Novel Kickoff Day 3
We may be at the halfway point, but there’s nothing murky about this middle! Today’s interviews pack a heartfelt punch.
The Writing Life
Writer and certified book coach Sandra Postma talks about writing amidst difficult life circumstances that make it even harder to write. As a book coach for spoonie writers (watch the interview to learn what this means!), Sandra has tremendous empathy for writers facing difficult challenges.
Craft Talk
Author, editor, and certified book coach Susan DeFreitas demonstrates why character arc is at the heart of every strong story. Susan believes in the power of story to change the world, and she has an interesting perspective on the ways novels impact readers.
Genre Focus
Trisha Jenn Loehr is a certified book coach for women who write romance. Trisha talks about the importance of stories with a happily-ever-after, the emotional depth found in many contemporary romance novels, and how to infuse humor into your writing.
Ways you can thank our guests for their generosity:
follow and thank them on social media (don’t forget to tag them and you can use #novelkickoff to refer to this event)
buy their books or request your library buy them
leave a positive review for their books, podcasts, YouTube channels, etc.
Sandra Postma
Sandra Postma is a former journalist who switched from fact to fiction after discovering her own stories held the power for change. Now a speculative fiction writer and certified book coach, Sandra founded Your Story Mentor in 2021. In her business as a mindset and story coach, Sandra helps sci-fi and fantasy writers find their voice and help them develop their story ideas into novels, with a specific interest in helping those with chronic illnesses.
As a woman with multiple chronic illnesses herself (amongst them ME/CFS, Graves’ disease and chronic migraines), she knows what it is like to feel invisible to society and misunderstood by many. Making her writers feel seen and making them realize how important their individual voices and stories are has become her main goal in her work. She is particularly committed to creating a safe space and community for writers with an illness or disability to come together and find their voice, write and thrive.
Connect with Sandra through her website, Instagram, and Facebook.
Sandra provides a free guide, “How to Be a Writer With a Chronic Illness,” for all who sign up for her newsletter. (Note: This guide is also a great resource for writers who are caring for someone with long-term health needs.)
Susan DeFreitas
An American of Guyanese descent, Susan DeFreitas is the author of the novel Hot Season, which won a Gold IPPY Award, the editor of Dispatches from Anarres: Tales in Tribute to Ursula K. Le Guin, and the creator of Workshops Against Empire—the alternative MFA for writers who believe that stories can change the world. Her work has been featured in the Writer’s Chronicle, LitHub, the Huffington Post, the Utne Reader, Story, Daily Science Fiction, Oregon Humanities, and elsewhere. An independent editor and book coach, she divides her time between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Portland, Oregon.
Connect with Susan through her website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter (X), and LinkedIn.
Susan has a YouTube channel to provide writing tips. Susan provides a free guide, called “Cracking the Code” for all who sign up for her newsletter.
Trisha Jenn Loehr
Trisha Jenn Loehr is a non-profit communications professional and freelance developmental editor turned romance writer and book coach for romance writers. She helps women write romance novels by giving them feedback and tools to enhance their writing skills and not feel guilt or shame for writing books full of tropes and kisses and happily ever afters. Her feedback is always intended to help writers become even better storytellers than they already are.
Trisha is an Author Accelerator certified book coach, and has a B.A. in communications and professional writing, a minor in political science, a certificate in leadership and applied public affairs, and a certificate in dance performance preparation. (Yeah, it’s a weird mix.) She is also mom to an angel boy in heaven and a sweet rainbow of a little girl, and an advocate for infertility and pregnancy loss awareness.
Connect with Trisha on her website, Instagram, Twitter (X), and LinkedIn.
Trisha gives newsletter subscribers her free Romance Novel Planning Workbook.