Friday Speak Out!: A Worthwhile Conference

By GP Gottlieb

I just returned from Left Coast Crime, a conference for mystery lovers. Of the 550 or so participants, there were about 70 authors, and the rest are readers looking for books to read. Guess who’s got 3 published mysteries (and a 4th launch coming this summer)?

Soon after I got to the hotel, I ran into Ann, a fellow Rocky Mountain Sister in Crime. I love her series about a doctor balancing work and family (loosely based on Ann’s life, except for the crime).

My conference plan is always to meet as many people as possible, have as many good conversations as I can manage, and leave the hotel at least once a day. We lucked out with sunny weather the whole time and the city was cleaner than when I last visited, but what did San Francisco do with all the street people?

I brought postcards with one of my excellent recipes on one side and my books and contact info on the other. I also brought wrapped chocolates and candy because it’s nice to offer something sweet to everyone. I set out some of that candy during author-speed-dating, where I spoke to about 15 tables of 8-10 people about my latest culinary mystery (Charred, Book #3 in the Whipped & Sipped Mystery series).

I will admit that after describing the book 10 times, I zipped through my allotted two minutes in less than 30 seconds. I’d stand up and say, “Hi, I wrote a Chicago based culinary mystery in which some people get killed and everyone else eats breakfast and lunch. Here’s some candy. Hope you get a chance to try my recipe.”

They’d laugh, probably relieved. I’d pass out the other author’s bookmarks, sit down, and listen to her speak. When it was over, I went to my room and read. Then I attended panels like Writing Historical Mysteries and Crime in the Great Outdoors. All four days, I ran into Ann from Colorado.

There were 4 panels each day, plus famous author interviews and readings (One played Tartini’s Devil’s Trill on the violin – his book had the same title). I make quicker decisions about reading a book after hearing an author read (or perform) than I do when listening to an author blab about his/her book.

I loved getting to moderate a panel on Global Mysteries and sitting on a panel about Mystery Categories, although whenever I was the last to answer a question about why my book is a cozy, or what differentiates cozy from traditional mystery, I’d forget the question, say whatever sprang to mind, and inadvertently get a laugh. Oops.

I came away with a long list of books to download, but my favorite part of the weekend was hanging out with Ann, who also ended up being on my flight to Denver. We ate together before the flight. Even though the conference is about books, for me the most important part is the people.

* * *

Photo credit: David Gottlieb 

G.P. Gottlieb loves her family, books, music, and dessert. Her three culinary mysteries (Battered, Smothered, and Charred) were re-issued by Anamcara Press this year (Pounded, Book 4 in the Whipped & Sipped series, will launch this summer). She has interviewed over 275 authors for New Books in Literature, a podcast channel on the New Books Network, has published stories and essays in a variety of journals, blogs, and anthologies, and her latest story will appear in the 2nd Rocky Mountain Sisters in Crime Mystery Merge. To connect, read her book reviews and essays, or see her stunning photos of roasted vegetables, visit G.P. Gottlieb on Facebook, Instagram, Substack, or GPGottlieb.Com.

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Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!
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2 comments Friday Speak Out!, GP Gottlieb, writers conferences, writing conference tips

Friday Speak Out!: THIS IS MY LAST BOOK…BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN I’VE STOPPED WRITING

By Deborah K. Shepherd

Honestly, no one was more surprised than I was when I published my first book at 74.When I retired from a decades-long career directing non-profits, where I wrote detailed—very detailed—grants asking for funding, and even more detailed reports accounting for how the money was spent, I swore I’d never write anything longer or more complicated than a grocery list.

But then, looking for community, I signed up for a writing workshop at my local senior college, came home from the first class and announced to my husband, “I think I’m writing a novel.”

A few years after that, I was lucky enough to have said novel, So Happy Together, published by She Writes Press, and in the meantime, some of my smaller pieces were finding homes in on-line indie magazines.

I was one and done on the book front, though. In addition to the years spent writing; revising; editing; proofing; engaging both a developmental editor and a copy editor; submitting to agents; and being rejected over and over again, there was the year after acceptance intensely promoting and marketing the book first with a publicist and a social media consultant, and then the next few years selling the book on my own at indie bookstores, book fairs, and even farmers’ markets.

I didn’t need to and never intended to write a second book, let alone a memoir about my age-gap marriage to my first husband.

But then, one day…well, actually three years later, I found myself with 300 pages of a new manuscript in my hands. Some of it had been joyful to write, some of it had been gut-wrenching, but there it was. And I’m so happy that An Old Man’s Darling has found a home with Heliotrope Books. It’s out in the world right now—and I’ve just turned 79.

So, I really AM done writing books. I don’t have the impetus to start another one, nor the stamina to see it through to fruition.

But I still love writing, maybe for publication (waiting six months for an acceptance of an essay is a LOT easier than birthing a book) or maybe not. I’m finding that writing to prompts from my local writers’ group—100 words from the point of view of an animal, anyone?—or reading one of my essays at an open mic, or even just scribbling for myself when something jogs my writer’s brain---like the piece I jotted down on hearing The Beatles’ “When I’m 64” at the age of 78 and know I’ll probably never submit—still brings a sweet kind of pride and satisfaction.

So, I hope I never lose this desire to write--it feels like such a gift as I am poised to enter my 9th decade.

And, who knows, maybe I’ll even turn my grocery lists into haikus.

***

Deborah K. Shepherd’s first novel, So Happy Together, was published in 2021 when she was 74. Her essays have appeared in Oldster Magazine; Fauxmoir; Motherwell Magazine; Herstry; Eat. Darling, Eat; Persimmon Tree, and more, and her Covid-themed essay was a winner in the Center for Interfaith Relations 2020 Sacred Essay Contest. A retired social worker, she spent much of her career focused on the prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault and the provision of services to survivors. The mother of two and grandmother of two, Deborah lives in Maine with one husband and one sweet, jaunty rescue dog. You can find her at deborahshepherdwrites.com.

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Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!
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2 comments Deborah K. Shepherd, done writing books, Friday Speak Out!, memoir, novel, writer inspiration, writing life

Friday Speak Out!: WHAT NEWSPAPERS TAUGHT ME ABOUT WRITING FICTION

By Fran Hawthorne

Who? What? When? Where? Why?

For 30 years, that list was drummed into me and my colleagues by the editors at the newspapers and magazines where we worked: Give your readers the facts. Provable facts. No highfalutin' language. No opinions. The facts will tell the story.

A few factual adjectives were permitted. A city council meeting might be crowded, loud, even "spirited." A criminal suspect--especially, of course, one who was still at large--could be described as short, tall, heavyset (never "fat"), blond, elderly. Our ultimate workaround was to sneak in a direct quote from someone who used an adjective or two.

In any case, with our stories usually confined to strict wordcount limits, we had no room for adjectives. As for adverbs? They barely existed.

In a meeting that ran past midnight, and after two years of debate, the City Council yesterday voted 8 to 7 to allow low-income housing on a former warehouse site on the east side.

That's almost flash fiction, isn't it?

Now, however--ah, now I write novels. Now I can actually play with words like: scared, uncertain, miserable, eagerly, carefully.

But here's the thing: I rarely do.

If journalists are taught the five Ws, fiction-writers are just as powerfully imbued with the demand to "show, don't tell."

I don't want to outright tell my readers that Alice, in my new novel HER DAUGHTER, is nervous about meeting with her daughter and her ex-husband. I want readers to feel her nervousness, through the way that she prepares a detailed list of things to say and arrives early at their designated Starbucks in order to scout out tables. She wishes she'd ordered a muffin so that she could keep her fingers busy picking it apart. She knocks over her coffee cup. Maybe I'll even have her best friend urge her beforehand not to be nervous.

After all these years, I've grown into my hybrid style. Call it journafiction? I don't want a lot of fussy little descriptive tics.

Still, I'm glad to have a few stunning or exhilarating (but not tired) adjectives and adverbs in my palette, to be used occasionally and judiciously (but not extravagantly).

* * *

During her award-winning journalism career, FRAN HAWTHORNE wrote eight nonfiction books, mainly about consumer activism, the drug industry, and the financial world. She’s also been an editor or regular contributor for Business Week, The New York Times, and many other publications. Her first two novels, The Heirs and I Meant to Tell You, were published in 2018 and 2022 by Stephen F. Austin State University Press and together won or were named a finalist for seven awards, including the Eric Hoffer Book Awards and the Sarton Award. HER DAUGHTER, Fran’s third novel, will be published in January 2026 by Black Rose Writing. She’s at work on Number 4 from her home in Brooklyn, NY. Learn more at hawthornewriter.com

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2 comments Adverbs, Fran Hawthorne, Friday Speak Out!, novel writing, writing fiction, writing for newspapers

Friday Speak Out!: Are you writing an autobiography or a memoir?

By Ronit Plank

One of the first topics I cover in my memoir writing classes is the difference between autobiography and memoir. Because they share the same Dewey Decimal call numbers in libraries and are often grouped together in bookstores, there is a tendency to think of these two kinds of first-person nonfiction narratives as the same. But they are quite different and when we better understand what sets memoir apart, we can write and revise our manuscripts that resonate and shimmer.

Perhaps the most obvious way is that autobiography is often an account of an entire life or career, while memoir focuses on a specific period of time or experience. Autobiography can include every single event the writer feels called to share whereas memoir is about transformation and requires writers to be far more selective and self-aware.

If you’re contemplating dipping your toe into memoir, here are a few elements that can help infuse your manuscript with tension and complexity.

You the character and you the narrator

Memoir is distinct as a genre in that it asks of the memoirist to craft not only a compelling “I” character but also a reflective narrator, one who can highlight patterns and amplify stakes for that “I” character. In memoir the narrator-you is there to make meaning from what has occurred and guide the reader through your journey of self-discovery. When you harness this reflective narrative voice you ratchet up the stakes for the character-you and help keep the reader invested in you and turning the page.

Less what happened and more how it matters

Memoir is less about the particulars of what happened and more about why that matters now. The driving force of your narrative is that of a curious mind at work pushing for greater understanding about how and why the events you depict have their hooks in you and hound you; why you revisit them again and again in search for clarity. If you have already written a bit of material but feel you need more tension, more stakes, ask yourself what work your chapters are doing, what dynamic they show and how they provide opportunities for narrator-you to interrogate your behavior.

The question your memoir is asking

At their heart, memoirs are a story of becoming and when we gain insight about the central question our memoir is asking, we can structure our manuscript in dynamic and resonant ways. The central question has to do with what is still unsolved in you, the memoirist that has you revisiting your experience to try to make sense of it. And one of the most fascinating aspects of memoir is that the more you excavate your story, the clearer the question you’re asking becomes.

For me the thrill of memoir is knowing that when we approach our stories with curiosity, courage, and self-awareness we have the opportunity to create satisfying narrative arcs in our manuscripts as well as profound growth and change in our lives.

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Sarah Anne Photography

Ronit Plank is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, Poets & Writers, The Rumpus, Hippocampus, The New York Times, and elsewhere, earning Best of the Net, Best Microfiction, and multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. Kirkus Reviews calls her debut memoir When She Comes Back, “An intimate, intuitive, emotionally vivid family account that finds hope in reconciliation". Ronit teaches memoir online at University of Washington’s Continuum Program, hosts the podcast Let’s Talk Memoir, and publishes monthly memoir craft advice on her Let’s Talk Memoir Substack.

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Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!
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1 comment Friday Speak Out!, memoir vs autobiography, Ronit Plank, writing a memoir, writing tips

Friday Speak Out!: An Academic Gets Creative

by Rebecca Knuth

Trading an academic writing style for a creative one has been such a relief. The holistic permission that is retirement allowed me to cast off my straightjacket and write something I hadn’t even known existed—creative nonfiction. Finding a voice and writing with enthusiasm was hard, but oh so satisfying. I claimed myself as a writer and a woman.

The how-to-of-it meant a complete lifestyle change—moving to London, enrolling in a writing program, and reinventing myself. Creative writers are attuned differently, I thought. I set out to develop a ruminative mind-set and live a non-fiction kind of life. Changing my circumstances and shedding professional identity would foster internal percolation, the subconscious processing of thoughts, that fed expressiveness.

Over two years, I learned that popular writers have a different purpose and audience. Academics write to establish and maintain territory. The tenure system (where publications are currency) is based on judgment by peers, and how you slice and dice your work is often as important as what you are writing about. Those who can’t or won’t conform won’t be published. My dream of being creative meant something antithetical to academia—originality.

Voice and presence within one’s writing mattered, so I rebelliously shed a disciplinary mode that demanded detachment. Transitioning from academic writing meant saying “yes” to self-revelation, putting my thoughts and opinions out there. Showing that there was a moving mind (and heart!) behind my sentences.

Creative nonfiction is a genre of narrative in which an author tells a true story, using the techniques of fiction (evocative scenes, dialogue, and plot). For my course, I wrote a book called Emily Dickinson Had to Have Curls: The Feminist Masks Forced on Women Writers, which fell short of creative nonfiction. But it was illuminating (for me especially) and I became a confirmed feminist. While Emily Dickinson was good practice, I hit my CNF stride with London Sojourn: Rewriting Life After Retirement, a memoir coming out on January 27, 2026.

How I say something is super important because words are my conduit to readers. When I wrote my first academic book, Libricide: The Regime-sponsored Destruction of Books and Libraries in the Twentieth Century, I felt like I had climbed the mountain, Martin Luther King-style, and what I had to say was really important. It was however so densely written that even my mother nodded off when reading it. With London Sojourn, I am similarly exhilarated, though it’s a different mountain, with a much greater portion of the accomplishment in the writing.

It's a true story about transitioning, evolving, and writing my way to self-understanding. I tell many different stories and take readers on a ride through life change and a city beloved to book-lovers and writers. London Sojourn is accessibly written for those who want that kind of ride, find an examined life interesting, and are open to reinvention.

* * *

REBECCA KNUTH is a retired professor and expert on censorship and cultural destruction. Formerly at the University of Hawaii, she authored Libricide: The Regime-Sponsored Destruction of Books and Libraries in the 20th Century and has contributed to Smithsonian Magazine, Cabinet, History News Network, CBC Radio, and more. Transitioning to creative nonfiction, she earned another master's degree, her third, to add to her doctorate, and immersed herself in London's literary scene. Now a full-time writer, she published Emily Dickinson Had to Have Curls in 2024. She lives in Portland, Oregon where she coordinated the Sylvia Beach Writers Conference as part of the Oregon Writers Colony. Learn more at rebeccaknuth.com.

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Leave a Comment academic writing, Creative Nonfiction, evolving wrting life, Friday Speak Out!, Rebecca Knuth

Friday Speak Out!: ARE YOU TRYING TOO HARD TO WRITE

By Noelle Sterne

Is your writing forced? Stale? Flat? You may be trying too hard. I know when I am. The first sign is murmuring admiration of my turns of phrase. The second is imagining readers’ gasps of delight at my ingenuity. The third, and most important, is a yellow-red warning flare—Oh, oh, ego’s rising.

If I don’t pay attention to that flare, I know it heralds disaster. The work cannot help reflect this overconscious effort. Somehow, all the technique, wordplay, and resplendent diction overpower whatever message I want to convey.

The idea isn’t new; it’s been called the Law of Reversed Effort. Aldous Huxley said, “The harder we try with the conscious will to do something, the less we shall succeed.”

More specifically to us writers, in The Writer’s Book of Wisdom: 101 Rules for Mastering Your Craft, Stephen Taylor Goldsberry cautions, “Try not to overdo it. . . . Beware of contrived lyrical embellishment and fluffy metaphors” (p. 87). From my own work, I would add, beware of eloquent, balanced rhetoric. And repetition for effect. And overly ripe similes. And too-intricate expositions and too-pithy observations.

After reading Eat Pray Love, I read a transcript of an interview with Elizabeth Gilbert. When she worked on her next book, trying to imitate that first bestseller in the similar breezy, flippant, and pseudo-deep style, she produced 500 pages. Eventually realizing what she was doing, very courageously she junked the whole new manuscript.

Once Gilbert no longer tried to duplicate that success, she wrote a completely different book. Although Committed was not as successful as Eat Pray Love, its style and Gilbert’s reflections are honest and wholly appropriate to its subject, her misgivings about marriage.

Trying means we’re writing too self-consciously, usually to impress. In contrast, doing, as you probably know from your ecstatic writing stints, means total immersion. However many drafts we need, however many dives in the uncertain creative mud we can dare, our success rests not in trying but doing.

Like Gilbert in her post E-P-L foray, when we try to write impressively, even with all our might, we end up failing or at least falling short. Our writing lesson? Don’t try. Do—or don’t. Huxley has a lovely admonition: “Lightly, my child, lightly.”

Or maybe we’re moved not to write at all for a while. Or write a load of nonsense first, even though we know it’s crap. Or use the slash/option method incessantly (one of my favorites/best practices/most helpful methods/greatest techniques for skirting stuckness and continuing to slog). Maybe it means going back countless times to excise, refine, replace, restructure, or even, like Gilbert, pitch it all out.

So I tell myself, Stop trying to be clever and knowing. Stop trying to beat out your writing colleagues. Stop trying to show off your wit. Stop trying to replicate your recent success. All these tryings cut off your expressive truth and especially choke your honesty as a writer. Let’s all stop trying and watch our writing flow.

* * *

Writer, editor, writing coach, and spiritual counselor, Noelle Sterne (PhD) publishes stories, essays, and poems in writing, literary, educational, women’s, and spiritual venues. A professional editor, Noelle mentors writers in the throes of their novels and memoirs as well as exasperated graduate students to completion of their dissertations. Her two published books: Challenges in Writing Your Dissertation (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015) and Trust Your Life: Forgive Yourself and Go After Your Dreams (Unity Books, 2011). Pursuing her own dream, she is completing her third novel. www.trustyourlifenow.com

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Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!
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2 comments Friday Speak Out!, Law of Reversed Effort, Noelle Sterne, trying too hard, writing flow

Friday Speak Out!: When an Historian Writes Historical Fiction

By Nancy Bernhard

What’s the difference between writing history and writing historical fiction? As an historian turned novelist, I bring the same love of research and discovery to each project. I respect facts and timelines in my fiction, but when evidence ends, imagination steps in and I invent freely.

My novel The Double Standard Sporting House is set in an elite brothel in 1868 New York. At that time there were more than 500 brothels in the city, from dirt cheap and risky to wildly expensive and elegant, but we have very little evidence about the women working in any of them. The few contemporary studies reek of moral hypocrisy and the sexual double standard.

The women of premium brothels had intimate access to the most powerful men in the city, members of the corrupt Tammany Hall political machine at the height of its power. I chose this setting because I wanted to set the power of intimacy, compassion, and community against that based in competition, violence, and exploitation. My heroine is a healer who runs the brothel to fund her clinic for women, and to practice medicine as she sees fit.

My first question when researching 19th century prostitutes was: who were they? Many thousands scraping by as housemaids or needleworkers did it to supplement meager wages. 30% of women at that time did occasional sex work just to get by! In contrast, 1-2% of women do sex work today when we have access to many more kinds of employment.

Educated or middle-class girls most often found themselves in prostitution because they were seduced and abandoned, or raped. Cast out or ashamed, unable to return to their families or homes, it was often their only option, and it could be very lucrative. Apart from going on stage or trading stocks, owning a brothel was the only way for a single woman to gain property or earn a fortune.

I chose 1868 because of one half-line in historian Marilyn Wood Hill’s book Their Sisters’ Keepers: Prostitution in New York City, 1830-1870, describing “a brief but unique era when prostitution was managed predominantly by females.” That era ended when the Tammany Hall political machine gained control of the sex trade through trafficking and exploitation, which seeded my plot and antagonists.

I searched for evidence of these female entrepreneurs, but deep sources always came from the wrong place or time. Abbott Kahler’s delightful Sin in the Second City about a Chicago brothel in the early 20th century inspired some fun details. I thought I’d found a fascinating memoir by a madam called Nell Kimball who ran a house in 19th century St. Louis, but it turned out to be a fabrication—a complete fraud—by prolific author Stephen Longstreet.

Having read about 100 books on 19th century prostitution, women’s health, and Tammany Hall, I told as layered and authentic a story as I was able. You might say such thorough research only provides the backdrop to story and character, which do indeed come first in a novel. But a story and characters often resonate because they’re rooted in good history.

* * *

Nancy Bernhard is a journalism historian and yoga teacher, fascinated by how survivors of sexual and political violence heal through storytelling and movement. Having earned a BA in religion at Dartmouth, a PhD in American History at the University of Pennsylvania, and taught at Harvard, Bernhard turned her indignation over the sexual double standard into an absorbing tale rooted in the 19th century history of Tammany Hall. She was born in Brooklyn, and lives with her family in Somerville, Massachusetts.

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Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!
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3 comments Friday Speak Out!, Nancy Bernhard, novel writing, research, writing historical fiction

Friday Speak Out!: How Writing Helped Me Find My Voice Again

By Dani Moody

For a long time, I wrote only when I felt “ready.” When the pain wasn’t so raw, when I had the perfect words, when I finally felt like myself again. But healing doesn’t wait for readiness, and neither does writing.

I started journaling again during a season when my confidence was gone. My faith felt shaky, my purpose unclear, and my mind constantly cluttered. But when I began putting my thoughts on paper — messy, unfiltered, and honest — something shifted. Writing became the space where I didn’t have to be perfect to make sense. I just had to be present.

The more I wrote, the more I realized how much of my voice I’d quieted trying to fit into expectations — as a woman, as a professional, as a creative. Every sentence I wrote was a small act of rebellion against that silence.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that writing isn’t about waiting until you have it all together. It’s about showing up to the page anyway — shaky hands, tangled thoughts, and all — and trusting that your voice is worth hearing in every form it takes.

So if you’re a writer who feels stuck, unsure, or muted by life’s noise, here’s your reminder: your story still matters, even when it’s messy. Write your way through it. You don’t need permission to take up space on the page — just the courage to begin again.

 * * *

Dani Moody is a writer, poet, and blogger passionate about storytelling, healing, and personal growth. She shares reflections on authenticity, womanhood, and faith through her blog, Dani’s Desk, and across Medium, where her work has been featured in multiple publications. Dani is also pursuing her master’s in Professional Writing at New England College.

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Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!

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2 comments Dani Moody, Friday Speak Out!, writer inspiration

Friday Speak Out!: She’s Baaaack!

By Cathy C. Hall

Oh my goodness, I’m so glad to be here at the Muffin! Though honestly, I’m so glad to be anywhere these days…

The last time we met, it was December of 2023. My first book in The Ladies of SPI cozy mystery series, SECRETS LAID TO REST, had launched (here!) in October and I was deep in promotion and all the exciting experiences that come along with a book debut. So I had written a fond farewell to the Muffin, looking forward to the crazy chaos of my publishing future.

But in February of 2024, I hit a blip, a health crisis that blindsided me. So much so, that when I read my doctor’s note—“patient seems more concerned about her book than her diagnosis”—I laughed out loud. Because it was true; I was hyper-focused on that book! But I had to laugh as well at the irony, that after twenty years of thinking about writing a mystery, and building my writing skills, and learning everything I could about publishing so that I had finally written and published a book, all I could say was, “Are you kidding me?”

Well, not kidding. All things book-related were put aside while I switched focus. And then came autumn; in fact, just around this time of year, when I knew that all was well. Yay!

But I was not the same Cathy C. Hall in November of 2024. I’d been down a similar road when the Beneficent Mr. Hall up and died in 2016. There are some events in life that are truly…well, life-changing. And back then, in the middle of writing for the educational children’s market, I finished the book contract and knew I’d move on to what made my heart happy.

It took a few years and a pandemic but joyful writing returned when I found my voice in a cozy mystery for adults. So here I was in November, 2024, on the other side of yet another life-changing event. Would I still feel that a cozy mystery series was in my future? Did writing even matter anymore?

And I discovered something wonderful! Those Ladies of SPI called to me! I missed Sutter, the Southern town where my sixty-something sleuths lived. I missed Malone, the cadaver-sniffing dog and all the other colorful characters that lived in my fictional world. I could not wait to write about pie and Tarot cards and complicated relationships. Truth is, I had to finish the next story!

I’m not sure I ever appreciated the healing power of writing, or even understood how it worked. But I am sure that I would have written that second book, even if no one ever read it!

(But I hope you will read it because I published and released SECRETS OF COLE HOUSE this month! Find out more at catherine-c-hall.com, and thanks to The Muffin for letting me drop in today and share my joy!)

* * *

Catherine C. Hall writes from the wilds of metro Atlanta, just up the road from the setting of her fictional Southern cozy mysteries. The Ladies of SPI series is available now in both paperback and ebook on Amazon. And sign up at catherine-c-hall.com for her Spirited newsletter with more news about Spirits, Secrets, and Pie!

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Would you like to participate in Friday "Speak Out!"? Email your short posts (under 500 words) about women and writing to: marcia[at]wow-womenonwriting[dot]com for consideration. We look forward to hearing from you!
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4 comments Cathy C. Hall, cozy mystery, Friday Speak Out!, healing through writing

Friday Speak Out!: A Rose By Any Other Name . . .

by Reyna Marder Gentin

As authors, we put a lot of thought and energy into what the covers of our books say about what’s inside, because of course, readers do judge. Is it more unfair to choose to read or pass on a book based just on its title? We know that titles matter too; they’re the introduction your novel presents to the world. “Hi, there! I’m …”

Choosing a title for your novel is very personal. Finding something that’s both meaningful to you and captures the imagination of potential readers is no easy task. Just like your child has to live with the name you choose, you’ll have to live with the title you pick. And, depending on the route you go, you’ll have to explain your intent in choosing the name of your book going forward.

There’re many ways to pick a title for a novel. Here are four suggestions of how to think about your options if you’re struggling.

1. Play it straight. Call your book after the main character or the location where the action takes place. Examples aren’t necessary, but here goes: James, Jane Eyre, Oliver Twist, Tom Lake, Gilead. The advantage here is simplicity–no explanations necessary.

2. Play it straight, but with a wink. Annabel Monaghan’s It’s a Love Story is, of course, a love story. And the potential reader will understand that the novel will follow the conventions of a rom com. But there’s a sly smile lurking just below the surface of the title that promises more. The same is true of Karen Dukess’s Welcome to Murder Week. The title points to genre–a cozy mystery–but leaves open the possibility that the novel could go in a different direction. Titles that intrigue, but don’t mislead, can draw in your potential reader.

3. Pick a line of dialogue for the title that sets a tone. There’s an intimacy for the reader to being let in on a conversation, almost like eavesdropping, and it’s a satisfying experience when she eventually reaches that line and understands its import. Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout or Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane are good examples.

4. Jump on a trend, but make it your own. Just like the tropes you find in different genres, there are formulas for titles that become popular. In recent Women’s Fiction, for example, there are these: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, Florence Adler Swims Forever, by Rachel Beanland, Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney. For my new novel, I chose Jessica Harmon Has Stepped Away. The title has the advantage of the familiarity of the composition, coupled with the open questions: what or who exactly is Jessica Harmon stepping away from?

Whether you’re an author who picks a title before you’ve written a word of the novel, or one who waits until your book is complete, crafting the name the world will encounter can be a challenge. I hope these thoughts will be helpful. 

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photo by Stephen Friedgood

REYNA MARDER GENTIN grew up on Long Island and attended Yale College and Yale Law School. A former criminal defense attorney, she is the author of two prior legal romances, Unreasonable Doubts and Both Are True, as well as a middle grade novel, My Name Is Layla. Reyna’s personal essays and short stories have been published widely in print and online, and she is currently working on a collection of linked short stories entitled Open Twenty-Four Hours. Reyna lives with her family in Westchester County, New York. Learn more at Reynamardergentin.com

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