Writing Romance with Mette Harrison

Here’s our second interview with Mette Harrison, YA fantasy author of Mira Mirror, The Princess and the Hound, Tris and Izzie, and more. Listen to learn how she met and left a lasting impression on Orson Scott Card, who later became one of her mentors. She talks about some of her favorite romance books such as Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Emma; and Shards of Honor, by Lois Bujold. We also discuss “annoying romance tropes” and “destructive love myths.” And don’t forget to comment on one of her interview for a chance to win her book Tris and Izzie!

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Podcast: Introducing Author Mette Harrison

In this, our first in a series of interviews with YA fantasy author Mette Harrison, she discusses how she became an author and some of the books she’s written, including her very first story ever in kindergarten about a rainbow colored dragon. Comment on any of Mette’s interviews for the chance to win her newest book, Tris and Izzie.

(Our own Alice Beesley with Mette Harrison)

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Showing Emotions in your writing, with Heather Moore

In our third interview with author/editor Heather Moore, we talk about how to show emotion in your writing, something that’s sometimes difficult to do but one of the best ways to draw readers into your story. She mentions the Poisonwood Bible, and Jeff Savage, Carol Lynch Williams, James Dashner, and Ally Condie’s novels as good examples of how to show emotion. She also mentions some strategies you can use to deepen the emotion in a scene, such as:

-Describing internal and physical reactions
-Hiding emotions
-Using the senses and looking at scene analytically
-How different age groups and genders show emotions in different ways
-Making sure your characters have flaws
-Focusing on common emotions like fear, anger, grief, love, etc…
-Avoiding clichés like “their chests tighten” or “a cold tingle down the spine”
-Through dialogue, objects and metaphor

Be sure to comment on this podcast for a chance to win Heather’s latest LDS fiction book, Abinadi! The contest will end Wednesday, April 18th.

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On Editing, with Heather Moore

In our second interview with author/editor Heather Moore, she shares her insights on editing. Listen to learn about the qualifications for editors that work for her Precision Editing Group and how to self-edit your own and other people’s manuscripts. Find out where to place hooks, how to determine chapter length and pacing, and how to choose which characters’ viewpoint to use for each scene, as well as common mistakes writers make. If you struggle with viewpoint, as a lot of writers do, Heather mentions examples of books to read such as Orson Scott Card’s “Characters & Viewpoint.” For good examples of omniscient view point, which is one of the hardest viewpoints to write, Heather suggests reading Lemony Snicket; Alcatraz, by Brandon Sanderson; The Book Thief; and Jennifer A. Nielson’s middle grade series. She discusses the differences between editing for content and line editing and common plot problems she sees in the books she edits.

Comment to enter a contest to win Heather’s LDS fiction novel, Abinadi. Contest will end one week after we post our final Heather Moore interview.

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Meet Author and Editor Heather Moore

Introducing Heather Moore, author of LDS historical novels such as Alma the Younger, and owner and editor of Precision Editing. Learn about her books and editing company and comment on this podcast for a chance to win her book Abinadi. Email us with the correct number of books she’s published for an extra entry or Facebook, Twitter or blog about this contest and leave us the links to your Facebook, Twitter, and blog with your comment for extra entries. For more information on Heather and her books go to: www.hbmoore.com.

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Artist Michael Phipps on website design

In this podcast, Artist Michael Phipps talks about the ins and outs of building a website: design, creation, what differentiates an amateur from a professional, and more. Listen to learn what he says about whether or not to build one yourself, and find out why he started a blog, even though he jokingly says he hates blogging. You can find out more about him on his cool website with moving pictures at: http://www.michaelphipps.net and go to his blog at: http://michaelphipps.blogspot.com/2008/04/michael-phipps-anti-blogger.html.
Be sure to comment on any of our Michael Phipps podcasts for the chance to win one of James Dashner’s Jimmy Fincher novels.

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Listen to our appearance on Dungeon Crawler’s Radio

If you want to listen to Ava, Lauren, and Alice chat with the boys of Dungeon Crawler’s Radio, you can find the interview right here.

Listen to Writing Snippets on the Dungeon Crawlers Radio show!

Tomorrow, Monday, January 2, several members of the Writing Snippets crew will appear on the live internet radio program, Dungeon Crawlers Radio!

Tune in via their website from 6pm-8pm Mountain Time to hear Lauren, Ava, and Alice chat with the boys of Dungeon Crawlers about our experiences putting together our own podcast. You can listen later via the Dungeon Crawler’s archives.

Happy New Years!

More with Michael Phipps

Cover Art for books and CDs.
Find out how he got to do the cover work for James Dashner’s Jimmy Fincher books.
What is the difference in doing illustration for books and CDs?
How music helps him do art.
What’s the difference between working with publishers and musicians?

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Art and writing with Michael Phipps

For this podcast Writing Snippets interviews artist Michael Phipps, who did the cover art for James Dashner’s Jimmy Fincher series. We talk about his creative process, about how and why he does art, and about how this applies to writing. Comment on this podcast to be entered to win one of James Dashner’s Jimmy Fincher books.

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