Category: Contemporary Women Writers
Are Children’s Books Real Books?
I’m being facetious obviously. Because, hell yeah. But I’ve seen the way people react or don’t react when you mention that your book in progress or recently published book is a…children’s picture book. Most recently, someone contacted me to find out if I’d written any new books. Before I could twist my mouth to mention […]
From Academic Writing To Podcasting And Fiction
This year I published my first fiction book, but it’s a long way from being my writing debut. In 2010 I submitted my PhD thesis, and around that time I wandered into a career as a research developer and proposal writer. These days, as well as writing fiction, I work with researchers to help them […]
How Growing Up In A Haunted House Inspired My Writing
People really didn’t believe me. They still don’t. But she was real. The ghost was real. And I saw her. Often. It scared me. At first, anyway. But then she became such a unique part of my home, that I almost didn’t notice her shenanigans, like banging kitchen cupboard doors, turning on all the lights […]
Writing Is My Lifestyle
I love questions. They direct your thoughts and help to create momentum along a particular path. I was asked, “What is your writing process?” and I thought, “I don’t have one.” However, that is – I know – a way of avoiding self-examination and answer formation. I also know that answering will gift me with […]
How To Be Patient, or “Why Hasn’t Your Book Been Made Into A Movie?”
Since becoming a writer, I slightly dread family gatherings. In many ways, “How’s the book going?” is a perfectly normal question to ask, but it isn’t an easy one to answer. I reply with variations of “great, thanks”, but I’m really thinking, which book? The one I’m drafting, the one I’m copy-editing, the one just […]
The Birth of a Novel
In 1999 a good friend called and asked if I would like to join her for a writer’s workshop in Leavenworth, Washington. “Have you heard of Barbara Kingsolver?? She’s one of the teachers.” I almost dropped the phone… of course I knew her work – loved her work – slept with her work under my […]
Humoring the Muse
My muse, a.k.a. the voice in my head, is a wonderful, fickle, and demanding soul. She’s opinionated, diverse, and relentless. If I weren’t an author I might consider handing her over to the care of a mental health practitioner. But alas, as she’s my bread and butter, we’ve worked out a compromise. I write what […]
Switching From Literary To Historical Fiction
When I set out to write my historical novel, the research shelf on my bookcase overflowed onto the floor. I approached the story with the eye of the scholar, the young woman I was when I developed my doctoral thesis all those years ago. It was the day of card files in the library and […]
Drawing Novel Ideas from the Dust
Novelists are often asked how they find ideas. Frankly, the ideas usually often find us. That’s the short, smart-alecky answer nobody wants to hear, but it’s hard to provide more detail to such a broad question. Since the release of my second historical novel, Peculiar Savage Beauty, many readers have asked specifically how the idea […]
Tell Your Stories—Now More Than Ever!
Christine Blasey-Ford had memories, opinions, facts, and rights. One of her rights was to be heard. So she told her story about a 36-year-old high school encounter with 2 drunken seniors who attacked her body to prove their dominance. Or maybe for a laugh. Or because they could. She told it to her husband before […]
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