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About Grace Wynter

Grace Wynter (she/her) is a writer, freelance editor, 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 is a freelance editor for the Atlanta Writers Club’s biannual conference and has edited for FIYAH and Macmillan/Tor. 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 at The Writer’s Station The Writer’s Station, and on her author website, GGWynter ggwynter.com.

Recent Posts by this author:

  • Author Up Close: Deb Lacativa—Magic, Mayhem, and Benromach Single Malt
  • 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

    • Author Up Close: Deb Lacativa—Magic, Mayhem, and Benromach Single Malt

    By 43 Comments

    The artist’s tools: From Deb Lacativa’s studio, where all the magic happens.

    My first Author Up Close post for 2021 features someone many of you might already be familiar with. Deb Lacativa is not only an active member of the Writer Unboxed community, she was also the 2016 WU Conference Scholarship recipient and returned to deliver the 2018 keynote speech. Deb also reminded me that she was, in her own words, “the first sacrificial lamb to the ‘All the King’s Slaughter … I mean, All the King’s Editors’ feature on Writer Unboxed.” The story Deb submitted for that series is now complete and will be published in a few weeks.

    I not only wanted to interview Deb because she’s a gifted storyteller and creator (and friend), but because from the start, Deb defined success on her own terms. When she realized her genre-bending, 800-page debut novel would likely never get buy-in from a traditional publisher, she decided to take a different route to publication. In this Q&A we learn more about the novel and the choices that led Deb on that journey. Of course, if you know Deb at all, you know her answers are filled with the same mix of magic and mayhem her stories are. And, as an added bonus, at the end of this post, there’s a special treat.

    GW: Tell us a little about how your writing journey started and when you went from dreaming about becoming an author to taking actionable steps to becoming one?

    DL: I’ve been writing since I figured out that crayons didn’t taste good and had a better purpose. I was surrounded by adults who frequently had their noses buried in newspapers. The headlines seemed designed for a toddler to puzzle out, so I pestered for answers because I wanted in on this grownup magic.  “MOBSTER SLAIN” above a lurid black-and-white photo on the front page of the NY POST was the first sentence I ever copied. But, beyond bs-ing all my teachers with style over substance at every opportunity, it wasn’t until 2005 that I started writing for an audience on my blog: The misadventures of a textile artist. I used it to be engaging. Sometimes, downright hilarious.

    Then, over the course of sixteen months starting in the summer of 2012, both my parents and my husband, Jim, passed away. By January 2014, I needed to get out of the house and be with people who did not know me. It could have been throwing pots or axes, it didn’t matter just as long as there were no condolences. Meetup offered a writer’s group not far away. “Bring a sample of your writing.” I took my turn and was immediately hooked on getting feedback, good or bad. I’d found my heart and purpose for writing. I never dreamed of becoming a published author. It became an objective. Like learning to read and write, it was a skill set that I wanted to learn. [Read more…]

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

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    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 … [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...]