Nori's No-BS Guide to Choosing an MA/MFA Program for the Unpretentious Writer (in 6 Easy Steps!)8/11/2026  Well, it's official—I have an MA in Publishing!I'm in that place where most new graduates are after they walk the stage—proud of myself for doing something huge, excited for all that comes next and all the promise of the future waiting for me to create it, and terrified that things will go horribly wrong and I'll fail miserably at all of my endeavors and die homeless under a bridge. (Yes, I am aware that I'm catastrophizing. Don't tell my therapist!) I took a week off to rest and recuperate after we returned home from Colorado. It was wonderful to take time to just stay at home and knock some books off my TBR pile, watch my favorite movies, paint (a hobby I'm slowly picking back up after years of letting it sit on the back burner), and play with my new cello. I've always wanted to learn cello, and I promised I would get one as a graduation present to myself after I finished school. And I keep my promises! Now, of course, I'm back in the fray looking for a job in the trad pub industry while building my little fledgling Amanita Press, continuing to write my own projects, getting ready for the big October rerelease of Cats Are Sluts (ARC applications are open, by the way!), and getting ready to launch a podcast at the end of September. (You'll be the first to know the deets if you sign up for my newsletter, among other things.) One of my goals for the immediate future is to post on my blog every other week and on Substack on alternate weeks. I figured that giving you a little how-to guide on choosing a master's program would be a good start to the new schedule. Whether you're considering going back to school for an MA/MFA yourself, or just curious about my experience, I present you with Nori's No-BS Guide to Choosing an MA/MFA Program for the Unpretentious Writer! 
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I can't believe that I will graduate with my master's degree in just two months.
I have loved everything about the Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Western, and I know without a doubt that I made the right decision in choosing the publishing concentration. Kevin J. Anderson and Allyson Longueria have been the best professors and mentors that I could ask for, and I've made so many wonderful new friends and colleagues. I am feeling more confident in my career as an author and a soon-to-be publisher than I ever have. But as I reflect on my writer's journey so far—from my very first workshop class at ACC as a fresh-faced nineteen-year-old trying to develop my voice while figuring out early adulthood, to now, as an indie author with two books under my belt and a space already reserved on my wall to display my MA—there is a part of me that feels resentful towards some of my early professors and the education I received in my undergraduate creative writing courses. I realize how bratty that sounds. I am extremely fortunate to have even had the opportunity to pursue my life's dream. I also know that many things can be true at the same time, and it's possible (and okay) to hold more than one emotion at once. I can be grateful for the experiences I've had, grateful for where I am now, and excited about the future, while also being critical when I look back at some of the stops I've made along the way. I feel cheated by the professors who looked down their noses at genre fiction, whether with explicit or barely veiled disdain. Our lessons on the basics of craft—worldbuilding, character, story structure, plotting, archetypes, etc.—should have included different types of storytelling besides "literary" fiction—the preferred term for realism among academics, who erroneously consider it the only "serious" method of writing. I still cringe when I remember the professor who, when I asked why he didn't include genre fiction in our assigned readings, said that we needed to learn "literary" techniques before heading into "experimental" territory. As if the great genre writers—Stephen King, Octavia Butler, Terry Pratchett, Tamora Pierce, etc.—haven't used the very same techniques to create stories that have touched and inspired millions of people the world over, with more skill and artfulness than that professor could shake a stick at. There was another professor whom I looked up to and saw as a mentor, even long after I graduated. It wasn't until a few years ago that I began to look back on our relationship more critically. While I know she was not malicious, and I still carry many of the positives from her instruction with me, I believe her bias against genre fiction held me back creatively. She once told me in class that fairy tales were "nice," but didn't provide a good foundation for building "realistic" stories because they were "too simple." The working-class people of centuries past who kept their cultural and literary traditions alive via oral wonder tales, contemporary authors making their living off creative reimaginings of fairy tales, and professional folklorists (such as the fabulous women of Carterhaugh School) would like a word. To these academics, fantasy and sci-fi were frivolous escapism, horror was gratuitous, mysteries and thrillers were too cookie-cutter, and romance... well, let's just say that the Black Death would have received a warmer reception. And teaching your students that there is only one acceptable genre for serious writers is a deeply unfair disservice to them, both creatively and professionally. I resent being made to feel, as a young writer with big dreams, like I had to tone down or nix the horrific and the fantastic elements that I love so much if I were to have any hope of making it. I don't want new writers to become derailed in their creative pursuits. I was, and it set me back years from developing my real voice. This is what I would tell current creative writing students that I wish someone had told me. 
Hello, dear ones.
It's been quite a minute since I updated my blog, and to be honest, I'm a little embarrassed by it. It feels like I've neglected my readers and am slacking in my career, going so long without posting, and even that feels a little sleazy to say, because it's not really my career that has been sitting on the back burner (quite the contrary—the last seven months have been a crash course in my professional development and my growth as an author), but my readers. I feel guilty. But one has to get back on the horse, as it were. Allow me to get you up to speed.
At the end of this post is a Substack article I wrote for Independence Day last year. And I'm going to be brutally honest:
My feelings about the Fourth of July – and about America – have not changed since then. In spite of everything, I still believe today is worth celebrating. I know, I know. How can anybody with a heart or a soul, or with any semblance of care for humanity, possible be in a celebratory mood today? How on Earth can we feel proud of our nation when everything is falling apart and sliding backwards? Is there even anything about America to be proud of at all? Yes, dear ones, there is. 
First and foremost, Happy Pride Month, friends!
Pride Month is always something of a mixed bag for me. As fun and joyful as Pride can be, I am not always welcome in queer spaces as a bisexual and demisexual woman, especially since I am partnered with a man. Because of this, I am very selective about what Pride events I attend, and most of the time they are organized by fellow bi+ or ace-spec people. It’s alienating and at times hurtful to feel like I’m not “enough” for my own people, but biphobia and ace-spec erasure can’t dampen my pride in who I am and of all that our community is capable of. So in case you need the affirmation today: You are, in fact, queer enough. You do not have to perform queerness. You do not owe anyone a receipt of your intimate relationships. You owe no one a pronoun or a presentation. You do not have to justify making queer art. No one has the right to police your queerness. You (and your loves) belong at Pride as much as anyone else. And if small-minded people won’t open their space to you, I hope you find a way to create a space for yourself — because you absolutely deserve it.
Now that that’s out of the way, I have A Very Big Announcement:
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