Episodes
Wednesday Feb 01, 2023
Prewriting 101: Everything You Need to Write Before You Write
Wednesday Feb 01, 2023
Wednesday Feb 01, 2023
Wednesday Jan 11, 2023
Novel Worthy Ideas
Wednesday Jan 11, 2023
Wednesday Jan 11, 2023
Aliah, Kristen, Caitlin, and Cameron kick of season seven with a new series on how to write a novel from start to finish beginning with how to come up with a good idea.
For updates and information on upcoming guests, subscribe to our newsletter!
To check out our special editions, go to Caitlin's store.
Wednesday Nov 09, 2022
Making Old Stories New with Marissa Meyer
Wednesday Nov 09, 2022
Wednesday Nov 09, 2022
Marissa Meyer joins Caitlin and Kristen to chat about how she approaches an adaptation, how to choose what to keep, what to get rid of, and where she gets inspiration for the unique new worlds and characters that go into her new story.
Her newest book, CURSED, the second in the Gilded Duology came out on November 8th, be sure to check the series out. We did a signed hand-painted edge design here, if you like your books special :) which you can find here.
Marissa Meyer is the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Lunar Chronicles, Heartless, The Renegades Trilogy, and Instant Karma, as well as the graphic novel duology Wires and Nerve. She holds a BA in Creative Writing from Pacific Lutheran University and a MA in Publishing from Pace University. In addition to writing, Marissa hosts The Happy Writer podcast. She lives near Tacoma, Washington, with her husband and twin daughters.
Thursday Oct 06, 2022
All the Ways Your Liver Will Betray You with Tamsyn Muir
Thursday Oct 06, 2022
Thursday Oct 06, 2022
Tamsyn Muir joins Kristen and Caitlin to chat about alternative POV choices, non-consecutive timelines, meme culture, Women Who Suck, and all the other fun things that went into the Locked Tomb series.
TAMSYN MUIR is the bestselling author of the Locked Tomb Series. Her fiction has won the Locus and Crawford awards, and been nominated for the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Dragon Award, and the Eugie Foster Memorial Award. A Kiwi, she has spent most of her life in Howick, New Zealand, with time living in Waiuku and central Wellington. She currently lives and works in Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Be sure to check out Nona the Ninth (out now!) as well as the special editions STET books is doing in conjunction with our next guest, Marissa Meyer.
Wednesday Sep 28, 2022
Spinoffs with Chloe Gong
Wednesday Sep 28, 2022
Wednesday Sep 28, 2022
Chloe Gong joins Aliah and Caitlin to discuss the anatomy of a spinoff, how to approach writing an extension of your own world and stories that still feels familiar while also being new.
Chloe is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights, its sequel Our Violent Ends, and the first in a new duology set in the same world, Foul Lady Fortune. She is a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she double-majored in English and International Relations. Born in Shanghai and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, Chloe is now located in New York pretending to be a real adult.
Works we mention in this episode: Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse and Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir.
Don't forget to check out the sweet signed special editions we're doing for Marissa Meyer's Gilded duology in our shop!
Wednesday Sep 14, 2022
Romantasy 101 with Stephanie Garber
Wednesday Sep 14, 2022
Wednesday Sep 14, 2022
Stephanie Garber joins Caitlin and Aliah to chat about "romantasy" and how to make it (or a developing romance in the book you are writing!) really sing. A resource Stephanie mentions, Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes, can be found here.
Stephanie is the #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of Once Upon a Broken Heart, The Ballad of Never After, and the Caraval trilogy. Her books have been translated into thirty languages. To find out more, you can follow her on social media.
To check out our signed, hand-painted editions of Once Upon a Broken Heart and The Ballad of Never After, check out Caitlin's store.
Wednesday Aug 10, 2022
Surrealism with Britney Lewis
Wednesday Aug 10, 2022
Wednesday Aug 10, 2022
Britney Lewis joins the cast to chat about adding surreal elements to our stories in order to better articulate things that words can't quite describe.
Britney is the author of The Undead Truth of Us (which just came out!! Get it here!). She has a B.A. in corporate communications with an emphasis in business and art. She strongly supports We Need Diverse Books, and she’s an avid follower of #DVpit and #BVM.
When Britney isn’t daydreaming about new stories, she can be found binge-watching TV shows with her husband and her pup or practicing West Coast Swing. She lives in Kansas City. You can follow Britney on her Twitter, or her Instagram.
Take a look at the first chapter we critique here.
If you want us to critique your work, review our submission guidelines here.
To check out the special editions we are doing for Stephanie Garber's Once Upon a Broken Heart series and Marissa Meyer's Gilded duology, visit Caitlin's website.
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Upping a Story’s IQ with Erin Beaty
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Erin Beaty joins Caitlin, Kristen, and Aliah to talk about how to write stories and characters that are smarter than we are.
Erin was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, which means she can't drive a tractor but won't eat veggies that come from a can.
She graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2000 with a BS in Aerospace Engineering (Astronautics) and German, then served in the fleet as a weapons officer on a combat destroyer and later as an instructor the Center for Naval Leadership.
After a few years as a stay-at-home mother and navy wife with a casual family blog, Erin upped her game and started writing her first novel in the spring of 2014. She is now the author of the Traitor's Circle Trilogy published by Imprint, Macmillan and in several foreign languages. Her newest book Blood and Moonlight just came out, check it out here.
She and her husband have five children, two cats, and a vegetable garden and live wherever the navy tells them to go.
To read the first chapter we critique with all our notes, go here.
Don't forget to check out the special editions Caitlin is doing for Stephanie Garber's Once Upon a Broken Heart series and Marissa Meyer's Gilded Duology! You can find them here.
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
Writing Different Voices with Jesse Q. Sutanto
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
Jesse Q. Sutanto joins the crew to chat about writing authentic voices for different age groups.
Jesse is the author of Dial A for Aunties, The Obsession, and Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit. She has a master’s degree in creative writing from Oxford University, though she hasn't found a way of saying that without sounding obnoxious. The film rights to her women’s fiction, Dial A for Aunties, was bought by Netflix in a competitive bidding war. The novel will be out in April 2021. Jesse lives in Indonesia with her husband, her two daughters, and her ridiculously large extended family, many of whom live just down the road. For more about her and her books, be sure to visit her website.
Wednesday May 11, 2022
Concise World Building with Holly Black
Wednesday May 11, 2022
Wednesday May 11, 2022
Lit Service was thrilled to chat with Holly Black about how to build a world, characters, and story in a more concise way. We have signed special editions of her adult debut Book of Night in our store.
Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over thirty fantasy novels for kids and teens. She has been a finalist for an Eisner Award and the Lodestar Award, and the recipient of the Mythopoeic Award, a Nebula, and a Newbery Honor. Her books have been translated into 32 languages worldwide and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library. To find out more about her and her fabulous books, check out her website.
To read the first chapter we critique with all our notes, go here.
For information on upcoming guests or how to submit your work for critique, check out our website.