Do YOU know where Fitzgerald is buried?

Fitzgerald's grave, writing courses, and TONS of writing resources!

*For writing links and resources, scroll down.*

The grave of F. Scott Fitzgerald

I always thought of F. Scott Fitzgerald as a Minnesota man. He was born in St. Paul, and I’ve even visited the row house in St. Paul where he wrote (or maybe revised?) his first novel, This Side of Paradise.

So imagine my surprise when I found out that both F. Scott and Zelda are buried in Rockville, Maryland, one town over from where I live. How did I not know this? The Great Gatsby was always my favorite high school required-reading.

Turns out, Fitzgerald’s father was from Rockville, and there is a Fitzgerald family plot in the small cemetery at St. Mary’s Catholic Church. This unassuming cemetery is a block from the Rockville metro station and butts up against Rockville Pike, a major six-lane thoroughfare that cuts through the busy sprawl of the Maryland/DC suburbs. I’d noticed the cemetery before, on my way to yoga or T.J. Maxx, but I never knew Fitzgerald’s grave was there.

Fitzgerald’s grave in the St. Mary’s Cemetery in Rockville, MD

There’s more to the story, though. When Fitzgerald died, the church refused to take his body because he was not a practicing Catholic at the time of his death. Instead, he was buried in the Rockville Cemetery a few miles away. Later, when Zelda died, she was buried with him — literally. They only had enough money for one space so Zelda’s casket was put directly on top of her husband’s. It wasn’t until 1975 that their daughter successfully petitioned to have her parents moved to the family plot in St. Mary’s Cemetery.

The only reason I know any of this is thanks to the Rockville public library. I was there the other day with my daughters and noticed a poster about the annual F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival in Rockville. This year it’s being held on October 21, with Jonathon Franzen as the key note speaker.

(For more pics of my trip to St. Mary’s Cemetery, check out my Instagram post.)

Hey Paid Subscribers!

Are you taking full advantage of your subscription? Check out all the courses you can access:

• Cultivating a Regular Writing Practice

• Getting Started on Your Novel

• Souped-Up Suspense (course for mystery/thriller/horror writers, or if you’re simply looking to add more page-turning suspense to your story) Oh, and there’s a video summary version here.

• Dialogue Masterclass

• Line Edit Lessons

• Setting the Mood (workshop about using setting to enhance mood and suspense)

Interested in becoming a paid subscriber but not sure it’s worth it? Ask me about a free one-week trial!

I Asked, and Instagram Answered

Remember last month when I got all obsessed with Edgar Allan Poe and wondered if there were any YA novels based on Poe’s life and/or stories. Well, guess what showed up in my IG feed the other day:

See the list here.

Thanks for posting, @uppercaseYA. I’m still waiting for my Poe biopic starring Timothee Chalamet, though. Please alert me when that happens, if Instagram doesn’t first.

Writing News & Resources

For All Writers:

• The I Am in Print International Novel Award deadline is Oct. 9. Submit your unpublished, unagented manuscript of 70,000-100,000 words to win £1,000 and a consultation with a professional editor. Fee: £25, with free entries for low-income writers.

• The Manuscript Academy is offering a 3-Day online workshop: Unputdownable: Write a Book Agents Can’t Stop Thinking About. The event is October 24-26, and all materials will be available for 30 days for replay.

• Nanowrimo is offering a variety of virtual events to help you prep for National Novel Writing Month (November).

• The Yale Review is now accepting pitches on a rolling basis. Seeking diverse, sharp, intelligent voices on a wide range of subjects, from literature, art, history, and politics to film, television, music, & more.

• Writers on Writing presents bestselling author Rebecca Makkai in conversation with bestselling author Lauren Groff, talking about an author’s whole career, Inside-the-Actors-Studio-style. In-person at the Newberry in Chicago and livestreamed on Zoom. FREE on October 4 - RSVP required.

• Story Mastermind, a small-group online workshop for serious writers from

  Good Story Companyis a five-month program for Novel and Picture Book writers, and applications are due by October 15.

• The folks at Cheshire Novel Prize host a FREE group on their private app called Writers Space where you can talk about writing, ask for BETA readers, and connect with other writers.

• Have you been working and reworking the beginning of your novel but can’t seem to push past a certain point? Then you should attend my Finish Your Novel 1-Day Workshop on Dec. 2 at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD.

• Ready to submit a story? Check out this list of 40 Free Writing Contests! And of course, check outNewPages for submission calls from literary magazines and journals.

• Poets & Writers is offering Mapping the Maze, an online workshop for poets who have developed their craft and are ready to make a concrete plan for getting their work published. Begins November 3.

• If you’re over 50 and unpublished, you should read this.

• Check out the Chestnut Review for stubborn artists. Their submissions are always open and they pay $120/piece. They promise to respond in 30 days, which is HUGE in the lit mag space. Free submissions in most genres and free issues online, plus paid feedback options. They also offer workshops and international retreats. Sounds pretty amazing to me.  

• I updated my list of writing and publishing resources — my very favorite books, websites, and podcasts and writing, publishing, and creative life.

• Thinking about self-publishing? This detailed guide tells you all the steps you need to take: How to Self-Publish a Book: A Guide for Aspiring Authors.

For KidLit Writers:

• YALL Fest, the free Young Adult Book Festival in Charleston Nov 10-11 is looking awesome this year!

• Check out Literary Rambles for information on kidlit agents and agent interviews.

• The Highlight's Foundation is offering the Whole Novel Workshop: a life-changing retreat with amazing faculty members for those with a full novel manuscript they want to workshop. In-person all genres November 5-10

• From Bitsy Kemper’s blog: over 100 publishers accepting unsolicited picture book manuscripts. (Updated June 2023)

• Check out this incredible list of upcoming events for KidLit writers!

For Querying Writers:

• Check out Literary Rambles for information on kidlit agents and agent interviews.

• Pitch contests are starting to move off of Twitter, though some remain there (for now). These events can sometimes feel like a bunch of authors screaming into the void, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to try. After all, I found my agent through a Twitter pitch party. I am now an official success story. So mark your calendar for these upcoming pitch parties. 

  • #PitBLK, October 14/17: For Black writers of all genres. It has moved off Twitter and will be hosted on a private forum. To take part you need to upload your pitches by October 14 at 5pm EST.

  • #PitDark, October 26 on Twitter (“X”): For writers of “dark literature” such as horror, thriller, mystery, dark fantasy, etc.

• Here’s a query letter template from agent Samantha Wekstein and lots of querying advice from agent Eric Smith.

• Find a long list of example query letters on Quite the Query.

• Every Friday, Operation Awesome offers one free query critique through their #QueryFriday contest.

• Every month I will chose one subscriber for a FREE submission package critique. Send me your query letter and the first two pages of your manuscript, and, if you’re the winner of the month, I will send you back in-depth feedback on both. Interested in receiving a critique? Fill out the form here.

Writing Conferences & Events:

• The Writing Day Workshop “How to Get Published” Conferences will held both online and in person this year. I attended one of these conferences in person a few years ago, and I thought it was fantastic. I can’t vouch for the virtual version, but there are some benefits: recorded classes, no travel expenses, attend in your comfy pants. Plus, sign up for pitch sessions with agents for $29 a piece. Check out the upcoming conferences: 

  • Seattle Writing Workshop: October 13-14, 2023 (online)

  • Portland Writing Workshop: October 14, 2023 (live and in-person)

• Writers Digest offers loads of virtual conferences on a variety of publishing and writing craft topics.

• The Dallas/Fort Worth Writers Conference is happening October 7-8!

• The James River Writers Conference (held in one of my favorite cities, Richmond, VA) is being held October 6-8. This just happens to be the very first writers conference I ever went to, at the tender young age of 24.

• The F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival will be held October 21 in Rockville, MD.

• YALL Fest, the free Young Adult Book Festival in Charleston Nov 10-11 is looking awesome this year!

• The Hampton Roads Writers Conference will be held in Virginia Beach November 9-11. Their conference writing contest deadline is September 15!

• AWP 2024 will be held in Kansas City February 7-10 2024, and early bird registration and community scholarship applications are now open!

• FREE Virtual Conference from The Writer’s Workout is coming March 2024 -- sign up now to stay in the loop!

• Hold the date for the Washington Writers Conference, being held in Bethesda, MD May 3-4, 2024.

• For more writing conferences, check out this list or this list of 19 Writing Conferences for Emerging and Established Writers.