Click on the video above to hear about Robert’s experience with Writer’s Relief!

You wouldn’t be surprised to hear about Writer’s Relief during a writing group discussion, but Robert Granader learned about us at an unconventional place—the barbershop! This good advice (and a nice haircut) prompted Robert to partner with Writer’s Relief, since he needed help focusing on completing his writing projects and sticking to deadlines. The result? Robert’s essays and short stories have been featured in the Washington Post, Washingtonian, New York Times, Blue Lake Review, and numerous other journals. He’s also won writing awards from Bethesda Magazine and Writer’s Digest!

Read on and watch the video to hear how Writer’s Relief helped Robert meet deadlines, make better submissions, and get published—even during the pandemic!

In Robert’s Own Words

So many of my story ideas come from the world around me, and when much of that was shut off because of COVID, I was lost. And then some magical thinking took place, and my writing changed a bit. I was reminded of this notion from Gabriel García Márquez, when he said we all have a public life, a private life, and a secret life. I felt some of these lives took bigger hits than others during quarantine.

But what I most appreciated about Writer’s Relief were the never-ending deadlines, which forced me to get something down on paper and forced me to submit every few months. And magically, like they tell you, if you just sit down and write, eventually some blood drips onto the page. I don’t write every day, and I’m not as consistent as I’d like to be, but I think deadlines, real or perceived, help me get something out the door every few months, and that kept me going.

More About Robert

Ten years ago, Robert and his family moved to London, and he spent many mornings writing in a coffee shop before going to the office. He started his blog, “In a Foreign Land,” about living overseas, and then began pumping out short stories. He also writes essays on issues related to his work in market research. His writing has been published in borrowed solace, Doubly Mad: An Independent Journal of Arts and Ideas, Mariashriver.com, and Umbrella Factory. Rob has attended various workshops at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD, as well as the Key West Literary Seminar and Writer’s Digest Conference in Los Angeles. He has a BA in English from the University of Michigan and a JD from The George Washington University. He has published more than 350 short stories, articles, and essays in over sixty publications and is the CEO of Marketresearch.com.

You can learn more about Robert Granader at robgranader.com, and check out his blog at expatlondon.blogspot.com.