Chapter Three

Grazie for your patience

Today we're launching something very exciting!✨

Plus, Emily Barth Isler shares incredible insights on writing for kids to inspire the next generation's activists, and our hosts answer all your questions in our monthly Q&A video!

The First Day on a New Job is Always Scary

Why Does This NOT Piss You Off?

A Eulogy | Non-Fiction | Sour Soup

On a clear day in 1977, one could plainly and painfully see the bloody state we’re in today | Guest Chef Yehonatan Geffen | Sour Soup

Interiority, Part 2

(Interiority, Part 3: Examples from Edward P. Jones and Alice Munro)

Everything we learned about the publishing industry from Penguin vs. DOJ.

Something I’ve been thinking a lot about is: How can we fund the next Renaissance? How can we create a world where artists are better funded and…

on dreams and course corrections

Hi everyone! Just to let you know, I’ll be reading with several amazing writers whose work is featured in Best Small Fictions 2023 tomorrow at 1…

id quod plerumque accidit

id quod plerumque accidit

Speaking and Listening

Recovery

For our first story of the year, Sarah Rees Brennan brings us news from the Other Lands — ten years after the events of In Other Lands! We hope you will enjoy this free story. ~ Julian and Fran, January 8, 2023 Tears Waiting to Be Diamonds: Part One

Get to know your new neighbors with Juan Martinez’ delightfully creepy new story! ~ Julian and Fran, April 21, 2024 This month’s stories are by authors Eric Smith, Julie C. Day, Juan Martinez, and E.C. Myers. The first story of the month is free to read, but it’s our paying subscribers who allow us to keep publishing great stories week after week.

My number one trick for finishing a novel

If you only take one lesson I give to heart make it this one

It seems like writers have a six-month burn rate where they come in excited, start to build, grind, and burn out. How do we live better lives in the meat grinder of capitalism?

Why I Still Believe in Publishing Despite its Flaws

Commonplace Newsletter #109

Commonplace Newsletter #113

The best is yet to be

The above is not a photograph of me, even as I was in my hey-day. But those are my trousers. Pleated. Pleated, reader! Pleated as trousers used to be, prior to plebeian flat-fronts which are to trousers what pug noses are to dogs. They are in a museum now, as soon will I be. We both belong to a more elegant, grander, more spacious epoch, before the advent of casual wear. Imagine Sebastian Flyte pacing the terraces of Brideshead pleatless. Or Gatsby - The Not So Great Gatsby - in crowded-crotch chinos.

“A story should have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order.” – Jean-Luc Godard, film director Here is one of the stories my father liked to tell his friends: “Salman was born on June 19th, 1947, and exactly eight weeks later to the day, the British ran away.” Ha ha, right? I guess it was funny the first time I heard it, less funny the one hundred and first time. But it always went down well with his audiences. It was his favorite joke.

Episode 48 The four men in black wearing sodden balaclavas are out in the open, closing in. ANNA and FRANCIS are on the terrace of the house, holding guns. FIRST MAN (shouting) Come down, Anna, Nobody gonna hurt you. And the other individual we don’t require.

A Masterclass In Storytelling With AI

Hey there! Welcome back to the Zero to Book series! In our last post, we expanded the 5 points of our Story Core into a first draft high-level outline for our story using the 15 "Save The Cat" beats. Now that you have a bird's eye view of your plot, it's time to zoom in and start fleshing out the details—beginning with your characters.

The first instalment of a new Killing Eve story, published exclusively on Substack

Thank you

A little post on why publishing statistics are so confusing

Despite viral claims, Americans buy over a billion books a year

Lil Peep and Juice WRLD

New writing

The two magic words

Harry Potter may have discovered an easy way to find the villain

And The Cold Turkey (And Life Lessons) That Followed.

The 'Genuine Fake' is brought to life by the 'South Park' team.

How to score yourself some sweet Magic Cave Time

A personal essay

And No Woman's Either....

Of Kings and Star Empires

Discover the magic of AI Headshots with the free, easy, and ready-to-use method, transforming your images into stunning professional portraits effortlessly.

Explore AI’s New Frontiers: Chat, Dress, Communicate!

Let me make it up to you

If you’re not part of “Romancelandia” and don’t follow romance world social media, this week - be glad. (Just this week. Most of the time Romancelandia is a fabulous place to be!)Julia Kent's Writing Cabin is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.