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About Grace Wynter

Grace Wynter is a freelance editor and writer and a huge fan of shenanigans. Her blogs (and a few of her shenanigans) have been featured on CNN.com and the Huffington Post. She has taught workshops for the Atlanta Writers Club and Wake Up & Write. Grace has an MBA in marketing from Georgia State University and an editing certificate from the University of Chicago. Her debut novel, Free Falling, was a Georgia Romance Writers’ Maggie Award finalist. When she’s not alternating between the Marvel and DC universes, Grace resides in Atlanta, Georgia. You can connect with her on her blog, The Writer’s Station, and on her author website, ggwynter.com.

Recent Posts by this author:

  • Author Up Close: Alexia Gordon—Medicine, Murder, and Classical Music
  • Author Up Close: How Catherine Adel West Saved Ruby King
  • Author Up Close: Vanessa Riley and The Bargain That Changed Everything
  • Author Up Close: Elizabeth Bell—A Quarter-Century in the Making
  • Author Up Close: Anne O’Brien Carelli—Perseverance and Blind Optimism
  • Author Up Close: Roger Johns-Write Tired, Edit Rested
  • Author Up Close: Linda Seed’s Self-Publishing Success
  • Author Up Close Series: Learning From Successful Authors
  • Hope, Reality, and the Balancing Act
  • Taking Care of Business: The Writer’s Edition
  • Your Novel’s Soundtrack
  • Five Marketing Tools for Authors Who Hate Marketing

    • Author Up Close: Alexia Gordon—Medicine, Murder, and Classical Music

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    Image Credit: Unsplash Julio Rionaldo 

    In my final 2020 installment of the Author Up Close series, I’m interviewing Alexia Gordon. Alexia is repped by Paula Munier of Talcott Notch Literary Services and published by Henery Press.  She’s been nominated for an Agatha Award, was a finalist for a Silver Falchion Award, and was chosen as one of Suspense Magazine’s best debuts of 2016. She’s also the host of the Cozy Corner podcast. As if all that weren’t enough, Alexia is also a medical doctor.

    I first met Alexia in 2019 at the Killer Nashville Conference. Despite its name, the annual conference isn’t some weird meetup of aspiring murderers; it’s an event held by and for very friendly, welcoming, and non-killy mystery, crime, and thriller writers. It was there that I learned that Alexia is the author behind the Gethsemane Brown Mysteries, paranormal cozies featuring an African American classical musician living in southwestern Ireland. I recently had the opportunity to ask her about the series, the challenges of balancing two demanding careers, and why she advises writers never to miss an opportunity to pitch their work.

    GW: I’ve been starting my author Q&As by asking about writer origin stories. The term is usually only used to describe superheroes, but I think creatives all have origin stories. What’s yours?

    AG: I write mysteries with ghosts because I grew up reading mysteries and reading (and watching) horror and ghost stories. Write what you love, right? The thing missing from what I read growing up were characters who looked like me. I wondered why a Black woman couldn’t catch a murderer or vanquish a demon or survive the night in a haunted house. One day, I realized a Black woman could do those things. So, I decided to write about a Black woman catching murderers while living in a haunted house.

    GW: What was your path to getting published? If you pitched and queried, what was it about your manuscript and query that stood out? What advice can you give to writers who are currently querying?

    AG: I didn’t have much (any) luck with querying. I got my contract by pitching. I went to DFWCon, the Dallas Fort Worth Writers Conference, and signed up for pitch sessions. I attended the practice pitch sessions beforehand. The feedback I got proved invaluable in helping me hone my pitch. I can’t give any advice about querying, I’m afraid. As for pitching, I recommend not passing up any chance to pitch and I recommend practicing so you sound your best in the short time you have to impress an agent or editor.

    GW: In this industry, it can be difficult for authors to get additional books published in a planned series. You’ve got five in your Gethsemane Brown Mysteries series, which is amazing. Can you tell us a little about the series: how you got started with it and share some insight into how to try to obtain longevity in this business?

    AG: The Gethsemane Brown Mysteries feature an African American classical musician who, through misadventure, ends up accepting a job teaching music at an Irish boys’ school and a caretaking gig at a cottage haunted by a murder victim. Gethsemane solves the ghost’s murder. After that, the murders and the ghosts keep finding her. Cozy mysteries are almost always series. My publisher specialized in cozy mysteries so they were only interested in a series. I don’t think there’s any secret to longevity other than not giving up. Keep working. Keep writing.

    GW: What advice would you give a newbie writer who someday wants to be doing what you’re doing? [Read more…]

    Author Up Close: How Catherine Adel West Saved Ruby King

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    In this installment of my Author Up Close series, I share a Q&A with debut author Catherine Adel West. Catherine and I are social media friends, and I've been impressed with the way she has navigated becoming a debut author during this unprecedented time. Her novel, Saving Ruby King, which Kirkus calls “a multilayered love letter to South Side Chicago’s African American faith-based community,” tackles the complex topics of faith and family and the secrets that can bind or break … [Read more...]

    Author Up Close: Vanessa Riley and The Bargain That Changed Everything

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    I'm known for asking a lot of questions. A lot of questions. Particularly of my author friends. And when I launched the Author Up Close series in 2019, my goal was to share some of their knowledge and wisdom with other writers. The series resonated with so many, I've decided to continue it in 2020. The information these authors share provides a unique inside look at the industry, what it often takes to break in, and helpful advice on how to handle the business on your own terms. Today's Q&A … [Read more...]

    Author Up Close: Elizabeth Bell—A Quarter-Century in the Making

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    For my final installment of my Author Up Close series in 2019, I’m sharing a Q&A with Elizabeth Bell. Elizabeth and I e-met after both finaling in a writing award competition. Elizabeth is a craft genius—no surprise there; she has an MFA from George Mason University and works in the school’s library. When I caught up with her she was launching her novel, Necessary Sins, a James Jones First Novel Fellowship finalist. Her 26-year journey to publishing is fascinating, and our Q&A provides … [Read more...]

    Author Up Close: Anne O’Brien Carelli—Perseverance and Blind Optimism

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    In this week's Author Up Close, I interview Anne O'Brien Carelli, author of adult nonfiction, the middle-grade book Skylark and Wallcreeper, and the picture book Amina's New Friends. She's been a friend and mentor since we met at our first Writer Unboxed conference.  Anne is the owner of a leadership training business, and she has taught me invaluable lessons about managing the craft and business sides of being a writer. Her advice will be especially helpful to anyone writing and querying … [Read more...]

    Author Up Close: Roger Johns-Write Tired, Edit Rested

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    So far in my Author Up Close series, you've met Fiona Zedde, an author whose hybrid approach to publishing has allowed her to live and work anywhere in the world and Linda Seed, a self-publishing success story who made more from a single ad placement than many authors make in their entire careers. Today I'm sharing my Q&A with Roger Johns, whose debut novel, Dark River Rising, was eleven years in the making and who is one of the smartest and hardest working authors I know. Roger received … [Read more...]

    Author Up Close: Linda Seed’s Self-Publishing Success

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    Welcome to the second installment of Author Up Close, the series that explores several authors’ paths to publishing. If you missed the first in the series, a Q&A with author Fiona Zedde, you can read it here. There are probably as many articles about the perils of self-publishing as there are about the “fall” of traditional publishing. Most of these articles lack nuance and are more concerned with promoting a perceived “right” way to publish while disparaging the “wrong” way. In reality, … [Read more...]

    Author Up Close Series: Learning From Successful Authors

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    Though you may not know it by the prevalence of clickbait headlines sounding the death knell about author careers, successful authors are out there. Lots of them. And I'm not just talking about the ones who top the bestseller lists week after week. I'm talking about the authors whose names you may have never heard, who are quietly writing and earning income from their books. And while there is no formula for becoming a successful author, or even a consensus about what defines "success," there … [Read more...]

    Hope, Reality, and the Balancing Act

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    I've been thinking about hope a lot lately. As it pertains to the world in general and writers in particular. Even the most cynical among us hold out hope for something. Hope is what gets us up in the morning. It compels us to keep working on our manuscripts for years. It whispers to us to reactivate that OKCupid dating profile. For the tenth time. Because maybe this time will be different. (Spoiler alert: it wasn't.) But sometimes hope can feel like a "kick me" sign you've pinned to your own … [Read more...]

    Taking Care of Business: The Writer’s Edition

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      Authorpreneur is a term often used to identify authors who embrace the business side of writing. And though the term doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, it does capture the essence of what writers who hope to make a living from their writing have to be—author entrepreneurs. Even authors with traditional contracts will tell you there’s much more to a successful writing career than daily word counts. From designing graphics for use on social media, to preparing for a rainy day, the … [Read more...]

    Your Novel’s Soundtrack

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    I know my lease is up and the bailiff’s at the door And still I'm hanging on to the life we had before “Chainsmoking”—Jacob Banks I listen to white noise or instrumental music when I write because I usually find silence and music lyrics distracting. But there are times when a song's lyrics allow me to discover things about my story I’d previously been unable to see. At a recent writing retreat, I vowed to shake things up and break through the writer’s block I’d been experiencing with my … [Read more...]

    Five Marketing Tools for Authors Who Hate Marketing

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    Disclaimer: Hating marketing is not required to use these tools. In fact, if you enjoy marketing, you'll have a blast using them. I’m active in several online writing communities, and one of the most frequent things I read about is how much authors hate marketing. It’s usually accompanied by talk about art and creativity, and once in a while someone tosses this suggestion across the virtual meeting room: all you have to do is write a great story and they will come. Except, thousands of … [Read more...]