April 2017

Ellen Meeropol

Losing Mom and finding Flo

By Ellen Meeropol

When grief begets fiction.

Features

Preparing to write

By Todd James Pierce

Research and the art of narrative nonfiction.

In search of the story

By Jeff Ayers

By day, she’s an Emmy-winning investigative on-air reporter. By night, she’s an ultra-acclaimed mystery novelist. In both her fiction and nonfiction, Hank Phillippi Ryan takes storytelling to the highest level.

State of the verse

By Eliana Osborn

What paying poetry markets still exist in 2017?

Creating perfect poetry collections

By Ryan G. Van Cleave

Poetry pros reveal how they construct a winning book.

Through the looking glass

By Gail Radley

Truth is not relative – and you can find it.

Don’t flinch

By Jack Smith

Augusten Burroughs is bold, frank, and fearless in his search for personal truth.
Aspiring memoirists, take note.

Departments

WRITER AT WORK

Read flag

By Stephanie Faris

Why one writer refuses to read unpublished manuscripts – and why you may consider doing the same.

WRITING ESSENTIALS

You’re getting it wrong

By Bill Glose

Experts debunk oft-used clichés in genre fiction.

MARKET FOCUS

Warmth, sympathy, and understanding

By Dustin Renwick

Medical school journals are niche publications with a broad focus.

CLASS ACTION

Go wild

By Jeff Tamarkin

The Eastern Oregon University Wilderness Writing MFA is a perfect way to combine writing with a love of nature.

CONFERENCE INSIDER

Love connection

By Melissa Hart

Learn the ins and outs of the most widely read genre in the country at the Romance Writers of America Conference.

LITERARY SPOTLIGHT

Narratively speaking

By Melissa Hart

This five-year-old publication seeks extraordinary stories about ordinary people.

Also in Every Issue

From the Editor

Take Note

Ellen Meeropol, Norman Barasch, and more.

Markets

How I Write

Ron Rash: “When there is violence in my work, the goal is not to titillate but to reveal character. It reveals the mask of that person, and we see who he or she really is when that mask is dropped.”