Writers & Readers: Enjoy an Informal Conversation with Three Bestselling Novelists

Want to "listen in" on some great conversations with bestselling novelists? I've "prettied up" and posted the transcripts from the last three Athena Isle Writers meetings to our blog. These meetings are intimate round-table discussions with guests (often in Second Life for the very first time) who are published authors or writing experts.

The most recent guest was bestselling crime-fiction novelist Michelle Gagnon, whose second novel, The Boneyard, made it to the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association bestseller list the morning of our meeting! It joins her first thriller, The Tunnels, on that list, and ensures publication of more books in the series.

Michelle has some interesting and encouraging things to say to both writers and readers about such topics as:

• How she began her writing journey
• Where her novel ideas came from
• The need for writers to market their books
• The benefits of being part of the mystery-genre writers' community

Not to confuse matters, but our guest the week before Michelle Gagnon was another Michelle: literary fiction bestselling author Michelle Richmond. Her newest literary mystery, No One You Know, has just been released to rave reviews, while her previous novel, The Year of Fog, was a New York Times bestseller!

Michelle shared a wealth of advice and support for yet-to-be-published and emerging authors on a wide range of topics, including:

• Finding agents and publishers
• How to get started as a literary fiction author
• Her own writing process
• The two most important things for writers to do

Two weeks earlier, the acclaimed author of the popular Vampire Huntress Legends series of novels, L.A. Banks joined our meeting, and offered hugs, wisdom, and a great deal of support to the writers and readers at the event. She's just released the 11th novel in the 12-book Vampire Huntress series, The Shadows, as well as the first in her new Crimson Moon crime/romance series, Bad Blood.

An incredibly prolific author (more than 30 novels), Leslie shared many aspects of her writing career, including:

• The circumstances that "forced" her into a writing career
• Writing for TV and movies
• Where she gets her ideas for books
• How she manages to keep her characters and plots organized

All three authors shared their advice and thoughts on:

• Finding and working with agents
• Getting published
• The importance (or not) of MFAs for writers
• The exciting possibilities that Second Life can offer writers

Check out these bestselling authors' words of support and tips for writers, as well as photos of the events, held at Story Mountain Center for Writers in Second Life, at the Athena Isle Writers blog.