Fiction Writers Episodes

“I never forgot that. That was asked of me in July of 1971. I had just left medical school. I was in Ohio. I was one of 35 doctors, but I was the only black doctor, and I was asked that question. And so how do you how do you forget that?” – Dr. Otto E. Stallworth Jr.

“There is a reason why I'm writing her story. So, I gave myself permission to write her story to get all these feelings out of me. And once I gave myself permission to do that, I did not stop writing.” – Laura Frost

“Even if it doesn't mean anything to you, it means something to the person that you're writing for, and it means something to the person who's reading the story.” – Dr. Rhonda M. Lawson

“I'm not afraid of the beast. I am the beast.” – Bria Rose

“Life is short, and I spent 11 years of my life doing something that I found interesting, like software development and project management. And this is all wonderful and interesting, but there is an opportunity cost to that. These are 11 years that I didn't write my books, and I don't want that to …

“There’s something really beautiful about sharing your stories with people, because universally we're all connected through love and pain.” – Kelli Kassoff

“If you're going to create, open yourself up to different things that might come in that are outside of your design, because that's where the gifts come. And if you're not open to that, it's a lot tougher to create.” – Gregory Copploe

“Anything that you're forcing is not going to be as good as what's coming naturally out of your heart and soul.” – Megan Michelle, PhD.

“It's just so wonderful to know that I can give joy to people and they can return it back.” – Gwen Tolios

“Wherever you are in your life, you have the power to live your best life, so just live it.” – Margie Zable Fisher

“We live in such a fast-tracked consumerism sort of society where we have to have the next best thing immediately. And I think a lot of writing can suffer if we think about producing books that way.” – Mina Brower

“You never know how your career is going to zig and zag and develop. And I think the tale here is that you just be open to anything because you just don't know.” – Jean Burgess, PhD

“If I wanted to pick up and move, I pick up and move, and then I would just fall into whatever job I could find. And even though it was scary, I still did it because I was like, this could be a story, there could be a story in this.” – Nkrumah Mensah

“Every time something, an idea, a solution, a way, something happens that I couldn't have thought of myself. Whenever that happens in my life, I really do consider it a miracle.” – Sara Connell

“I highly recommend just choosing and curating the stories that you want to in the world that you think need to be told, but that nobody else knows apart from you because you've just uncovered the stories.” – Tash Doherty

“Whether you want to publish a book or get paid to be a writer as your job, there are so many different ways to earn money as a writer. I hope people don't immediately think, 'Oh, being a writer means you're going to be broke.' I thought that growing up, and I was scared of becoming a writer until …

“I've learned to be a lot more gentle with myself. I'm usually my own harshest critic, and with this trilogy, I really allowed myself to be proud of what I accomplished.” – J.F. Monroe

“What better accomplishment could you have under your belt than being able to hand somebody a book with your name on it, saying, this is me.” – Danielle Hutchinson

“Good people make a difference in this world, and when we find good people, we need to gather them together in a community, and things beyond us will happen.” – Amy Olmedo

“Don't let fear stop you with anything you want to do.” – Dawne Christine

“Writing is always there for you, even if life stops you from writing for a few days, weeks, or years. It's like yoga; you just have to get back on the mat.” – Sarah Seltzer

“Every rejection gets you where you’re meant to be.” – Tuula Costelloe

"It's one of the things that people in both films and books woefully underestimate—the amount of time and effort. We can write a screenplay that's fantastic, we can write a book that's amazing, but that's just a third of it. Getting it out there to the world is a whole different thing." – Autumn Ka…

“You owe the people you can see the best you can offer because you have to not only take care of yourself but also the people around you.” – Art Bell