Jess Bowers

How did you become a writer? At my Montessori preschool, they had a playset called "the farm" which was a plastic barn with lots of animals and accessories, and then there was a shoebox full of laminated words. The idea was, you'd pose the animals doing something interesting, then use the words to create a sentence narrating whatever was going on. I was so obsessed with the farm, the teachers would try to coax me away from it, which isn't how Montessori is meant to go--the child's supposed to decide when they're done with a task, not the adult. I think it made me see words as toys, just like the little plastic pigs and hay bales. I'd go home and narrate whatever I was playing there, too, like a TV voiceover. Writing, reading, and making up stories has just always been my favorite way to spend time. It's how I make sense of the world.

Name your writing influences. I had the great fortune to study with the late R.H.W. Dillard at Hollins University during my master's program. He was a consummate cinephile who had a hilarious knack for blending high and low culture. His favorite director was Federico Fellini, but he'd also co-written the script forFrankenstein Meets the Space Monster (1965), often hailed as one of the worst films of all time. We did an independent study of Edgar Allan Poe where we read everything he'd ever written, and it turned into a concurrent crash course on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's funny, when I think about our conversations, I don't remember talking about my writing much. But I learned what my writing could become from the books and movies he showed me.

When and where do you write? I really envy writers who can work on the move, in public, or whenever they have a spare moment. I jot stuff down when it comes to me, but I can't do any serious work on the fly. To make real headway on a story, my focus issues require a large block of uninterrupted time, ideally in the morning, and absolutely at my own desk in my home office, where I can listen to music and no one will bother me.

What are you working on now? My debut collection, Horse Show, is all about how we've treated horses throughout television, film, and photographic history. While I was writing it, I came upon a lot of strange history involving fish, dogs, lions, giraffes, and other animals that I'm spinning into new short stories. I'm fascinated by the human impulse to domesticate our fellow creatures, and all the ways that relationship can go wrong. It's a very deep well for me. 

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? Yes. For me, it's directly related to stress. If I'm stressed out, I'm not even getting in the chair, and if I don't get in the chair, there's no chance I'm getting unstuck! I try to go easy on myself at these times--read something really wild, or book some sessions in a sensory deprivation tank to let my mind wander.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received? The sci-fi author Sarah Pinsker once posted a list of which activities filled her creative cup and therefore counted as writing, and which activities didn't. I've found it really freeing to think about writing in that way, and not in terms of the number of words or pages I produce. Writing doesn't just happen on the page. It never did, but I am bad at remembering that. So gardening, riding horses, watching weird old movies, and puttering around in my aquariums is all writing for me now, all part of the process. It's a nice way to give yourself grace, as a working artist. Takes the pressure off. And ironically, results in more words, more pages.

What’s your advice to new writers? Read (and reread!) anything and everything you can get your hands on. It's the only shortcut to mastery! 

Jess Bowers is the author of Horse Show, a collection of short fiction out now from Santa Fe Writers Project. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri, where she works as an Associate Professor of English and Humanities at Maryville University, hangs out in museums, and watches far too much TV. Find her on Twitter/X @prettyminotaur, on Instagram @bowersjess, or at www.jessbowers.org.

Juli Min

How did you become a writer? In college I studied Russian and comparative literature with the plan to become an academic. One year in graduate school in my early twenties disabused me of that notion, and from then on I’ve dedicated myself to craft. I wrote my first book when I was twenty-five, a memoir about my year signed to a K-pop label in Seoul, but it died on submission. After that I ran a literary magazine for six years, finished an MFA, and worked on two more books; then I found a new agent and sold Shanghailanders.

Name your writing influences. I went to writing camp for a few summers in middle school. I remember the last day when my mom picked me up and the teacher called us in for a conference. “Your daughter should keep writing - she’s good at it.” Pithy words of praise can stay with a shy, introverted kid, planting the seed of confidence that can change a life. In high school, my 10th grade English teacher Carole Braverman pushed me to enter schoolwide essay contests and national competitions. Poet Theodore Deppe, when a visiting artist/teacher at my high school, generously let me experiment with poetry and music for credit during my senior year. Writing and music - those were the only two things I ever wanted to do.

And then: Svetlana Boym, Eileen Chang, Marguerite Duras, James Joyce, Kim Young-Ha, Min Jin Lee, Yukio Mishima, Vladimir Nabokov, W.G. Sebald, Virginia Woolf

 And of course: The incredible MFA program at Warren Wilson.

When and where do you write? Mornings, by hand, as early as possible, at a small desk in the corner of my room. I aim to do a minimum 500 words a day. 

Before I write, I always journal.

What are you working on now? I am playing with style, exploring options for voice for my next novel. It takes place in Manhattan in the early aughts.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? Yes. If I can’t push through it, I spend the time reading instead. Sometimes I’ll re-read Nabokov’s story “Spring in Fialta,” which always inspires, and serves as a reset.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received? “Why not?” - Antonya Nelson 

When I told her during my MFA thesis semester that I couldn’t possibly change the ethnicity and entire backstory of one character to fit the larger story’s needs. 

Sometimes you must let go of details you love. Make big decisions. Just try everything. Play.

What’s your advice to new writers? Finish projects, keep reading, and sign with Stephanie Delman at Trellis.

Juli Min is a Korean-American writer based in Shanghai. She holds an MFA in fiction from Warren Wilson, and she studied Russian and comparative literature at Harvard University. Her novel Shanghailanders was published in May 2024 by Spiegel & Grau (US) and Dialogue Books (UK). Translations are forthcoming in Japanese, German, Spanish, and Norwegian.

Laura Cathcart Robbins

How did you become a writer? I've always written, as far back as I can remember. But it wasn't until I was in my late forties that I set my sights on becoming an author. For six years I took writing class after writing class. I also went to writing conferences, festivals, and retreats, as many as I could. I always say that reading is my inhale and writing is my exhale

Name your writing influences. My author influences span from Betty Smith to Maggie Smith. I can't read enough Kiese Laymon or Christie Tate. I've had so many writing teachers, but Jessica Ciencien Henriquez might have been my most pivotal one. 

When and where do you write? When I'm writing a book, I start around 11:00 am and go until around 6:00 pm, five days a week. I only write by myself (never with people around), in my home office, and I always have the TV in the background playing old sitcoms. 

What are you working on now? The manuscript I just finished is autofiction. It's about my life as the only Black entertainment publicist in Los Angeles in the late 1990s. My next book will focus on my life post-divorce.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? Yes and no. Whenever I get stuck I write a scene that I'm excited about and then come back to the scene that's giving me trouble..

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received? Don't try to "write" like a writer. Write like you would talk to a girlfriend.

What’s your advice to new writers? When writing about trauma, fortify yourself (get enough sleep, eat good food, hydrate). Give yourself time before during and after to process.

Laura Cathcart Robbins is the best-selling author of the Atria/Simon & Schuster memoir, Stash, My Life in Hiding, and host of the popular podcast, “The Only One in the Room.” She has been active for many years as a speaker and school trustee and is credited for creating the Buckley School’s nationally recognized committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Her recent articles on the subjects of race, recovery, and divorce have garnered her worldwide acclaim. She is the SDWF’s 2024 Memoirist of the Year, a TEDx Speaker, and an LA Moth StorySlam winner. Currently, she sits on the advisory boards of the San Diego Writer’s Festival and the Outliers HQ Podcast Festival. Find out more about her on her website, lauracathcartrobbins.com, or you can look for her on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, and follow her on X.