I'm 10 Days Away from Realizing a Dream

These Mamas are LIT! Plus TONS of writing links and resources!

*For writing news and resources, scroll down.*

One Thing Leads to Another

I have now been cohost of the podcast THIS MAMA IS LIT! for a year! It’s been such a great learning experience, and I have met so many amazing authors.

Cohosting TMIL also gave me the confidence to create my own podcast, The Long Road to Publishing. I’ve been wanting to have my own podcast for, gosh, close to a decade, but I think I had to join TMIL first to gain the skills, knowledge, and confidence I needed to produce, host, and edit my own show.

(OK, so I have control issues, but on the other hand, it’s been a lot of fun to work on something that is 100% in my control.)

Sometimes, when you have a big dream, you have to do smaller projects first that will pave the way towards your big goal. The way we writers often start out writing short stories before tackling a whole novel.

All this is to say: my new podcast will launch in just 10 days! To ensure you don’t miss a single episode, go ahead and subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts!

While you wait with bated breath for The Long Road to Publishing, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite episodes of This Mama is Lit! You can listen to TMIL on Substack, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Some of my favorite episodes of This Mama is Lit!:

K.T. Nguyen — This was my first experience as lead cohost which meant I read the book, wrote the questions, and led the conversation. K.T., author of the thriller You Know What You Did talked to us about being the child of immigrants and how her own experience with OCD inspired her debut novel.

Catherine Newman — I didn’t cohost on this one, but I edited it! This was my first experience editing a podcast, and, as it turned out, it was a lot of fun. Catherine, a prolific, award-winning, and hilarious author of books for adults and children, talked about Mommy wine culture, menopause, caring for aging parents, and her latest novel, Sandwich.

Nancy Reddy — This was a special interview for me because remember in 2005 when I was starting my adult life as a high school teacher in New Orleans? Well, Nancy taught in the classroom right next to mine. Now, all these years later, we have both followed our writing dreams. In this episode, we discuss Nancy’s fascinating and important book, The Good Mother Myth, and how flawed midcentury science has affected our present-day expectations of motherhood.

Rachelle Bergstein — I had so much funny talking about Judy Blume books with Rachelle, author of The Genius of Judy: How Judy Blume Rewrote Childhood for All of Us.

Sandra Chwialkowska — Sandra, a TV writer and author of the thriller The Ends of Things had such smart things to say, despite being severely sleep-deprived as the mother of an infant. This was a fascinating conversation about screenwriting versus novel-writing and surviving a book launch with a newborn baby.

Nikkya Hargrove — This was a fascinating, important, and uplifting conversation with Nikkya, author of Mama: A Queer Black Woman's Story of a Family Lost and Found, about raising her half-brother as her own child and navigating the family court and prison systems.

Ona Gritz — I absolutely loved this conversation with Ona Gritz, author of Everywhere I Look, a memoir in which she investigates and unpacks the circumstances of her sister’s murder. Ona also discusses growing up with cerebral palsy and writing her latest YA novels.

Find THIS MAMA IS LIT here on Substack, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Some of my other favorite TMIL episodes include:

• Amy Shearn (“The Sexy Episode”)

• Sarah Sawyer (“Where Does Girlhood Go?”)

• Eileen Weintraub (“Bedrest Becomes You”)

• Susan Kiyo Ito (“Adoption, Birth Mothers, & Reproductive Justice”)

Speaking of Motherhood…

I had a poem about motherhood published recently in Redheaded Stepchild Magazine (a home for rejected poetry). And, trust me, this poem got rejected from a LOT of literary journals. It’s called “Gingerbread Mom.”

A Long Road littered with unpublished manuscripts

As I might have mentioned a million times already, I’ll soon be launching my new podcast, The Long Road to Publishing. One of the things I hope this podcast will help normalize is that you often have to write a lot of manuscripts before getting one published. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and that can mean writing a practice book that isn’t actually good enough to get published. Or, perhaps, writing and revising a book that IS good enough to get published but still doesn’t sell because of bad luck or bad timing.

If you count my collection of short stories, I’ve now written 12 manuscripts. If you only count the manuscripts I’m not embarrassed to show people, it’s more like 6.

1. YA Contemporary. So terrible I don’t wish to think of it.

2. A collection of short stories for my MFA thesis.

3. YA Fantasy about fairies. So terrible I only showed it to one person and I’m still embarrassed about that.

4. MG Fantasy. Queried widely and got two agent offers. Landed my first agent with this one, but we parted ways before going on submission. Queried it again and couldn’t get interest.

5. YA Contemporary. Couldn’t figure out how to revise it.

6. MG Fantasy. Queried it – no interest.

7. YA Fantasy. Couldn’t figure out how to revise it.

8. MG (or YA?) Contemporary. Revised it a lot. Queried it a lot. Some agent interest but no takers.

9. YA Paranormal Thriller. Revised it a lot. Queried for 1.5 years. This is the manuscript that got me my second agent. More revisions with my agent. Went on submission. It didn’t sell.

10. YA Contemporary w/ Speculative Elements. Revised it with my agent. Went on submission. It didn’t sell.

11. Adult Thriller. Still trying to figure out how to revise it.

12. Another Adult Thriller. Currently working on this with my agent.

I know, it’s a lot. My road to publishing is perhaps longer than most. But, as I hope you can see, I’m getting closer and closer to a book deal! And also: my writing has gotten SO MUCH BETTER over these twelve manuscripts. Want proof? My agent’s editorial letter for manuscript #9 was 18 pages long. Her editorial letter for #12? A couple of paragraphs.

What about you? Where are you on the journey? How many manuscripts have you written so far?

It’s a long road, so enjoy the journey. (BTW, this is the meadow conservation park in my town — gorgeous, right?)

Writing News and Resources:

For All Writers:

• Come join me at my Fabulous First Pages Workshop at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda! First class is June 28.

• Agent Carly Waters of

  The Shit About Writing Team
  explains upmarket fiction on Instagram. So helpful.

• 25+ Open Calls for Writers (and Artists) from Write, Period.

• Secret Time Hacks of Creative Moms from

  Jessica Payne
  .

• How to get your books on NPR from

  Haili Blassingame
  . This article actually makes it sound pretty easy!

• Every week the London Writers' Salon publishes a fresh creative writing prompt.

  Everyone is free to submit up to 500 words, in any genre, on the prompt.

  They award the winner a cash prize (£50 / $65) and publish our top 3 favorite entries.

• Grants for authors: application tips from Mallary Tenore Tarpley

• Creative Parenting Club is actively looking for guest posts from parents juggling creative ambitions with family life and other responsibilities.

• Check out these great event replays from The Manuscript Academy — for free!

• The Writers Center website is a GREAT resource for finding grants, fellowships, residencies & retreats, publishers (who publish non-agented authors), and literary journal opportunities.

• Writing Workshops offers lots of online classes in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, picture books, and the business of writing.

• Check out the meet-up group called Shut Up & Write. There are in-person chapters all over the country, as well online events.

• Looking for places to submit your writing? Check out NewPages.

For KidLit Writers:

• The Highlights Foundation offers tons of programs, workshops, and events for children’s writers and illustrators.

• Literary Rambles has information on kidlit agents and agent interviews. Plus contests and giveaways.

• Here’s an incredible list of upcoming events for KidLit writers!

• Check out SCBWI (The Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) for events, conferences, critique partners and more. (Picture book through YA.)

For Querying Writers:

• A few former agents and Big 5 editors who offer editorial consulting services from Anna Sproul-Latimer

• Here’s a list of small publishers that do not require agents.

• Andrea Bartz has a list of successful query letters (including mine!).

• I occasionally choose a subscriber for a FREE submission package critique. Send me your query and first two pages, and, if I chose your submission, I will send you feedback. Fill out the form here.

Writing Conferences & Events:

• Live in the mid-Atlantic region and looking for an affordable writing retreat? The Writer’s Retreat at Good Contrivance Farm north of Baltimore is open year-round. The only requirement for this peaceful retreat is that you use the time to work on your writing. Spaces normally book about two months in advance.

• Thinking about going to a conference or applying for a residency? Check out the free searchable database on Poets & Writers.

• The James River Writers Conference in Richmond, VA will be held Oct. 4 - 6.

• The Writing Day Workshop “How to Get Published” Conferences are affordable and helpful. Plus, sign up for pitch sessions with agents for $29 a piece. For online conferences, attend from anywhere in the world! Check out the upcoming conferences:

  • The New England Writing Workshop: July 25-26 (online)

  • The Chesapeake Writing Workshop: August 15-16, (online)

• I’m going to Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention in New Orleans September 3-7! See you there?

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

• For more writing conferences, check out this list or the free searchable database on Poets & Writers.