Tag: women writers
AUGUST RECOMMENDED READS
The Summer of Love and Death (A Ford Family Mystery Book 3), Marcy McCreary “Refreshingly smart, witty, and sophisticated . . .” —Natalie Symons author of Lies in Bone, on The Disappearance of Trudy Solomon “Propulsive, addictive, with lush, visceral prose and richly-layered characters . . .” —May Cobb, author of My Summer Darlings, on The Murder of Madison […]
What a Novel can Teach us
By Jayna Sheats In the course of the ~200,000 revisions to my debut novel (the total number of “track changes” entries) I took an online course led by a famous literary agent who need not be named. At one point I was asked for a brief description of the essential crisis or conflict of the […]
In an Age of Medical Miracles, Gains Can Also Mean Loss
By Shelley Wood Author of The Leap Year Gene of Kit McKinley Two ideas were working on my subconscious with The Leap Year Gene of Kit McKinley. First, I was noticing the extraordinary measures people take to look and feel younger even as aging was taking its toll on me. I have been a life-long […]
Alix Rickloff: On Writing
The Last Light Over Oslo is my thirteenth published novel in a career that has spanned seventeen years. And there are some writing constants that never change. I will think it’s the best shiny new idea ever for the first fifty pages. I will think it’s the worst crappy idea ever and question how I […]
Ancestry, Archives, and Acadian Folklore: The Inspiration Behind A SEA OF SPECTRES
Nancy Taber What to do with an article about an 18th century ancestor during the Acadian Expulsion, an almanac excerpt about a 19th century bank cleaner (possibly) turned thief, and research about 20th and 21st century military women? Blend it all into a historical novel with three protagonists and three timelines. Throw in a phantom […]
Telling the Truth: Memoir, Myth and Magical Realism
By Ann Batchelder Writing the truth has long been standard procedure for memoir authors. But truth is not fact. For every story, there might be several points of view. Memoir narrators assume readers understand that their book is one version of what happened. Still, it is the memoirist’s job to remain honest. My memoir, Craving […]
From Super Collaborator to Solo Historical Novelist
By Peggy Joque Williams If I could claim to have a writerly Superpower, it’s that I am a great collaborator. As far back as sixth grade I was collaborating with friends, spending our summer evenings brainstorming and passing around the notebook as we wrote the next great Beatles movie after A Hard Day’s Night came […]
On Writing I’m History…but do I repeat myself? by Lee Knapp
By Lee Knapp Somewhere on my old MacBook Pro that ran on Snow Leopard OS are dozens of files from around 2009 entitled “Tucker Book,” where I sketched out a vague idea about my old high school being a microcosm of America itself. With my marriage in turmoil, in 2003 I returned to teach history there. I […]
How Women Experience Illness: One Mystery at a Time
By Kate Michaelson It’s a good bet you know at least one woman with a complex, ongoing health issue—whether it’s an autoimmune disease, endometriosis, or something not yet diagnosed. Maybe you deal with an issue like this yourself. I’m one of those women too. In fact, my own quest for a diagnosis is part of […]
Finding Inspiration in Darkness: Cults, Characters, and Crafting Only the Guilty Survive
By Kate Robards When I sat down to work on my second thriller novel, I knew only one plot point: a teenager would go missing from a place called the Bird Haven, a wildlife sanctuary where she worked part-time after school. As a dedicated plotter, I finessed this idea through multiple iterations of outlines, but […]
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