February 2019

Anica Mrose Rissi

Strive to fail

By Anica Mrose Rissi

Use counterintuitive goals to shake up your writing routine.

Features

Best foot forward

By Jack Smith

Top authors answer: What’s the single best thing you can do to improve your writing?

Love language

By Kerrie Flanagan

Romance is one of the most lucrative genres on the planet – and the authors who write it are some of the smartest, savviest, and most creative minds in the industry. Here’s everything you need to know about writing – and publishing – your own happily ever after.

Good fences make good stories

By Rebekah L. Fraser

How writers balance strong personal relationships with a writing career.

Strong • Interesting • Complex • FEMALE

By Jacqueline Sheehan

In a genre dominated by two-dimensional sexy sirens and damsels in distress, acclaimed thriller authors Lee Child and Paul Doiron are creating realistic female characters that offer way more than sex appeal.

The best writing conferences across America

By

We asked, you voted. Here are our readers’ top picks for the best writing conferences in each state.

Departments

WRITER AT WORK

Creativity cross training

By Jennifer L. Blanck

What to take to a writing residency or retreat.

FREELANCE SUCCESS

Let me introduce myself...

By Pete Croatto

You can ask a more established writer for help – just give your request some thought first.

LITERARY SPOTLIGHT

Shark Reef

By Melissa Hart

This inspired literary journal is powered by lyrical writers and strong voices, not the whims of modern publishing trends.

CONFERENCE INSIDER

Historical Novel Society of North America Conference

By Melissa Hart

This three-day conference will inform and energize authors looking to blend historical fact with fiction.

Also in Every Issue

From the Editor

Take Note

Featuring Anica Mrose Rissi, romantic gifts for writers, and more.

Markets

How I Write

Stephen McCauley