by Writing Workshops Staff
A week ago
Based in Austin, Texas, Jaime deBlanc speaks with the authority of someone who has learned to harness lightning in a bottle. The author of 2024's acclaimed debut novel, After Image (Thomas & Mercer), doesn't just write about transformation, she facilitates it.
"When the writing shakes me up and sometimes feels a little too painful to touch," she explains, "that's when I know it's something I'll work on until it's finished."
This philosophy of creative discomfort forms the bedrock of deBlanc's approach to magical realism, a genre that has captivated her imagination since childhood.
Her upcoming workshop, Crafting Magical Realism: Myths & Magic in Modern Fiction, offers writers the opportunity to explore the alchemical space where reality bends and reimagines itself through fantastical elements, not as mere ornament, but as vehicles for profound emotional truth.
"Magical realism frees us up to access ideas and thoughts we might hesitate to express in other ways," deBlanc says. Her statement echoes the sentiments of literary forebears like Toni Morrison and Octavio Paz, whose works feature prominently in her curriculum. The MacDowell Fellow and recipient of a Lighthouse Works Fellowship has designed her four-week course as both a technical exploration of craft and a permission slip for writers to venture beyond self-imposed boundaries.
Former student Anna Stewart attests to this liberating effect: "Jaime's guidance immediately put me at ease and allowed me to take risks to write about things I wanted to write about but had been afraid to try." This is a testament to deBlanc's "welcoming and inclusive" teaching style: a deliberate counterpoint to the sometimes silencing structures of traditional writing workshops, which she thoughtfully critiques.
For deBlanc, whose second novel, The Silver Cord, will be published in 2026, the most rewarding aspect of teaching is witnessing the metamorphosis that occurs when writers allow themselves to step beyond strict realism. "I see writers taking risks they might otherwise avoid and becoming more bold and original creators," she explains with unmistakable enthusiasm.
In an era when literature increasingly reflects our fractured realities, deBlanc's workshop offers not just instruction in a beloved genre but a methodology for transforming personal pain into universal revelation. Through close readings of works by Karen Russell and Carmen Maria Machado, guided writing prompts, and supportive feedback, participants emerge with a completed magical realist short story—and perhaps more importantly, with what another student called "the confidence to explore territory I'd previously avoided."
In our interview below, deBlanc reflects on advice that has shaped her own practice: characters must undergo changes "such that they could never go back to the way they were at the beginning." One suspects the same might be said for the writers fortunate enough to study under her guidance.
Writing Workshops: Hi, Jaime. Please introduce yourself to our audience.
Jaime deBlanc: Hi, I'm Jaime! I'm an author and writing coach who loves working with talented but struggling writers to help them overcome their creative blocks and reach writing success.
I'm based in Austin, Texas, but I work with writers all over the U.S., offering thoughtful writing workshops and tailored 1:1 coaching to fiction and memoir writers.
In my novel-writing, I tend to write mystery/suspense, but in my short stories, I love delving into magical realist territory, and I have a special place in my heart for fiction that diverts or upends expectation.
I'm a longtime fangirl of Karen Russell, Carmen Maria Machado, and Aimee Bender, and I'm always welcoming recommendations for the next magical realist story that's going to jolt my imagination.
Writing Workshops: What made you want to teach this specific class? Is it something you are focusing on in your own writing practice? Have you noticed a need to focus on this element of craft?
Jaime deBlanc: I've been in love with magical realist stories for as long as I can remember. Stories that take a turn into the fantastical resonate on a deep level with me. I love the way they can surprise and astonish, yet still delve as deep (or deeper) into fraught emotional territory as the most realistic stories do.
In my own writing as well as in the writing classes I lead, I've found that it's easier to access creativity, inspiration, and originality when we take a step away from strict realism and let the imagery of our subconscious take over.
Magical realism frees us up to access ideas and thoughts we might hesitate to express in other ways. That's why this class is a favorite of mine to teach. In it, I see writers taking risks they might otherwise avoid and becoming more bold and original creators.
Writing Workshops: Give us a breakdown of how the course is going to go. What can the students expect? What is your favorite part about this class you've dreamed up?
Jaime deBlanc: In class, we're going to look at the various ways that writers can weave elements of magic into realistic scenarios. Through exploring elements of the surreal, writers will see their stories open up and become more daring, surprising, and affecting.
Each class starts with lecture, class discussion, and a look at some tremendous magical realist excerpts. I then introduce an imagination-opening writing prompt and students are given time to write.
Through these writing prompts, I also guide students through the process of creating their own complete magical realist story. During the class, students gain a strong understanding of story structure and learn how to take their initial inkling of a story into a completed narrative.
My favorite part of the class is hearing the incredible ideas that flow out of my students and seeing the inspiration and motivation that is fostered from being in a room of creatives generating new and strange ideas.
Writing Workshops: What was your first literary crush?
Jaime deBlanc: As a kid, I was obsessed with Roald Dahl--I would read anything he wrote, from children's books to adult short stories that were certainly too sophisticated for me. I didn't see a photo of him until years later and was shocked to realize that my crush was just a funny-looking old man. Some time after that, I read a biography of Dahl and was disappointed to find out he was quite a problematic person. I still get a lot of joy, however, out of rereading Matilda and The BFG.
Writing Workshops: What are you currently reading?
Jaime deBlanc: I just started reading The Husbands, by Holly Gramazio, about a woman who can swap out her husband by changing a light bulb in her attic.
Writing Workshops: How do you choose what you're working on? When do you know it is the next thing you want to write all the way to THE END?
Jaime deBlanc: For me, a story most often bubbles out of some sort of personal pain I'm grappling with. When the writing shakes me up and sometimes feels a little too painful to touch, that's when I know it's something I'll work on until it's finished.
Writing Workshops: Where do you find inspiration?
Jaime deBlanc: I find some of the most powerful inspiration from the YA books I read as a teenager. Currently, I find myself most fired up about the ideas and themes I was introduced to by Madeleine L'Engle, Lois Duncan, and Zilpha Keatley Snyder.
Writing Workshops: What is the best piece of writing wisdom you've received that you can pass along to our readers? How did it impact your work? Why has this advice stuck with you?
Jaime deBlanc: One of my first writing professors told me that, by the end of my story, my main character should have been changed "such that she could never go back to the way she was at the beginning." That really stuck with me.
In the early days of grad school, I tended to write stories that were very internal, with characters who were more observers than participants. Now, I take to heart the idea that my characters have to "go through the fire," so to speak, in my stories. They must act, take risks, face the very real consequences of their actions, and eventually transform.
Writing Workshops: What is your favorite book to recommend on the craft of writing? Why this book?
Jaime deBlanc: I really love Craft in the Real World by Matthew Salesses.
In the book, he takes a look at how the craft of writing has traditionally been taught--generally in a context that centers the perspective of white male cis writers. He then explains how we can foster more diverse, welcoming, and supportive workshops by widening both our concept of "good craft" and moving away from the harmful, silencing structures that are often reinforced in MFA-style writing workshop models.
I highly recommend his book if you've ever had a negative workshop experience and are seeking more supportive ways of learning writing!
Writing Workshops: Bonus question: What's your teaching vibe?
Jaime deBlanc: Welcoming and inclusive.
Learn more about Jaime's upcoming class, Crafting Magical Realism: Myths & Magic in Modern Fiction, and sign up before the class is full.
Instructor Jaime deBlanc holds an M.A. in creative writing from the University of Texas at Austin. Her short fiction has been published in Catapult, Juked, and Post Road, and she has received a MacDowell Fellowship and a Lighthouse Works Fellowship. Her debut novel, After Image, was published by Thomas & Mercer in 2024, and her second novel, The Silver Cord, is forthcoming in 2026. She lives in Austin, TX, where she coaches fiction and memoir writers.
