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Autumn Brings New Authors by Isabella DeFranceschi

Autumn Brings New Authors by Isabella DeFranceschi

We are tickled that The Writers Circle is the subject of this lovely article by one of our students, Isabella DeFranceschi, who wrote it for her high school journalism class. Not only does it show a fine grasp of journalistic form, but she relates the…

The Long and Winding Road (to Publication)

The Long and Winding Road (to Publication)

by Jennifer Walkup I started writing stories as a young girl, became serious about it in high school, and dug deeper into the craft in college and then graduate school. While I had a few short stories published in college and graduate school, I found…

The Waiting Game

The Waiting Game

What a time it has been! I’ve gone from tentatively sticking my toe back into publishing waters to swimming in the whirlpool of anxious possibility… Ah, but you have no idea. Let me explain. I finished my latest novel, Pasture of Heaven, at 10:30 PM…

The Discipline of Short Work

The Discipline of Short Work

In our last post, we invited all our students to submit short stories about our crazy new characters, Amelia, Maurice and Felix. But here, I want to take a minute to speak to many of you who – like me – like to write A…

The Writers Circle’s New Cast of Crazy Characters – and the chance to publish a story about them!

The Writers Circle’s New Cast of Crazy Characters – and the chance to publish a story about them!

It’s time to spruce a few things up here at The Writers Circle. We’ve been using our authentic antique images since 2010. Now it’s time to move into the 21st century. (Well, sort of.) Thanks to the tremendous artistic talents of our very own Amanda…

On Rejection: An Honest Assessment and Some Ways to Survive It

On Rejection: An Honest Assessment and Some Ways to Survive It

by Christina Kapp In book publishing, editors and agents will often refer to a book “finding it’s home” at the right publishing “house.” These are good analogies, because they imply that your fledgling novel, story, or poem will need to do some work looking for…

A Safe Space to Create

A Safe Space to Create

by Jake Rosati, TWC Summer Intern The second week of the Summer Intensives has begun with a great group of young writers who wasted no time diving in.  The expanse of their interests and talents is incredible — from poetry to screenwriting to fiction to…

Our Summer Intensives Are "Intense!"

Our Summer Intensives Are "Intense!"

by Daniele Walker, TWC Program Coordinator Our first week of Summer Intensives is underway. Twenty-five students, ages 10-17, are doing what they came for: writing, writing, writing.  The experience definitely has been intense so far with morning warm-ups, genre workshops with some of TWC’s finest…

Nitpicking

Nitpicking

When my son got lice a few years ago – quite common among the elementary school set – I came to appreciate the true meaning of “nitpicking”. Plucking those tiny, disgusting nits from the roots of his baby fine hair was tedious, but necessary work.…

Jerry Kaplan: Sticking to his Guns

Jerry Kaplan: Sticking to his Guns

People come and go at The Writers Circle fairly often. They get busy, move on to other things, graduate and go off to college…. But some people stay and their voices become entwined in the energy of a particular group. This was the case with…

Having the sex talk

Having the sex talk

Every writer I know disparages 50 Shades of Grey. Many, like me, will do so even without ever having read a line of the book. I mean, bestseller or not, everyone knows it’s just porn, right? But sex is, and has always been, a compelling…

Finding "This Little Light" of Mine

Finding "This Little Light" of Mine

We’re delighted to welcome children’s book author Tynia Thomassie to our teaching staff at TWC. Tynia is the author of four picture books: Feliciana Feydra LeRoux: A Cajun Tall Tale, Feliciana Meets D’Loup Garou, Cajun Through and Through and MIMI’s Tutu.  She won the Louisiana…