At this year’s Muse and the Marketplace conference (in-person, May 10-12) Asata Radcliffe (editor) & Margarita Barresi (author) will discuss the importance of the author-editor collaboration–the creative partnership that is the bridge to a published book in the session, It Takes a Village: The Editor-Author Collaboration.

We recently caught up with Margarita to ask her about writing in community and her GrubStreet journey.

GrubStreet: What does the phrase "writing in community" mean to you personally and professionally? Could you share a moment from your career where community support at events like the Muse and the Marketplace made a significant difference?

Margarita Barresi: Sometime in 2011, I attended my first-ever author reading at Brookline Booksmith: Julie Otsuka reading from her book, The Buddha in the Attic. Fellow writer Jenna Blum introduced her. After the presentation, I chatted with Jenna and mentioned that I had writing ambitions. She launched into an enthusiastic sales pitch for GrubStreet’s writing community and sold me on the spot. I immediately joined GrubStreet and started taking novel writing craft classes, beginning with a plotting seminar Jenna taught. By 2015 I was accepted into the Novel Generator program with Lisa Borders, where I began to write A Delicate Marriage in earnest. Last November, I visited Brookline Booksmith, where A Delicate Marriage is for sale, and they asked me to sign copies. It takes a village but writing dreams do come true!

Only 1 week until the Muse and the Marketplace - register here!