Tripods, Amber, NDA, Yes!, Cornerstone, conferences, Aquinas, and romance: Author Erin M. Brown
Charlie Barshaw coordinates our regular Writer Spotlight feature and interviews writers of SCBWI. In this piece, meet author Erin M. Brown.
[Note: the items in italics are from my research into Erin Brown. My questions follow the italicized items.]
Who was young Erin? Who most greatly influenced your love of reading, writing, and teaching?
I was a quiet book nerd who rode my bike to the library three times a week to stuff my backpack with as many books as allowed. My Side of the Mountain, A Wrinkle in Time, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and John Christopher’s classic YA series The Tripods inspired me to fill notebooks filled with scenes and daydreams. When not outside climbing a tree, I was reading or writing.
At 14, I began teaching music and eventually earned a music ed degree from WMU. This led to teaching music students for about 30 years. During that time, I also earned a master’s degree in rehabilitation, worked clinically in a VA hospital teaching patients, and returned to work at home, teaching young kids.
I started designing curricula in the 80s and, eventually, was asked to teach and
design university courses in writing, English, communications, and leadership
and management. So, reading, writing, and teaching is a three-strand cord
running through my life for over 50 years now.
You’ve earned a slew of letters after your name. How did you manage schooling
combined with raising children and your prodigious writing output?
Truth is, my mind is constantly “on fire”—and creativity doesn’t take
energy; it gives. The same dynamic filled grad school and learning: it’s
incredibly enjoyable and energizing. (I love learning.)
Erin has 30 books published; is a lover of coffee; has multiple collies and a mini–Australian Labradoodle; reads voraciously (and loves re-reading Roger Zelazny’s Amber Chronicles yearly, both cycles, of course); and is passionate about speaking and one-on-one coaching for writers of fantasy, science fiction, dystopian, romantasy, and quirky contemporary, out-of-the-box romance novels with a twist.
What is it about Roger Zelazny’s Amber Chronicles (both
cycles, of course) that brings you back for an annual re-read? When did you
first read the Chronicles?
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| Speaking circa 1990's |
Wherever I go, I love to sing Roger Zelazny’s praises. He was a master storyteller who won the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Association (SFWA) Nebula Award three times (and was nominated 14 times). He also won the Hugo Award six times (and was nominated 14 times for this award, as well).
I first read the Amber Chronicles (a series of 10 books) between 1970 and 1991, when they were published. For me, Zelazny is right up there with Asimov, Rodenberry, Rice Burroughs, MacDonald, Morris, Lovecraft, Lewis, and Tolkien. I also love reading today’s spec fic greats. It’s fun that Kevin J. Anderson (Dune), Brandon Sanderson (Stormlight Archives, Mistborn), Gaiman, and GRR Martin openly cite Zelazny’s Amber Chronicles as a key influencer of their own works.
Zelazny has an uncanny ability to create reader intrigue, to immerse readers into the setting, and to write fast, powerful dialogue. His stories make me completely emotional. I don’t know anyone else who introduces characters like he does—simply remarkable. I can only hope he influences my writing—because every time I read the first five books of Amber, I’m undone.
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| With some SCBWI friends |
From advising A-listers on season arcs and screenplays to working one-on-one with authors on novels, Erin helps both pros and beginners as a story consultant. What are some of the screenplays you’ve been involved in? Which season arcs in TV series are your proudest achievement?
I can’t name many of the screenplays for NDA/privacy reasons, but I can say I’ve had the honor of working with well-known writers, indie film makers, and even a few A-list actors.
If you know anything about writing in Hollywood, you know that it takes a lot to buy a script or TV show, to greenlight a project, and to get it into production. Anything can crumble at any step of the way.
I say this because my favorite project was with John Rhys-Davies (LOTR) on a sci-fi TV show reboot proposal that lasted two years before re-licensing issues made the project fold. Working with John made me realize how much I love ideating and outlining big story arcs (and he’s such a gracious guy).
Each year, Erin judges multiple national and international storytelling
contests for author organizations (e.g., RWA, SCBWI) and anthologies. She has
also been featured in articles, blogs, columns, websites, webinars,
conferences, and on the radio since the late 80s.
Tell me about judging. And what has your decades-long involvement in radio wrought?
I’ve been judging contests and anthologies
for 30 years and absolutely love it. Whether it’s for the three rounds of
Romance Writers of America’s yearly awards, or speculative novels, or flash
fiction contests, for me, contest season is a rush. As a former university writing
instructor, it “feels like home” to give comments and suggestions helping
authors publish even better books.
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| Speaking in Las Vegas |
Speaking is another fun story. In the 80s, someone asked me to speak at a small conference. I said, “Why not?” Well, the word got out and I ended up speaking multiple times a year.
Then, in 2000 (when my first book was published), the publicity team put me on a ton of radio shows and podcasts. Go figure, I really liked it. Again, meeting people who love storytelling as much as I do and talking craft is invigorating (the shy, bicycling book introvert has come a long way).
My father always said, be open and kind, share what you know, and when something new comes along, even if it feels awkward and you’re scared, say yes. It was great advice.
In what turned out to be a unique twist of fate, Erin was recruited years ago
as a writer-designer for a college writing program, which evolved into the
development and oversight of three university writing and communications
programs.
Describe this unique twist of fate. How did this writing program
turn into an award-winning national project?
In early 2000, I was speaking at a conference and was approached by someone representing Cornerstone University’s Professional and Graduate Studies Division who said they needed a writing, research, and leadership instructor. So, on their prompting, I applied. Again, my dad’s advice to “say yes” led to something I never imagined: 17 years of college teaching at three universities.
I found that teaching college part time worked well with
raising my kids. Life became a game of “creative time management” (waking at 5
AM or working till midnight), and that led to with a passion for organization
(my calendar front and center, always).
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| My workspace |
After working part time at Cornerstone for seven years, it happened again at another conference: a small college from the Washington DC area had a booth, and the person manning it approached me to say they were looking for someone to develop writing courses for a distance learning program. Would I be interested?
I ended up designing their online program’s writing courses, as well as the college’s online AP English Language and Composition program. Then I taught writing and research there for five years.
This was during the explosion of online learning,
and more writing program development followed, including as a full-time
position as the Communications Curriculum Lead for General Education with
Western Governors University. Oh, by the way: go to conferences. You never
know what’s going to happen there!
About 16 years ago, I “ran into” a new (at the time) online curriculum group
called Homeschool Connections. There, I made a single writing course for teens…
and another… and another—which turned into an entire online writing program for
teens called Aquinas Writing Advantage (AWA).
There, I created and now oversee about 50 courses as the Executive Lead, with a leadership team of six guiding 25 instructors. It has truly been an honor, with the program winning first place in the iLearn Awards for the past four years in a row. The most fun is when university graduates message me that, after taking the AWA courses and getting their college degree, the book they’ve written has been picked up by one of the Big Five.
In the last decade, Corporate America came calling, and I was asked to apply as an International Writing Strategist. Again, I said yes.
I ended up training dozens of international writing professionals and marketing copywriters, met daily with writers all over the world, and worked with Fortune 500 companies like H&M, Bayer, Walgreens, and Eli Lilly. In January of this year, I decided to retire from the corporate job and cut back my hours with AWA to write and consult with authors. People often ask, “Why did you work so much?” Remember, I had 11 kids (13, if you counted step kids), and kids are expensive!
Would you consider yourself a script doctor? A writing
coach? How many professional hats do you wear?
With AWA’s excellent leadership team in place, I can now take more time writing
my own books and taking on select coaching for novelists, screenwriters, TV
writers, and working on a few scripts and story edits with directors.
After so many years of wearing many hats, it’s nice to focus on storytelling—period! I do get to work with novelists (all genres) and specialize in romance, fantasy, and YA. For a somewhat quiet person, I enjoy speaking in front of audiences way more than I should and count it an honor to speak to author groups many times a year. I love it.
Your two newest books deal with writing in the romance genre. How did you find yourself in the romantic field? How does writing a romance novel differ from writing standard fiction?
Though I’ve judged contests and anthologies for 30 years, this past fall I realized I’d been serving as a judge for romance writing contests for at least 15 of those years (RWA’s Diamond/Heart awards, the Big Apple/NYC contest, historical and spec fic romance writing contests, etc.). The time was right to take expertise and put it into books novelists can use.
Writing romance is unique because of the need to create an emotional through-line. That through-line pushes and pulls in tandem with both the external plot arc and internal character arcs.
And subtext is a huge part of creating satisfying momentum (especially in dialogue and the juxtaposition of what a character says versus what they do). Even if a story isn’t considered a romance, any story with a romance element can benefit from understanding how to masterfully use the elements that drive romance.
You’ve composed ten volumes to Word Mastery Skill Building. Did you plan
to break up Mastery into easily digestible portions at the start, or did
you find more to write about the more you wrote?
Back when homeschooling 10 of my kids, a couple of my teens wanted to learn vocabulary in a new, fun way. So, we created a workbook together. The workbook’s contents sat on an old hard drive for 20 years.
Then,
a couple of years ago, my daughter who’s now in her mid-30s and a mom herself said,
“What happened to that workbook? I loved it so much!” My girls credited the
workbook to be a main influence in their love of reading.
So, I dug out the old computer, found the file, re-worked the workbook, and expanded
the book’s format into a complete series for middle- through high-school
students.
It’s an easily consumed series with vocabulary, synonyms, homonyms,
homophones, roots, prefixes, and understanding the difference between easily
confused words (effect, affect). Yes, the entire 10-book series was planned,
and all the content was outlined “first thing.”
Most of your titles seem to be non-fiction, DIY-help books. But then you’ve got Miracle in the City of Angels . What is the story behind Miracles?
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| Presentation examples |
Quite a few of my nonfiction books are for writers. That’s because many of the books go with courses I designed (such as Simplified Writing 101: Top Secrets for College Success, which is used all over the world in classrooms). But I’ve written and published in many genres, including children’s stories.
Miracles is a creative nonfiction book that began as a ghostwriting project and turned into co-authorship. As a long-time writing educator and speaker, I continue to write how-to-write books—and I also am writing fiction, with upcoming titles in science fantasy and romance.
Your love of coffee might be a clue, but how did you
accomplish so much in your lifetime?
Ha! Yes, coffee rules! But more than that, if something has been an interest, I go for it. I’m sure that some reading this can relate to the feeling that, as a writer, one simply MUST write. For me, writing and its ensuing catharsis are an undeniable passion, an identity, and motivation to find out what drives us as people.
Which of your keynote speeches was the most memorable?
I once spoke at a huge conference in Chicago about teaching teens how to write. Aquinas Writing Advantage was only a few years old at the time (with a handful of courses), but it was gaining in popularity.
The owner of the most famous how-to-write program for kids and teens was also speaking at that conference and intentionally sat in the front row of my talk, arms crossed, his face the most un-emotional mask—trying to rile me. Because I clearly have different ideas on how to teach writing than he does, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that his sitting there six feet from the podium threw me a bit.
But now, years later, with AWA taking the iLearn Awards’
First-Place award for Online Writing and Composition Programs the last four
years in a row—a spot that his program held for the previous 15 years—I’m
trying to be humble. If you find me smiling, it’s because…well, karma.
What’s next for Erin M. Brown?
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| With Kevin J. Anderson at a comic con |
This fall, The Romance Novel Blueprint: Crafting Stories Readers Fall in Love With is included in Kevin J. Anderson’s famous Novel Writing Tools/Story Craft Bundle of books on sale through the beginning of December. (Kevin is the writer of “Dune” and almost 200 other books, and one of the most prolific writers today.)
I’m also speaking October 17th online at the Romance
Writers of America (RWA) Indie Author
Weekend on “Beyond Craft: 10 Hidden Marketing Techniques That Can Make Your
Romance Novel Unforgettable.”
The nonfiction books I’m working on right now include a co-authored book with
Russell Davis (on how to write Genre Fiction) and a “Master Story Map” book (to
make sure your plot complete, crisp, and enticing to readers).
My fiction works include a science fantasy series and a romantic comedy. And I’m also working on finishing a digital offering that you can get, with with some of my most popular how-to author/writer content.
I'm taking on select story consulting clients.
Please share any social media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erinmbrownwriter/
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@erinmbrownwriter
Facebook: Erin M. Brown, MA, MFA/erinmbrownwriter
Blog: Focus, Create, Repeat (https://erinbrownconroy.blog)
Blog: https://storyarcromanceediting.blog
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-m-brown-ma-mfa-baa3b09/
Substack: https://nowthestoryresonates.substack.com
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