Consistency Is Key (Or at Least Nice to Have)
**SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for Toy Story 4 (which I’m sure many people have seen by now, but I wanted to give the warning anyway). 🟪 🟪 🟪 I saw the Toy Story…
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...
My Build-A-Character Moment
You know what’s amazing about working in a field you love that happens to collide with your hobbies? That moment where you’re doing a hobby thing and suddenly realize a whole new approach to something…
On Feeling the Constant Need to Get Somewhere
“But you are somewhere.” Yes, I know. Specifically, I’m in my writing/editing cave, typing this blog post—well, actually, since you’re reading it, I’m done typing it— And here I go, getting nowhere again. I’ve always…
My Missing Pieces Slid Into Place
So, we all know life gets in the way sometimes. But sometimes it’s important to note that what’s really behind that is us getting in our own way. As I mentioned in my last post…
Sharing a Song (And Linking it to Writing)
I’m doing things a bit differently today because life is busy, and my brain is just focused elsewhere. In a couple of weeks, I’m presenting at the Editorial Freelancers Association EFACON with a session on…
Grammatically Correct Evil
Greetings, friends. This will be brief because it is several hours late. I’ve just returned from a two-week vacation that was very much needed. As a result, I took last week off but wanted to…
Different Does Not Mean Unrelatable
Shortly after the #WeNeedDiverseBooks movement got going in 2014, I felt stumped. Granted, I was very new to the book world then, but I was also someone who’d been reading avidly for two decades and…
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…
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:…