Every word in your story has a job to do and dialogue often works double time. After all, backstory and information are often much more digestible in dialogue than slogging through blocks of prose. Together, we'll explore techniques to keep your dialogue both informative and conversational, both despensing necessary information and keeping your character's voice and personality intact!
Meredith grew up in New Orleans, collecting two degrees from Louisiana State University before running away to Chicago to be an actor. In between plays, she got her black belt and made martial arts and yoga her full-time day job. She fought in the Chicago Golden Gloves, ran the Chicago Marathon, and competed for team U.S.A. in the savate world championships in Paris. In spite of doing each of these things twice, she couldn’t stay warm and relocated to Nashville. She owns several swords, but lives a non-violent life, saving all swashbuckling for the page, knitting scarves, gardening, visiting coffee shops, and cuddling with her husband and two panther-sized cats. Her debut, Ghost Tamer (September ‘23) is an Amazon Editors’ Pick and IBPA Benjamin Franklin Gold Winner for Best Science Fiction and Fantasy. A Dagger of Lightning released April 1, 2025, both with CamCat Books. Dagger’s sequel, A Horn of Onyx, releases March 31st.
"Big fan of Meredith Lyons! She’s a great writer and teacher. Her class gave me great insights and practical ideas to apply to my own work."
"Meredith did a great job, and her class was a ton of fun!"
"Meredith's writing advice for each person was clear, tailored to each person's needs/interests/goals, and concrete. Great job of setting practical goals and providing productive strategies!"
