✨Even Villains Deserve Agency, According to Kirthana Ramisetti; and Ann Napolitano Wants You to Pay Attention to Your Obsessions ✨
Plus, DeAndra Davis on the importance of community in this week's Q&A; registration continues for Bianca's latest course; and more amazing guests for the A Most Puzzling Murder launch party revealed!
Happy Friday, writing friends!
Stop what you’re doing. Just drop everything and listen to this week’s podcast. But first, make sure you’ve got whatever your favourite note-taking tool is handy, because the insights are🔥🔥🔥this week, with Bianca interviewing both Ann Napolitano and Kirthana Ramisetti, covering everything from obsessions as a source of inspiration to the importance of giving complex antagonists agency.
Odds are good you first heard about Ann Napolitano when she released her breakout bestseller, Dear Edward, before following it up with the Oprah Book Club pick, Hello Beautiful, achieving the kind of overnight success most of us only dream of. But before you start sharpening those knives of jealousy, you might want to look closer—Ann had actually published not one but two novels before Dear Edward, and odds are also good you’ve never heard of them (unless you were one of the dozen or so people she claims actually read them). TL/DR: Her so-called “overnight success” was actually decades in the making.
We’ve also got GMA Book Club pick author Kirthana Ramisetti in our interview hotseat this week, and the way she and Bianca take a close look at inciting incidents, breaking down the one in Kirthana’s latest ( The Other Lata), is like listening in on a mini workshop just for you.
There are so many lessons to be taken from these conversations, including the importance of listening to your intuition and pursuing your dreams (instead of, say, throwing in the towel in favour of becoming a park ranger, as an aptitude test suggested Ann try). You seriously don’t want to miss this episode.
This week’s newsletter feature is a Q&A with DeAndra Davis, who makes a convincing case for that breath your character didn’t know they were holding, and talks about the importance of community in a way that should resonate with a lot of you.
“On the one hand, we talk a lot about how solitary the writing life is…But. There is more to writing a book than simply writing it. There’s working through the doubt. The wanting to give up. And maybe you’re the ‘pull yourself up by your own typewriter ribbon’ sort, but the rest of us? That’s where community comes in.”
We hope you know that helping you pull yourself up by your typewriter ribbon is our whole reason for being here. You’ve got this. You are not alone. ❤️
The Shit No One Tells You About Writing Team
P.S. Still not sure about upgrading to paid? Check out our Tuesday Teaser below to see what you’re missing!
This Week’s Podcast✨🎙️✨
In the first part of this episode Bianca interviews inspiring Oprah Book Club pick author of Hello Beautiful, Ann Napolitano, who shares her journey as a writer, discussing the long path to publication, the importance of perseverance, and the role of gratitude in her success. She reflects on her experiences with rejection, the joy of writing, and the challenges of maintaining discipline in a writing career. Ann shares her insights on the writing process, the challenges of crafting character depth, exploring the balance of multiple perspectives in writing and the emotional truths that guide her characters' journeys.
In the second part of this episode Bianca interviews GMA book club pick author, Kirthana Ramisetti—whose novels have received acclaim from Time, Cosmopolitan, The Washington Post, Buzzfeed, Associated Press and more. Kirthana discusses her latest novel, The Other Lata, exploring unique narrative structure, character development, and the blending of genres. She shares insights into her writing process, her thoughts on foreshadowing, and how pop culture influences her work.
Listen to it here or watch it on YouTube!
Q&A with DeAndra Davis
DeAndra Davis is the author of All The Noise At Once. A born New Yorker and a first-generation Jamaican-American, DeAndra Davis, an autistic and neurodivergent author of young adult, middle grade, and adult novels, was raised in South Florida. DeAndra is a graduate of Florida International University where she earned a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction.
TSNOTYAW: Do you have a go-to mantra or pep talk for the days when writing feels hard?
DeAndra Davis: I would say my mantra on days when writing is difficult is: progress not perfection. Another is any forward movement IS forward movement. That’s definitely for the days when I’m struggling to even get 500 words on the page. I remind myself that it’s 500 more words than I had before and even if they aren’t perfect, it’s there. I can’t revise what isn’t there.
Were you ever close to giving up on writing and, if so, what stopped you?
DeAndra: Oh, absolutely. So many times. I always find it hilarious that for someone who is a perfectionist and thrives on validation I chose a career so filled with rejection. Who told me to do that? In any case, I really wanted to quit during querying. I felt like people weren’t seeing the vision and I got a specific rejection that I would never forget because I was so excited about the agent, and they said the writing just wasn’t where they needed it to be. Literal gut punch. Just end me. I was like “yep, my writing is terrible, I’m awful, this confirms it, let me go crawl in a hole.” I think having people who reminded me along the way of the subjectivity of it all was helpful. They really bolstered my confidence when I was flagging. Community really is everything.
What would you say you’ve done right to build a strong and supportive writing network?
DeAndra: I think I have tried to be kind to everyone and that seems really simple, but I think so many people get a chip on their shoulder. They get an agent or get a deal and immediately think they’re better than querying authors or that they should only try to associate with only certain people after that. I don’t think that. I think everyone is worth knowing and learning from and I try to extend kindness to everyone around me. I try to build others up in the way that I hope they’ll return when I need that same courtesy. I just try to be genuinely there for people and really cheer on their successes. I think you have to be real and genuine in building a network because it is so necessary.
What one piece of advice (craft- or publishing industry-related) has always resonated with you?
DeAndra: This isn’t something I came up with but something I stole from a very clever writing friend when reading one of their early drafts. When I can’t find the right word or phrase for what I want to say as I’m writing, or when I know something might need to be reworked, I don’t sit and agonize over it. I put it in brackets and move on so I can come back to it later. Changed the way I draft completely. If I know I need another word for something, I add that in brackets, I’ll fix it later. If I know I want some clever innuendo as a response but can’t think of it at the moment, I add that in brackets and come back to it later. I spend so much time agonizing over the draft at first instead of pushing forward and that has helped me to not be slowed down by the minutia.
Thanks Clare Edge!
What's one writing "rule" or commonly followed piece of advice that you decidedly break?
DeAndra: My characters roll their eyes. They sigh. They let out that breath they didn’t know they were holding. I know some people hate things like that, but To cut out all of that in favor of some abstraction in terms of my character’s behavior? Eh. Hate that. Realistically, we are eye rolling and sighing and holding those breaths.
You can purchase All The Noise on our Bookshop.org affiliate page here. 📚❤️
Bianca’s A Most Puzzling Murder Launch Just Keeps Getting Better!
Join Bianca on the 9th of June from 6-10pm ET as she launches her latest novel, A Most Puzzling Murder, at The Young People’s Theatre in downtown Toronto in this not-to-be-missed literary soiree of the season!
It’s not a party without friends, and Bianca will have a LOT of them there to help her celebrate, including Carly and CeCe for the hosts’ first ever in real life event together!!
In each week’s Friday newsletter, we’ll also be announcing additional special guests, not to mention the incredible contests we’ll be hosting, as well as the awesome prizes up for grabs.
This week, we’re celebrating that authors, Nita Prose, Samantha M. Bailey, Elizabeth Renzetti, Kate Hilton, and Uzma Jalaluddin will be joining us on the night, and that they’ll be signing copies of their latest releases.
(Anyone getting any ideas of writing a book about what mayhem might ensue when a group of murder mystery and thriller authors get together?! 🔪☠️ We’d read the heck out of that!).
We’re also excited to share that we’ll be hosting two contests for those of you who will be joining us on the night:
A flash fiction contest – a story told in 1,500 words or less.
A query package contest – your query letter and five opening pages.
The best entry in each category will be invited up on stage on the night to accept their award, and will be welcomed onto the podcast, and published in our newsletter.
Entries can be emailed to tsnotyaw.contest@gmail.com
Please note: You can only enter these contests if you’ve got a ticket to attend the event.
We’ll also do two draws on the night for two 10,000-word critiques, one done by Bianca and one done by CeCe! 🤩
These are prizes you’re going to want to win!
CAD $45+tax gets you an unassigned seat in the theatre, access to all the fun, a signed copy of A Most Puzzling Murder, and snacks before and after the main event.
Circling the Building of Your Work
You've heard Bianca say all the time on the podcast that you need to circle the building of your work to find the best entry point into it. 🏢🚶♀️
But this process doesn't just ensure strong opening pages, it allows you to navigate the whole building with confidence—knowing which doors to throw wide open and which ones to keep locked, which walls to smash down and which ones to reinforce—as you create a space you'd like to live inside.
In this webinar, Bianca will guide you through the transformation of her own latest WIP, showing you examples of her constantly evolving pages in her quest to find the best way into a story she’s always wanted to tell.
In doing so, she’ll highlight:
the intentionality that you need to bring to your decision-making every step of the way.
how to play around with point of view, structure, timeline, voice, and other essential elements of craft.
how to frame a narrative and choose the lens through which you’d like to view it.
the questions you’ll need to ask yourself throughout the process.
how to circle back from false starts, and learn from them, as you begin again.
how rewarding the entire process can be.
You’ll also be assigned to other delegates to work with after the webinar to gain objectivity, input, and fresh perspectives as you circle the building of your own WIP.
Expect real examples you can learn from, as well as practical ways of implementing the theory. The webinar will end with a Q and A.
Recording and resources will be mailed to all registered delegates the next day.
May 13, 7-10pm ET
Cost: $69.00
Tuesday Teaser 😉
In next week’s newsletter exclusively for our paid members, we’ve got:
A Q&A with Abbi Waxman (One Death at a Time) who wisely reminds us that writing is a job, not a prison sentence, and sometimes the best thing you can do for you (and your characters) is take a break
A hilarious and brutally insightful essay by Terri-Lynne Defino (Didn't You Use to Be Queenie B?), who shares the pivotal, writing career-defining moment when an agent gave her “the ass-kicking [she] didn’t know [she] needed” and she stopped believing her well-meaning friends who told her she was brilliant and made the transition to “conscious incompetence”
An encouraging video from Saumya Dave (The Guilt Pill), who shares that—even with a third novel coming out—she still gets rejections, and talks about how to approach these times with curiosity, as a learning opportunity.
Not yet a member? For just $8USD a month or $80USD a year you get:
an exclusive newsletter on Tuesdays featuring bonus author Q&As and other exclusive content from industry experts
access to Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra’s written notes on queries from the podcast’s Books with Hooks feature
monthly bonus podcast episodes, AND
regular Ask Me Anythings / Q&As with Carly, CeCe, and Bianca Marais.
If that doesn’t kickstart your writing journey, we don’t know what will!
That’s all for this week’s news! If you enjoyed it, why not share the love? 🥰
Tune in again next week for more invaluable wisdom from our wonderful hosts! Until then, happy writing! 😍
❤️ The Shit No One Tells You About Writing Team
Our work takes place on land now known as Toronto and Ottawa and we acknowledge that these are the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat Peoples as well as the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation. Toronto is covered under Treaty 13 and the Williams Treaties. We respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures, languages, and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada. We invite you to learn more about the land you inhabit, the history of that land, and how to actively be part of a better future going forward together at Native Land or Whose Land.
Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra are literary agents at P.S. Literary Agency, but their work in this newsletter is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly and CeCe in this newsletter are solely that of themselves and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.
Go, DeAndra!