#writingconversations — Public Fediverse posts

I made up this fairy tale with my kid when she was little. We kept telling it to each other until it got better and better and now it's in this fine literary journal.

https://booth.butler.edu/2026/07/01/cryogenic-beauty/

#WritingCommunity #FairyTale #SleepingBeauty #WritingConversations #FlashFiction

I'm teaching some two-hour craft sessions this summer. They're all online, but live through zoom.

Writing Dynamic Scenes, Tuesday, Jun 30, 12-2pm* , $40
More Than a Map, Thursday, Jul. 2, 12-2pm* , $40
Shadow Self, Tuesday, July 14, 12-2pm*, $40
Wordsmithing, Thursday, July 16, 12-2pm *, $40

*All times are North American Central

More details in the link, but you can also email me to ask questions or register:
https://forms.gle/2GiVoQkGYnpdB5SG9

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity

My flash fiction course is miraculously generative--expect to write a ton of new and exciting pieces. And get the empowering sort of feedback that centers and celebrates your intentions as the author.

6 Weeks, Jun. 24, 2026 - Jul. 29, 2026, Wednesdays, 6pm-8pm (North American Central). Online through Zoom, $160

https://forms.gle/r3DwpLEpXzm1UQP2A

#WritingCommunity #FlashFiction #WritingClass #WritingConversations #WritingCourse

It's tools, not rules, baby. This class is about interrogating a cliche writing "rule" to understand it is simply one tool of many--and exploring how its opposite has many important uses.

Jun. 20, 2026, 10am-1pm Central, Loft Classroom, Minneapolis, MN

https://loft.org/classes/craft-fiction-tell-dont-show

#WritingConversations #WritingClass #WritingCraft #WritingCommunity #AmWriting #ShowDontTell #TellDontShow #LoftLiterary

I’m offering a single session class on fairy tales to raise money for rent relief in my south Minneapolis neighborhood. When ICE occupied my street, they not only kidnapped and murdered, they kept people from their jobs. So even though the abductions have slowed (not stopped), many families face eviction because of lost income.

Fairy Tales and the Subversive Power of Collective Storytelling
 
4/16, 6-8pm central, zoom

https://forms.gle/ufcZhDpjzgqoaZwW9

#rentRelief #fairytales #writingconversations

I'm running my flash class again starting Jan. 12. Write a whole lot of new stories, learn a lot of fun craft techniques, get a lot of supportive feedback, and make friends too! Zoom, 10 weeks, Mondays 12-2 CST, $200

https://forms.gle/birDctKVHfdxYhib8

#WritingCommunity #FlashFiction #WritingClass #WritingConversations #Feedback #WritingWorkshop

I got to talk to John Wiswell about WEARING THE LION, radical forgiveness, disability, found family, and how to win battles by flipping conflict into friendship. You can read what we said here:

https://splitlipthemag.com/interviews/1225/interview-with-john-wiswell

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #AuthorInterview #TamingTheLion #JohnWiswell #SplitLipMagazine

I'm planning a super informal FREE zoom writing salon about ghost stories on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, 11am-12pm (North American Central Time). It's late notice, and an odd time, but if you'd like to join, please register and I'll send you a link. We'll just look at a few short ghost stories, talk about how they work, and end with some prompts.

https://forms.gle/eHUs4pGLxBVYh1oH8

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #GhostStories #WritingClass

I got to talk to Patricia Lockwood about WILL THERE EVER BE ANOTHER YOU, the fluid borders between mind and body, self and other, individual and world, and the mystifying effects of Long Covid.

https://therumpus.net/2025/11/07/joining-the-world-a-conversation-with-patricia-lockwood/

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #LongCovid #Bookstodon

I wrote about Margaret LaFleur's "All's Well" and a gorgeous moment beyond words, when subtext bubbles to the surface.

https://loft.org/writers-block-blog/alls-well-and-dialogue-beyond-words

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #AmWriting #Subtext #Bookstodon #Dialog #ReadingLikeAWriter

I got to talk to the really brilliant Emily Mitchell about her fantastic new collection, The Church of Divine Electricity. Read what we said to each other!

(Particularly love her thoughts on care in dystopian times.)

https://theadroitjournal.org/2025/11/03/a-conversation-with-emily-mitchell/

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity #SpeculativeFiction #Bookstodon #AuthorInterview #DystopianSciFi

Hey hey! I wrote a little thing about jump scares!

https://imprompt2.beehiiv.com/p/jump-scares

#WritingCommunity #Halloween #Horror #JumpScare #imprompt2 #WritingConversations #Sinners #ScaryMovies

I'm teaching a writing class about mystery--not the genre, but the secrets that enthrall, the questions that fascinate, the mysteries that leave you rapt with wonder--even after the final page.

6 weeks, Wednesdays, 11/5/25 - 12/17/25 (No class on 11/26), 6-8pm Central, online (live meeting through zoom), $220/$200 (loft member)

https://loft.org/classes/what-you-dont-know-mystery-fiction-0

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #WritingClass #mystery

I wrote about Daniel Tam-Claiborne's novel, TRANSPLANTS and how intimacy and connection (and sex) can make fantastic things happen in fiction.

https://loft.org/writers-block-blog/transplants-and-change-through-intimacy

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Transplants #Bookstodon #ReadingLikeAWriter #Connection

I've got a class starting next week about Dialogue, Gesture, and Staging.

4 weeks, Thursdays, 9/18/25 - 10/9/25, 6pm-9pm (North American Central time), Zoom, $222/$200 (Loft member)

It covers a variety of tools to make dialogue come alive in your scenes—with specific techniques to make it realistic (if that's your thing), dynamic, compelling, resonant, and/or vibrant.

https://loft.org/classes/writing-fiction-4-weeks-dialogue-gesture-and-staging

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #WritingClass #Dialogue #Subtext #Writing #AmWriting

Still a few spots left in my flash class! Mondays 12-2pm (north american central) on zoom. Starts Sept. 8, goes 10 weeks. $200.

To keep it more accessible for folks with less time, we'll finish the sharing & feedback in the first 90 minutes. But if you have the time, you can stay for the last 30 minutes to go deeper.

Write a lot, share your work, get feedback, learn about craft, and find community:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeaSPHJDa9rMmgFl0ZvQyy1jOapNJ8hRsbing_DgDK5axvEPw/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=109553212956936077425

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #WritingClass #FlashFiction

I'm doing a fiction sampler for the Loft on Sept. 4, 6-7pm North American Central time. This is a cheap, low-stakes writing class with some group close reading, some writing prompts, some community, some fun:

https://loft.org/classes/fall-fiction-sampler-allison-wyss-0

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #WritingClass #WritingCraft #Fiction

Come listen to me read a new weird, never-before-shared fairy tale at Veliz Books' 10th Anniversary event tonight (Aug. 26) at 7pm Central along with other fantastic Veliz authors. It's on zoom and here is the link:

#WritingCommunity #FairyTales #Retellings #VelizBooks #WritingConversations #AuthorReadings

https://uhd.zoom.us/j/84926403061

10 weeks, Mondays, Sept. 8-Nov. 10, 12-2pm Central, $200

Each week we look at one or two pieces of published writing to study the craft of them & turn those tools into writing prompts. Then we share the results for light, inspirational feedback. Expect to write a lot and learn a lot.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeaSPHJDa9rMmgFl0ZvQyy1jOapNJ8hRsbing_DgDK5axvEPw/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=109553212956936077425

#WritingCommunity #WritingClass #WritingConversations #FlashFiction #WritingCraft

The wild thing to me about studying subtext is when you pull it up to look closely, it doesn't feel like subtext. It feels too obvious. But it really is & it really works. That's the magic.

In this class, we'll do the incredible work of close reading--together with other writers--to pull up the subtext of stories & figure out how it works.

Online/live meetings: 6-8pm (Central), Thursdays, 7/17 -- 8/21

#WritingCommunity #Subtext #WritingConversations #Writing

https://loft.org/classes/6-week-beneath-surface-exploring-subtext

I wrote about Amanda Lee Koe's phenomenal SISTER SNAKE, (and couldn't stop myself from a light musing on fairy tales because you know me).

https://loft.org/writers-block-blog/sister-snake-amanda-lee-koe-and-time-magic

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #SisterSnake #ReadingLikeAWriter #FairyTale #Folklore #FolkTale #TimeMagic #Anachronism #WritingCraft #Books

I interviewed Maria Reva about her (absolutely stunning) novel ENDLING. We talked about about structural play, narrative power, and how the violence and uncertainty of today’s world must reflect in the upheaval of the novel. Check it out here:

https://bit.ly/43W8uPN

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Bookstodon #MariaReva #Endling #Ukraine

So, the folks in Lit!Commons made a zine and are making more and here's a write-up one did about the collaboration.

(I'm so pleased with this project and honored to be a very tiny part of it.)

https://loft.org/writers-block-blog/behind-zine-handmade-space-hope-kristy-wessel

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Zines #LoftLiterary #LitCommons

CLASS IS FULL
(but there is a waitlist and the possibility to add a second section)

Flash Summer 2025!

Jun 16-Aug. 18, Mondays 12-1pm (CT), Online (Zoom), $160

-Close reading of newly published flash to discover exciting craft techniques
Generative writing prompts to create 10 new flash pieces
Supportive feedback to identify points of heat & reader connection

Three spots left!

#WritingCommunity #WritingClass #WritingConversations #FlashFiction

https://forms.gle/Yyz3YfNJQnVfLTd57

These gargoyles aren’t worried about explaining themselves to a human reader; they’re just trying to survive.

I wrote about Tara Campbell's fantastic CITY OF DANCING GARGOYLES and an opening that unsettles.

https://loft.org/writers-block-blog/city-dancing-gargoyles-and-decentering-humanity

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #ReadingLikeAWriter #Beginnings #DystopianSciFi #Fiction #Bookstodon #WritingCraft

This class goes deep into perspective, 1st/2nd/3rd person singular & plural POV, filtering through personality, sensibility, reliability, secrets & mystery, omniscience, tense, narrative distance, zooming, curation of artifacts, narrative strategy, & a few stranger options.

https://loft.org/classes/narration-finding-right-voice

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #WritingClass #POV #Perspective #Narration #Narrative #Sensibility

Here's another creepy fairy tale I wrote:

https://bit.ly/3DzyPJi

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #FairyTale #FlashFiction #ShortStory #Creepy #SpinningWheel #Doll #Snow

I got to interview Avitus B. Carle abut her collection of flash fiction, THESE WORN BODIES. We talked about the playful deconstruction of human and narrative form, the upending of regressive gender expectations, the POV of small animals, and how tiny stories can both create and destroy.

https://bit.ly/3XLWAVh

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #FlashFiction #AvitusBCarle #TheseWornBodies #NecessaryFiction #Bookstodon

Here's my interview of Linda Michel-Cassidy about her short story collection, WHEN WE WERE HARDCORE. We talk about death, treacherous landscapes, and oddball characters living in in-between spaces.

https://bit.ly/3CKWXIt

#WritingCommunity #Fiction #WritingConversations #Bookstodon #ShortStories

OK I'm looking to change up some readings for my course on intimacy and conflict--the theory being they can both be tools to make scenes dynamic.

I've got plenty of non-conflict examples, but I'd like one really great physical action full-on conflict scene. Like a fistfight or something. Bodies in motion & swinging at each other & the outcome of the fight really has consequences.

What are your favorites?

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #FightScene