Dear Writer

Today on Dear Writer, Sarah talked with Jennifer Chastain, a romance author from a small town in the state of New York, who now lives in North Carolina with her husband. We had a very engaging and inspiring conversation about Jennifer's journey so far, and her upcoming romantic suspense series.

This episode of Dear Writer, we were lucky enough to speak with Lee Murray about writing speculative fiction. Lee is a USA Today bestselling author and a four-time winner of the International Bram Stoker Awards. She writes speculative fiction in a number of different sub-genres, and resides in the beautiful Bay of Plenty district in New Zealand.

On this week's episode of Dear Writer, we continue our discussion about creating tension in fiction. We talk about some the common techniques for making tension and chat about some of our writing tips for enhancing tension in your novel.

On this week's episode, we talk about the importance of creating tension in your novel, what the different types of dramatic tension are, and the distinction between tension and conflict.

This week on our Author Spotlight we had Astrid V.J., a South African fantasy author and USA Today bestseller. In her day life Astrid is a social anthropologist and transformational life coach who lives with her family in Sweden. We had a great chat about how she uses her skills and interests to create inspiring characters who work through personal trials to tell her stories.

This week we tried another creative exercise, and used AI text to image software to generate pictures from our novels. We discussed the experience of doing this and how we think it might be useful to creativity and as writers.

In this week's craft episode we dive into part II of our micro vs macro discussion where we talk about the techniques that can be used to enhance the macro and micro details in your writing.

In this week's craft episode, we discuss the basics of writing micro (details) and writing macro (significant traits) through the lens of character and description.

This week we interviewed Steven J Kolbe about his books and his writing process. We had a great discussion on the importance of portraying mental illness accurately in media and greatly enjoyed talking to Steven about his experiences. If you want to find out more about Steven and his books, visit his website at https://stevenjkolbe.com.

This week for our creative exercise we explored found poetry. We each took an instruction manual and used the text to create our found poems. We discovered this was a very enjoyable exercise. To read our found poems, visit our instagram @lindersoncreations.

On the week's episode of Dear Writer, we continue our discussion about world building. We talk about the important elements of building a realistic world, how much detail you should give to your readers, and some of our hot tips for effective world building.

On this week's episode of Dear Writer, we talk about some of the exciting new changes happening on the podcast before jumping in to a discussion about world building. We cover topics ranging from how world building and setting differ, to why it is important to consider world building in your novel.

This week on the podcast we had a very interesting interview with Joanna Penn about how the ever-evolving world of technology affects our careers as authors. We discussed the advances in artificial intelligence and how it can be used as a writing aid, before moving onto the topic of digital narration and what benefits might be derived from this technology.

This week on our culturing creativity episode, we explored Sestina Poems and discussed how they can contribute to inspiring creativity. For this exercise, we used the instructions on the masterclass website linked below to come up with the Sestina Poem. Adhering to the strict structure was a challenge, but an enjoyable one! Click on the link if you are interested in creating a sestina poem yourself. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/sestina-poem-form Below, you can find our poems. Sarah's Poem: A Sestina for Julia Nothing more fun than play with your favourite person. A toothless grin, your face an open book. Between your gums, pools milk, overflowing down your chin. As we sing your eyes flutter closed. The parks are closed. Mummy, where can we play? At home, my sweet. Coo and sing to me, with those unpracticed lips. Grin when you make a sound. Bottled milk makes wet rings, resting on your book. Too tired for a book. Slumbering with the door closed, you won’t stir for milk. Tickling your toes, your nose. I play with your hands. A sleepy grin. But then you wake, and furiously sing. Beep, beep, beep. The bottle warmer will sing for us. Have patience. Maybe a story? A book? Your frustrated pout is an upside-down grin. Little fists clenched tightly closed, I cannot persuade you to play. You wail, demanding milk. Now satiated, I watch you snooze. Creamy milk- colored skin. How your beauty does sing! Eyelashes longer than mine, they play across rosy cheeks. So many things my book never told me. I press it closed, my chest swelling. If only hearts could grin. Sometimes it grows, your grin. Mouth full with a bottle of milk. Dimples denting, and lips barely closed around the nipple. Just wait until you can sing— why waste a moment with a book, when the world is ready to play? You make my world sing, and I could fill a book about how prettily you play. Ashley's Poem: Reconnection These days, old friends are a memory. Of a time we once connected. Cried together, and laughed. A relic of the past, Where days last only a moment. Gone in no time. Other days, old friends are frozen in time. A picture of a memory. A moment. Two souls connected By a shared history, past. One where we laughed. Like that day we laughed In the bar, that one time. Sharing stories past, And present. A memory, Where we connected, For only a moment. Yesterday, I remembered you for a moment. And I laughed, Like we used to when we connected. I thought back in time To a memory Of our past. Perhaps I should reach into the past And take a moment. To pull out a memory, Of us when we laughed. Together. Bring back a time When we could be connected. Today, again, we connected. And it was like the past Never faded with time. We talked for a moment, Reminisced, and laughed. To make a new memory. Tomorrow I will remember that moment. That time we laughed. The memory.

This week we discuss the importance of having a diverse cast of characters in your novel. We chat about how we feel diversity in fiction has changed over the past ten years, how we feel we have changed as writers during this time, and some tips for creating authentic characters.