While writing Into the Fishpond, a novel-length fan fiction story set in the “Fire Emblem: Three Houses” universe (FE3H), I built a growth model for tracking my readers’ engagement. The story is long: forty-seven chapters, and over 200,000 words. When I finished the initial story in August 2024, I copied my model and populated it with a […]
Meeting your writing heroes can be a fraught exercise. It’s easy to put people on a pedestal and meet your idea of the presence rather than the person. Luckily, by the time I crossed paths with the late Ursula K. Le Guin in 2005, she was adroit at managing her public persona. I suspect she […]
The first time I read Liz Gilbert’s Big Magic, I was finishing Chaos Calling’s first draft (which turned out to be a skeletal draft of the whole Xenthian Cycle). I’d seen Gilbert’s Tedx talks about creativity and working through her phenomenal writing success after Eat, Pray, Love. When I learned she was publishing a non-fiction […]
Chaotic loss gets baked into the bones of many creative projects. My writing projects are no exception. From the outset of a new manuscript, I begin with a vision for what I want to achieve. Inevitably, as the draft gets longer, my ideas about what I’m doing shift. Sometimes, it’s because: That’s part of the […]
How did I end up with a rare ARC of Elantris, Brandon Sanderson’s first book in the Cosmere universe? Sanderson is a juggernaut in science fiction and fantasy. His work is so popular that when he announced four secret book projects in February 2022, he raised over $41 million from over 185,000 people. I’ve done […]
Conny Lee, host of the How Did I Not Know That? podcast, invited me on her show to talk about being a self-published author, why people choose to self publish and the process of getting a book released. Her episode aired on November 4, 2024. Here’s where you can listen: On the How Did I […]
Creative working in 2023? You may be overdue for serious renewal The first signal from the Velvet Ditch is subtle. As usual, I misread it. Gradually, I notice my morning writing is bogged down in tedium. I’m not progressing at my usual pace. Checklist items remain unchecked. The growing list fills me with dread instead […]
Lindsey Lerner, host of the Learning with Lerner Podcast, invited me on her show to talk about being a self-published author and marketing consultant. Since this show involves both work me and writing me, the interview is attributed to my full name. We will pretend it’s E. M. Williams as usual. My pseudonym is more […]
Katie Woodruff, host of the Abundantly Aware Podcast, invited me on her show to talk about being a self-published author and working with creativity as an artist. We recorded the episode in February 2022 and it aired on March 9, 2023. Here’s where you can listen: On the Abundantly Aware podcast, Katie Woodruff explores how […]
The Thinking About Podcast invited me to talk about my writing life and being a self-published author. I was thrilled to be asked. The wonderful Kirsti McNabney hosts this show, which gets her audience thinking about interesting topics. We recorded the episode back in November 2022, but it aired February 7, 2023. Here’s where you […]