Clear a channel for your craft. I’ll help you stay the course, and keep your writing free of blocks.
Join an Inlet Salon for accountability, community support, and craft tips to move your writing forward.
I’m poet who loves to plot. After getting my MFA in poetry, I spent fifteen years working with writers at UW-Madison. I helped novelists structure their books and go on to publish. I helped poets and flash writers hone their craft, find homes for their work in lit journals, and publish collections. And now I’d like to help you.
I’ll be your navigator through the ebb and flow of the creative process, and right your writing when the currents cross. I’ll point you towards your north star, and follow your ideas to their truest source.
SEPTEMBER SESSION: WEDNESDAY THE 17TH, 12-1:30PM CENTRAL TIME.
OCTOBER SESSION: thursday the 17th, 11am-12:30PM CENTRAL TIME.
NOVEMBER SESSION: TUESDAY THE 12TH, 12-1:30PM CENTRAL TIME.
Inlet Write-Alongs meet at a different time & on a different day just about every month but with the same intention–to open an inlet into our work and write in shared solitude.
Fee: Free
Connection with the creative process can feel tenuous even on our best days. As we navigate our craft, it’s natural to gaze upon the horizon and feel everything from hope to confidence to monumental overwhelm. Some days we reach “x” marks the spot; other days, drift off course. Workshopping can help; so can studying technique. But the most important skill we can cultivate is the habit of return. Approximately once a month, write alongside me and other Inlet writers in shared solitude. Bring your writing project, find an inlet into your work, and carry your craft forward. You may be surprised how much distance you cover.
Metaphor in the Making is an immersive salon designed to empower and guide you towards mastering metaphor: metaphorical crafting, metaphorical thinking, and metaphor-inspired writing practice tools.
Become familiar with metaphor’s ripple effect on your writing, from the words you use to the themes they deliver. And get to know metaphor’s ripple effect on your life, from the way you plan your day, to the dreams you have, to the way you make decisions about the next steps on your writer’s journey, and beyond.
Signing up for the Inlet’s Metaphor in the Making Salon is like enrolling in a navigation course for your craft, an accountability program to keep you moving forward, and a readers club to gut-check your work when you need it—all in one offering. All genres welcome.
This Inlet offering, coming in the winter of 2025, will be facilitated by Angela Rydell and taught by Trisha Day. It is currently in development. If you’d like to get on the contact list click on the button below.
Enrolling in the Inlet’s Novel Salon is like enrolling in an orienteering course for novelists. You’ll learn how to create our own map rooted in place & big ideas (plot your theme), calibrate your compass (attuned to your characters’ inner needs), and find your novel’s true north.
Fee: Starts at $1900 (spots are full)
I’ve worked with over 1,000 writers, taught creative writing for twenty years, and though I often get questions like “How do I plot” and “How do I create a character readers care about?” the most important question novelists need to ask is this: “What is my story REALLY about?” You’ll spend each month testing out answers to this question, and others designed to help you probe your plot and prose, find your main character’s inner and outer arcs, and your novel’s true north.
The Novel Salon provides continuity, monthly tips, group camaraderie, community–and more. The kind of connections you can get from a curated group of likeminded peers who share pages and gain a deep understanding of each other’s work over time. Plus, you get long-term access to a knowledgeable professional–yup, that’s me–handing out maps she knows well. You’ll get monthly feedback and craft concepts all novelists need, so you can get tips but also calibrate your own compass, do your own navigation, and reach out for help when it’s needed.
Here at the Inlet a handful of published writers have joined us over the past few years. Many are authors I’ve been fortunate enough to coach at some point in their careers, whether early in their studies, or closer to their publication dates. Others I’ve befriended on my own writer’s journey. I’m excited to have a chance to not only talk with them but share their work with others.
April 2024 Interview with Kate Fletemeyer (pen name Evelyn Ann Casey)
I was delighted to receive an email from Kate exclaiming “News!” in early 2024. I LOVE opening those kinds of emails. Yes, it was the best of news: Her novel Candlewood is forthcoming from HenschelHAUS in the summer of 2024, under the pen name Evelyn Ann Casey. The book follows devout Meg Joyce whose parish job means more than a hallowed paycheck: she must confront the “boys club” of her Church, survive the advances of a predatory priest, and when she falls in love with salt of the earth Father Andy, reckon with her deepest desires.
Kate’s award-winning poetry as well as book reviews, short stories and essays appear in Midwest Review, Potato Soup Journal, Medium.com and elsewhere. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin. Find out more about Kate and her work here: Evelyn Ann Casey
(video coming this fall)
May 2023 Interview with Katey Schultz and Des Cooper
In May of 2023 I interviewed two award-winning writers I’m proud to call my friends, Katey Schultz and Des Cooper.
Daily Beast praised Katey Schultz’ story collection Flashes of War as “ambitious and fearless.” It won Foreword’s Book of the Year Award and the Military Writers’ Society of America Book the Year award for literary fiction, among others. And Schultz’ first novel Still Come Home was lauded by Library Thing as “taut, moving, explosive, gut-wrenching—this is simply one helluva read…” Indeed! It garnered a heap of honors, including a Book of the Year award from the Chicago Writers’ Association and the Sir Walter Raleigh Award from the Historical Book Club of North Carolina. Katey is also a mentor extraordinaire, and the founder of Maximum Impact, a transformative mentoring service for creative writers that has been recognized by both CNBC and the What Works Network. Find out more about Katey here: http://www.kateyschultz.com/
Flashes of War
Katey Schultz
Published by Apprentice House 2013
Still Come Home
Katey Schultz
Published by Apprentice House 2019
Shelf Awareness called Des Cooper’s stories “exquisite miniatures” that provide “a mural’s worth of life.” Her first book, the flash collection Know the Mother, was honored as a Michigan Notable Book. And Booklist’s starred review called Cooper’s Nothing Special “an evocative picture book celebrating simple pleasures and family ties.” It was one of the New York Public Library’s 10 Best Children’s Books of 2022, and won the 2023 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People. I know my mom would have loved reading it to the kids she worked with in the Shawano County library programs. Find out more about Des here: http://www.descooper.com/
In October 2021, I talked with Jessica Vitalis, whose debut middle grade novel, The Wolf’s Curse, narrated by the grim reaper, came out in September of 2021. (And her second book, The Rabbit’s Gift, came out in October 2022. Yes, she is a busy writer!)
She wrote five unpublished novels over thirteen years and was not daunted. She kept honing her revision skills, and those techniques helped produce her sixth book, which landed her a publishing contract with Harper Collins. When we met on Zoom she shared her tricks and tips with us–and you can watch the interview here, too:
In November of 2021, I talked with Kimberly Behre Kenna, whose first book, Artemis Sparke and the Sound Seekers Brigade came out 2/2/2023 Regal House/Fitzroy Books. Each of her three books features a brave girl protagonist whose love of nature helps her find her voice and stand up for her beliefs.
And in December of 2021, I talked with Maggie Smith as she prepared to launch her first book and get it into the hands of eager readers in March (2022). If you’re looking for a well-plotted & paced novel with thought-provoking character dilemmas leading to a well-earned ending, you’re in good hands.
Summer 2021 interviews
During the Deep Revision Mines Retreat the last week of July, 2021, I interviewed authors I coached on their way to publication, and asked them to share deep revision tips.
