Blog

The Power of Criticism

By Evan Swensen| 03/24/2025
  “It is, I think, as clear as daylight that literature can only be kept alive by criticism.” Henry James, a master of psychological realism, understood an undeniable truth about … 0 More

The Art of Letting Readers See

By Evan Swensen| 03/21/2025
There’s an old saying in writing circles—probably scrawled on a thousand sticky notes across the desks of aspiring authors—that commands, Show, don’t tell. The phrase is gospel in every writing … 0 More

The Novel That Never Used ‘E’

By Evan Swensen| 03/19/2025
  Some people run marathons. Others climb mountains. But in 1939, one man decided to challenge himself in an entirely different way—by writing an entire novel without using the letter … 0 More

The Wordsmith’s Drug

By Evan Swensen| 03/17/2025
    “Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” – Rudyard Kipling Language is no mere tool. It hypnotizes, soothes, incites, and heals. Kipling understood this … 0 More

The Peril and Power of Words

By Evan Swensen| 03/10/2025
  “Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately after they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish.” — Hermann Hesse Hermann Hesse … 0 More

Happily Never After

By Evan Swensen| 03/05/2025
Once upon a time, in a world before Disney sprinkled its magic on everything, fairy tales weren’t the warm, fuzzy bedtime stories we know today. No, the original stories collected … 0 More

Writing Alone, Speaking to the World

By Evan Swensen| 03/03/2025
    Seamus Heaney once said, “The writer is in the paradoxical position of being both solitary and communal.” Few writers embodied this paradox as completely as he did. Heaney, … 0 More

Now, Let’s Talk Promotion

By Evan Swensen| 02/27/2025
  A hard truth every writer eventually faces: Even the best books don’t sell themselves. It’s a lesson that lands differently depending on where you are in your writing career—like … 0 More

The Secret Life of Beatrix Potter

By Evan Swensen| 02/26/2025
    When most people think of Beatrix Potter, they picture charming illustrations of mischievous rabbits in blue jackets or hedgehogs in lace-trimmed bonnets. Her Tale of Peter Rabbit has … 0 More