What do you get if you cross a syndicated newspaper columnist with a business book author on a Pearson imprint with an entrepreneur who owns Pro Blog Service and novelist who’s the Spring 2016 writer-in-residence at the Jack Kerouac House in Orlando, Florida? Erik Deckers,
Let me just start off by saying that after transcribing writer Sean Ennis’ interview (Yeah, I’m back on that again!), I’ve decided that he’s the most conscious self-editor I’ve interviewed this year. As soon as the words leave his mouth, he’s already assessed whether it’s
Hey Behind the Prosers, I’m super happy to share my latest piece which appears in none other than the esteemed Chronicle of Higher Education. “What I’m Reading: ‘How Learning Works’” went live on the site today and will be in the print issue this week.
BY SCOTT ALEXANDER HESS When I wrote my new Lethe Press novel The Butcher’s Sons, a book about three brothers living in their father’s butcher shop in the gritty world of 1930’s Hell’s Kitchen, I spent two weeks in Ireland researching their great-grandfather’s back story.
In this meta-writing hour, author and fellow New School alum Scott Alexander Hess, dissects his use and balance of language to create scene and character in his latest book, a historical novel, The Butcher’s Son (a literary fiction hell-of-a-work if I do say so mahself.) The author of
“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” – Buddhist Proverb For me, and hopefully for you too, that teacher is New York Times bestselling author Susan Shapiro. Shapiro’s latest novel, What’s Never Said, is out now from Heliotrope books. In this Behind the
Hey Behind the Prosers, I know you’ve been waiting for part two of the awesome interview with Gwen Hernandez, and here it is! In this episode we talk about crafting introductions, how the writing software Scrivener helps “plotters” and “pantsers” – (listen to find out which
Many writers might covet a byline on one of the most popular educational, instructional series ever, the For Dummies line published by Wiley. But not many can snag that gig. For Gwen Hernandez, her story shows how a writer follows a passion that puts her
I’m considering changing the name of this blog to Behind the Serendipty. I’ve written about it before with the spooky intersection of John Updike, Reading, PA, The Writers’ Almanac, and Garrison Keillor. Early this morning, about 1 a.m., in the middle of my insomnia, I tried
Here’s the craft-packed episode you’ve been waiting for – the exciting and extended episode featuring the award-winning international-selling humble and personable Neil Smith. Neil is the author of Bang Crunch, a wildly successful book of short stories. A few weeks ago, he stopped by the
A couple weeks ago, I told you about how Scrivener, a software for writers, is helping me become a more organized writer. Here’s two more tidbits that I’ve picked up from pecking away in the program. 1. If I have a random thought, I can
In May, nearly 200 folks descended on the historic city of Pittsburgh to rub writing elbows with authors, essayists, journalists, and editors at the 2015 Creative Nonfiction Writers’ Conference. Maybe you were there. Maybe you weren’t. If you find yourself in the latter, shame on
Thanks to all your efforts, memoirist Kate Walter is now #1 in writing podcasts on Blogtalkradio. I hope you enjoyed the episode and continue to share it with your friends! If you liked it, please leave a review on iTunes!
I found this post on Medium by Patrick Dunleavy: “Top Ten Style Checks for PhDs or Creative Nonfiction Writers.” If you’re a writer in the trenches, many of his ten points might be familiar. Some I was aware of, just not as he phrased it, like the “Link/Frame/Deliver”
I’m happy to share that Kate Walter’s Behind the Prose episode is doing great. She debuted at number four in the writing slot! But we could do much better! We’ve had two number one shows – Andrew Bomback’s No Excuse Zone, and Jennifer Niesslein’s Get