Author Archive: Women Writers Women Books
Dutch by birth and serial emigrant, Barbara currently lives with her husband and daughter in a tiny village in Galicia, Spain, as basic and simple as can be. W Barbara's website.
Origin Story: From Fact to Fiction in How Long a Shadow by Cheryl A. Ossola
In any family history, secrets, murky half-truths, and even full-out fictions spiff up the stories one generation hands down to the next. How much we know about those truths and lies depends on how doggedly we dig—and how determined the truth-holders are to hide what’s real. In my family’s case, relatives banished to the shadows, […]
Surviving the Ever Changing World of Publishing by Sara Ackerman
I was that person who believed that once you landed an agent, and then a book deal, you had officially earned a golden ticket to success and forever book deals. Back in 2016, it was my fourth manuscript that got me an agent, and that book, Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers, released in early […]
On Writing Longshore Drift
By Bronwen Griffiths I live near the south coast of England, close to the ancient town of Rye. Rye is famous for its old cobbled streets, its ancient inn which is called The Mermaid and for its literary folk. Henry James lived in Rye, as did Rumer Godden, and many other literary figures. Rye is […]
The Inspiration Behind Rules for Mothers by Julie Swendsen Young
I was twelve when my stay-at-home, farmwife mother took a parttime clerical job in our small, very rural county. The decision for her to get a job wasn’t spoken of in front of my sisters and me, but it was likely for financial reasons. Our tiny subsistence farm provided all the food we needed but […]
AI Spams and Scams: Caveat Emptor by Jane Loeb Rubin
There is a particular, personal cruelty to scamming authors. Most of us have poured years of our lives — sometimes entire decades — into crafting stories, perfecting prose, and building the kind of literary reputation that might, just might, justify a seat at one of the country’s premier book festivals. We are not naive, but […]
Movement, Still
By Tracy Smith I don’t know the exact day I realized how much I needed to keep moving. Maybe it was the first trip to Iceland in September 2022 when I was lost in downtown Reykjavik. Or the time I was in a mosh pit in Doha, cheering with the Argentina fans during the FIFA […]
Fresh Air and Possibility: On Poetry, Verse Novels, and Writing Books Kids Love to Read by Ona Gritz
One gray afternoon when I was in 7th grade, a tall man with floppy hair loped into the room at the start of our English class with a hardcover the size of a phone book under his arm. Our sub for the day, he leaned against the teacher’s desk and announced, “I’m just going to […]
Let It Breathe: Unleashing the Power of Setting
By Kimberly Behre Kenna Can a house loom like a monster and still show up as the most tender thing in a story? In the opening scene of this middle-grade novel, thirteen-year-old Lola arrives at her uncle’s home: “…as soon as we turn into the driveway and I catch a glimpse of the stone roof […]
My Journey Towards Writing “Leaving the Shore: Experiencing Poetry as Prayer” by Colette Lafia
One spring afternoon, I was browsing my inbox when an email from my agent popped on screen. The news was good. Monkfish Press had accepted my proposal for a collection of poetry that would include practices and prompts for deep reflection and prayer. At that point in time, I only had a handful of poems […]
Writing Historical Fiction as an Homage to My Ancestors By Peggy Joque Williams
When asked about my two books, Courting the Sun: A Novel of Versailles (2024) and Braving the Dawn: A Novel of New France (January 2026), I take delight in saying they are an homage to my French-Canadian ancestors. In a 2024 piece I wrote for Women Writers, Women’s Books, “From Super Collaborator to Solo Historical […]
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