Writing & Editing

Molly O'Connor describes herself as truly a country gal. She lives in a large, century-old, farmhouse, teeming with four active grandchildren, their parents, three cats, a rabbit, and one dog, not to mention a busy bird feeder outside her office window. Her novels have underlying themes of lesser-known and lesser-understood emotional anxieties and the hidden abuse of women. But her writing is...

Kirsten Weiss writes mysteries for people who want to escape but with real, complex, and flawed but likable characters. If there’s magic in the story, she insists that it must work consistently within the world’s rules and be based in history or the reality of current magical practices. She’s best known for her cozy mystery and witch mystery novels, though she’s written some steampunk mystery as w...

Nancy O’Brien was raised in small-town southern Ontario and ventured to Ottawa in her early twenties with dreams of making a difference in Canada’s capital. Throughout her career she has written about everything from local news to fishing to online dating. She also worked in municipal politics for over five years and volunteered in multiple elections. She is a proud millennial mother of three beau...

Tanya Gough is the founder of StoryBilder , a creative writing platform for new and aspiring writers. It’s built to foster creativity no matter what or how you write. Tanya also writes middle-grade fantasy fiction and science-infused fantasy short stories for adults.

Robin Landa holds the title of Distinguished Professor in the Michael Graves College of Kean University in Union, New Jersey. She’s also “creativity guru” who champions her students, advocates for industry inclusion and equity, and provides scholarships for meritorious students or students in need. Robin’s expertise is in creative advertising, branding, graphic design, and social media. Her 26th b...

Sheri Saginor is an audiobook narrator and producer based in Boston. She has over 20 years experience as a speaker, writer, and performer. Sheri specializes in nonfiction, including business, self-development, and memoir. She also loves narrating fiction, especially mysteries. For listeners to this episode of Editing Writing , Sheri is offering a complimentary, 30-minute consultation call. Just me...

Carol Saller describes herself succinctly as “helping writers and editors on behalf of the reader.” She has written six books for young children, including her latest, Eddie’s War . She’s best known in the editing world for her work for The Chicago Manual of Style , but after a long career in editing of one kind or another, she is now writing full-time, focusing on middle-grade contemporary and hi...

Lauren Hunter is a writer and consultant, with a career spanning more than two decades in public relations, content marketing, freelance writing, and publishing. Her latest book is Write Your Journey: A Step-by-Step Guide to Write Your Life Story Fast . She also maintains a twice-monthly newsletter, and if you sign up you’ll receive as a gift a PDF of the introduction and first chapter. Lauren wal...

My guest today is Rachael Hanel . She’s a writer and also an associate professor of Mass Communication at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Raechel also teaches narrative nonfiction and memoir at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. She has a master’s degree in history and a Ph. D. in creative writing. She has an interesting book coming out, which we discuss in our conversation. It’s called...

My guest on this episode of Editing Writing is Donna Mazzitelli . She is a writing coach who helps writers particularly with memoirs. Donna says herself that “everyone has stories to tell, and how we grow through our life experiences is what others want to read. The more we share our stories from our hearts, the more our readers will connect with us and be transformed.” She is the founder of Merry...

Barbara Boyd says on her website that a book coach is a combination of “an editor, a project manager, a mentor, and an honest BFF … [providing] editorial feedback, emotional support, and project management and accountability.” In my conversation with her, she was extraordinarily sensitive, intelligent, and articulate. I concentrated on her work with people who are writing memoirs. It was really a...

Jody Sperling is a fiction writer, and one of the few who at one time has had a literary agent to represent his book to publishers. But after failing to attract a willing publisher, in his words, his “dream wilted.” He ultimately went on to found the podcast The Reluctant Book Marketer , appealing to people such as himself who have tried and tried to get published by a traditional publisher, but n...

Wayne provides details about how the various parts of a self-published book should generally be organized, drawing on information in three style manuals. You can find a PDF with all the details here .

This episode of Editing Writing consists of an interview I did with Meryl Klemow. She’s a standup comedian, performing mostly around California, but much more. Meryl co-hosts and co-produces Campfire Sht Show (with the “i” discreetly omitted from the s-word), a weekly comedy podcast with her podcast partner Beau Hufford. She’s also founded Pre-Canceled apparel , so that both she and you can cancel...

This episode of Editing Writing consists of an interview I did with Lindsay Lees.  Lindsay is originally from Los Angeles, but grew up in both the US and the UK. She has a BA from Manchester Metropolitan University and a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from the California College of the Arts. Her debut novel is called The Willing , and is available in paperback and kindle formats on...

This episode of Editing Writing consists of an interview I did with Ali Khamseh. He describes himself on a website as "a bearded nerd from Iran in his mid 20’s, with a particular interest in the motion pictures as a hobby, career and general life. Has a very high opinion of Jeremy Irons, adores Westerns and Musicals and loves movies from the 1960s." I can add to that that he has an extre...

This episode of Editing Writing consists of an interview I did with Erin Lebacqz. Erin has been teaching writing for over 25 years. Her clients include businesses and non-profit organizations. Erin’s book High-Value Writing: Real Strategies for Real-World Writing was published just earlier this year. I wanted to focus our conversation on clear and concise writing, and Erin came through with practi...

This episode consists of an interview I did with Katie Wall. She is an editor and certified book coach who works with authors to improve the books they are writing. She and her husband Andrew co-founded Craft Better Books . They offer a variety of packages and services to potential clients. She is articulate and enthusiastic and was a lot of fun to talk to.

Wayne continues with  the example of an excerpt from his own published novel, Will's Dead Wife , to illustrate some aspects of literary fiction. Part 1 here .

Wayne uses the example of his own published novel, Will's Dead Wife , to illustrate some aspects of literary fiction.

This episode consists of an interview I did of Mike Ulmer, who’s a writer based in Hamilton, Ontario. He often writes for a business readership, but I was curious about asking him about the psychology of writing, about how and why someone thinks they might not be able to write any kind of book, or any kind of anything, at all. Mike’s latest book is Show and Tell Writing , and he was a lot of fun t...

Wayne talks about his messy relationship with Twitter, including about a half dozen break-ups, and one just last week.

This episode consists of an interview I did of Mike Oppenheim, whose day job is compiling back-of-the-book indexes. I was interested in some of the nitty-gritty of practical indexing, and Mike came through with the details. He does a lot more than indexing though: he writes, podcasts, and makes music. He has a podcast about death with the great title of Coffin Talk , which I am looking forward to...

Wayne discusses the importance of an editor not editing a writer's ideas, but rather the writer's expression of those ideas. He ends with a half-remembered joke that ironically ended up getting him a fun editing gig with a great client.

This episode of Editing Writing is an interview I did with my good friend Oscar Martens, who has published two collections of short literary collection with small presses. One is called The Girl with the Full Figure Is Your Daughter , and the most recent one is No Call Too Small . Both were very well reviewed—but there’s a but . It’s that even though being published by a small press involves the s...