Category: Contemporary Women Writers
Why I Wrote the Novel I Needed to Read
By Jessica Guerrieri I didn’t set out to write Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea as much as it demanded to be written. It was the book I had searched for but never found—the story that might have planted a seed when I needed it most. It wouldn’t have saved me. I want to be […]
Why Women Writers Should “Work It”
It stands to reason that great fiction would take place in the great arenas of the human experience: the places where we test our talents, boundaries, and mettle. This could be the battlefield, the sports field, outer space, the kitchen table, or the classroom, among zillions of other places. But puzzlingly, in contemporary fiction, one […]
Ever Widening Circles & Mystical Moments by Jean Shinoda Bolen: Excerpt
We are delighted to feature an excerpt from Ever Widening Circles & Mystical Moments by Jean Shinoda Bolen(Chiron Publications | March 4, 2025), the long-awaited memoir by 89-year-old activist, author, psychiatrist, and Jungian analyst Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD, endorsed by Gloria Steinem and Isabelle Allende. While Jean Shinoda Bolen is an internationally renowned Jungian analyst, […]
Lacy Fewer – On Writing Yankeeland
I always knew I was going to write. As a young child, I was fascinated with how a book could transport you to a world where everything worked out in the end. I dreamed of being able to bring my love of storytelling to a wider audience. Writing is the lens through which I understand […]
No Small Wins
Many of my writer friends have celebrated wins lately, and it’s gotten under my skin. Because they’re not. Celebrating, that is. Without exception, on learning of said wins I’ve barely enunciated the C in CONGRATS! and already they’re downplaying it. Dismissing it as insignificant, not even news at all, really. Drowning their victory in BUTS and JUSTS. My short story was […]
Irma Venter, author of Red Tide, on Women Characters in Crime Novels
Irma Venter, author of Red Tide, on Women Characters in Crime Novels What does a strong female character in a crime novel look like? This question has intrigued me since I was a teenager scouring the library for my next read. Often the female characters were one of two things – the (often passing) love […]
Little Great Island by Kate Woodworth: Excerpt
We’re delighted to feature this excerpt from Kate Woodworth’s LITTLE GREAT ISLAND! LITTLE GREAT ISLAND On Little Great Island, climate change is disrupting both life and love After offending the powerful pastor of a cult, Mari McGavin has to flee with her six-year-old son. With no money and no place else to go, she returns […]
The Mother Self: Poems by Talia Gutin
We’re delighted to share this poem from THE MOTHER SELF by Talia Gutin! — A PROMISE May I open to your smile always, anywhere— May it press against my chest, carry me into delight And that indelible ache of love. Today, two small teeth encircled by tender gums. How will it look When you are […]
FORGED by Danielle Teller: Excerpt
FORGED A thrilling and immersive tale of an impoverished woman turned con-artist by the critically acclaimed author of All the Ever Afters In the Gilded Age, a time of abject poverty and obscene wealth, a desperate and ambitious young woman strikes out for a new life in the rising industrial cities of America. Naive Fanny is […]
On Writing and Reading Sex Scenes
By Rachel Callaghan A reader posted a review of my literary novel Under Water, complaining that the sex scenes in the novel had too many details. If I replied to reviews, I might say, “You found it toe-curlingly unsettling to read? Imagine having to write it!” And, anyway, the deets were really all suggested, not baldly laid […]
Recent Comments