Tag: women writers
Writing Likeable, but Difficult, Characters
Writing Likeable, but Difficult, Characters Emma Barry We’ve all seen the reviews that say, “The protagonist wasn’t likeable. Two stars.” But what does it mean for a character to be likeable? For me, it’s rooted in relatability. If a character is too perfect, they will likely feel aspirational. I might want to be them, but […]
How Lockdown Life in 2020 inspired The Bad Neighbour
How Lockdown Life in 2020 inspired The Bad Neighbour As awful and unsettling as it was at the time, my experience of living through the Covid-induced lockdowns had one positive outcome, as far as I’m concerned: it inspired my fifth book. Set in an English village in 2020 from the start of the first lockdown […]
THE ENDANGERED PROTAGONIST By Christina Hamlett
THE ENDANGERED PROTAGONIST By Christina Hamlett The book jacket premise was intriguing enough for me to part with $7 at the airport gift shop: A beautiful woman, suffocated by the demands of wealth and public adoration, decides to take a break and go incognito. (Oh, but that we should all be cursed with such problems…) […]
When Your Book Features a Misunderstood Career
When Your Book Features a Misunderstood Career When I first got the idea for my debut novel, ONE TOUGH COOKIE, I knew it would be set at a food manufacturing plant, similar to the one I used to work at. I have a PhD in Food Science and previous work experience as a quality assurance […]
On Writing The Accidental Series
The accidental series When readers asked about a follow-up to my debut novel, Sugar and Snails, I was surprised. Although I had thoughts about how my character, Diana, might have developed since 2004 when the novel is set, I didn’t plan to explore them in fiction. Savvy authorpreneurs know that you can sell more books […]
In Praise of Meandering
In Praise of Meandering Meandering. It’s one of those words that’s come to have almost entirely negative connotations. From its source in the name of a winding river, Maiandros, it made its way from Greek into Latin and then the vernacular by the 16th century. Indirect. Winding. Circuitous. Aimless. Despite its unhappy associations, I’m here […]
The Hems of Their Skirts By Grace Sammon
The Hems of Their Skirts By Grace Sammon When it comes to novels, I love flawed characters. They endear themselves to us and enrage us all at the same time. You know who they are – those characters that can’t get out of their own way as they stumble through the plot. In my novel, […]
Cold Cases and the Burning Need to Know by Stephanie Kane
Cold Cases and the Burning Need to Know Stephanie Kane Does Kyle Clinkscales ring a bell? Probably not. In 1976, Kyle, a 22-year-old sophomore at Auburn University, disappeared. His parents’ search was all consuming. They followed leads from New Orleans to Hawaii. Whenever they left the house, they’d leave a note and spare car key […]
Poems by Rachel Harty From her upcoming book, Coffee, a Sip of You and Me
Poems by Rachel Harty From her upcoming book, Coffee, a Sip of You and Me Rachel Harty is the coffee poet, a girl who is nothing short of caffeine. As a six-year-old, she often would be found stealing coffee from her parents, and as you might have guessed, she quickly became fascinated by caffeine. Much […]
The Geography of First Kisses: Excerpt
In The Geography of First Kisses, one finds portrayals of quiet elegance reminiscent of early-20th-century art films. The fourteen ethereal stories are tethered to the bays and backwaters of southern Louisiana, the fields of Iowa and Oklahoma, the pine woods of Florida, places where girls and women seek love and belonging, and instead discover relationships as […]
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