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.).

How to Give a Constructive Writing Critique

Oct 14, 2015

Whether you’re in a workshop group, volunteering as a beta reader, or helping out a fellow writer as a critique partner, the art of giving a constructive writing critique is very important. All writers need input on their writing, and your feedback will be most effective if you give some thought to how you frame and deliver it. Throughout my undergraduate and graduate degree, workshops were a vital part of my education. I’ve also developed my practice through six years or so as a beta reader/critique partner for numerous writers. Below are the three ways I’ve learned to best give...

How to Co-Write a Story in Google Docs

Oct 7, 2015

Do you have a writer friend? Have you ever tried to write a joint story, or ever wanted to? Over the past four months, my friend Anneka Freeman and I have been cranking out a first draft for a dual project (mostly just for fun, but we’ll see). Keeping separate copies of the story on separate hard drives can get messy, so we opted to use Google Docs (even though we are both avid Scrivener fans). Below are some of our tips for how to use Google Docs to the max! Make a System The most important principle to any...

Dear Dad: Ten Years Later

Oct 1, 2015

Dad and me at the Eagle and Child in Oxford, England! (2014) It’s my dad’s birthday today, yay! Since I’m away from home and didn’t get a proper gift (whoops), I thought I’d dig into my old blog archives and see if I could find a post I wrote in March 2005. My dad’s love language is words of affirmation, and I remember him sharing this to Literally Everyone after I posted it the first time. I was fourteen years old when I wrote this, so it’s pretty sappy and dad-worship-y. (Disclaimer: My dad isn’t perfect, surprise! Though he’s still pretty...

25 Book Recommendations for Teen Fantasy/History Lovers

Sep 30, 2015

A friend recently contacted me with this query: I need some book recommendations for my daughter. She is 15, an avid reader and enjoys historical fiction or fantasy books. She also loves classics like Pride and Prejudice and light humorous stories like Anne of Green Gables. Preferably long and in a series. Little did she know what she was getting into! By the end of the evening, I had scoured my shelves and my Goodreads lists to come up with 25 books for her daughter. Then I thought, “Hey, there are other teens out there who like fantasy and history and might appreciate this list....

Art Commissions Through the Years

Sep 23, 2015

I’m a huge fan of commissioning artists whenever I hit a milestone in my writing. That’s why I made a whole list guide of some rad artists currently open for commissions over on The Great Noveling Adventure. It’s really fun to see your characters come to life in art! Today I decided to take a trip down memory lane and pull out some of my favorite commissions from years gone by. The vast majority are by my incredibly talented sister, Laura Hollingsworth, in exchange for slavery services. She’s a freelance illustrator–go check her out! There’s also one by the amazing Lora Innes,...

Chapter Revision Checklist

Sep 16, 2015

You’ve finished your first or second draft. Huzzah! Your plot is fairly intact, your characters’ arcs are in order, and you’re ready to begin revising hardcore. At this point, I like to pull out my friend the chapter revision checklist. After years of revising, trying not to forget any key elements, I finally sat down and put this together. Now whenever I pull out my pens and start tearing into chapters, I have this beside me to make sure I have my bases covered. Click the picture to get the full size. Or click here for a print-friendly black and...

Suffering the Silence: My Portrait of Chronic Illness

Sep 12, 2015

I came across the online campaign Suffering the Silence through this PBS article and immediately knew that I wanted to participate. It’s an awesome movement that encourages people with chronic illness to share their stories. I’d highly recommend browsing the Instagram and Twitter hashtag. Scrolling through the pictures, I have found it so encouraging to see other young people discussing the hardest parts of chronic illness. These diseases can be incredibly isolating. And when I see people with multiple diseases, and read the things they’re saying, my spirit lifts a little. I’m reminded that I’m not alone. I haven’t talked...

4 Tips for Historical Fiction

Sep 9, 2015

Last spring, the Roman Baths Museum in Bath, England, approached my MA program and asked the students to write short stories about the Beau Street Hoard—a real live treasure hoard discovered across the street. The museum wanted to make the discovery exciting for kids, so they turned to us to come up with short stories about how the hoard came to be buried. I was super excited about this project. I love historical fiction and I love the Roman Baths. But when I sat down to write a story in no more than 2000 words, about a time period I...

10 Writing Resources: Traditional Publishing

Sep 2, 2015

There are approximately 24,594 articles and blog entries out there about traditional vs. indie publishing, so if you’re looking for that debate this post won’t help you much. Instead, I’ve focused on hunting up some good links to give you the low-down on what you might need to know about how traditional publishing works. From publishing house basics to tips on researching literary agents, these links will help you get educated about the traditional publishing journey. Enjoy! 1. How a Book Gets Published For a first time author, a book generally starts with a completely finished and polished manuscript for...

Origin Story: Writing

Aug 26, 2015

I thought I’d take a little trek down Memory Lane via Sentimental Highway and talk a bit about my writing journey. My family has a home video of me at age three telling a story in an unintelligible Southern accent about pink dogs (my mom translates in the video, which is the only reason we can understand it now). So basically: I’ve been telling stories since I could talk. Growing up, Dad read to me and my siblings every night—you know, the light stuff like Lord of the Rings (three times between the span of me being 7-13) and Once...