In this episode, Megan and Grace discuss the second half of Infinite Country. We talk about the mastery of Engel as she humanizes her characters and addresses some of the most systemic issues in our country. It's a lot to unpack, so bear with us! We're also transitioning to a season-based podcast, which means this is the final episode of season one! Stay tuned for the return of The Writer's Climax Season Two in July. Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writersclimaxpodcast/ Join our community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thewritersclimaxpodcast Contact Nick Heys for audio engineering: [email protected]

Welcome to (the beginning and the end) of #MayNoWriMo! In this episode, we talk about the beginning of this month-long voyage into a fast and shitty first draft, while also recognizing the rate at which writing will become more difficult this month (spoiler: the rate was rapid-fire). We also talk about the tools we use for our writing projects and how to get started and stay inspired. And of course, we gush about how much we *love* our #MayNoWriMo community. They are the best and we are so thankful to every writer that's showed up to the page this month. Join our writing community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thewritersclimaxpodcast Check out Scrivener: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview Listen to our Story Grid podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-writers-climax/id1551193139?i=1000516965679 Link to NaNoWriMo: https://nanowrimo.org/ Join our #MayNoWriMo Discord channel: https://discord.gg/KqXeHFJfr4

Buckle up, folks. In this episode, Megan and Grace get righteously angry. Content warning: racism, sexual abuse, animal abuse Infinite Country by Patricia Engel is a power-packed novel about a family who leaves their home in Bogota to pursue the American Dream. But when they wake up, six months and one day later, on foreign soil, they launch themselves into undocumented status. We talk about so many political issues surrounding immigration as well as the notion of America. Our systems are broken and Engel crafts the brokenness with the kind of poise and precision we can all learn from. This week's writing prompt: Spoetry (a poem comprised of content from a spam e-mail) ha! Find a charity that works with refugees and immigrants: https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.viewandcpid=4665

In this episode, Megan and Grace don't know the roll-out of their own podcast and think it's May 4th. This is a time-traveling episode! Not really. But we do talk about other trippy topics like: #MAYNOWRIMO, our very own month-long writing sprint to get a shitty-and-fast first draft of our books onto the page. Where do ideas come from? How do we generate characters? How in this wild and raucous world do you plot a novel? We discuss all this and more in episode 17. Learn more about NaNoWriMo: https://nanowrimo.org/ Support us on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/thewritersclimaxpodcast Join our #MayNoWriMo community on Discord: https://discord.gg/KqXeHFJfr4 Need audio editing? Contact Nick Heys: [email protected]

In this episode, Grace and Megan discuss the second half of The Lost Apothecary. It. Was. A. WHIRLWIND. Murder accusations, jumping off bridges, solved mysteries, and our favorite: gaslighting. This book has it all! Tune in as we discuss the effectiveness of three main characters, the benefits of moving back and forth in time, and what we (specifically *Megan*) didn't quite love. We also choose our next book club pick, Infinite Country by Patricia Engel. This week's prompt: Historical fiction - making peace - together Read Megan's story: https://thewritersclimax.com/2021/05/04/gallivanting-across-the-multiverse-by-megan-walsh/ Read Grace's story: https://thewritersclimax.com/2021/05/04/a-flight-of-peace-by-grace-olscamp/ Join our writing community on Patreon (it's poppin'!): https://www.patreon.com/thewritersclimaxpodcast Submit your short stories: https://thewritersclimax.com/contact/ Need audio editing? Contact Nick Heys...he the best!: [email protected] Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/writersclimaxpodcast/

In this episode, we talk about *so many* aspects of the writing life like finding and applying for fellowships, stepping into new projects, and where ideas come from. We also pitch and pick our next book club pick, Infinite Country by Patricia Engel. Grace and Megan have decided to do their own version of NaNoWriMo in May! If you're interested in writing a quick, barebones, 50,000-word draft with us, you can join our Discord channel this month for free: https://discord.gg/YAE7AUz8 Next week's prompt: Sci-fi - cleaning up a mess - elusive Grab a copy of Infinite Country by Patricia Engel here: https://amzn.to/3nsxZl5 Annie flash fiction story: https://thewritersclimax.com/2021/02/08/finding-annie-in-manhattan-by-megan-walsh/ Poets and Writers: https://www.pw.org/ Submittable: https://www.submittable.com/ Miami Emerging Writers Fellowship: https://www.miamibookfair.com/fellowships/ NYC Midnight: http://www.nycmidnight.com/ Fishtrap Fellowship: https://fishtrap.org/summer-fishtrap/yearlong-workshop/ Sharma Shields: http://www.sharmashields.com/ National Novel Writing Month (NaNo): https://nanowrimo.org/ Discord link for MayNoWriMo: https://discord.gg/YAE7AUz8 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thewritersclimaxpodcast Megan's Short Story: https://thewritersclimax.com/2021/04/27/the-problem-with-pool-boys-by-megan-walsh/ (https://thewritersclimax.com/2021/04/27/the-problem-with-pool-boys-by-megan-walsh/) Grace's Short Story: https://thewritersclimax.com/2021/04/27/the-kings-court-by-grace-olscamp/ (https://thewritersclimax.com/2021/04/27/the-kings-court-by-grace-olscamp/)

In this episode, Grace and Megan talk about the first half of The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner. We discuss character development and the role empathy plays in creating characters with dark secrets. We also talk about writing a multiple POV book and the pros and cons of writing a novel that goes back and forth in time, told from multiple viewpoints. Also, how badass women are *in general*. Support us on Patreon and join our community of readers and writers here: https://www.patreon.com/thewritersclimaxpodcast Buy a copy of The Lost Apothecary here: https://amzn.to/39tCnub Read Megan's poem here: https://thewritersclimax.com/2021/04/19/aftermath-by-megan-walsh/ (https://thewritersclimax.com/2021/04/19/aftermath-by-megan-walsh/) Read Grace's poem here: https://thewritersclimax.com/2021/04/20/sleep-by-grace-olscamp/ This week's prompt: Sci-Fi - Cleaning up a mess - Elusive We do participate in an affiliate program and books purchased through our links do give us a small kickback. Thanks for supporting us!

Ever have trouble plotting? Can't figure out why your book isn't working? Want to get ahead of the editorial game? The Story Grid Method by Shawn Coyne has been a game-changer for both Megan and Grace. While Megan's still getting the hang of it, Grace's story grid is what type-a dreams are made of. Listen along as we discuss the various ways The Story Grid has helped us develop our novels and why we swear by it before starting our second drafts. Join our community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thewritersclimaxpodcast Check out The Story Grid Method by Shawn Coyne here: https://storygrid.com/ You can also check out his podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/story-grid-podcast/id1049406375 Grab a copy of The Lost Apothecary: https://amzn.to/39tCnub Read Grace's short story here: Read Megan's short story here: https://thewritersclimax.com/?p=293 Submit your character story here: https://thewritersclimax.com/contact/ This week's prompt: Poetry - Longing - Daisy

CW: Eating disorders, disordered eating, racism In this episode, we talk about the intensities of Jayne's ED, the sporadic relationship between Jayne and her family, and the character development of our favorite Yolk characters. We also talk about plot: when are there too many plot points? Could this book have done with a little less chaos? Tune in to find out! Plus, we pitch and pick our next book! Next week's story prompt: A 500-1,000 word short story with the character from last week's character sketch ED Resources: -National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/ -National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD) https://anad.org/ Join our community on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thewritersclimaxpodcast Snag a copy of The Lost Apothecary here: https://amzn.to/39tCnub (https://amzn.to/39tCnub) Read Grace's character sketch: https://thewritersclimax.com/2021/04/06/character-sketch-by-grace-olscamp/ Read Megan's character sketch: https://thewritersclimax.com/2021/04/06/character-sketch-by-megan-walsh/ Submit your own character sketch: https://thewritersclimax.com/contact/

What does it mean to be a writer? How can you stay committed to your writing projects? In this episode, we talk about our writing projects and the natural upheaval that comes with writing something that's book-length and years-long. We also talk about launching our Patreon! If you want a dedicated space to talk about our current book club pick or an online writing community, consider supporting us and gaining access to our private writing and reading communities! Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thewritersclimaxpodcast Check out Brandon Sanderson Stormlight Archives Series: https://amzn.to/31wAUPp Read Megan's story here: https://thewritersclimax.com/2021/03/30/between-realms-by-megan-walsh/ Read Grace's story here: https://thewritersclimax.com/2021/03/30/wheels-of-the-mind-by-grace-olscamp/ Buy Blindness by Jose Saramago: https://amzn.to/2QJfNqY (https://amzn.to/2QJfNqY) **We are part of the Amazon Affiliates program which means every time you purchase through our links we get a small percentage of the profit. Thank you for supporting us!