When it comes time to compose my story idea list, I pull up my “Ideas” file and start connecting dots. I also have lengthier paragraphs of vague plot ideas that have occurred to me while driving, at the grocery store, etc. For example, I have “an illness where the only treatment is a hallucinogenic drug” and “Roman curse tablets” and “creepy water spirit someone is indebted to” written on my list, along with various stories I may want to retell ( The Scarlet Letter, The Velveteen Rabbit). Whenever I have a spark of an idea, I jot it down in an “Ideas” file in the Notes app on my phone sometimes it’s a cool setting, or a bizarre item, or a specific type of character. I am a huge plotter, so a lot of my discovery process comes before I put any words on the page.

So every once in a while I get to gather up all my notes and create a story idea list. Before I start on a new novel, I like to come up with a half dozen ideas and then get feedback from my agent on what makes sense for the market. One of my favorite parts of the writing process is brainstorming new story ideas. In addition to her degrees in Psychology, Liberal Arts, and International Relations, Amber holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. Logan is a university instructor, freelance editor, and author of speculative fiction living in Kansas with her husband and two children-Fox and Willow. In addition to being an author and editor, I have been teaching university classes online for over 13 years and have extensive experience providing feedback on student papers and communicating virtually.įeel free to reach out with any questions! I look forward to hearing from you.Amber A. I read every manuscript out loud as I edit to see how the words sound, as well as look, on the page.

I love working with authors on big-picture developmental edits to help them shape their stories, but I also love working on the line level to make the prose shine. If you consider your work to be fabulism/magical realism or can compare your work to Haruki Murakami, Helen Oyeyemi, Banana Yoshimoto, Angela Carter, China Mieville, or David Mitchell we might be a great match! My own debut novel, The Secret Garden of Yanagi Inn, is a lightly speculative retelling of The Secret Garden, but for adults and set in an old inn outside Kyoto, Japan. I'm an agented, traditionally published author and university professor who loves all things 'weird.' My favorite books to write and work on are often genre-bending with speculative elements.

The secret garden of yanagi inn