Writer's Digest September/October 2024

“Did you … Did you just kiss me?” He sounded puzzled, and maybe a little out of breath. His lips were full and plump and … God. Kissed. There was simply no way Olive could get away with denying what she had just done. Still, it was worth a try. “Nope.” Surprisingly, it seemed to work. “Ah. Okay, then.” Carlsen nodded and turned around, looking vaguely disoriented. He took a couple of steps down the hallway, reached the water fountain—maybe where he’d been headed in the first place. Olive was starting to believe that she might actually be off the hook when he halted and turned back with a skeptical expression. “Are you sure?” —The Love Hypothesis, Ali Hazelwood (romance) “Watching you pretend to hate that nickname is the best…

It may seem basic, but one of the things that still creates a sense of wonder for me is flying in an airplane. I’ve flown plenty of times, and I’ve seen diagrams of the elementary explanation for how the airflow works. Yet each time a plane takes off and I feel that heavy lift in my stomach, I always feel amazed that we (i.e., humanity) somehow got from drawing on cave walls to flying through the air at incredible speeds. It’s awesome—in the traditional sense of the word—to think of all we’re capable of. Similarly, when I think about all the stories that have been told through time—those that have been passed by word of mouth until there were means to write them down and all those that are published…

MONA SUSAN POWER is the author of four books of fiction: The Grass Dancer (awarded the PEN/Hemingway prize), Roofwalker, Sacred Wilderness, and A Council of Dolls (winner of the Minnesota Book Award, longlisted for the National Book Award and the Carol Shields Prize). Fellowships in support of her work include a James Michener Fellowship, Radcliffe Bunting Institute Fellowship, Princeton Hodder Fellowship, USA Artists Fellowship, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Fellowship, and McKnight Fellowship. Power is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe (Yanktonai Dakota), born and raised in Chicago. She currently lives in Minnesota. RACHEL LETOFSKY is an agent at CookeMcDermid. She specializes in children’s literature, speculative fiction, literary fiction, historical fiction, narrative-driven memoir, and quirky nonfiction for adults. Her clients include national and international bestsellers, and nominees and…

Meg Medina grew up in a Cuban-American household dominated by strong women, notably her mother and aunts. She was a self-described “wild child” who loved to run and play, but was equally drawn to the quiet pleasures of reading. “Story is what attracted me,” Medina recalls. “My mother and aunts told a lot of stories because it was an oral tradition in my house. But it translated easily to a thirst for the tale.” That thirst has led Medina to a remarkable 16-year career writing for young people. Over the course of 14 publications that include picture books, novels, and easy-read biographies of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and author Pura Belpré, she has left an indelible mark as the understanding voice of the Latino childhood experience. Medina received the…

When I think back to experiences in my life that have inspired wonder, my mind goes to the visit my husband and I made to a minuscule bar in Brooklyn that accommodated three people: two patrons and the bartender. In fact, the visit made such an impression on me that, with the proprietors’ blessing, I used it as inspiration for my own tiny fictional bar in my Ann Kinnear Suspense Novel A Serpent’s Tooth. To bring to my readers the same sense of wonder I experienced, I asked myself, What made my visit wondrous? I identified four characteristics: mystery and exclusivity, a disconnect from reality and expectations, display of specialized elements or knowledge, and an immersive yet ephemeral experience. As writers, we can use these as guideposts to create a…

3 WAYS TO BRING WONDER TO YOUR POEMS At its best, poetry captures and provokes a sense of wonder unparalleled by other genres of writing. That’s because poetry is filled with rules underwritten by a master rule imploring poets to bend and break all rules. With this in mind, here are three ways to bring wonder to your poems. Leaps in Logic Years ago, I stumbled upon a copy of Robert Bly’s Leaping Poetry which looks at the leaps of logic made by poets from around the world. The gist is that many great poems involve quick leaps of thought and associations. (By the way, a great place to start your pursuit of world poetry is in The Ecco Anthology of International Poetry, edited by Ilya Kaminsky and Susan Harris.)…