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Author Interviews
Author interviews and articles to help you learn from the best.
Novel writing tips: Guest interview with published author Caroline Sandon
1. When did you first start writing? I started writing when I was about five, usually poems for my father’s birthday cards, it progressed from there. At eleven I won a national poetry competition and this fuelled my ambition to become a full time wr...
October 11th, 2013
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12 famously incarcerated writers
Each year, PEN International marks the Day of the Imprisoned Writer in order to raise awareness about persecuted and incarcerated writers worldwide, but not all writers who have done time have been political prisoners. Here are a dozen writers who went to prison for a variety of reasons: Sir ...
May 4th, 2015
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Mahi Wasfy's 'In the Heart of Cairo': Now Novel author interview
Mahi Wasfy, a writer and early childhood educator, recently completed Now Novel's author coaching process and finished writing her book, 'In The Heart of Cairo'. We asked Mahi to share her experiences and insights into writing a book from start to finish: Now Novel: Tell us a ...
May 30th, 2016
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Writing coach advice: 8 things I learned writing my debut
This is a guest contribution by Alyssa Hollingsworth, a writing coach at Now Novel whose debut The Eleventh Trade is out this month with Macmillan in the US and HotKey in the UK. About the same time I began working for Now Novel as a writing coach, my literary agent Amber Caravéo asked t...
September 12th, 2018
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Future technology books: Q&A with author Kate Baucherel
Indie author and corporate blockchain educator Kate Baucherel shares insights on writing science fiction books. Learn more about writing tech fiction vs non-fiction, being accessible on technological subjects, and more. Writing tech fiction vs non-fiction Q: Thank you for speaking to us, K...
March 4th, 2021
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Writing coach interview: Romy Sommer on romance and founding ROSA
We chat to Now Novel writing coach and hybrid-published romance author Romy Sommer about writing romance, founding the Romance Writers of South Africa non-profit (ROSA), and the joys of helping other writers fulfil their true potential. Watch the video and read the full transcript to learn more....
December 3rd, 2021
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Writing mentor interview: Hedi Lampert on creative memoir
We chat to Now Novel writing mentor Hedi Lampert about writing creative memoir based on family history, the challenges of juggling multiple creative interests and vocations, and more. [youtube id="VNw9wn6m4mY"] Lascelles Marais 00:00Hello everyone and welcome! My name is Lascelles Marais...
December 8th, 2021
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Book coach interview: Zee Monodee on feel-good romance
We chatted to Now Novel Coach Zee Monodee about writing feel-good romance, the book coaching process, being a Mauritian author, favorite romance tropes, and more. Watch the video and read the full interview transcript. [youtube id="G00I8rm97Ug"] Lascelles Marais: 00:00 Hello everyone and w...
January 20th, 2022
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Story coach Arja Salafranca on writing and editing
We chat to award-winning author, editor and Now Novel story coach Arja Salafranca about writing poetry, prose and embracing multiple mediums. Arja's advice: Write your passion. Watch the video or read the transcript below. [youtube id="4IFgJaoHwoc"] Getting to know Arja Salafranca Brend...
October 27th, 2022
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Writing coach Nerine Dorman on YA, sci-fi and fantasy
Nerine Dorman is an award-winning author who has been active in the publishing industry since 2007. She's proudly hybrid, with books published by traditional publishers, small presses and self-published. As an editor she works with authors from concept to the moment they press 'send', whether th...
December 12th, 2022
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Interview with writing coach Masha du Toit
Watch the video or read the full transcript of this writing coach chat below: [youtube id="p8hwrNIfHPc"] Working with writers Brendan: Hi Masha, thanks for taking the time to chat to us today. We wanted to find out a little bit more about you so we can share this with the rest of ou...
September 22nd, 2023
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Fate deals the cards: a review and interview with romance writer Romy Sommer
Like taking a trip to Italy Reading Romy Sommer’s seventh romance novel, My Fake Italian Marriage, is like taking a trip to Italy. It’s a novel richly redolent of the landscape, food, smells and sensibilities of Tuscany, around the hilltop medieval town of Montalcino. The novel is set on an ...
December 10th, 2023
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