FICTION CONSULTATIONS with TANYA PERKINS
Tanya Perkins is the author of PEOPLE ARE NATURALLY ATTRACTED TO YOU (WTAW Press, Limited Edition Chapbook, 2017. Her work has appeared in The Raleigh Review, The Forge, Watershed Review, The Woven Tale Press, Emrys Journal, Fiction Southeast, Big Muddy, Wilderness House Literary Review, Certain Circuits, Arcadia, and others.
She is an assistant professor of English and coordinator of the creative writing program at Indiana University East. She has an MFA from Murray State University and an MA from Western Washington University. She is a fiction editor at Sliver of Stone.
Originally from Canada, she lives in Indiana with her spouse, daughter, and assorted critters. Visit her
at tanyaperkins.net.
TANYA PERKINS will critique flash fiction and short stories during the month of February (deadline Feb. 28). Space is limited; don't delay!
​
Flash fiction, up to two pages in length, $40. SUBMIT HERE.
GUIDELINES
* Submit up to two pages, double-spaced, formatted with a 12-point standard font.
* Please do not exceed the page limits, as your manuscript won’t be read if you do.
* Include a cover letter in the field that asks for it. Feel free to include goals and concerns about your writing.
* The deadline to submit to this program is Feb. 28, 2019.
* Space is limited; don't delay!
* You will receive your critique by thirty days after you submit your manuscript.
​
Short story, up to 20 pages in length, $75. SUBMIT HERE.
* Submit up to 20 pages, double-spaced, formatted with a 12-point standard font.
* Please do not exceed the page limits, as your manuscript won’t be read if you do.
* If you're story is less than 20 pages, please don't add more material, as it will be disregarded.
* Include a cover letter in the field that asks for it. Feel free to include goals and concerns about your writing.
* The deadline to submit to this program is Feb. 28, 2019.
* Space is limited; don't delay!
* You will receive your critique by thirty days after you submit your manuscript.
​
​
Tanya Perkins' Statement of Purpose
The magical part of reading any short story is the sudden immersion in strangeness. Good first paragraphs envelop the reader in an unfamiliar world that beckons, even as it threatens. Wading into a new story, I’m alert to both pleasure and peril, fiction’s conjoined twins. I’m on the lookout for the moments in a draft that make me shiver, circle round, drop my glasses, lose my voice. As a manuscript consultant, I’m prepared to help you find those moments in your story.
​
As I read through a draft, I’m always trying to figure out what’s going on—and what’s really going on? Why does this character act this way? Who are they? And more importantly, who do they think they are (since often it is from such yearnings and delusions that motivation springs)? What is holding this world together? Where is the nerve center? How does the conclusion reveal or otherwise connect with that center? A well-crafted story has a sense of motion, of energy and purpose, all hanging together to create a cohesive world. At the same time, it offers unexpectedness—surprise, even, but that to which a reader will ideally say, “Ah, of course.” Even surprise should feel like it belongs.
​
My job is to help you craft those components, to work on your word choice, sentences, and paragraphs, yes, but much more than that—to find the sources of energy and tension that imbue a story with a sense of realness (not reality, necessarily!) and momentum. I’ll also help you to strengthen and intensify your characters, to give them voices that resonate with your reader long after they leave the room.
​