Hi, I’M MARY!
Published novelist, recovered lawyer, and mom to a Stegosaurus kid.
As an ONLINE WRITING COACH, I help ASPIRING and ESTABLISHED AUTHORS write THROUGH RESISTANCE and FINISH THEIR BOOKS by finding A CREATIVE PROCESS that works for them.
After trading in my Ann Taylor pantsuits to enter the wild west of fiction writing, I read tomes about the craft of storytelling. I memorized devices like Chekhov’s Gun and Save the Cat and The 15 Beats so I could write “the right way.”
When I wasn’t sure if what I’d written was any good, I asked everyone and their mom for feedback and scrapped entire chapters that didn’t meet their approval. I got my mentors to poke holes in everything I wrote until the story was more theirs than mine.
But the more I let the feedback hijack my creative writing process, the more stuck I felt. And the more I tried to stick to the rules and prescribed structures, the more bored I became…and the more boring my writing became.
Instead of writing the book I wanted to write, I kept writing the book I thought I should write.
AS YOU MIGHT PERSONALLY KNOW (JUST A GUESS), THE UNREALIZED DREAM OF SEEING YOUR BOOK ON SHELVES CAN TURN YOU INTO THE KIND OF BROODY, TORMENTED CHARACTER THAT BELONGS IN A JANE AUSTEN NOVEL (AND NOT IN A COOL WAY).
The unwritten books burning inside us don’t fizzle out. They only grow bigger.
In a fit of frustration, I dropped out of my last writing class, disappeared with my laptop for two weeks, and wrote a draft of my novel based on my vision, not anyone else’s.
Six weeks later, I landed my agent. And by the next year, I’d written the first draft of my second novel. Both novels sold at auction for six figures to major publishers around the world.
But there’s no reason it needs to take you that long—you just have to learn to trust your own creative instincts and process.
And as an online writing coach, THAT’S WHAT I TEACH.
To be a SUCCESSFUL WRITER, you don’t need…
For years, I wrote around my day job. Now I write around my toddler’s nap schedule and still finished my second book in under a year. I don’t write everyday. I write when I can. Trust me when I say: you can, too.
Things I did without an MFA: Sold three books to HarperCollins. Got published in 13 countries. Became the sole breadwinner for my family based on my book income. MFAs are great for some people, but they are not a prerequisite for creative success.
Unconventional doesn’t mean unsellable. My first book When You Read This is told through emails, and the main character is dead by page one. No matter how weird you think your idea is, you have it for a reason.
Let your WRITING LIFE be LESS PRECIOUS, FORMULAIC, and FEEDBACK-DRIVEN... and I’LL SHOW YOU how it can be MORE JOYFUL, CREATIVE, and PROLIFIC.
While my approach does touch on the finer points of craft, the truth is that you already know how to write a good sentence and a metaphor. What you really need is a trusted mentor (oh, hi, am I your new online writing coach?!) to tell you how to sit your butt in the chair, overcome resistance, and get your book finished—page one to done.
I’VE COMBINED MY PERSONAL WRITING EXPERIENCE WITH MY 10 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AS A CURRICULUM DEVELOPER TO DESIGN PRACTICAL TOOLS AND AN EASY-TO-FOLLOW PROCESS THAT CAN TAKE YOU FROM THE SPARK OF AN IDEA TO PICKING YOUR BOOK OFF THE SHELF AND BREATHING IN THAT GLORIOUS, NEW-BOOK SMELL LIKE THE WEIRDO YOU ARE. (THIS IS A SAFE SPACE, NO JUDGMENT.)
Are you ready to WRITE YOUR BOOK?
Apply for my program The Book Incubator™ (it takes 3 minutes, seriously).
It’s the only way I offer to work with me to finish your book. Once you’re in, we’ll send you all the details.
Book a call to talk about your book idea and what you’re struggling with.
We’ll be dishing out some suggestions and customized tips on the call, so show up with a pen and paper!
MY wine & cheese party BIO
Mary Adkins is the author of the novels When You Read This (Indie Next Pick, “Best Book of 2019” by Good Housekeeping and Real Simple), Privilege (Today.com “Best Summer Read”), and Palm Beach (New York Post “Best Book of 2021,” and “like a sandy beach, equal parts beautiful and uncomfortable” according to the Associated Press). Her books have been published in 13 countries, and her essays and reporting have appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Slate, and more. A graduate of Yale Law School and Duke University, she teaches storytelling for The Moth worldwide and supports aspiring authors as an online writing coach through her program, The Book Incubator™.
Have you met MY BOOKS?
(CLICK ON EACH TITLE FOR MORE INFO below)
Praise for PALM BEACH
(NEW YORK POST “BEST BOOK OF 2021”)
“Delicious, addictive, whip-smart and full of heart.”
— Rufi Thorpe, author of The Knockout Queen
“A smart page-turner.”
— Palm Beach Daily News
“I opened it up and could not stop reading!”
— Jessica Anya Blau, author of Mary Jane
"Mary Adkins’ Palm Beach is a rare page-turner that gives you all the fun and decadence of a beach read while exploring the relevant issues around wealth inequity. I opened it up and could not stop reading!"
— Jessica Anya Blau, author of Mary Jane
“A look inside the world of the ultra-rich, Palm Beach offers up moral complexity, page-turning plotting, and deep insight into motherhood and family. Delicious, addictive, whip-smart and full of heart.”
— Rufi Thorpe, author of The Knockout Queen
“Palm Beach is like a sandy beach, equal parts beautiful and uncomfortable”
— The Associated Press
"Delves into the world of Florida’s wealthy excess. . . . it’ll keep readers turning the pages."
— Publishers Weekly
"A smart page-turner."
— Palm Beach Daily News
Praise for WHEN YOU READ THIS
(INDIE NEXT PICK, “BEST BOOK OF 2019” BY GOOD HOUSEKEEPING AND REAL SIMPLE)
“A touching, funny, and life-affirming tale.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Fans of Where'd You Go, Bernadette will love this. . . a bittersweet, often funny novel about hope, memory, and loose ends.”
— Real Simple, “The Best Books of 2019”
“A vibrant epistolary collage with pieces of satire, romance, and family drama overlapping. . . . The book moves with the entertaining swiftness and abrupt tonal shifts of communication in the digital age, with particular thanks to Carl, the intern Smith hires following Iris’ death: a millennial ex machina who juices up the plot with perfect self-importance and -absorption. But thanks to Adkins, even Carl has a (hint of) compelling backstory and a delightful arc. An excellent story that’s condensed into a great example of the epistolary format: something that’s thrilling to expand and decode while reading.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“[A] heartfelt page-turner . . . A natural readalike for Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go Bernadette and Rainbow Rowell’s Attachments.”
— Booklist
“This inventive and hilarious novel has it all: Mid-life crisis sufferers denying their regrets, a lawless intern with alarming email etiquette, poetic online therapists and a moving message about the resiliency of the human heart. Read this book—I loved it!”
— Courtney Maum, author of Touch and I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You
“A remarkable new take on the epistolary novel, WHEN YOU READ THIS manages to thread the finest of needles: a book about a young woman who died of cancer that is neither maudlin nor sentimental, but rather clear-eyed, poignant, and just as often hilarious as it is somber. One of the more memorable books I’ve read this year.”
— Doree Shafrir, author of Startup: A Novel and co-host of Forever35 Podcast
“I loved every word...I couldn’t put it down!”
—Meg Cabot, author of about a million great books
“Warm, original, funny and heartbreaking, this novel made me drop everything so I could read it in one lovely afternoon. WHEN YOU READ THIS is inventive and witty, but more importantly it’s honest and wise. I adored it.”
— Jennifer Close, author of Girls in White Dresses and The Hopefuls
“As with Maria Semple’s mixed-media masterwork Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Adkins’s debut novel is so much more than its clever style...WHEN YOU READ THIS feels miraculous and leaves a lasting impression long after its final moment.”
— Val Emmich, author of The Reminders and Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel
“Deeply moving but also uplifting, Mary Adkins’ debut novel is easy to read but hard to forget.”
— Anne Youngson, author of Meet Me at the Museum
“In her brave debut, Mary Adkins challenges readers to rethink the measure of a life well lived as social media changes the way we interact with others and, by extension, the way we grieve and, eventually, heal. WHEN YOU READ THIS is a poignant commentary on the endless possibility of connection in the online age and the pain and loneliness we experience when those connections fail.”
— Meghan MacLean Weir, author of The Book of Essie
Praise for PRIVILEGE
(TODAY.COM “BEST SUMMER BEACH READ” OF 2020)
“This thoughtful and engrossing novel will encourage genuine, heartfelt dialog among readers. Highly recommended.”
— Library Journal Starred Review
“Adkins’ writing provides a multifaceted portrayal of campus life and politics in the #MeToo era...A timely and resonant novel.”
— Kirkus Reviews