Mary Akers

Category: Blog

  • Rejections: A view from the other side of the desk

    First and foremost, I am a writer. But I have also been Editor-in-chief of the online journal r.kv.r.y. for about a year and a half now. It’s been a wonderful, enriching, exhausting, eye-opening experience. So much so, that I thought it might be valuable to share some of what I’ve learned from my time spent…

  • Dear Teen Me

      My “Dear Teen Me” letter goes live today. Thanks to the moderators for this wonderful, important site. Dear Teen Me, Hello! How are you? Wait, I know how you are. You’re struggling with high school in a small, one-stoplight town. You get told you’re “too good” or “stuck up” when all you are is…

  • An author video from 2009

    This interview aired on a local TV station in 2009, but most of the discussion revolves around about the process and the art of writing, which are timeless subjects.

  • A House of Words

    A book, I have come to believe, is rather like a house. For the past six years I have been building a house of words from the ground up. I hammered every nail, placed every stone (at first I thought to write “brick” but the unique shapes of words, their roundness and roughness and varied…

  • What does success look like to you?

    I have a good friend who has recently hit a publishing wall. She’s a great writer, with a published book that was nominated for a major award. Her writing inspires me. Now she has a second book out on submission and the process is killing her confidence in the unique way that only the publishing…

  • It’s All About the Writing

    Before I began writing full time, I was a production potter. I strove to create beautiful work that was also functional. For me, beauty and function have never been separate ideals. A pitcher that is easy to lift and pours a smooth stream of liquid without dripping is beautiful for how it becomes an extension…

  • Never Give Up

    Cliff Garstang has a great post about keeping hope alive as a writer: Don’t Give Up! Truly, mental fortitude in the writing business is as important as the writing itself, especially in the beginning. As Fred Leebron counseled us during our MFA program, “Writing is a game of attrition. Don’t attrish.” I’m very pleased to…

  • Margaret Atwood at the r.kv.r.y. blog

    I am a huge, slavering fan of Margaret Atwood’s work. I first read The Handmaid’s Tale in 1985, and it took the top of my head off. Thereafter, I read everything of hers I could get my hands on. The Double Voice, the poem she graciously permitted us to print in this issue, became a…

  • My Blanket Apology

    I am counting down. I have given myself a timetable and my end date is September 15th. One week to go. This is the date I have told myself I must be done. I’ve completed nine other revisions on this novel, but this last one is a biggie. New title, new ending, new character names,…

  • Interview with Dylan Landis

    At the r.kv.r.y. blog. Here’s an excerpt: MA: I’ve read that you feel one of your themes to be “the redemptive power of art.” I love that. It makes so much sense to me, but I’m wondering if you could extrapolate on that for our readers. DL: I’ll say this inadequately, as neither a scholar…