Presenting: Immersive Storytelling in Action
If you navigate to any of the main pages of my site (listed above in a neat menu for your convenience), you’ll find it’s no secret my angle on fiction. I combine my MFA with…
Mary DeSantis
Fiction Editor/Story Whisperer. You +Me+Your Manuscript = A Team, and team's stick together. Visit me at kitnkabookle.com, and let's get whispering...
When Cliffhangers Work (And When They’re Just Annoying)
I first heard the Wicked Original Broadway Cast recording in 2024, and within the first few seconds of “Loathing,” I was hooked. It became my favorite musical and has stayed so until today. When I…
Sometimes, You Even Forget Good Stories
Given my entire editorial vibe is “let’s make your story unforgettable,” this probably seems like a blog post that will work against me. After all, isn’t the whole purpose to remember good stories? Short answer:…
4 Techniques to Keep Readers Turning Pages of a Multi-Pov Novel
Turning a page is such a small, simple action. And yet, getting readers to continuously do it several hundred times can be a herculean task. Of course, the turning of pages can be metaphoric, and…
What Makes a Story Itself?
I got into a discussion this week with a friend about movie remakes. There are so many ways I could go with this. Like, for example, that I love to read fairy-tale retelling books but…
The Most Fulfilling Kind of Exhaustion
Psst! Notice anything different? If not, that’s okay, I won’t keep you in suspense (especially if you’re reading this in an email and wouldn’t notice anyway). But if you happen to be on an actual…
Writing a Book with Multiple POVs Part 2: Story
Picture it: Holiday, year of choice. Fifteen people sit around a table, three of whom decide they will tell the story of an event they all recently attended. As they do, the other twelve sit…
What don’t you know?
Back in January when I decided to start blogging again, I didn’t really have a plan. I chose the words “humanity, community, story” as the motivation for the blog and the tagline of my website…
Acceptance of Imperfection
Despite having a degree in psychology, I actually quite dislike using terminology to define how I’m feeling. Perhaps it’s because the degree makes me more aware that I’m just plopping down labels that may or…
Don’t Underestimate the Power of Normal
…because it makes no sense to do that if you don’t— Confused? Thought so. Now imagine that sentence had gone on for pages, but instead of whatever it was talking about, it detailed a sudden…