Authors & Writers Archives - Best-selling authors, professional creatives and emerging voices in quirky dialogue on how they write and why it works.

The 5-Question [Poet] Interview: Sheila Squillante

The poet discussion the exhilaration of exploration, the tension of creation, and one’s readiness to engage with content that is within.

The 5-Question [Author] Interview: Kim Hooper

The writer thinks about intention, chronological order and connection to a story.

The 5-Question [Poet] Interview: Kelli Stevens Kane

Writing the poem changes me, and I welcome that. I don’t see that as a betrayal of myself or the work, but more of an evolution.

The 5-Question [Author] Interview: Deesha Philyaw

I see the stories as something I sorted out, something I worked through. A problem I solved.

The 5-Question [Author] Interview: Judi Ketteler

“I’ve learned not to share a piece of writing if my main reason for sharing is that I want validation from someone else.”

The 5-Question [Author] Interview: Rachel Stuhler

When/where you find yourself scared and paralyzed, either of something you are writing, of revealing yourself through the work, or for any other reason, how do you start moving again? And by moving I mean forward, not backwards, as in retreating?

The 5-Question [Author] Interview: Sam Apple

“I’m amazed by how often I’ve struggled with piece of writing only to return to it months, or even years, later to find that it all comes together with little thought.”

stuck/unstuck: Lidia Yuknavitch on Internal Conflict and Writing

In order to write THROUGH the story, I had to relive it. And in my case that meant reliving these specific things:
—the death of my daughter —the abuse I suffered from my father —the self destructions I inflicted on my self
—the longing for a mother drowned by alcoholism

The 5-Question [Writer] Interview: Amy Paturel

“How do I know when I’ve found my story? When I wake up in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning and have to grab the notepad on my nightstand.”