How To Write a Novel in 20 Pies

Sweet and Savory Secrets for Surviving the Writing Life

Amy Wallen, Emil Wilson

• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9781524875657
• eBook ISBN: 9781524882679
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Creative Writing
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

As a novelist, memoirist, and associate director of the New York State Summer Writers Institute, Amy Wallen has a few things to say about the writing world, many of them irreverent and snarky. From her perspective as a teacher, mentor, and published author, her belief is that the way to survive the hard knocks of writing a book and trying to get published is to bust a gut working, laughing, and eating pie.
With chapters including "Oh Agent, Where Art Thou?", "Revising, Rewriting, and Reimagining," and "The Joy of Rejection," Wallen balances out the challenging stages of the writing process with both sweet and savory goodness, featuring recipes for chocolate pecan pie, salmon and portobello pie, and the recipe for the best cherry pie ever.
Throughout the book, Wallen demystifies the vagaries of the publishing business, providing delicious recipes that will keep your belly full even when you're staring at an empty page. Her writing advice is neatly paired with the brilliant illustrations of Emil Wilson, who shares her sharp wit, sardonic look at the demands of the writing life, and her mad love of pie. Combined, the stories, lessons, images, and recipes will provide encouragement and camaraderie for the novel-writing journey, from putting pen to page, to finding an agent, to celebrating publication—all with a piece of pie.

Table of contents

• Dedication
• Introduction: How to Read This Book
• Chapter One: Easy as Pie And Other Lies
• Chapter Two: Pie as Saving Grace
• Chapter Three: Pie Butt in Chair
• Chapter Four: Crafty Craft
• Chapter Five: Wrangling Writing Groups
• Chapter Six: Reading, Writing and Hitchhiking
• Chapter Seven: Revising, Rewriting, Reimagining
• Chapter Eight: Workshops, Strangers, and Buddhists, Oh My!
• Chapter Nine: It’s Drafty in Here - Is This the End?
• Chapter Ten: Dating and Rejection Aren’t just for Lovers Anymore
• Chapter Eleven: Oh Agent, Where Art Thou?
• Chapter Twelve: The Joy of Rejection
• Chapter Thirteen: My Agent’s Going to Call
• Chapter Fourteen: The Book Deal
• Chapter Fifteen: Now the Work Begins
• Chapter Sixteen: From a Box of Books to Book Tour
• Chapter Seventeen: Rumpus Room
• Chapter Eighteen: E(pie)logue
• About the Authors
• Copyright