In my last blog post interviewing Ainslie Hogarth, we talked a lot about writing query letters. I gave examples using the query letter that Ainslie edited that I was going to submit to an agent at a workshop. Soooo, the workshop was this past Sunday...and golly, did I learn a lot! First things first: we… Continue reading How to Survive Querying
Tag: writing life
Interview With Ainslie Hogarth (W/ GIVEAWAY!)
Ainslie Hogarth is a Windsorite whose writing career catapulted with the publication of her first novel The Lonely (being re-issued in 2026 with The Boy Meets Girl Massacre (Annotated)). Since then, she's switched agents, landed one of the Big Five publishers, and is on her fifth publication, forthcoming in 2026. I stalked met Ainslie after… Continue reading Interview With Ainslie Hogarth (W/ GIVEAWAY!)
Loss, Labour (Quitting Writing) & Luxuriation
LOSS On Friday, July 11, 2025, our beloved Oscar crossed the rainbow bridge. That morning when we awoke, he was in the hallway, puddles of urine and vomit around him. We cleaned him up, took him outside where he was able to go to the bathroom...but then he fell to the deck and couldn't move.… Continue reading Loss, Labour (Quitting Writing) & Luxuriation
Interview with Jane Christmas about her new book ‘A Flight of Saints’!
*SOME SPOILERS!* *CONTENT WARNING: FOUL LANGUAGE!* Friends, I'm super excited to share this just-under-an-hour zoom interview I had with the incomparable Jane Christmas! Her new book and first foray into fiction, A Flight of Saints, is out in the world and you must read it! Yes, there's a different name on the cover of this… Continue reading Interview with Jane Christmas about her new book ‘A Flight of Saints’!
VANESSA SHIELDS 