Lit Service

Oct 16 2024 151 ep. 25 mins 47

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A show giving dodgy writing advice and first chapter critiques for aspiring writers.

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Writing Disability From Experience with Crystal Seitz

Oct 16 2024 20 mins

Crystal joins Caitlin and Aliah to chat about her experience writing a main character that shares her own disability, and gives some thoughts that could help other authors attempting to do the same. Crystal mentioned another book in the podcast that features a protagonist with Crohn's disease, though we don't mention the title, we will here: Of Wolves and Stags by Ria Parisi Cryst

How to Write a Good Haunting with Lily Anderson

Oct 03 2024 14 mins

Caitlin and Aliah chat with Printz Honor winning author Lily Anderson about how to write hauntings and horror, tempering scary stories with humor, and her newest book Killer House Party. Lily Anderson the author of several novels for young adults including The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You, Not Now Not Ever, and Undead Girl Gang. A former school librarian, she is deeply devoted t

Heists 101 with Caitlin Schneiderhan

Aug 28 2024 14 mins

What are the building blocks of a heist? Caitlin Schneiderhan chats with Caitlin (two of us! Correct spelling and everything!) to chat about her debut book Medici Heist and how she went about planning it. Caitlin Schneiderhan is a genre-loving writer on the hit Netflix show STRANGER THINGS. Originally hailing from Silver Spring, Maryland, Caitlin hatched from a cocoon of Terry Prat

Seven Point Plot Structure: Romance Edition with Tricia Levenseller

Jul 10 2024 22 mins

Tricia Levenseller joins Caitlin to talk about how she plots romance, including a fun twist on Dan Wells' Seven Point Plot structure specifically for romance. (Here's Dan's original presentation, which is worth a watch and an easy-to-use template of the non-romance version) Tricia is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of eight YA romantasies, including the Daughter

Setting as Character with Daniel Kraus

Jun 13 2024 12 mins

Throwback to when Daniel Kraus came on our show to discuss Whalefall! DANIEL KRAUS is a New York Times bestselling writer of novels, TV, and film. His latest novel, Whalefall, received a front-cover review in the New York Times Book Review, won the Alex Award, was an L.A. Times Book Prize Finalist, and was a Best Book of 2023 from NPR, the New York Times, Amazon, Chicago Tribune, a

Writing Characters with Marie Lu

Jun 12 2024 21 mins

Marie Lu is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Legend trilogy and The Young Elites trilogy (and lots of other fabulous books!). She graduated from the University of Southern California and jumped into the video game industry, working for Disney Interactive Studios as a Flash artist. Now a full-time writer, she spends her spare time reading, drawing, playing Assassin’

The Psychology of Characters with Eva Des Lauriers

May 22 2024 15 mins

EVA DES LAURIERS joins the Lit Service cast to chat about how she approaches writing characters based on her background in psychology and sociology and how authors can approach writing teen characters with authenticity. Eva is the author of YA Romance, I Wish You Would (Holt, BYR). She’s a diehard romantic who holds both an MSW and BA in psychology. As a clinical social worker, s

Character Building with Holly Black

Mar 06 2024 18 mins

Caitlin chats with Holly Black about building characters and her newest book The Prisoner's Throne. Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of fantasy novels, including the Novels of Elfhame, THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN, the Spiderwick Chronicles, and her adult debut, BOOK OF NIGHT. She has been a finalist for an Eisner Award and the Lodestar Award, and the recipie

How to Start Writing a Second Draft

Jun 21 2023 12 mins

What do you do once you've finished your first draft? Immediately send it to every agent and publisher you can find contact info for? Put it in a drawer? Maybe something in between. Caitlin, Aliah, and Kristen chat about how they approach a second draft. Don't forget to check out Caitlin's newest release, He Who Breaks the Earth

How to Write a Killer Ending

Jun 07 2023 11 mins

Caitlin, Aliah, and Kristen chat about how to approach writing a satisfying and exciting ending. Don't miss Caitlin's new release from Simon and Schuster, He Who Breaks the Earth