How Do You Write

What do you do when life gets so challenging you're not sure what to do next? Follow what Rosie did! When a rare form of arthritis ended her career and left her in a wheelchair, Rosie Radcliffe had to shield in lockdown so embarked on fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming a writer. She wrote some dreadful ones before finding her feet, and learned a LOT from podcasts and You Tube. Her novel is set on the north west Lancashire coast, where she lives in a rural village with her long-suffering husband and cat. Rosie writes about challenging life issues, with a lighter touch, where coffee shops, cake, food, and people watching feature heavily, just as they do in her own life. She is in discussion with her publishers about a second novel in 2025. Frankie and Dot is her first novel. ❤️ Adventure 52 - Patreon

How to make suspense actually suspenseful and the power of a fuzzy outline! Helena Echlin has written for numerous publications on both sides of the Atlantic, including The Guardian and The Times. She taught at Stanford University for eight years and has recently returned to the UK, where she now teaches fiction writing for Oxford University’s Department of Continuing Education. She lives in Oxfordshire with her husband and two children. Clever Little Thing is her most recent novel. ❤️ Adventure 52 - Patreon

Don't miss this chat about not only micro-communities, but how to know when you've NAILED your query letter! Michele Tracy Berger is the Eric and Jane Nord Family Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and director of the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities at Case Western Reserve University. She has a secondary appointment in the Department of English. In addition to being a scholar, she is also an award-winning creative writer. Much of her work explores psychological horror, especially through issues of race and gender. Doll Seed, her debut short story collection of speculative fiction was published this fall by Aunt Lute Books.❤️ Adventure 52 - Patreon

The most popular episode every year - check out what Rachael made in 2024 and how she made it! Also, what will she be changing, adapting, doing in 2025? Her words of the year are Sparkle and Bloom, so that's a hint. ❤️ Adventure 52 - Patreon

This is an interview you will LOVE, start to finish. Get ready to be overjoyed. Elisabeth Sharp McKetta is an award-winning writer and writing teacher and a mother of two. With a PhD on the intersections between fairy tales and autobiography, as well as a seven-year streak of writing weekly poems for strangers, she teaches writing for Oxford Department for Continuing Education and for Harvard Extension School, where she won their highest teaching award. She has authored thirteen books, most recently the personal growth guide Edit Your Life, based on the experience of living three years in a 275-square foot backyard guest house with her family of four (five, if you count the Labrador)—and the middle grade novel Ark, set during the pandemic and described by Kirkus Reviews as “infectiously hopeful.” Elisabeth co-edited the anthology What Doesn’t Kill Her: Women’s Stories of Resilience, which Gloria Steinem described as stories that “will help each of us to trust and tell our own.” Her poetry and short work

Let's plan for the new year with Sacha and Rachael!❤️ Adventure 52 - Patreon - http://patreon.com/rachael ✏️ Write More, Worry Less: A Year of Pressure-Free ProductivityJan 4, 2025 - CLICK HERE for the details! Don't miss the early-bird pricing, good till Dec 10th!

Support — who needs it? You do! How to get it (and how to hold open space for your writing, too). Heidi McIntyre’s journey as a writer began in college when a professor convinced her to switch majors to English, igniting her passion for storytelling. With a background in marketing consulting, Heidi spent years specializing in fresh produce, collaborating with growers, commodity boards, and industry associations to elevate their brands. Today, she channels her expertise into helping authors as a Book Marketing Coach. Heidi self-published her debut novel, Sea Magic, in 2023, which is the first in a women’s paranormal fiction series. She lives in Oviedo, Florida, with her husband, Tim, and their two dogs, Pumpkin and Lizzie. She loves coffee, chocolate, yoga and visiting historical places. Find her at heidimcintyre.com/coachRachael on The Write it Scared Podcast✏️ Write More, Worry Less: A Year of Pressure-Free ProductivityJan 4, 2025 - CLICK HERE for the details!

Rachael’s back from swimming with the turtles - catch up with her today. And how does a writer move from flash to longer work? Find out with Kate!Kate Mahony is a long-time writer of short stories and flash fiction with an MA in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University of Wellington – Te Herenga Waka. Her work has been published in anthologies and literary journals. Her debut novel, Secrets of the Land, published by Cloud Ink Press was voted onto the Whitcoulls Bookstores Top 100 Books 2024-2025. She lives in Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) in Aotearoa New Zealand.✏️ Write More, Worry Less: A Year of Pressure-Free ProductivityJan 4, 2025 - CLICK HERE for the details!Don't miss the early-bird pricing, good till Dec 10th!

Rachael's landing book planes and Sacha's cleaning up after an incredibly successful Kickstarter! Enjoy!

How to write an identity not your own! Also: on inhabiting your character, on easy reading being damned hard writing, on grounding the reader in a scene, and expecting that you WILL make mistakes (and that's okay.) Alex Temblador is the Mixed Latine award-winning author of Writing An Identity Not Your Own, Secrets of the Casa Rosada and Half Outlaw. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Central Oklahoma and is a contributor to Living Beyond Borders: Growing Up Mexican in America and Speculative Fiction for Dreamers: A Latinx Anthology. Her work has also appeared in PALABRITAS, D Magazine, and Colorado Review. Alex has taught creative writing seminars, workshops, and classes with the Women's Fiction Writers Association, WritingWorkshops.com, the Writer's League of Texas, and more, as well as spoken about diversity in the literary world with Macmillan, Texas Library Association, Abydos Learning Conference, and at many other festivals, c

On zooming out to look at character interiority and having scene goals, as well as slowing down the hurry mode. Enjoy! Nicole Meier is an author and book coach living in the Pacific Northwest. Her debut novel, The House of Bradbury, was chosen as a Best Book of 2016 by Refinery29. Her second book, The Girl Made of Clay, was named a Top Book according to Bookbub readers. The Second Chance Supper Club, was named a Best New Book 2019 by Popsugar. Her fourth novel, City of Books, is out now. Nicole is the host of the Steps to Story podcast and a certified book coach and developmental editor working to help fiction writers bring their stories to life. Find her at nicolemeier.com or on Instagram @nicolemeierwrites

On writing with heart, soul, and pen! Robin Finn, MPH, MA, is the author of the new book, Heart. Soul. Pen.: Find Your Voice on the Page and in Your Life. She is the creator and founder of Heart. Soul. Pen.® women’s writing workshops and Hot Writing™ where midlife and menopause inspire the desire to say what you mean without apologizing. Robin teaches writing for groups and organization across the U.S. Her work has appeared in national and international press including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The L.A. Times. She holds master’s degrees in public health from Columbia University and in spiritual psychology from the University of Santa Monica. Robin’s passion is helping women unleash their radical self-expression and connect, heal, and transform through writing.

On being okay with not knowing (it's part of being human), on listening to dreams, and on "overhearing" your book. Enjoy! Lauren Aliza Green is a novelist, poet, and musician. Her debut novel, The World After Alice, is out now from Viking (US) and Penguin Michael Joseph (UK). Her chapbook, A Great Dark House, won the Poetry Society of America's Chapbook Fellowship. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Lit Hub, Virginia Quarterly Review, Threepenny Review, American Short Fiction, and elsewhere. Other recognitions include the Eavan Boland Award, sponsored by Poetry Ireland and Stanford University, and a spot on Forbes' 2024 30 Under 30 list.

Rachael and Sacha chat about her monumental Kickstarter and how it feels, emotionally (answer: weird!) as well as Rachael’s new book idea. 

On earning the heightened moments in your writing. Also, you don't have to be writing to be writing!  Julie Leong is a Chinese Malaysian American fantasy author who grew up across both New Jersey and Beijing, China. She studied economics and political science at Yale and works in tech, but she has always nurtured a deep love for sci-fi/fantasy beneath her corporate exterior. Julie lives in San Francisco with her husband, their rescue pup, and a magical Meyer lemon tree in the backyard that somehow always has ripe lemons. When she’s not writing, she enjoys making unnecessary spreadsheets and flambéing things. The Teller of Small Fortunes is her debut novel. 

How to go from feeling your way through a story to actually knowing a bit about it before you start! Also - what does a cat have to do with kindness? Ann Rose is a typical Taurus—loyal but stubborn, which means being an author is perfect. While asking the private group chat for ideas on what to include in this bio, Ann was reminded that some of her greatest qualities are her awesome best friends from high school—a fact she couldn’t argue with. She loves dark chocolate, sarcasm, her family, tacos, and her cats—obviously not in that order. Ann also writes young adult novels under the pen name A.M. Rose. The Seemingly Impossible Love Life of Amanda Dean is her most recent novel. 

On being unapologetic about investing in yourself as a writer! Rachael and Rebekah also talk about the value of friends, and about writing being alive, never stagnant! Rebekah Faubion is the author of THE LOVERS, a Nora Ephron-style, sapphic rom-com coming Summer 2024 from Berkley. She is also the author of young adult horror novel LOST GIRLS coming from Delacorte Press in 2026. When she isn’t writing books that make her bi soul sing, she enjoys watching anything romantic or scary (or, better yet, both), hiking in the Hollywood Hills, and reading tarot by candlelight.

Using an editor AS you're writing! Don't miss this conversation about something people often wonder about but rarely talk about! May Cobb is an award-winning author of The Hunting Wives, My Summer Darlings, A Likeable Woman, and Big Woods. Her books have received attention from Book of The Month, The Today Show, and Oprah Daily and have been optioned for film/TV. She has an M.A. from San Francisco State University and her essays and interviews have appeared in The Washington Post and Good Housekeeping. She currently lives in Austin with her family. Her novel The Hunting Wives is soon to be a series on STARZ. The Hollywood Assistant is her most recent novel. 

Please enjoy this episode of The Black Herron with Sacha Black and Rachael Herron! 

On how to quit imposter syndrome (yes, it’s doable!) and on giving voice to the inanimate - you’ll love this episode! Lynne Thompson served as Los Angeles’ fourth Poet Laureate, 2021-2022. Thompson is the author of four collections of poetry, Beg No Pardon, Start With A Small Guitar, Fretwork, and most recently, Blue on a Blue Palette. She serves on the Boards of Cave Canem, Poetry Foundation, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Scripps College which she lead as Board Chair, 2018-2022. Her work can be found in the Kenyon Review, Colorado Review, and Pleiades, among others.