Interview with Sara Litchfield, Author of “The Night Butterflies”

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It’s not every day that you meet someone who shares your first name and last initial. It’s even more rare to meet someone with those commonalities and with uncannily similar writing passions and aspirations. I met British-born writer Sara Litchfield (who now lives in New Zealand) during WANACon this past February, and right after having joined Twitter. Since then, she’s buckled down on revisions and edits for her debut novel The Night Butterflies – all while working as an accountant and maintaining her own editing business. (And drinking lots of tea to help!) I was privileged to beta-read The Night Butterflies during that time. Told from the perspectives of two children and three adults in the aftermath of a nuclear apocalypse, the story chilled me with its harrowing plot and inspired me with its message of hope, friendship, and humanity.

Now that The Night Butterflies is out (YAY!), I’d like to introduce you to Sara and (creatively speaking) her bundle of joy. Find how Sara handled her first flight through NaNoWriMo, why she chose to self-publish The Night Butterflies, how moths inspired the title for her book, and much more. Please give Sara a warm welcome, and check out The Night Butterflies at any of the links shared below! Continue reading

New Article at Grub Street on Critiquing Manuscripts

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Grub Street has published my new article “How to Offer Constructive Feedback that Writers Will Love” at their blog! This piece discusses the importance of critiquing other writers’ works and suggests possible questions to ask yourself when reviewing / critiquing / beta-reading someone’s manuscript. It also offers advice on more “administrative” areas such as sticking to deadlines, communicating with the author, and balancing tact and honesty in your response. If you’re considering critiquing or beta-reading manuscripts or getting ready to have others read your work, this article can help you prepare for either experience.

Click here to read “How to Offer Constructive Feedback that Writers Will Love.”

And if you missed it previously, click here to read “Hello, My Name Is…: Using Journal-Writing for Character Development,” which Grub Street published in February.

Also, many thanks to Sara Litchfield for letting me beta-read her novel The Night Butterflies and for inspiring this article! Her story offers a unique twist on dystopian science fiction, and I’m really looking forward to seeing (and re-reading) the finished product once it’s out. Click here to visit Sara’s blog / website, Right Ink On The Wall.

Coming Soon: Music Monday Reviews will return next week with my thoughts on Divided We Fall’s full-length debut CD Dreamcrusher.