✨Bestselling Authors, They're Just Like Us! Gillian McAllister, Charlotte Wood, and Karen Thompson Walker Share What Challenges Them...And What They Do About It!✨
Plus, bookseller Emilie Sommer is back with more comps, registration for CeCe's latest course continues, and the clock's ticking on The Great Beta Reader Match-Up!
Happy Friday, writing friends!
It’s the last Friday of the month, which means we have even more content for you than usual, so let’s dive right in!
This week on the podcast, Bianca interviews New York Times bestselling author and Reese’s Book Club pick for Wrong Place Wrong Time, Gillian McAllister (whose latest, Famous Last Words, came out this week). You might think that someone with seven bestsellers under their belt would have this whole writing thing dialed in, but before you make any snap judgements, you might want to give the podcast a listen—Gillian shares about the “eureka!” moment she has every single time she writes a new book, and it will almost certainly surprise you (and give you hope if you worry you’re a little too pants-y, or are stuck because you know there’s a better way of doing something in your manuscript, but not what it is).
In addition to our bookseller friend Emilie Sommer’s usual excellent comp suggestions for our listeners, this month’s bonus episode features Bianca interviewing not one but two literary heavy hitters. Booker Prize-nominated Charlotte Wood, the acclaimed author of Stone Yard Devotional (out now!), discusses the techniques she uses to maintain narrative tension in so-called “quiet” stories and make them compelling for readers. And bestselling author of The Dreamers, Karen Thompson Walker (whose latest, The Strange Case of Jane O, is out now) joins Bianca in a conversation that covers her influences and how they’re reflected in her writing, unreliable narrators, and the importance of curiosity seeds, among other things.
We’ve also got our hosts answering your questions in another edition of our informative monthly video Q&A that covers all the shit no one—but us—will tell you about writing. 😉
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading! ❤️
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✨🎙️✨
This week on the podcast (listen to it here or watch it on YouTube!), Bianca interviews New York Times bestselling author Gillian McAllister. The two explore Gillian’s writing process, narrative techniques, and character development. Bianca and Gillian chat about the challenges of writing multi-POV novels, the organic twists that emerge during the writing process, and the importance of character occupations in driving the plot.
“Something always happens to me in the writing—and it is always after about 80,000 words, unfortunately—where I have a kind of “eureka!” moment where either something falls into place that hasn't been working, or I realize there's a much better way to do it. Or sometimes even something that I have been slightly distracted by becomes the main plot.”
-Gillian McAllister
More information about Gillian McAllister can be found on her website. She is also on Instagram!
You can purchase Famous Last Words on our Bookshop.org affiliate page here. Buying books through this link supports a local indie bookstore, as well as The Shit No One Tells You About Writing 📚❤️
February’s Bonus Episode!
In case you missed it, our bonus episode aired this week (listen to it here or watch it on YouTube)!
First up, Bianca interviews Booker Prize-nominated Charlotte Wood, the acclaimed author of Stone Yard Devotional. They delve into the challenges of writing quiet stories, the significance of visitations in the narrative, and the intentional choices behind the unnamed narrator.
You can find out more about Charlotte on her website.
Next, Bianca interviews Karen Thompson Walker, author of The Strange Case of Jane O. They explore the themes of the novel, including the intersection of ordinary and extraordinary experiences, the structure of the narrative, and the use of unreliable narrators.
Finally, Emilie Sommer from East City Bookshop answers all your burning comp title questions.
You can purchase Stone Yard Devotional and The Strange Case of Jane O. on our Bookshop.org affiliate page here. 📚❤️
The Great Beta Reader Match-Up is Back…and Better Than Ever! 🐉🧚🏼♂️💘
Are you looking for beta readers, some of whom might potentially become writing group members down the line?
Are you wanting to be matched up with those writing in a similar genre and time zone, so they can critique your work as you critique theirs at the same time? (And is your genre by any chance romantasy? If yes, you’re in luck—due to popular demand, Bianca’s added it as a genre to the match up!)
Your manuscript doesn't have to be complete to sign up for this 3000 word evaluation.
Registration for this particular match up is open from now until March 2nd, with the match up emails going out March 3rd .
For more information and to register, click below!
And spread the word! The more writers we have signed up, the better the matches will be!
February’s Q&A with Our Hosts!🧐
In this Q&A segment, Bianca, Carly, and CeCe answer your questions on topics ranging from the significance of inciting incidents in storytelling, the distinction between literary and genre fiction, the representation of young male readers in literature, the need for writers to stay true to their vision while navigating the complexities of the publishing industry.…and more!
Exciting New Learning Opportunity with CeCe!🎉🎉🎉
The beginning—that’s the most important part of your story. It’s the part that must hook the reader. That must make them fall in love with your characters and your world. It’s the beginning that must convince the reader to buy your book, or stay up late and ignore real life in favor of reading your story. The beginning is more high stakes than your climax, because if the reader doesn’t love the beginning they won’t stick around for the rest.
So all you’ve got to do is nail that first chapter? Well that shouldn’t be too hard, right? Wrong. The bad news is that it’s actually very difficult to write a compelling beginning. The good news is that it’s a skill that can be mastered, and literary agent and podcast co-host CeCe Lyra’s got a workshop for that!
This four-day workshop will cover various aspects of how to start your story right, including:
different types of beginnings and how to choose the best one for you;
how to frame your inciting incident in an irresistible way;
elements that go into every effective beginning;
common mistakes made by writers when beginning a story;
how to balance exposition and mystery;
how to make readers fall in love with your protagonist;
how to make readers want to turn to chapter two;
Q&A session;
Surprise bonus session.
Here’s when we’ll meet via Zoom:
March 20 at 7pm Eastern Time (Day One)
March 27 at 7pm Eastern Time (Day Two)
March 30 at 1pm Eastern Time (Cozy Q&A session, cameras on (optional)).
April 3 at 7pm Eastern Time (Bonus Session)
This webinar will also feature an interactive component. Everyone who is registered will have the option of submitting the opening scene of their work by March 20th (submissions received after this date will not be considered). Instructions on how to submit will be sent to you automatically after registration (look for an email from Zoom). Please note that this submission does NOT constitute a query to a literary agent—it is a submission to an educational webinar. You are NOT querying CeCe by submitting to this webinar.
Writers of all categories and genres are invited to attend.
If you cannot attend one or more of the sessions live, please sign up as the recording will be emailed to you 24hr later. Recordings will be available to the viewer for 60 days. Recordings will NOT be sold after the fact.
Note: Cecilia “CeCe” Lyra is a literary agent at P.S. Literary Agency, but her work on this webinar is not affiliated with P.S. Literary Agency, and the views expressed are her own, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or positions of P.S. Literary Agency.
Tuesday Teaser 😉
In next week’s newsletter exclusively for our paid members, we’ve got a Q&A with debut novelist Jeanette Horn (whose Play, With Knives is out next week), an essay by Dennis James Sweeney (How To Submit), and a video by Jacqueline Friedland (Counting Backwards).
Between them, they cover everything from how to deal with that held-breath feeling you get from querying or being out on sub, to the importance of persistence and self-belief, offering an answer to the question “Can you have success without an agent?” that might surprise you!
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.
Thank you for such an informative Q&A this month, and thanks Bianca for sharing the challenges of trying to balance TSNOTYAW with your own writing. From the outside, your jello juggling always appears flawless, so it can be easy to forget how difficult it must be on the back end.
Thank you for the kind words! We're happy to hear that you found jewels of information in this edition!