WRITE NOW! Workshop Podcast: Write a Book, Change the World with Kitty Bucholtz

EPISODE 243E HAPPY EASTER!! This month's Encouraging Words episode focuses on taking time to find renewal in your life and in your writing. It's important to take time to pause and think about whether we're still headed in the direction we meant to go. Things have changed a lot for everyone this past year. Is there anything we need to do to smooth out the road in front of us for the next nine mont...

EPISODE 242I Today's guest is best-selling and award-winning author Irene Hannon . We're talking about the latest book in her Hope Harbor series, Blackberry Beach , which releases April 6, 2021, with more books in the series coming. Irene shares about standing at the fork in the road when she had to decide between pursuing psychology and something in writing. Later, she had to decide at another fo...

EPISODE 241I Today's guest is Ricardo Fayet, one of the founders of Reedsy , a one-stop shop for writers. At Reedsy, authors can find editors, book cover designers, marketers and more to help with the business of publishing a great book. Writers can also use the Reedsy Book Editor, and learn a ton from the blog, Reedsy Live (live webinars), and Reedsy Learning -- all for free. We talk about these...

EPISODE 240I Today's guest is author and literary agent, Cynthia Ruchti . Her newest book, Facing the Dawn , has just come out with Revell. With over 30 years' experience on radio, Cynthia learned to write for the ear, how a passage sounds, and that experience shines through in her novels. She encourages listeners to think about how very many ways there are to tell a story -- novels, nonfiction, s...

EPISODE 239I Today's guest is Amanda Cabot , bestselling author of the brand new Dreams Rekindled , book two in the Mesquite Springs series. Amanda has strong feelings about goal, motivation, and conflict (GMC) and choosing the internal and external conflict of her main characters. Don't like to think of all the ways you can make your hero's life worse? Want to give him or her a good life? Amanda...

EPISODE 238E Not only should we "give it up for our writing" as in applaud and cheer, but sometimes we need to make choices about what we're going to give up in order to get more writing done. What are you willing to spend a little less time on in order to move your writing business another step forward? I gave up TV 6 days a week for Lent, and wow, has it opened up more relaxing time! In addition...

EPISODE 237I Today's guest is the wonderful Lisa Cron sharing with us about her new book, Story or Die: How to Use Brain Science to Engage, Persuade, and Change Minds in Business and in Life . While Lisa's previous books, Wired For Story and Story Genius , were aimed more at writers, Story or Die is for everyone who is trying to understand someone else -- whether a potential customer or a neighbor...

EPISODE 236I Today's guest is John Ondrasik of Five For Fighting music fame. In addition to writing and performing music, John is also an inspirational speaker. John shares with us how he views art and creativity, how he gets out of a funk, and the importance of doing things you love. He encourages us to find new creative challenges in addition to our main interest. He also reminds us that we are...

EPISODE 235I Today's guest is Jill Cruz , a Board-Certified Nutrition Specialist and the founder of Work with Your Nature Weight Loss. I asked Jill to help us understand how we can be more creative in our work and keep up our good health even though most of us sit in front of a computer all day. She explained what some call the five pillars of health -- nutrition, sleep, stress management, physica...

EPISODE 234I Today's guest is Jennifer Deibel , whose debut novel, A Dance in Donegal , just came out! Jennifer tells us about life as a debut author, and how she started writing. She lived in Ireland at the time, and felt she'd finally found her heart there. That made her want to write about Ireland in a real way, not how it's portrayed in some movies and TV shows. We talk about using all the sen...

EPISODE 233I Since it's barely past the beginning of the year, I figure some people are having challenges in getting back into their writing on a regular basis. I know I've had some challenges trying to get my head out of vacation mode! So I came up with some ideas that might help you. I took my own advice and got a little more writing done this week! I hope you do too! TRANSCRIPTION [00:00:01.370...

EPISODE 232 Today's guest is Patricia Bradley , romantic suspense author of the brand new book, Obsession . This is book two in the Natchez Trace Park Rangers series. Patricia shares lots of information about the Natchez Trace area, the kind of law enforcement in the U.S. National Parks, and how she came up with ideas for where the bad guys can bury the bodies there. She's also incredibly encourag...

EPISODE 231I Welcome to season one of 2021! We'll now produce ten episodes every quarter, plus the monthly Encouraging Words episode. With the extra time, we're able to make some improvements to the show -- including a full transcript for each episode. Enjoy! Today's guest is Ben Hughes , Business Development Manager at IngramSpark . Ben has a long history in publishing, both in traditional publis...

EPISODE 230E Today's short episode is packed with encouragement for your new year! Taken directly from the fabulous T-shirt I received when I attended Mirasee's Teach Your Gift conference last month: Dream Big! Don't Give Up! Reach Beyond Your Comfort Zone! Teach Your Gift! This January, more than ever, is a great time to rethink what you're doing with your life, and figure out how to focus even m...

EPISODE 229I Today's guest is story coach Lisa Cron , author of Wired for Story and Story Genius , returning to the show to talk about editing your first draft and why NaNoWriMo is not the best way to write your story. Lisa is known for approaching story through brain science, helping writers craft stories that will impact readers. Her new book comes out in March, Story or Die: Why Story Is the On...

EPISODE 228I Today's guest is Ally Machate , professional editor, expert publishing consultant, and founder of The Writer's Ally . Ally shares the steps on what to do after you finish the first draft. First -- put it away! Don't look at it for at least a week. Then you can come back to it with fresh eyes. Next, read it all the way through and make notes about what you can see needs to be changed -...

EPISODE 227I Today's guest is agent Julie Gwinn from The Seymour Agency . With a decade in publishing and another two in marketing, she has a great perspective on what moves an author's career forward. Julie gives us lots of great advice about how to get from the end of a first draft to a published book. We talk about how to create your best chances for a successful hybrid career, what a query let...

EPISODE 226I In the second of five episodes all about editing, debut author Elysia Whisler and her agent Sara Megibow join us to discuss all of the aspects of editing from the author to the agent to the editor at the publishing house. Elysia tells us about her writing journey, and how Rescue You became her first published novel (although it's not the first book she's written). She and Sara explain...

EPISODE 225E In our final Encouraging Words episode of the year, we talk about making a list of everything that has gone right this year, all the positives. Set a timer for two minutes and see how many things you can list! This is also a great time of year to not only make a list of what went well, but also to journal about your dreams (things you would love to happen but you have little control o...

EPISODE 224I Today's guest is Jennie Nash , founder and CEO of Author Accelerator. Her book coaching clients have landed six-figure book deals with Big 5 publishing houses, so I asked her to come share with us her best tips for editing your book. This is the first of five episodes this month all on this one topic! Jennie starts with explaining the kinds of editing a book can need, and helps us und...

EPISODE 223I Today's guest is screenwriter Hilary Galanoy , co-writer with Elizabeth Hackett of the Netflix romantic comedies Love, Guaranteed and Falling Inn Love . (Note: You MUST watch the Disclaimer at the end of Love, Guaranteed - it's hysterical!) Hilary shares with us how she and her partner and friend work together to write their screenplays, how their process works, and how others do it d...

EPISODE 222I Today's guest is Bryn Donovan , author of paranormal romance as well as books for writers, whose new book just released on Tuesday. Blank Page to Final Draft will take you through the process of writing a book from the very beginning to the point of having a publishable manuscript. Our discussion is chock full of helpful advice from an editor who is also a writer! Bryn shares with us...

EPISODE 221I Our guest today is award-winning author Teri Wilson , whose latest book, Christmas Charms , came out last month with Hallmark Publishing. After sharing her story of how she started, Teri jumps into all things writing. We talk about how she came up with many of her ideas, the pros and cons of writing first person versus third person point-of-view, the importance of voice, the ways she...

EPISODE 220I Today's guest is award-winning and bestselling author, Davis Bunn . His newest book, Burden of Proof , just released this week and it is awesome ! Davis talks to us today about a lot of things - how his career has evolved over the years, how his two writing names (Davis Bunn and Thomas Locke) may become joined together because of his work in film (or they may not), how publishers are...

EPISODE 219E It's always a good time to think about unity - feeling a sense of connection with others. In this Encouraging Words episode, I talk about finding a sense of unity with other writers and people in general. If we focus on our similarities, we can keep our differences from wrenching us apart. I hope this episode encourages you this week!