MFA Payday

Drema reads her poem, "Sonshine," about a face painter who tells a story about a opossum and her dog. CW: deathWhile this is not a polished reading, it is heartfelt and I hope it might ease your pain if you've suffered loss. This first appeared on my blog, then recently was published by Bards Against Hunger. 

Today I’m sharing a reading of my (Drema's) poem White Lake Fish. Poetry found me again last spring, and I’ve been following where it leads.Content note: this poem deals with death.

"Control: The Language" Read by the author, Drema Drudge, on a chilly winter's day. This was one of the earliest poems she (I) wrote. At least recently. 

A flash of memory. A poem that knows exactly how it feels to be struck by something you didn’t see coming.In this brief reading, I share Some Said It Thundered, a poem about those sudden sparks that keep echoing long after the moment passes. Think Back to the Future, but make it poetry. Make it personal.Happy holidays, friends, and may your heart stay just flammable enough. Keep creating! “Some Said It Thundered” written and read by Drema Drudge. © 2025 Drema Drudge. All rights reserved.

Read by the author, Drema Drudge, on a fall night on a porch while listening to the leaves fall, with a raspy throat but a determined heart. Because the muse is always with us. Written and read by Drema Drudge. © 2025. All rights reserved.

Just sharing another poem, "Fight Me in the Waffle House Parking Lot at Dawn," first published by The Daily Drunk. Many thanks to them. As I say before I read the poem, this came to me while I was on cold medicine and was awake at maybe three a.m. and this little critter just showed up.  I really like it.Oh, and the onion rings line? Like someone taking out their earrings for a fight, right? I'm not one for violence, but I will fight for art. And love. :-) A truck drove past right as I was in the middle of recording, and I decided to keep the sound in. Why not?Fight Me in the Waffle House Parking Lot at DawnFight me in the Waffle House parking lot at dawn.Take out your onion ringsand hand them to your bestieexcept, no onion rings here.You can’t handleThe Roofwrapped in paper napkins.Shadow box four roundsor line dance your wayback to town.Go inside,pick a spot at the counterand perform Americana.Norman Rockwell will see you now.Psst…I kinda like this little freak.Copyright Drema Drudge 2025. All rights reserved. 

In this mini episode, Drema Drudge reads her original poem, All In, recorded live from her porch with a very vocal bird as uninvited co-host. A quiet reflection on mutual wisdom.Background ambiance includes a determined bee and a loud, possibly judgmental bird.Written and read by Drema Drudge. © 2025. All rights reserved.

Andrew Najberg returns with a couple of short readings from his forthcoming releases and a discussion of the origins of his novels.  You don't want to miss this! www.mfapayday.com 

Our guests on this episode are the co-hosts of Once upon a Disney Podcast, Larry Brenner and Andie Redwine.  Check out their Facebook fan page https://www.facebook.com/onceuponadisneypodcast, and listen to their podcast most any place where podcasts can be heard. 

Here's an interview with the co-host of MFA Payday, Drēma Drudge. Her bio: "Welcome! I’m Drēma Drudge, author. From reading cereal boxes on the breakfast table when I was a wee thing to reading my first chapter book in a mimosa tree which birthed my love for novels and twinned it with my affection for trees, the written word and I have been fast friends forever. I’ve also been writing in one capacity or another since I was about nine, starting with terrible poems and graduating to melodramatic stories in junior high. (No one explained to me then that my beloved books came from the destruction of my (almost) equally beloved trees!)Mercifully, I eventually discovered that there are books, classes, and programs on writing and I learned how to write! Now I have an MFA in Creative Writing.Read more about my books.I’m married to the incomparable Barry Drudge, musician (and writer) extraordinaire. We have two grown children, and we live in a charming small town filled with plenteous, splendid, trees and wide Victorian homes.Barry and I have been privileged to travel to some really cool places. My first novel ended up being written in six countries! As a result of our travels, I’ve ended up writing in some fascinating, gorgeous places, such as sitting in a pew in the Pantheon in Rome and writing in Recoleta Cemetery in Argentina. I’ve visited the homes, birthplaces, and graves of many of my writing and art heroes and have often had the opportunity to write in or about those very places, something my younger self never imagined possible."Southern-Fried WoolfBriscoe Chambers is not only the manager of her country music star husband, but a graduate student trying to complete her Virginia Woolf thesis by fall – the same time her cheating husband, Michael, has an album due to avoid being in breach of contract. No problem, right?Except his co-writer will be Velvet Wickens, his idol who has been opening shows for him. And who happens to be the one he’s cheating with. Now Briscoe has been asked by their record label to ensure the album gets finished on time. To accomplish this, they must all live together for the duration of the writing of the album.And by the way, Briscoe knows, and it’s triggering coping mechanisms she had thought were long gone.Fans of the writing of both Taylor Jenkins Reid and Virginia Woolf will enjoy this novel that has plenty of sweet tea, country music, Virginia Woolf, and heartache. In addition, the reader gets to watch over Briscoe’s shoulder as she crafts her essay and attempts to untangle her troubled marriage.Sign up for a free story over at  www.dremadrudge.com. 

Recently we had a fascinating conversation with Helen Zuman. Bio:After graduating from Harvard in 1999, Helen Zuman joined a cult—oops!—stayed for five years, then composted the stinky guck of that experience into fertile soil via Mating in Captivity, her award-winning memoir. Next, she published What Is a Sex Cult? How Cults Reveal Our Culture. As of 2023, she is working on a novel, provisionally titled Common App, in which a college application essay editor compromises the Republicrat candidate’s chances of winning the 2024 presidential election by taking creative license with his son’s Common App Personal Statement. Born in London and raised in Brooklyn, Helen currently homesteads with her husband in Beacon, New York, while dreaming of her next trip to Scotland. She listens to her favorite song, “Scotland the Brave,” three times a day. To stay in touch, sign up for her email list at helenzuman.com.  

Just stopping in to say a quick hey from a beach on Lake Michigan and encourage you to find your happy place  and tell you to take a well-deserved artist's date! 

Friend of the podcast, Chella Courington, returns to read from her “Hearts Forged in Resistance.” Chella Courington returns to our podcast to share her latest release, a dynamic volume of poetry called “Hearts Forged in Resistance,” pre-order price guaranteed until September 8, 2023. The book will be released by Finishing Line Press on November 10, 2023. Listen to us speak with Chella about her hauntingly vivid poems and hear her read on this episode. You don’t want to miss this beautiful language and these evocative images, flowers of words, all. (And hear her husband, Ted, say hello in the background now and again.) Learn more about her on her website.  And if you haven't subscribed to our newsletter, why not do it now? 

Patricia Hudson  has been a freelance writer for more than 30 years. She's written for magazines ranging from Country Living to Women's Sports and Fitness, but her favorite assignments focus on historical topics. She was a contributing editor at Americana magazine for more than a decade, writing about historic preservation, folk art, and travel destinations for history lovers. As a frequent contributor to Southern Living magazine, she traveled extensively in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, profiling people whose passion for those regions matched her own. She's a long-time member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors. Her book credits include: Inns of the Southern Mountains, and Listen Here: Women Writing in Appalachia, as well as The Carolinas and the Appalachian States, a volume in the Smithsonian Guide to Historic America series. She lives in Knoxville, Tennessee with her husband, photographer, Sam Stapleton.

On this episode we talk with author Anne Armistead. Take a listen! From Anne: Welcome to my writing journey! I write love stories, set in the past and present. I earned my English literature degree from the University of Georgia and my MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University. I am a member of the Atlanta Writers Club, Georgia Romance Writers, and the Historical Novel Society. When I'm not writing, I'm reading, taking nature walks, and watching BBC television. My husband and I have two daughters, an adorable baby grandson, and a senior pup named Jackpot (so named because we hit the jackpot when he "rescued" us). My debut historical romance is a Southern Gothic paranormal romance DANGEROUS CONJURINGS (Soul Mate Publishing, April 2018), set in the aftermath of the American Civil War. WITH KISSES FROM CÉCILE, co-authored with Jan Agnello (Storyology Design and Publication, September 2019) was awarded the 2020 Georgia Independent Author of the Year Award in historical fiction and the Silver Award from Literary Titan. My debut sweet contemporary romance is A CHRISTMAS CANNOLI KISS, published by The Wild Rose Press. My historical time travel romance A TRYST IN PARIS is out on submission for publication. My work-in-progress is another sweet contemporary romance in which two hearts re-connect for a second chance when circumstances bring the former high school sweethearts back to their quaint and cozy hometown in the north Georgia mountains.annearmisteadauthor.comhttps://www.facebook.com/armisteadanne/https://twitter.com/ArmisteadAnnehttps://www.instagram.com/annearmisteadauthor/

We recently interviewed the fabulous, talented, and hilarious Kate Beer writing as Eliza MacArthur. The quote in the title "Everything is a love story" is her sharing the best advice she received in grad school from the amazing Kenny Cook! Eliza MacArthur is a writer of romance and humor. She lives in the mid-south with her husband, two feral werewolf children, and two doodles who, if she is honest, are more rotisserie chicken than canine. She is fueled by decaf coffee and a good grumpy/sunshine trope.She cut her teeth stealing romances from the cabinet under her mom’s bathroom sink (where all good Midwestern moms kept their Julie Garwood paperbacks in the 90’s.)Eliza’s debut novel, Soft Flannel Hank, releases in April 2023. She is currently writing two serialized romances on Patreon: a paranormal romance entitled Til All the Seas Run Dry (sequel to Soft Flannel Hank, out Spring 2023) and a medieval highland romance entitled Hold Fast.You can find her website here. 

On today's episode we speak with author Teddy Jones about writing no matter your age. She was a joy to interview, and what a lovely voice she has. Teddy Jones is the author of five published novels, Halfwide; Jackson’s Pond, Texas; Slanted Light, the second in the Jackson’s Pond, Texas series; Making It Home, the third, and Well Tended; as well as a collection of short stories, Nowhere Near. Her short fiction received the Gold Medal First Prize in the Faulkner-Wisdom competition in 2015. Jackson’s Pond, Texas was a finalist for the 2014 Willa Award in contemporary fiction from Women Writing the West. Her as yet unpublished novel, A Good Family was named finalist in the Faulkner-Wisdom Creative Writing competition in 2018.Although her fiction tends to be set in West Texas, her characters’ lives embody issues not bounded by geography of any particular region. Families and loners; communities in flux; people struggling, others successful; some folks satisfied in solitude and others yearning for connection populate her work. And they all have in common that they are more human than otherwise.Jones grew up in a small Texas town, Iowa Park. Earlier she worked as a nurse, a nurse educator, a nursing college administrator, and as a nurse practitioner in Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico. For the past twenty years, she and her husband have lived in the rural West Texas Panhandle where he farms and she writes.https:/www.tjoneswrites.netwww.facebook.com/teddy.jones.148www.instagram.comTeddyJonesWritesAmazon author page-Teddy JonesGoodreads author page-Teddy JonesTwitter--@TeddyJonesWrites

On this episode, Barry and I talk with a wonderful writing duo, Ted Chiles and Chella Courington. Chella Courington (she/her) is a writer and teacher whose poetry and fiction appear in numerous anthologies and journals including DMQ Review, The Los Angeles Review, and Anti-Heroin Chic. She was raised in the Appalachian south and now lives in California with another writer and two feline boys. Her recent microchaps of poetry are Good Trouble, Origami Poems Project; Hell Hath, Maverick Duck Press; and Lynette’s War, Ghost City Press. Her novella, Adele and Tom: The Portrait of a Marriage, will be re-released by Impspired Magazine (England) in February 2023. Twitter: @chellacouringto  Instagram: chellacourington  Web Page: chellacourington.netTed Chiles has published short stories, flash fiction and nonfiction in a variety of literary journals. In his former life he taught economics, the most dramatic of the Social Sciences. He lives in Santa Barbara, California with a writer, two avocado trees and two cats.You'll enjoy hearing how two authors navigate the writing life in the same household. 

Today, we speak with Ashley B. Davis about self-publishing and more. Ashley B. Davis writes the ordinary and extraordinary. She has poetry and short work appearing in Trembling With Fear, The Grey Rooms Podcast, Months to Years, Liquid Imagination, Jamais Vu, and Eunoia Review.When she is not living in fictional worlds, she lives with her partner, her seven-year-olds, and two rescue cats in southern California, where she manages rental property.Her debut YA fantasy The Space Between You and Me debuted on November 14, 2022. You can find it on most online retail sites.To connect with Ashley...on her website: www.ashleybdavis.comInstagram: @shleybdavisTwitter: @shleybdavisGoodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13755985.Ashley_B_Davis

Elizabeth Burton is a working writer whose fiction and non-fiction have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies. She holds an MFA from the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University. She lives and teaches in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, with her husband and a plethora of animals.On this episode, Elizabeth shares with us literary journal submission etiquette, as well as what she's writing, and more. (We can't wait to read her WIP!) 

The delightful Melissa Hamilton joins us on this episode to talk about her MFA experience, her work in science, puppetry, and planning unicorn parties! 

Have you published everything you wanted to in 2022? Let’s submit everything on your computer BEFORE the end of the year! We’ve just put the finishing touches on the six-week Pitch Your Pants Off Challenge from Nov. 1 to Dec. 15 which contains the same steps we’ve used to publish nearly everything we’ve written since we graduated with our MFA’s. This is a complete challenge that gives you everything you need to know to get your writing out into the world. A FREE “Pitch Your Pants Off” submission tracker (And it’s not an ugly ol’ basic excel tracker, either!) A FREE submission checklist that you can follow step-by-step to send your writing out the door! A FREE PITCH SUBMISSION COURSE SENT VIA EMAIL TO YOU EVERY WEEK OF THE CHALLENGE outlining where and how to pitch  A FREE pitching tips calendarLove the idea but feel like you’ll need a bit of extra accountability or help focusing? We’ve got you!Not only do we have MFA’s in Creative Writing, so we’ve been there, but Drēma is also a certified life coach, so goal setting is her game. Contact her at info(at)mfapayday(dot)com to schedule a coaching call. She’ll critique your first pitch with you to be sure it hits all of the crucial pitching points.Please understand that the results we’re sharing with you are not typical. Your results may vary.That being said, the challenge is TOTALLY free when you register at www.mfapayday.com. Here’s hoping this has you in a pitching state of mind. Let’s get published!Drēma  and Barry 

Andrew Najberg is the author of the speculative horror novel Gollitok (Cactus Moon Press, 2023), the collection of poems The Goats Have Taken Over the Barracks (Finishing Line Press, 2021), and the chapbook Easy to Lose (Finishing Line Press 2007). His short fiction has appeared in Prose Online, Psychopomp Review, Bookends Review, Wondrous Real,  Utopia Science Fiction and others. His poems have appeared in dozens of journals online and in print, including North American Review, Asheville Poetry Review, Cimarron Review, Another Chicago Magazine, and Good River Review. An AWP Intro award recipient and the 2022 National Poetry Month Brain Mills Press grand prize winner, he received an MFA in poetry from Spalding University and an MA in creative writing from University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Currently, he teaches for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and is serving as a senior editor for Symposeum magazine.  Symposeum Issue 4 has just been released, and is the product, Andrew says, "of a lot of work and collaboration" and he's proud to be a part of it.   

On this, episode one of MFA Payday, we interview Matt Berman who sees himself has half writer, half photographer. We love this deep dive with Matt into how his after-the-MFA journey has developed. Join us here and over at mfapayday.com. There, you can get your very own "Pitch Your Pants Off" FREE submission tracker when you sign up for our newsletter. 

You’ve spent countless hours and thousands of dollars earning your MFA in Creative Writing. Now what?  How do you build your writing career with intention? What are the tools and tricks to keep your creativity alive after you’ve turned in that last assignment? We’re Drēma Drudge and Barry Drudge. Join us as we explore how to make your MFA pay on our new podcast, MFA Payday!Through interviews with MFA graduates and publishing industry insiders, we will share the most up-to-date information on what to do with that degree in your hand. Coming Fall 2022.  www.mfapayday.com