by Theresa Garee | May 3, 2025 | Blog, Uncategorized
By Jen McConnell
jenmcconnell.com
When I’m writing—whether starting something new or deep in the frustrations of revisions—I think about how much easier the business side is: submitting stories to literary magazines, researching publishers, applying for grants, etc.
But then when I’m in the throes of the business side, I lament that I’m not writing.
At least when I’m writing, I feel like I have some control.
On the other hand, once I’ve sent a story out or submitted a grant application, it’s out of my control.
I know it’s a privilege to have this problem, but the balancing act is still tough.
My second book of short stories, Current Disasters, was accepted for publication last summer by Roadside Press. I’m excited to say it will be out in just a few weeks!
I have spent the months in between squarely on the business side of the writing/publishing process.
Because Roadside Press is a small independent press, nearly all of the marketing and promotion falls to the authors.
I have secured blurbs for the book jacket, proofread the manuscript ad nauseum, applied for (and received) a grant from the Greater Columbus Arts Council, created social media posts, redesigned my website, arranged a launch party and readings, and more.
Receiving a grant from GCAC for marketing materials is awesome, but it leads to more work: I designed and printed postcards, submitted the manuscript to professional book reviewers, and created a paid advertising plan for social media. And there’s more to do.
I’ve also been pitching reviewers and literary festivals since last December. It’s paid off: I’ll be at the Ohio Authors Book Fair in May, reading at the Word is Art stage during June’s Columbus Arts Festival, moderating a panel at this July’s Columbus Book Festival, and presenting a workshop and a reading at the Lit Youngstown literary festival in October.
All of this to say that between all these tasks, a full-time corporate job, and my family, there hasn’t been a lot of time to write.
And the grass is always greener: when I’m writing, I’m anxious to be done and send it out. When I’m working on admin tasks, I want to be writing.
I have to remind myself that this ebb and flow is how it goes. And so I make sure to schedule in time to write.
Nothing as structured as a daily word goal or writing morning pages but just blocking out time a couple evenings or weekends a month.
Knowing I have these sessions set aside reassures me that, no matter how busy I am, I have made the time and space to keep moving forward with my fiction.
Balance is a fallacy; it’s more of a see-saw.
I work on the novel I’ve started; I work on my book’s marketing plan; I revise a short story; I send out a piece of flash fiction; I post to social media; I get a rejection; I write the novel.
Bottom line: If one of your goals is to publish your writing, you have to give the business some attention. It’s not always fun or glamorous but it’s important.
(This is a paid guest blog post. Please give the author a follow! https://www.facebook.com/BreathingWordsBlog)
by Theresa Garee | Mar 30, 2025 | Blog
Into the Springs Writers Workshop Welcomes Literary Agent and Romance Writer
Victoria Selvaggio, owner of Storm Literary Agency, is the first literary agent for Into the Springs Writers Workshop, now in its seventh year.
The workshop runs August 1-3, at the Mills Park Hotel in Yellow Springs, OH.
Vicki will begin the weekend sessions with The Life of an Agent, where she’ll include her journey as a writer then agent and how one has affected the other. How to Pitch Your Book is a key session on opening night, too. Vicki intends to hear 10-minute book pitches throughout the workshop. Her session will help everyone prepare for the inevitable pitch if they’re considering traditional publishing. Her other sessions are Writing Effective Query Letters and All About Editing.
Joining Vicki is Juliette Hyland, multi-published romance author for Harlequin’s Mills & Boon line, an imprint of Harper Collins. She’ll lead sessions on Creating Characters to Root For and Goal-Motivation-Conflict: Keys to Every Story. She’ll guide writing exercises that carry over from Characters to Root For. Plus she’ll host a one hour of guided writing while Vicki hears pitches.
A signature trait of Into the Springs is having two to three featured guests leading interactive sessions throughout the weekend. Doing so creates an opportunity for attendees to ask Vicki and Juliette their questions, whenever they arise.
Morning creative writing time, open mic readings, selling your books, Saturday lunch, and refreshments are included in the fee.
For extra fees, Vicki will critique the first 10 pages of a story and a query letter. Juliette will critique the first 10 pages of a story. Both will then sit down with the writer for a ten-minute follow-up. Each is taking a maximum of 10 writers.
Details, costs and registration are on the website: www.intothespringswritersworkshop.com
Questions, email Sandy Kachurek, Director: sandy@intothespringswritersworkshop.com
Hope you can join us. It’s going to be an amazing weekend.
by Theresa Garee | Jun 3, 2024 | Blog
In its sixth year, Into the Springs Writers’ Workshop welcomes featured guest instructors,
Andrew Welsh-Huggins and Jeffrey Marks, for the whole weekend of August 2-4, at the Mills
Park Hotel in Yellow Springs, OH. In addition, the Ohio Audiobook Narrators will present a
three-hour session on August 3.
Andrew Welsh-Huggins is an award-winning mystery author mostly known for his series
featuring ex-OSU Buckeye quarterback now private eye, Andy Hayes. As a journalist, Mr.
Welsh-Huggins also publishes nonfiction.
Jeffrey Marks is a mystery writer as well as the publisher at Crippen & Landru Publishing
Company, well-known for its short story mysteries and classic mystery collections. Mr. Marks
has won every mystery award for his biographies of mystery writer Craig Rice and Anthony
Boucher.
Both authors will present collaboratively and individually in sessions throughout the weekend.
Their topics include: the short story from idea to publication; how to make research count; the
nuts and bolts of revision; the history of the mystery genre; essentials for query letters and
nonfiction book proposals; and a guided live writing activity.
For an extra fee, Mr. Welsh-Huggins will critique the first ten pages of your story and meet in
conversation for up to 15 minutes. Mr. Marks will critique book queries and also meet in
conversation for up to 15 minutes.
As is traditional at Into the Springs, both Mr. Welsh-Huggins and Mr. Marks will be available to
participants all weekend for any additional questions.
In a special, three-hour session, the Ohio Audiobook Narrators will cover all aspects of book
narration. Elements of their presentation will include: their process of narrating an author’s work;
what’s needed if an author wants to narrate their own book; what makes up a legitimate audio
book contract; and the issue of Artificial Intelligence in audio book narration. Mini
demonstrations and Q&A will follow.
Other activities will fill out this intensive writers’ weekend, including morning creative writing,
Saturday night open mic readings where you have seven minutes to read your work, and, new
this year, a free half table to sell one of your books. The public is invited to listen and buy.
Registration is open now through July 25 for Into the Springs Writers’ Workshop. For more
information and to register, please go to www.IntoTheSpringsWritersWorkshop.com.
by Theresa Garee | Mar 23, 2024 | Blog
(Janet won our quarterly Thurber House ticket giveaway. Make sure to sign up for our newsletter, to get your next chance to attend an event!)
The Thurber House has a valued reputation for presenting intriguing writing workshops, and none more so than Jen Knox’s Corporeal Creativity, presented March 11 from 6 to 7:30. I attended via Zoom, which was helpful as I live south of Dayton
. The class felt inclusive except for the inability to connect on a personal – more corporeal – level with the larger group. 🙂
Presenter Jen Knox created a welcoming atmosphere, asking all attendees to introduce themselves and share a brief description of where they are in their writing and what each hoped to gain from the class. The group was representative of the broad spectrum of writers, from those just starting out to others like me who are already published. Knox followed her instructional talk with examples from the writings of Lydia Yuknavitch, Richard Selzer, and Jeanette Winterson.
The class focused on helping writers get in touch and attuned to their physical bodies in a way that translates to the page. Creating characters and describing their actions through the use of the physical can enhance the story and bring the reader into a deeper connection with the work. The class included a meditative exercise and several writing prompts. Knox concluded the evening with a question and answer period that allowed attendees to explore additional areas or expand on what she presented.
by Theresa Garee | Nov 10, 2023 | Blog, Write Now Columbus - Current Essay
Written By Kathryn Haueisen
Last week I had a moral dilemma. I won the Write Now Columbus complimentary Thurber
House ticket to see Henry Winkler being interviewed by Pulitzer-Prize-Winning Journalist
Connie Schultz at the Ohio State University Mershon Auditorium. This was a stop on his book
tour to promote his newly released, Being Henry: The Fonz . . . and Beyond. I was really looking
forward to the evening, in spite of the stuffy nose and annoying other symptoms that moved in
with me the day before the event. I was pretty sure it was a cold, likely the result of temperatures
rising and falling by 20 or more degrees every few hours. But what if it was COVID?
It would be socially irresponsible to attend the event if I had COVID, even with a mask. I
debated not testing, figuring ignorance would enable me to blissfully attend with a semi-clear
conscience. I could hear my parents’ disapproval of that option swirling around in my head,
chastising me from their graves. So, I tested. It was negative. Phew.
Wednesday, November 8, I, and my brother, along with an estimated 900 other Happy Days fans
of Fonzie enjoyed his interview with Schultz. I only knew Winkler from Happy Days and more
recently, some television commercials. I did not know he wrote children’s books. Nor did I know
he struggled with dyslexia issues and struggled to find himself after his role as the adolescent
with an attitude came to an end after eleven seasons. He credits his mental health therapist for
helping him create the post-Fonzie life he’s now enjoying.
Winkler was charming, witty, funny, and energetic. While seated across from one another,
Schultz would pitch him a question. He’d answer it, and then jump up to roam around the stage,
embellishing his answers with whatever crossed his kangaroo-like mind, hopping from one story
to the next. Then he’d sit down for the next question before repeating this pattern. Being 78 years
old hasn’t slowed him down much. He can still pull off the famous Fonzie persona with ease.
Thurber House pulled off an amazing event, with volunteers everywhere greeting and assisting.
My brother claimed his copy of Winkler’s book within a couple of minutes at a table stacked
high with Winkler’s books. We settled into the last two seats open near the back of the
auditorium, laughing and clapping away the next hour.
After the program the staff invited us to wait in line to take a photo with Winkler. The line was
already really long before we found the end of it. Though I was certain I was dealing with an
annoying cold and not COVID, I was ready to get home to more hot tea, honey, lemon, and cold
meds. We skipped the line, but I am grateful to Thurber House for providing this enchanting
evening. I shall remember it for years, along with a new book to read and old programs to watch.
by Theresa Garee | Jul 1, 2023 | Blog
There’s a trend I’ve noticed in my life, and it’s one I’m not at all fond of.
It was in March of 2020 when I let my guard down, congratulating myself for finally having it together. I’m sure a few of us know what happens next in that story.
In November of 2022 was when I got serious about writing. I launched
Live by Design, a weekly newsletter on the topic of mindset, and I committed myself to a writing habit for the first time. Two days later my TikTok feed was overrun with videos about something called ChatGPT.
Generative A.I. had been born, and my boyish excitement fast turned to dread and remorse at the death of my dream of being a published author. With immense hesitation I’ve come to a point in which I understand how I can use this new tool in a way that is not only effective, but also aligns with my integrity.
Much of my professional writing is done in the interest of clicks and traffic, and generative A.I. has given me the ability to create content optimized for algorithms. That saves me from suffering over words that don’t resonate in my heart and mind.
Will books written by A.I. replace books written by humans? I doubt it, but don’t be fooled into thinking we haven’t been reading computer generated content for years. This is just the next step, one we’ll adapt to.
As much as I love imaging mathematicians scoffing at the calculator when it was invented, it’s a tool we all walk around with. A.I. has the ability to make us better and more discerning in how we write and consume.
By the way, this was written by a real life human.
