Liam Carnahan | Author | SEO Expert

Heated Rivalry (2025)

#milan #olympics #winterolympics

I’m so proud to be featured in this issue! Thanks so much to the @pitheadchapel.bsky.social editors!

I have been writing for a long time - I got a degree in it back in 2008! I’ve only recently reignited my creative writing though, having focused more on business writing for years and putting my dreams on hold. Hbu?

Indeed I am! A memoir I’ve been working on since 2023.

I will be repeating all these actions in 2026.

What else can one do to enhance their literary life? I’m always looking for ideas. 👀

My Self-Directed MFA Syllabus - Liam Carnahan These are the craft books and memoirs I've been reading on my self-directed MFA journey. These are great reads for writers out there, at any stage.

5. Read a lot

I will soon be updating my syllabus, because I read some real bangers this year, including lots of amazing essays, gripping fiction, brilliant memoirs, and empowering non-fiction.

liamcarnahan.com/my-self-dire...

4. Subscribed to the right magazines

I have ongoing subscriptions to @pw.org and @writersdigest.bsky.social and @duotrope.com

👆🏻 This is the trifecta that helped me get some essays published this year.

4. Spent a lot of time alone and bored

Nothing stirs up my creativity like boredom. I spent weeks and months of 2025 alone — I was privileged to have the opportunity to isolate myself in Costa Rica, Savannah, and Boston.

The solitude and loneliness helped me make major progress on my memoir.

3. Created my author website

I don’t like the marketing side or anything, but it’s a necessary part of the path I am, what I think of as my “literary life.”

A website and active blog, with a newsletter and social media, will help me get there.

LiamCarnahan.com

2. Designed my own writing retreat

Me, five friends, a handsome and affordable Airbnb in the high desert of Taos, NM. I printed out my manuscript and brought it with me. I even made us little brochures for our retreat, called NOTCH.

5 things I did to improve my literary life in 2025:

1. Met with 2 critique groups once a month

I met them via Grub St., and we have a grand old time (usually w/ food and drinks). We have become a close-knit group, and the feedback/accountability is vital.

We even hosted a toga party together.

Loved the interview with @vauhinivara.bsky.social

How do you keep track of your reading list?

I have this unwieldy note in my phone where I jot down recommendations and lots of unread samples in my kindle, which I rarely use now (I’m back to paperbacks baby).

Should I be doing this on Goodreads or an app?

Also soliciting more reading recs!

Apparently I’ve been engaging in bibliotherapy without even knowing it.

Just over a year ago, I embarked on a self-directed MFA after reading Courtney Maum’s book, Before and After the book deal.

Here’s how it started, what it is, and how it’s going:

liamcarnahan.com/how-i-planne...