Norbert Blei -- writer, teacher, editor, publisher, and artist -- died late last month in Door County, Wisconsin. It would take several blogs to do him justice, so I won't even try. But I will try to explain his substantial impact on a fledgling writer he took pity on in the 1980s and 1990s.

Most writers are easily distracted; trying out just one more app often sounds better than slogging through your manuscript. To save you untold hours of procrastination, here's my current setup of ten apps for writing, drafting, outlining, editing, and generating story ideas.

A less-well known group of literary figures have taken an opposite approach to championing books -- by capitalizing on the very changes that have even spooked thriller novelist James Patterson.

By Writer's Relief staff: When you’ve reached that point in your story or novel where your main character dies—whether it’s from a disease, ...

You're a writer. You have a novel published or are waiting to hear back from an agent/editor/critique partner. You click around on Facebook or Twitter and find that someone you know has a bright shiny new book deal!

What do you think? Are you working on a real project that gratifies you at this moment in time? Are you offended by the phrase "fake it till you make it?"

Every week literary agents receive hundreds of query letters from aspiring writers. Why then, would agents take time from their busy schedules to go to a writers conference and meet yet more writers in person? I asked a few of my favorite agents why they attend writers conferences.

We first met Caroline Leavitt at the Miami Book Festival. Not only is she an incredibly accomplished novelist, she's also a crackerjack human being. So we decided to take a little peek into her world and see what makes Caroline Leavitt tick.

Here's an excerpt from Episode 157, my conversation with Ayana Mathis, author of the bestselling novel The Twelve Tribes of Hattie. It was hand-selected by Oprah Winfrey as an official pick of Oprah's Book Club 2.0.

It was a brief conversation, but one I will never forget. I left overjoyed that I was able to make a dream of mine come true -- and inspired to keep writing myself.

Here's an excerpt from Episode 155, my conversation with Lenore Zion, an author who also works as a sex therapist.

In this segment, Sam Lipsyte talks about his early struggles, the deep disappointment he felt when his novel Home Land was rejected--and how it eventually went on to be published to great acclaim.

Since Kevin Sampsell has worn so many books hats, we thought we would pick his brain about publishing, books, writing, and all that jazz.