Welcome to The Caffeinated Writer

Essays and inspiration on writing and publishing from New York Times bestselling novelist Michelle Richmond.

Hi, I’m Michelle Richmond, author of six novels and two story collections. In The Caffeinated Writer, I share inspiration, craft essays, and lessons learned from a two-decade writing career and my years teaching in MFA programs in creative writing.

If you want to start or finish a novel or memoir, if you want to devote a few more minutes each week to your writing, if you want to get inspired and stay motivated, I hope you will find something of value here. And if you want to use Substack as an author platform, you’ll find plenty of inspiration and practical advice in Substack for Authors.

Why I write: Going back to elementary school, writing was always the one thing I could do, the one thing I loved to do. By the time I was in high school, it was impossible to imagine a life without writing.

Ask me anything: I am always open to answering subscriber questions about writing, publishing, and the many ways the writing life can both drive you crazy and sustain you for the long haul. I love reading much, much more than I love writing, so I share books with your here too.

How old is this newsletter? I started The Caffeinated Writer as a Salon Blog (remember those?) about a million years ago, and then it became a Wordpress blog and in 2010, and then it became a Mailchimp newsletter, and then I migrated the newsletter to Substack in 2022. Which is to say this newsletter has been around the block.

A note on subscription types

Free subscribers get one or two posts per month.

Paid subscribers get

• inspiring posts to help you write

• practical posts on publishing

• audio posts

• the full archives

• $75 off Substack for Authors

• $75 off The First 50 Pages: 8 Weeks to Get Your Novel off the Ground

Founding members get

• everything in the paid plan

• access to my 6-week course SUBSTACK FOR AUTHORS (regularly $249), to help write your author newsletter on Substack—for traditionally and independently published authors and aspiring authors who want to use Substack as an author platform.

Why is it called The Caffeinated Writer?

Because I can’t get enough coffee.

My Other Hat

I've published six novels and two story collections. My most recent novel is THE WONDER TEST, about a high-stakes suburban education system on steroids. My 2017 Sunday Times bestseller THE MARRIAGE PACT, published in 31 languages, is about an exclusive, secretive organization that promises couples a lasting, happy marriage...if they follow the rules. My “breakout book” was the New York Times bestseller The Year of Fog, published way back in 2007. You’ll find my books on Bookshop.org. And another hat: back in 2005 I founded Fiction Attic Press, which is still publishing flash fiction and memoir by new and established writers.

Teaching

I have taught in the Masters of Fine Arts programs in Creative Writing at the University of San Francisco, California College of the Arts, and Bowling Green State University, and have served as Distinguished Visiting Writer at St. Mary’s College of Moraga and Notre Dame de Namur University. I have also designed and taught novel writing courses for Stanford Continuing Studies. I offer live writing classes two to three times a year. View current writing classes.

For more news and notes on writing as a profession, you can also follow me on LinkedIn.

Michelle Richmond is the New York Times bestselling author of psychological suspense, literary mysteries, and suburban thrillers. You’ll find exclusive fiction and audio stories on her author substack, My Fiction Obsession.