Meet Our Newest Resident Writing Coaches

It’s always exciting when fall comes around as it means a new season of the Resident Writing Coach program is about to start! We’ve had great fortune to have so many writing experts share their brainpower with us here at WHW. I know I’ve grown as a writer as a result, and I bet you have, too!

For those new to RWC, this is a program where we feature writing experts here at the blog through a series of four posts scattered throughout the year. We bring in a mix of expertise, so you benefit from different voices and perspectives.

Each year we have some new coaches and some returning, so let me first bid goodbye to the wonderful James Scott Bell and Alli Sinclair. We greatly appreciate all you have shared with us. A special thank you to James (Jim) who’s been with the RWC program since the very beginning. It’s been so terrific having you on the blog!

And of course this also means some new RWC faces to introduce!

Both these women have bucket loads of knowledge and experience to share, so without further ado…

Lisa Poisso, who specializes in working with new and emerging authors, abhors the idea that writing a novel can sometimes feel like throwing darts wearing a blindfold. A classically trained dancer, her approach to creativity is grounded in structure, form, and technique as the doorway to freedom of movement. Via her innovative Plot Accelerator and Story Incubator coaching, she fast-tracks authors through story theory and development in just weeks while facilitating an author-paced “developmental edit in a bottle.”

She holds a journalism degree and has decades of professional experience as an award-winning magazine editor and journalist, content writer, and corporate communications manager. In addition to story coaching, she is a developmental and line editor, aided by an industrious team of retired greyhounds. Her popular Baker’s Dozen newsletter shares 13 fresh resources for emerging authors every month. Find Lisa at LisaPoisso.com, download her free Manuscript Prep guide, and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Sue Coletta is an award-winning crime writer and an active member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. Feedspot and Expertido.org named her Murder Blog as “Best 100 Crime Blogs on the Net” (2018-2021). She’s also a member of the Kill Zone (Writer’s Digest “101 Best Websites for Writers” 2013-2021). 

Sue lives with her husband and two spoiled guinea pigs in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire and writes two psychological thriller series (Tirgearr Publishing) and true crime/narrative nonfiction (Rowman & Littlefield Group, Inc.). Sue appeared on the Emmy award-winning true crime series, Storm of Suspicion. She’ll be a panelist at 2021 New England Crime Bake, and will be teaching an advanced education course on serial killers for Foothills Regional (CT) via Zoom. Sue is happy to discuss murder and mayhem all across social land, including at her website, and on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

These coaches are joined by returning masterminds…

Marissa Graff has been a freelance editor and reader for literary agent Sarah Davies at Greenhouse Literary Agency for over five years. In conjunction with Angelella Editorial, she offers developmental editing, author coaching, and more. She specializes in middle-grade and young-adult fiction, but also works with adult fiction. Marissa feels if she’s done her job well, a client should probably never need her help again because she’s given them a crash-course MFA via deep editorial support and/or coaching. Find out more about Marissa here.

Colleen M. Story inspires writers to overcome modern-day challenges and find creative fulfillment. Her latest release, Your Writing Matters, helps writers overcome self-doubt and determine once and for all where writing fits in their lives. Her previous release, Writer Get Noticed!, was the gold-medal winner in the Reader’s Favorite Book Awards. Overwhelmed Writer Rescue was named Book by Book Publicity’s Best Writing/Publishing Book in 2018, and her novel, Loreena’s Gift, was a Foreword Reviews’ INDIES Book of the Year Awards winner, among others. Find out more about Colleen here.

Lucy V. Hay aka Bang2write is a script editor, author and blogger who helps writers. Lucy is the script editor and advisor on numerous UK features and shorts. She has also been a script reader for over 15 years, providing coverage for indie prodcos, investors, screen agencies, producers, directors and individual writers.

Publishing as LV Hay, Lucy’s debut crime novel, The Other Twin, is out now and is being adapted by Agatha Raisin producers Free@Last TV. Her second crime novel, Do No Harm, was a finalist in the 2019 Dead Good Book Readers’ Awards. Her next title is Never Have I Ever for Hodder Books. You can find out more about Lucy here.

Christina Delay is the hostess of Cruising Writers and an award-winning psychological suspense author. She also writes award-winning supernatural suspense for young adult and adult readers under the name Kris Faryn.

Fun fact: Faryn means ‘to wander or travel.’ Since that’s exactly what she loves to do, you’ll find juicy tidbits on exotic and interesting places in all her books! Find out more about Christina here.

Jami Gold, after muttering writing advice in tongues, decided to become a writer and put her talent for making up stuff to good use. Fueled by chocolate, she shares writing tools, presents workshops, and offers insights on her blog about the craft, business, and life of writing. Jami is the winner of the 2015 National Readers’ Choice Award in Paranormal Romance for the novel Ironclad Devotion in her Mythos Legacy series. Read more about Jami here.

September C. Fawkes can scare people with her enthusiasm for writing and reading. She worked as an assistant to a New York Times bestselling author and writing instructor, and now does freelance editing at FawkesEditing.com. She has edited manuscripts of bestselling and beginning writers. She has published poetry, short fiction, and nonfiction articles, and her award-winning writing tips have appeared in classrooms, conferences, and on Grammar Girl.

She holds an English degree, has served as the managing editor of The Southern Quill literary journal, and had the pleasure of writing her thesis on the worldwide appeal of Harry Potter. Read more about September here.

Lisa Hall-Wilson is a writing teacher and award-winning writer and author. She’s the author of Method Acting For Writers: Learn Deep Point Of View Using Emotional Layers. Her blog Beyond Basics For Writers explores all facets of the popular writing style deep point of view and offers practical tips for writers. She is also the founder of the Deep Dive Author Club which offers a five-week online masterclass on writing in deep point of view and an ongoing membership class with critiques and support. Find out more about Lisa here.

Here’s to another year of amazing posts. As always, if there’s a topic you’d like help with, feel free to add it to the comments below!