Staff Spotlight: New Writing Coaches & Consultants
Posted by David Duhr in 
In our continuing mission to provide writing coaches and consultants who best suit your writing needs, we’ve added three new accomplished writers to our staff, and today we want to introduce ’em to you.
Bridget Apfeld has taught writing courses and run fiction workshops at UNC-Wilmington, where she received her MFA. Her work has appeared in journals such as Dislocate, So to Speak, Prick of the Spindle, and Verse Wisconsin. She lives in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Bridget got her start as a writer by … not writing. “I spent most of my childhood narrating stories in my head or drawing single-page illustrations,” she tells us, “each with their own elaborate, unwritten drama.”
She began writing seriously in college: “Once I took my first workshop,” she says, “I was hooked, and never wanted to do anything else.”
Bridget’s best piece of writing advice? “Read constantly and broadly. Get in the habit of eavesdropping. Be patient with your writing.”
Sounds good to us. Read a full Q&A with Bridget to get to know her better, and if you’re interested in working with Bridget, request a free consult now.
Former WBN coaching client Marie Curran received her MFA, and taught writing classes, at Northern Michigan University. Her work has appeared in publications such as Collagist, Mud Reason Review, and Rind.
Marie began writing in sixth grade. “I wrote a very long and sad poem about Ötzi, the ancient ice man who was discovered in France,” she says. “That was also the year I read Harriet the Spy, and I started carrying a notebook around with me all the time.” (Something we all should do.)
For Marie — as it is for so many of us — getting through the middle of a a piece of writing can be a chore. “When I’m struggling through the middle of something,” she says, “I strive for the tension between ‘just showing up’ and thinking in a risky way, by which I mean asking my characters new and strange requests, or looking for cracks of light in the world I have so far built.
“Getting through the middle of a piece is so satisfying.”
Learn more about Marie here, and let us know if you’re interested in working with her.
Katherine Catmull started writing in part because she was tired of sharing the spotlight with others. “I’ve been a stage actor for many years, so I started by writing short plays,” she tells us. “In time I started wishing for a project that would be mine alone — no other actors, producers, or directors involved — so I decided to write a book.”
That book was Summer and Bird, published by Dutton in 2012 to wide acclaim.
Katherine is a firm believer in finishing what she begins. “Stories are tremendously fun to start, but once I’m in the weeds, I develop a lot of anxiety and blocks,” she says. “But ninety percent of what you learn, you will learn from finishing. Finish something, send it out into the world (however you prefer to do that), and start something else.
“And finish it!”
True to her word, Katherine finished a second book, The Radiant Road, published in January of this year.
Read the rest of our conversation with Katherine, and drop us a line if you’d like to discuss working one-on-one with her.
And tune in next week, when we just may have another new writer or two to brag about.
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