Writing Excuses

One of the absolute best sources of information about the craft of writing is a podcast known as Writing Excuses. As you might expect from the tagline, Writing Excuses is a fifteen minute podcast, with each week dedicated to a particular topic of interest to fiction writing, with a particular emphasis on science fiction and fantasy. The podcast is hosted by Mary Robinette Kowal, Brandon Sanderson, Howard Taylor, and Dan Wells, each of whom bring their own unique blend of experience, humor, wit, and charm to the podcast. They are often joined by a special guest, who typically contributes particular expertise on the topic in question.

In addition to sticking to their fifteen minute time-limit (more or less, anyway!), each episode also features a book recommendation by one of the hosts as well as signing off with a new and original writing prompt each week. Not only do they tackle a wide variety of useful topics on both the craft and business of writing, but are often hilariously funny. The podcast is currently on its seventh season, and you can download any of their episodes for free from the Writing Excuses Archives. If you've never done so, I strongly recommend you check out this amazing podcast.

As a bonus, you can also watch them record several episodes from Season 7 on YouTube.

Back in October, the hosts of Writing Excuses announced that they were holding a special retreat this coming June to give attendees the opportunity to have one-on-one time with their team to improve one's craft. If you're curious about what they have planned, you can find all the details here.

Interestingly enough, despite some concern by the hosts that there might only be minimal interest, the fact of the matter is that registration for this event sold out in a matter of minutes. But as a consolation prize of sorts for those who missed out, they decided to offer one lucky person the chance to attend the conference for free thanks to the generosity of one of their listeners. They came up with a detailed application process, which you can read more about here.

Why am I telling you all this? This past week, the Writing Excuses crew announced the recipient of this scholarship. Here's the full announcement:

I am absolutely delighted to report that it is none other than my lovely wife Alissa Leonard who was awarded the scholarship! The moment she discovered she won, she started shouting and jumping around the room for the sheer joy of it all. It was a scene I will not soon forget. I am so proud of her and so thrilled that she will have the opportunity to meet with the great group of writers and interact with them on her writing craft. I can't wait to share will all my readers the amazing experiences she is going to have on this week long retreat. And maybe, just maybe, this will be the big break she needs to finally become a published author.

And now I'm well past my deadline for today, so I will end here. Thanks so much for reading. See you next time.