October 1, 2014

I just read everything so far on Pam Summa’s web site & blog and feel the need to testify. Pam has been my editor for quite some time on a novel manuscript that is currently in the hands of a great literary agent. Much of what I know about creative writing, I learned from Pam, along with god knows how many craft classes, workshops and writing groups. I loved Pam’s down to earth style, and her ability to “get” what I was trying to do, and over many years, help me get to where I needed to go. I learned to embrace the flaws in my characters and their inevitable downfalls, especially when my main character becomes catatonic and things get really interesting because nothing happens and she can make nothing happen and yet everything is happening, but she just doesn’t know it; yet the reader does, and then massive changes come about because she’s finally ready for them. What was inspiring and motivating for me as a writer was that Pam actually let my characters get under her skin; she really liked some, despised others and let me know when a character wasn’t worth the reader’s time, or mine. I have also read both her novels so far and learned as much from them about writing as her editing, and all my craft workshops combined, and they were incredibly immersing and addictive in a way that draws you in rather than slamming you over the head. In short, Pam has been my guide in leading a real artist’s life in my own real world. -MJ Hetzel