Tue, 24 Jul 2012 22:14:58 +0000 In Art of Storytelling's ongoing series of essays by guest bloggers, Russian novelist Nadia Clifford explores writing a novel in English when English is your second language. Nadia, who is working on her first novel, grew up in Moscow and now lives in the Boston area. Art of Storytelling is offering an E-Course entitled International Novel/Memoir: Writing in English when English is not your first language.…

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 19:24:17 +0000 Guest blogger Julie Mannina discusses her novel about past and present lives, Rhamanta, in this ongoing series of essays on writing by guest bloggers. Read more about Julie on her blog http://juliemannina.wordpress.com/. As a child welfare attorney, I see compelling stories every day. Several years ago, I decided to try to record those stories that really moved me.  But at one point, I realized the timing…

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 18:16:32 +0000In Art of Storytelling’s ongoing series of essays on the writing process, former New York literary agent and current writer and AofS coach Jon Sternfeld weighs in on the query letter. Jon’s insider knowledge of how to approach an agent is invaluable to any writer who wants to get published. (Be sure to watch for the next blog by Jon, where he’ll focus on the initial…

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:46:17 +0000 At sea, acrylic on cardboard, www.carolineallen.com Last November, I finished the long process of prepping Earth for publishers and started revising the rough draft of my second novel Air. I'd been writing, revising, editing and researching the market, not to mention working with about ten writing clients, for years. For at least the past five years, if not longer, I've been going at quite a…

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 19:17:00 +0000 Women's writing class in Seattle. As a coach, I've worked with clients sometimes for years on their novel and memoir. Most clients look forward to the day when all their hard work will pay off, the day their books find a publisher. One such client, Tess Hardwick has seen her dream come true. I worked with Tess from June 2007 to September 2008, once a…

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:21:26 +0000 Want to learn how to write a memoir from the comfort of your own home? I am now offering 10 email lessons for just $25. The lessons include: clarifying memories and organizing your stories creating vivid description writing engaging dialogue developing strong characters expressing setting doing research Each lesson has been developed over 10 years of teaching memoir to adults. By following the exercises, you…

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:41:05 +0000 Fractured Brilliance: Styrofoam, paper mache, shattered mirror, and grout. www.carolineallen.com Over the past month in my studio, I've been working on a mosaic (see picture above). Usually I build the structure from scratch, but have been overwhelmed by world events, emotionally and psychically, and after writing my own novels and coaching clients on their books, I had very little energy left. So, I bought a…

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:13:59 +0000The town I live in in Massachusetts has a reputation. For decades, Haverhill has been known for its petty crime, domestic violence, its unemployment and poverty. Walk the streets late at night or too early in the morning (I was up at 5 to do a photo shoot of the downtown once), and you'll run into all sorts of characters, mostly homeless, mostly scary. I was…

Mon, 23 May 2011 17:46:32 +0000 Thermal Self Portrait, acrylic on canvas, 22x30, www.carolineallen.com I was talking to a client the other day about being an Artist. I use the term Artist as in capital "A", as in writer, dancer, singer, actor. I was talking about being a journalist and how I felt throughout my career that I was working exceedingly hard to "figure things out". If I was writing an…

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:42:20 +0000 I wrote a short story in Seattle years ago called "baby cow, baby cow". That morning, I rotated the ficus. Bony branches bearing withered leaves snaked out into the living room. On the branch tips here and there healthy growth surfaced in irregular bursts. The tree’s lush side hugged the living room corner. I’d let the ficus go for months, not wanting to expose its…