Evan Swensen
- Author, Book Publisher, and Developer of Author Masterminds
- Author Masterminds Charter Member
- Host of Alaska Outdoors Magazine Podcast
Articles
Writing in the Dark
The biggest mistake an author can make isn’t a weak opening line or a sagging middle—it’s waiting until the book is published to find an …
The Gift That Changed Literature
Have you ever received a Christmas gift that changed your life? Maybe it was a childhood bicycle, a book that sparked a lifelong love of …
The Power of Criticism
“It is, I think, as clear as daylight that literature can only be kept alive by criticism.” Henry James, a master of psychological realism, understood …
The Art of Letting Readers See
There’s an old saying in writing circles—probably scrawled on a thousand sticky notes across the desks of aspiring authors—that commands, Show, don’t tell. The phrase …
The Novel That Never Used ‘E’
Some people run marathons. Others climb mountains. But in 1939, one man decided to challenge himself in an entirely different way — by writing an …
The Wordsmith’s Drug
Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” – Rudyard Kipling Language is no mere tool. It hypnotizes, soothes, incites, and heals. Kipling …
Writing the Right Book for the Right Readers
There’s a moment every writer faces—when the words are flowing, the pages are stacking up, and then it hits—that nagging question. What genre is this? …
A Ban Worthy of the Queen of Hearts
Imagine waking up one day and finding out that a whimsical tale about a girl chasing a white rabbit was considered too dangerous to read. …
The Peril and Power of Words
“Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately after they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish.” — …
Thick Skin and Open Ears: A Writer’s Guide to Criticism
The first time I received a harsh critique, it was a gut punch, the kind that lingers in your chest long after you’ve read the …
Happily Never After
Once upon a time, in a world before Disney sprinkled its magic on everything, fairy tales weren’t the warm, fuzzy bedtime stories we know today. …
Writing Alone, Speaking to the World
Seamus Heaney once said, “The writer is in the paradoxical position of being both solitary and communal.” Few writers embodied this paradox as completely as …
Podcasts
Evan, who lives in Anchorage, has 9 children, 25 grandchildren, and 6 great grandchildren. As a pilot, he has logged more than 4,000 hours of flight time in Alaska, in both wheel and float planes. He is a serious recreation hunter and fisherman, equally comfortable casting a flyrod or using bait, or lures. He has been published in many national magazines and is the author of four books.