HEIDI RUBY MILLER

Sara Light-Waller interviewed me for the PulpFest 50th anniversary celebration. We spoke about my influences from within the pulp world, teaching at Seton Hill , creating and managing Dog Star Books , my writing, and what's in the future for my and Jason's collaborative efforts. Here is an excerpt: Sara Light-Waller (SLW) Hello Heidi, thank you for joining us! Let’s start with your background. When did you first know you wanted to be a writer? Heidi Ruby Miller (HRM) I wrote my first story — The Copper Kitty Mystery — in second grade and listed “romance novelist” as one of my high school ambitions. But I didn’t become serious about it until my late twenties, right before I found Seton Hill’s graduate program in Writing Popular Fiction. I haven’t stopped writing since. READ THE REST ON THE PULPFEST SITE

AWP was our first in-person conference in two years, and it felt good to be back among writers. Here I am with Mike Arnzen representing our genres. Our Seton Hill table had several recognizable faces, even under the masks, including MFA director Nicole Peeler (pictured with Jason above, above) and Natalie and Matt Duvall. We also ran into other academic friends: Gerry LaFemina (pictured with Mike and Jason), William Hamilton, Tod Goldberg , and Anthony Kapolka. And Jason got to meet Taylor Mali in person to tell him he borrowed his "What Teachers Make" TedTalk for the Pennwriters Keynote in 2019, "What Writers Make." As an added bonus, we got to stay at The Notary Hotel , an ultra-cool spot just down the block from the Pennsylvania Convention Center .

Jason and I had the honor of being interviewed by Marx Pyle and Julie Seaton at GenreTainment . Here's the information and link: "On this episode we’re chatting with two very special guests, authors and professors Heidi Ruby Miller and Jason Jack Miller. It’s an edutainment packed episode as we talk about the value of an MFA, what a Popular Fiction MFA program is like compared to the more common creative writing graduate programs, Heidi’s Ambasadora books, Jason’s Hellbender book and his possible “Snot Otter” book, Appalachian culture, writing about other cultures, writing in someone else’s fictional setting, the charity anthology and online event, tips on co-writing, staying productive, and more! GenreTainment is where Marx and Julie talk about what is happening in the world of film, TV and web series. We give you interviews with writers, directors, producers and actors in both independent and not-so-independent creations." LINK: https://www.scifipulse.net/genreta...

I moderated a panel of contributors from Many Genres, One Craft: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction for Zoom Into Books . MGOC (Headline Books, Inc.) is the writing guide I co-edited with Michael A. Arnzen and is based on Seton Hill University's MFA in Writing Popular Fiction program , where I teach. Aside from Mike and me, there was Jason Jack Miller , Timons Esaias , Lee Tobin McClain , Albert Wendland , and Tim Waggoner . We discuss the craft, genres, and business of writing.

Virtual residencies for the Seton Hill MFA in Wiritng Popular Fiction program aren’t quite the same, but this one was loaded with lots of guest speakers who otherwise might not have been able to join us like Michelle Addo, Shana Asaro, Shelley Bates, Danielle Choitti, John Edward Lawson, Jayne Ann Krentz (Jayne Castle), Jonathan Maberry, Lauren Panepinto, Jason Ridler, Kristen Simmons, and Susan Swinwood. Congratulations, as always, are in order for the graduates this summer. Happy writing to you all! And happy retiremen to Dr. Albert Wendland, who gave a tear-jerking speech. At least he'll still be around for some light duty in the program.

The January 2021 Seton Hill Writing Popular Fiction residency was once again virtual, but Jason and I had a wonderful time in critique workshops, thesis defenses, genre dinners, craft modules, and book discussions. Thank you to the WPF Director, Dr. Nicole Peeler , for making this remote residency run so smoothly. Having SHUWPF alum V.M. Burns as our visiting professor was inspiring to all as she spoke of her success after Seton Hill as a mystery writer. We can't wait to see what these new graduates will accomplish. Congratulations to them all, including my mentees Marx Pyle and Victoria Scott .

VIDEOS "Write the Book They Can't Put Down" is based on my article "The Shifting Grail" from the international award-winning writing guide Many Genres, One Craft , which I co-edited with Michael A. Arnzen . This video captured the version I presented for MGOC's publisher Headline Books and their Zoom Into Books series on April 8, 2020. Using examples of well-known movies and literature, I show how character motivation can dictate pacing and suspense, making your book one readers can't put down. I've also taught an extended version as a class for Seton Hill University's MFA in Writing Popular Fiction program.

EVENTS I'll be presenting the workshop "Write the Book They Can't Put Down" on Zoom Into Books for Headline Books, Inc. on Wednesday, April 8, 2020 from 2:00 - 3:00 PM ET. Here's the press release from Headlines : Wednesday, April 8 2:00 PM ET Write the Book They Can't Put Down with Heidi Ruby Miller (45 minutes) Heidi will guide you through tips based on her article "The Shifting Grail: A Quest for a Good Read" from the international award-winning writing guide Many Genres, One Craft: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction, which she co-edited for Seton Hill University's MFA program. Using examples from well-known movies and literature, she'll show how character motivation can dictate pacing and suspense, making your book one readers can't put down. Heidi will also host a Q&A and booksigning for Many Genres at the end of her presentation. Register at https://us04web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEsf-2qqDouzppSHg9Bt...

CELEBRATIONS To celebrate 1,000,000 views and counting at www.heidirubymiller.com , I'm revisiting my most visited posts last year and... ...making my novel GREENSHIFT (From the World of Ambasadora) free on Amazon from Tuesday, January 28, 2020 until Saturday, February 1, 2020. Many thanks to my readers and fans who keep coming back after all these years and to those new to my little part of the universe (known around here as the Ambasadora-verse). There is lots to come in 2020, including new publications, appearances, and blog posts! Now to revisit: DOCUMENTARY: Visible on WQED Pittsburgh I was honored to discuss pulp artist Gloria Stoll Karn on the documentary VISIBLE produced by Pittsburgh's PBS station WQED . Below are a few photos from the filming and video of the clip about Gloria and the entire documentary , which highlights the stories of five women artists in Pittsburgh. Thanks to Mike Chomko , Director of PulpFest and producers Anne Casper and ...

ARTICLES My article "Pick Your Punk" is in the October 2019 issue of The Writer magazine. It is based on a class I taught in Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction MFA program and features quotes from K. Ceres Wright and Shelley Adina about the qualities that make each punk special. Here's an excerpt: It all started when Greg Shaw used the term punk in the April 1971 issue of Rolling Stone . The movement may have been already building, but now it was a word , and as all writers know, words are power. Less than 10 years later, Bruce Bethke introduced a new version of that word to the literary scene with his 1980 short story "Cyberpunk." Said Bethke in the foreword to his story on the British website infinity plus , "In calling it that, I was actively trying to invent a new term that grokked the juxtaposition of punk attitudes and high technology. My reasons for doing so were purely selfish and market-driven: I wanted to give my stor...

DOCUMENTARIES I was honored to discuss pulp artist Gloria Stoll Karn on the documentary VISIBLE produced by Pittsburgh's PBS station WQED . Below are a few photos from the filming and video of the clip about Gloria and the entire documentary , which highlights the stories of five women artists in Pittsburgh. Thanks to Mike Chomko , Director of PulpFest and producers Anne Casper and Andrew Holman for this opportunity to contribute to such a lovely project. You'll notice my segment was filmed at Seton Hill University , of course. GLORIA STOLL KARN CLIP FULL DOCUMENTARY

WEBSITES I was delighted to see some of the students from my New Pulp class at Seton Hill University created their own project called New Pulp Tales . It offers weekly flash fiction in all the favorite pulp genres. Editors are Jeremiah Dylan Cook , E.C. Skowronski , and Ralph Weld .

PHOTOS Just a few photos from the January 2017 Seton Hill University Writing Popular Fiction MFA residency. It was a cold one this year, but fun and inspiring, as always. Shiny new faculty name tags Congratulations to this term's graduates! Waiting for graduation with Jason Jack Miller

BOOK SPOT James Blair holding his copy of Starrie at Seton Hill's WPF June residency. Thanks to James and the many others who grace my acknowledgments page.

TWEET LOVE One of the best books on writing I've read is Many Genres, One Craft by @heidirubymiller and Michael Arnzen. Give it a look. #writing — Trace Conger (@TraceConger) February 5, 2016

ARTICLES I've known Mike Arnzen for a long time and always suspected there was something a little different about him, something a little...uncanny. After his presentation at the December 2015 Parsec meeting and this interview, I'm convinced it's totally true. Read the entire interview at gorelets.com or in the SIGMA newsletter, edited by David Brody . His non-fiction book The Popular Uncanny is due out with Guide Dog Books in 2016. Here's a video where Mike goes into a bit more detail about the uncanny.

EVENTS This past June was by far the busiest residency I've had at Seton Hill since my own graduation back in 2007. Busy, but fun! Congratulations to all the graduates, including my seven mentees: Amy Culey , Jenni Dillard , Sheri Queen Fleming , Caroline Gessner , Catherine Oswald , K. W. Taylor , and Chris Wilk . Below are a just a few photos of my time at the combined residency and alum-run In Your Write Mind conference. THANK YOU, KENYA WRIGHT, FOR THIS ONE. IT'S THE ONLY PHOTO OF JASON AND ME TOGETHER!