero G by Dan Wells (available for free on audible for the month of December!! https://www.audible.com/pd/Zero-G-Audiobook/B07K4VYQ5X) Holly Black's collective work The Graveyard Book by Neil...

Ben mentioned during the podcast that this is one of the most important topics for newer writers to learn about. #1 NYT bestseller Kathryn Purdie joins Ben, Caitlin Sangster, Aliah Eberting, Kristen Evans, and Cameron Harris to talk about what it means to put your characters in a crucible in order to increase tension in a story and how to go about doing it. Some books and movies we mention: The Ki...

Literary agent Ben Grange joins the Lit Service crew to chat about how to approach writing original characters. Some things we mention: The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill Avatar: The Last Airbender The Scarlet Pimpernell by Baroness Orczy Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway If you'd like to see the text of the submission we critique, you can...

The Lit Service Crew chats with Literary Agent Ben Grange about what goes into a fabulous first chapter and how to approach getting yours into that fabulous category, red flags and things that make Ben pass over people in his query slushpile, and some of our own favorite first chapters. Some of the things we mention in this episode: 5 Writing Tips: Barbara Kingsolver  https://www.publishersweekly....

The Lit Service Crew chats with Karen M. McManus, author of NYT Bestselling One of Us is Lying, about the rise of the YA thriller and the elements that go into writing a good thriller (and thriller elements that you can apply to any other genre you write.) Some of the books and other media we mention:  There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus Sa...

This week the Lit Service crew chats with literary agent Ben Grange about brainstorming techniques. Some things we mention: Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans   Struck By Lightning https://beta.prx.org/stories/176346-struck-by-lightning   Cameron's writing deadline game https://4thewords.com/   Fear and Writing, with Emma Newman from the Writing Excuses Podcast https://writingexcus...

The Lit Service crew chats about subplots, what they are, how to use them, and when you don't need them. Some of the books and movies we talk about are: Fablehaven by Brandon Mull Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson Jurassic Park, the movie based on the book by Michael Crighton Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling Solo the movie Infinity War movie Chuck the TV series The Winner's Cri...

This week we chat with Rosalyn Eves about rhetorical devices and how to go about learning and using them (and maybe when not to use them). Some of the things we mention in the podcast worth checking out: Soundbite from Ira Glass on "The Gap"  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbC4gqZGPSY&ab_channel=Getoutthebox1 Slyva Rhetoricae: The Forest of Rhetoric, provided by Dr. Gideon Burton. A list of rheto...