KRISTIE SMELTZER

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My fiction students and I have spent a healthy amount of time talking about how to achieve authenticity in our work. The trick is not going too far nor withh...

I had a great week in terms of writing life—three rejections rolled in. Two I completely expected. I'd aimed high in sending a new story to two highly compet...

My advanced fiction workshop class and I have been talking about voice a lot. Voice—that somewhat enigmatic characteristic of a work that can make or break t...

In a recent "Getting to Know Our Instructors" interview for WriterHouse, one of the questions was about writer's block, and if I had any strategies for overc...

I'm super-psyched to report my short story, "The Fine Art of Goldfish" is out in Apeiron Review's Issue 10. Check it out on page 5 in the issue. Many thanks ...

While teaching this past week, my class engaged in an interesting conversation about description. Specifically, we discussed how the level in detail in descr...

I first fell in love with Julie Orringer's work while in graduate school when I read How to Breathe Underwater. Ever since I read that book, I would occasion...

Upon reaching page 100 in my novel draft, I realize that I know one of my trains really well. By train, I mean my protagonist. The other train in question is...

Writing a difficult scene last night, I almost made myself physically ill. It was like method acting (or like I imagine method acting I should say, as I real...

The man made me really, really care about taters. Now I am already a lover of potatoes, but it's kind of a generalized love—to quote Samwise Gamgee, "Boil th...

Making the decision to return to my more writerly way of life has prompted the most wonderful discussions with my friends and family, as well as new acquaint...

Today was my dear Aunt Ruth's funeral. After a very rough two weeks, feeling exhausted and emotionally raw, something kicked in today—more of my writerself, w...

I have the privilege of being with a dear aunt as she goes through the final days of her life. She is currently in Hospice care, resting as comfortably as po...

Whenever I'm in a really productive writing groove, I surround myself with inspirational creative outputs from others. I've been on a Jason Mraz kick for mus...

My doorbell rang today. It never rings. While working at a little kitchen nook on my computer, my cat Maisy-Mae curled up behind my laptop screen (where the w...

Today I visited the house that inspired L. M. Montgomery's Green Gables, home to the beloved character Anne Shirley. I'm in Canada for this trip and specific...

With as frequently as I find myself doing an internet search for information for my novel in progress, I realize writers years ago, as few as 20 something an...