Ep. 7 Bianca Marais Author & Podcaster: Interview Series

Last week, I talked to Nicki Krawczyk about the one of the best ways for writers to make money in 2022. Before that, SA Sidor shared the story of how he became a career writer and his new book that just came out!

In this week’s author interview, I’ll be talking to Bianca Marais. She is the author of Hum If You Don’t Know the Words and If You Want to Make God Laugh. She teaches at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies where she was awarded an Excellence in Teaching Award for Creative Writing in 2021.

She runs an Own Voices Initiative to empower young Black women in Africa to write and publish their own stories, and is constantly fundraising to assist grandmothers who are caring for children who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

She is the co-host of the popular podcast, The Shit No One Tells You About Writing, which is aimed at helping emerging writers become published.

During the interview we’re going to be talking about:

Common querying mistakes & what should be on your first page
A virtual retreat she’s running at the end of this month
Her experience in publishing – how she got an agent, when & how she started writing, etc.
Her time as a writing instructor
Why she thinks writing groups are so important
Her number 1 tip for writers
and MORE

This interview is jam packed with great information for aspiring writers.

3 Big Takeaways

Be tenacious

Build a community

Make sure your first pages show your character, their goal, and what’s at stake

It’s so interesting to hear how writers build community around themselves. If you listened to my interview with literary agent, Amy Elizabeth Bishop, she said her number one tip for writers is to build a community. SA Sidor likes to work alone but is in a book club with non-writers. He explains how that helps him see what readers see and develop strategies that can improve his books.

If you’re looking for a community, Bianca explains how she’s helping writers find our people! We talk about how she structures her days and how she plans and produces such useful podcast episodes for writers.

One of the reasons I wanted to bring Bianca on was to share what she’s doing, not only with this retreat at the end of the month but with the courses she’s running. Bianca is constantly giving back to the writing community!