Alyssa Hollingsworth

About Alyssa

Alyssa was born in small town Milton, Florida, but life as a roving military kid soon mellowed her (unintelligibly strong) Southern accent. Wanderlust is in her blood, and she’s always waiting for the wind to change. Stories remain her constant. Alyssa received her bachelor’s in English/Creative Writing from Berry College and her master's in Creative Writing for Young People from Bath Spa University. Alyssa is represented by Amber Caraveo at Skylark Literary. Her debut The Eleventh Trade – "a powerful story of love, loss, friendship and hope, centered around Sami, a young refugee from Afghanistan now building a new life with his grandfather in Boston" – will be published Fall 2018 by Macmillan (U.S.) and HotKey (U.K.).

The Madwoman’s Tips For Making Revision Fun

Jun 21, 2014

Revision can be a taxing process. Trust me: When am I not revising something? (Spoiler: The answer is I am in a perpetual state of revision.) This month, I set out to finish revising the last 12 chapters of WIP Blessings that have been hanging over my head since January. And I did it! And it wasn’t terrible! So how did I make editing over 30k in three weeks fun? 1. Print the sucker out At some point in your revision process, you’re gonna need to print that baby out. (If you’re like me, you’ll probably print it several...

3 Tips to Woo Literary Agents (Without Sounding like a Stalker)

Jun 2, 2014

There is a lot of angst (and helpful tips) on the internet for writing your query’s actual summary/hook, but what I’ve always found absolutely terrifying is that fine balance between “Dear Agent, I did my research” and “Dear Agent, I know where you sleep.” Hopefully it’s a given that if you’re querying, you need to research the agents you’ll be submitting to—including perusing their Twitter feed, blogs, and interviews. Susan Dennard has a lovely post about this over at Publishing Crawl. So take a look at that. If you didn’t click the link, the short version is: Research like the...

When Someone You Love is in Danger

May 3, 2014

Let me start off by saying I’m not a professional. I’ve never had a counseling class, and this isn’t a post about “fixing” people. The list below are things that help me through trauma, but they may not be for everyone, and they are not a cure. That being said, I’ve gained a lot of experience in having someone I love in danger. Sometimes I can physically do something about the danger. For instance, if my Type 1 Diabetic sister is taking a shot on her bed and an unobservant teenager starts jumping on it, I can throw that teen...

5 Ways to Overcome Writer’s Block

May 2, 2014

Working through the middle part of my WIP has been like slogging through a constant state of writer’s block. I’m still on my tight deadlines, though, and don’t have time to cast my hand over my brow and bemoan my muse (which is honestly the funnest part of catching a cause of The Block). As a result, I’ve been resorting to some strategies to keep my story moving forward, despite my muse’s best efforts to pull it to a grinding halt. When the inspiration stalls and enthusiasm lags, I find it helpful to… Dance It Out You think I am...

Mom and Laura: Trip Highlights

May 1, 2014

As you may or may not know, I have been traveling from April 10th-April 29th with my mom and sister. In our mildly insane adventure, we went from Paris across northern France, then to Somerset and Cornwall before winding up in London. Instead of taking the time to type up all my journal entries (which are nearly half my new journal anyway), I thought I’d do a roundup post and just give you guys the sweet stuff. (more…)

Rheumatoid Arthritis: The Pain Passes

Apr 26, 2014

While in Paris, Mom, Laura and I went to Musée d’Orsay to see the Impressionist paintings. It wasn’t until I saw the first Renoir that I remembered he and I share Rheumatoid Arthritis. When I saw that first painting (I can’t remember which it was), his words rang in my head as if I’d just read them: “The pain passes, but the beauty remains.” (more…)

3 Tips for Designing a Flag

Mar 23, 2014

When you dive into worldbuilding, it’s easy to get caught up in the whirl of landscape and custom and fashion. But don’t forget to build details like your, country’s flag’s colors or design! Designing a flag can help you discover something new about your country’s history and myths. Just have a look at some of our real-life flags and all the history, stereotypes, and attitudes associated with them. (The Union Jack and the imperialism ingrained in its very design. The American flag, the very image of which seems to conjure eagles and liberty (or rednecks). Canada’s red leaf and maple syrup....

5 Creative Activities for Your Novel Journal

Mar 14, 2014

I’ve finished my WIP’s first journal, and I have to say: I’m in love. Before this journal, I never knew the wonders of graph paper and all the creativity you can unleash on it. Having a journal can be a great way to keep notes, brainstorm off the computer, do research, or just relieve stress. My journal was stuffed with the usual sort of thing (character arcs and bios, scene ideas, name research, etc.), but I also branched out and tried to find unusual or more creative ways to explore my story. Below are my five favorite creative activities that...

Tips for Naming Your Series

Mar 2, 2014

I find myself unexpectedly with a set of books on my hands. Blessings started out as a straight-up standalone book, and Illuminate jumped on board as a companion book/sequel of sorts, and other ideas are still coming. It occurred to me the other day that I have an actual series, and no idea what to call it. Of course, it’s likely that whatever series title I come up with will be changed when/if it goes to publication. But I still need something to call the collective project. Are you in the same boat? Well, below I’ve compiled all the research...

Ballroom Dance and Your Characters

Feb 22, 2014

I’ve been watching copious amounts of figure skating on the Olympics (this is why I missed church two weeks in a row shhh) and it’s reminded me just now much I love dance. There is so much you can tell about a person from watching how they move. Look no further than two Russian figure skating superstars: Julia Lipnitskaia and Evgeny Plushenko. Dance is a great way to discover something about a person: How they like to move, how comfortable they are with the opposite sex (yes I am from a Jane Austen novel), what sort of music appeals to...