Libby Cudmore is a favorite among our Summer Creative Writing Intensives teens. For the last several summers, she’s taught everything from mystery and detective novels to sci-fi/fantasy and micro fiction. Her brand new novel, Negative Girl, is getting rave reviews. Libby’s also the 2018 recipient…
by Mike Allegra, TWC Instructor Years ago, I wrote and edited for an alumni magazine called The Lawrentian, a job that allowed me to meet a lot of fascinating people. One such person was Ken Hakuta, the inventor of The Wacky Wallwalker—a sticky, octopus-ish thing that…
When SheWrites Press (SWP) accepted my novel for publication, there was one caveat. They do not publish anything that exceeds 120,000 words. And Beyond the Ghetto Gates clocked in at 135,000. Now, when it comes to historical fiction, my word count is not excessive. In…
by TWC Founder/Director Judith Lindbergh For anyone who doesn’t know what a “beta-reader” is, just think about software launches. How often do you get a warning that you’re using the beta version of an app and are invited to share your experiences using the software? …
by Michelle Cameron, TWC Director Well, it’s another snowy Wednesday in a series of them, like wet, white pearls that keep tumbling off the string, making us trip over them. Is it spring yet? At The Writers Circle, we’re scrambling to make sure all of…
It’s holiday time again – and here at The Writers Circle, we’re celebrating with our fourth annual Gifts for Writers compilation. Personally, I get tons of great holiday gift ideas from scouring the Internet and hope this particular list is useful for the writers in…
by Laura Romain Do you remember how Sarah Palin (as imagined by Tina Fey) could see Russia from her house? Well, I can see St. Marguerite’s Retreat Center from my front window. The historic building perches at the top of Mendham’s second-highest hill, about a…
Back when I was writing my third practice novel – one of the three I’m intensely glad never saw the scorching light of publication – I found it next to impossible to write the words “The End” on the final draft. I procrastinated. I told…
Giving yourself permission and time to write can be difficult. Life tends to get in the way – the kids, the job, all those everyday demands. This year it’s even more challenging, given that so many of us feel, well, distracted by the result of the…
by Jeff Campbell, author and instructor at The Writers Circle Storytelling is storytelling, no matter what medium. That is the second lesson I learned at the annual SCBWI New Jersey conference on June 4 and 5. Not only that, I learned it on the first…
Sarah Lyman Kravits knows what it takes to write a great college essay. Not only is she the co-author of the Keys to Success college textbook series, but she’s read applications and interviewed candidates for the University of Virginia’s Jefferson Scholars program for more than…
On Friday, I finished my revisions. Again. At last. (It had better be!) No, I don’t share this fact for cheers, though I appreciate them, truly. I share it because so many of you – in my own Writers Circle classes or those of our…
