By Mary Garden When my sister died, I didn’t cry. I didn’t feel heartbroken. I felt relief. It was August 2023. My sister Anna had just passed away. Instead of overwhelming sadness, I felt a quiet calm ‒ even a sense of safety. Grief isn’t always what people expect. Sometimes it’s mixed with anger, exhaustion, […] The post Why I Didn’t Grieve My Sister’s Death appeared first on Women Writers, Women's Books.| Women Writers, Women's Books
By Mailan Doquang There’s something uncanny about watching life echo art, more so when the reflection hits close to home. On 19 October 2025, just after 9:30 a.m., a brazen heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris proved that the line between fiction and reality is thinner than we like to think. The thieves struck the […] The post The Louvre Heist: When Life Imitates Art appeared first on Women Writers, Women's Books.| Women Writers, Women's Books
by Melissa Leanne Owen As I sit at my desk writing this article, rain hammers against the windowpane. Outside, the wind is picking up. Trees sway, becoming more animated — as though trying to escape from the gathering darkness, chained by their own roots, unable to break free. That’s where I find my inspiration. In […] The post Framing Fear — Finding Horror in the Everyday appeared first on Women Writers, Women's Books.| Women Writers, Women's Books
It was around this time last year when I sat down toying with the idea of writing a book! I didn’t really have any idea how to start or even any notion of what the journey might entail. My family and I had been hosting various dogs to come and stay with us for their […] The post On Writing Sophia Starr and a Dog to Love appeared first on Women Writers, Women's Books.| Women Writers, Women's Books
ONE KILLER NIGHT “Whip smart and hilarious! Pucci is well on her way to literary domination.” ―Abby Jimenez, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Just for the Summer. USA Today bestselling author Trilina Pucci cranks up the heat in this sexy slasher filled with dark family secrets, classic horror tropes, and banter as sharp as a deranged killer’s […] The post Trilina Pucci Interviews her Character Goldie, from her Book ONE KILLER NIGHT appeared first on Women Writers, Women's...| Women Writers, Women's Books
By Yvonne Martinez “Someday Mija, you’ll learn the difference between a whore and a working woman.” The words my sex worker grandmother told me that shaped my life. It was 1950’s Salt Lake, I was seven years old, and she had just come back from organizing a labor action. Salt Lake tavern owners brought in […] The post On Writing Scabmuggers appeared first on Women Writers, Women's Books.| Women Writers, Women's Books
By Kelly Hall When Books by Women offered the chance to share how my book came into the world, I paused to reflect on the strange, winding path that led me here. Writing Love Works was never on my career checklist. I was a business executive, not an author. Yet sometimes, a book chooses its writer. For me, that […] The post Love Works: Writing a Book at the Crossroads of Business and Humanity By Kelly Hall appeared first on Women Writers, Women's Books.| Women Writers, Women's Books
By Alison Chambers I have always been a voracious reader, so much so that I wanted to write my own book. Like Dan Brown of The Da Vinci Code fame, who said something like ‘I thought I could do better’ when reading other author’s books, I knew at an early age that at least I […] The post For the Love of Women in History appeared first on Women Writers, Women's Books.| Women Writers, Women's Books
By Alex Poppe Hanging onto the Land Cruiser’s roof rack with my left hand, I let go with my right, twisting to take photos of the stampede of children chasing us. Riding the back bumper evoked the exhilarated invincibility of youth. This is why I came here, I thought. This is wh—the humanitarian aid truck […] The post Choose Adventure over Convention. Then Write about It appeared first on Women Writers, Women's Books.| Women Writers, Women's Books
Connie Tucker from The First to Die Connie Tucker, a free-spirited beach bartender, has been estranged from her family in New Jersey ever since her actress mother, Simone, disappeared one night during a violent storm at the theatre where she was rehearsing. Uncontrollable and in a rage at the loss of her parent, fifteen-year-old Connie […]| Women Writers, Women's Books
Hillary Rosner is a science journalist and editor who teaches journalism at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She is also a friend and fellow member of Scilance, a network of 30+ science writers that has been meeting up online for 20 years. Over the years, I’ve loved following Hillary’s thoughtful, adventurous reporting on wildlife conservation, […]| The Last Word On Nothing
This first appeared in Lit Hub’s Craft of Writing newsletter—sign up here. The creative act of writing has brought meaning into my life in myriad ways, but it made itself known initially in the experience of flow. I’m referring to the sense| Literary Hub
Of Prophecies and Pomegranates In Kraven’s spicy, Greek mythology retelling, Persephone, Goddess of Spring, struggles to meet the impossible demands of her overbearing, manipulative mother, Demeter. Sequestered to the Upper Realm, far from the politics and intrigues of Olympus, Persephone begins to crack under the pressure, sure that she will never be enough. But the […]| Women Writers, Women's Books
By Alexandra Addams As a mid-life, female novelist with a completed manuscript clutched in your sweaty hand, you face many challenges to get that book out in the world. You took your sweet time with the writing and now you love it. Then you edited the darn thing for umpteenth revisions until finally you were […]| Women Writers, Women's Books
A Memoirist Shares by Renee Gilmore The other night, I found myself watching a Netflix documentary about Pamela Anderson. Why? I’m not exactly sure. I’ll admit—I had my own assumptions about her. I imagined her life, filled with wealth and ease, sunshine and fresh-squeezed juices. Maybe that’s true, maybe not. It makes me wince, saying […]| Women Writers, Women's Books
The Betrayal Angelette Arabella has spent her life in the shadow of the man the nation calls a hero—her father, Valerius, the revered leader of Libertis. To the world, he’s a savior. To her, he’s simply “Dad.” But when a staged kidnapping spirals into something far more dangerous, Angelette is forced to face the truth: […]| Women Writers, Women's Books
By Shanna Hatfield Books have been a wonderful source of adventure for as long as I can remember. My mother shared her love of books with me, reading to me most every night as a young child. When I was old enough to read the books myself, my favorite stories were those that brought the […]| Women Writers, Women's Books
Journalist Caroline McGhie got to explore Victorian attitudes to women’s rights, sexual freedom, religion, art and pornography when writing her debut novel The Sitter. But has anything changed since 1900? How a woman copes after she has been taken advantage of has long been a subject of interest for writers of women’s fiction. More recently […]| Women Writers, Women's Books
By Leslie Kain In the middle of stressful times, do you read escapist novels? Or stories with characters you can’t stop thinking about, stories that pull you in and won’t let you go? In 2021, a book critic declared the “trauma plot” was dead, suggesting it’s a trope that reduces characters to “a set of […]| Women Writers, Women's Books
As with many writers, I read voraciously as a kid, particularly Nancy Drew mysteries. I even made my own little editions with crayon-drawn covers and stories bound with staples. In a time where women’s career choices were narrowly defined and did not include mystery/thriller writer, I became an educator and later an administrator, both interesting […]| Women Writers, Women's Books
A FAMILY OF GOOD WOMEN Imogene Good finds herself wrestling with this question when, still grieving her mother’s death, she abandons a promising teaching career to open a boarding house in the near-lawless oil boomtown of Borger, Texas. Alone. The business thrives, love arrives in the form of mysterious Texas Ranger, and Imogene takes in […]| Women Writers, Women's Books
By Anusia Gillespie At 29, I quit my law firm job with six-figure debt and no backup plan. Something had shifted. A meditation as part of a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training program cracked something open in me, like a champagne cork popping, and there was no going back. It was as if I’d glimpsed behind […]| Women Writers, Women's Books
RESTITUTION As children in Central Illinois, Kate and Martin were never told much about their mother’s childhood in East Germany. And they rarely asked questions. Decades later in 1989, when the Berlin Wall falls, Kate and Martin are faced with a difficult decision: Should they try to reclaim the house in East Germany from which their grandparents fled […]| Women Writers, Women's Books
HELLO WIFE Single, unfulfilled and well into middle age, long-troubled Charlotte Lansing desperately reaches for love and acceptance. When she announces her engagement to an unemployed morphine addict, her family falls into a tailspin. Her mother is determined to prevent disaster, her father seeks to mend the growing chasm, and her sister stubbornly hopes that […]| Women Writers, Women's Books
Margie Goldsmith, author of “Becoming a Badass: From Fearful to Fierce.” Covid hit. Most of my magazine assignments were experiential travel stories, but with all travel cancelled, now would be the perfect time to write a memoir. Yet, every famous actor, film star and rock star was writing their life story. Who was I? And […]| Women Writers, Women's Books
by Diane Hartman When I began my memoir, Getting Lost On My Way: Self-Discovery on Ireland’s Backroads, many years ago, I envisioned it as being a book of essays weaved together by a common thread –my four solo trips to Ireland over a period of seven years. I kept a journal during my travels and […]| Women Writers, Women's Books
By Heather Snograss Music has a way of weaving its way through all of our lives like thread. Some may use it as background noise while they are studying, working, or even to fall asleep. I am a person who retains what I read with music in the background and that is one reason I like […]| Women Writers, Women's Books
I've started offering portfolio review and writing tutoring services. More information, and how to sign up.| Azhdarchid
This first appeared in Lit Hub’s Craft of Writing newsletter—sign up here. I’m not sure how to survive without writing. It is what I want to do with the time I am alive. The idea of sacrificin…| Literary Hub
27 prison writers in 17 different states contributed to Prison Journalism Project’s special project on extreme winter cold.| Prison Journalism Project
It's time to talk about the Harding Project once again. The project is the Chief of Staff of the Army's (CSA) effort to renew professional publications, strengthen the profession, and ultimately enhance the warfighting capability of the U.S. Army. Jake Larkowich, Deputy Commandant of the U.S. Army War College and associate editor for War Room, stepped into the studio to share a senior leader perspective. He joins Editor-in-Chief, JP Clark, to discuss the importance of putting words to your th...| A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast
Whether putting pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard, writing clarifies and improves ideas while also allowing those thoughts to be shared with others. But the idea of publishing one's thoughts can be intimidating. Why does it seem so hard to get thoughts down on paper? And how do you approach an editor? How do you even get started? Zach Griffiths and Theo Lipsky are in the studio to explain why you absolutely should share your ideas more widely. They join our Editor-in-Chief, JP Clark, to...| A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast
It's time for another episode in our On Writing series. Host Michael Neiberg is joined in the studio by Tim Cook, the chief historian at the Canadian War Museum. Tim emphasizes the importance of making history accessible to the public, which involves finding compelling ways to tell stories and connect with readers. Their discussion covers Cook's latest book, "The Good Allies," which explores the relationship between Canada and the United States during World War II. Cook highlights the challen...| A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast
Last week, the U.S. Army War College welcomed Sir Hew Strachan, a distinguished British military historian and accomplished author. He graciously took the time to sit down with Michael Neiberg in the studio for another episode of our "On Writing" series. During their conversation, Sir Hew shared his journey to becoming one of the foremost experts on the First World War. They explored the significance of historical perspective in contemporary analysis, delved into his extensive studies of Clau...| A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast
It's time to talk about the Harding Project once again. The project is the Chief of Staff of the Army's (CSA) effort to renew professional publications, strengthen the profession, and ultimately enhance the warfighting capability of the U.S. Army. Jake Larkowich, Deputy Commandant of the U.S. Army War College and associate editor for War Room, stepped into the studio to share a senior leader perspective. He joins Editor-in-Chief, JP Clark, to discuss the importance of putting words to your th...| A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast
Whether putting pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard, writing clarifies and improves ideas while also allowing those thoughts to be shared with others. But the idea of publishing one's thoughts can be intimidating. Why does it seem so hard to get thoughts down on paper? And how do you approach an editor? How do you even get started? Zach Griffiths and Theo Lipsky are in the studio to explain why you absolutely should share your ideas more widely. They join our Editor-in-Chief, JP Clark, to...| A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast
EDITOR'S NOTE: This episode was recorded in October 2023 but due to some technical difficulties we were unable to publish until now. It's still as relevant as the day it was recorded. It's time for another episode in our On Writing series, and joining host Michael Neiberg in the virtual studio is author and Russia specialist Jade McGlynn. Jade is the author of Russia’s War and Memory Makers: The Politics of the Past in Putin’s Russia, and her extensive study of Russian culture offers fant...| A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast
Understanding the history, or perhaps more importantly, the treatment of history in China, is a critical skill for anyone seeking greater comprehension of the national security arena. Stephen Platt has spent a great deal of his career as a historian and author studying events like the Taiping Civil War and the Opium War in the nineteenth century. During his time researching these topics, he acquired an excellent understanding of culture and history in China, as seen by both the people and the...| A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast
It's time for another episode of On Writing with Michael Neiberg. For this conversation, Michael is joined by Rana Mitter, author of China’s Good War: How World War II is Shaping a New Nationalism. Their discussion took place in the heart of London on a warm June afternoon at the British Academy, complete with all the background noises of the bustling city. Rana explains how China is shaping the modern narrative and memory through the reinvention of its role in World War II. An often overlo...| A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast
Michael Neiberg is back in the studio for the next installation of the On Writing series. This week's guest is Shashank Joshi, Defense Editor for The Economist. This episode is a slight variation from the normal On Writing discussion because Shashank is a journalist writing a much shorter form than our usual guests, and then there's the little issue of the deadlines associated with a fast-paced news cycle. Their conversation turns to the organization and formulation of an interesting and acce...| A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast
It’s time for another episode of On Writing. A Better Peace welcomes William Inboden to the studio to discuss his book, "The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink." Will sits down with host Michael Neiberg for a conversation about capturing the efforts and accomplishments of the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, and his administration as they confronted the Soviets, reduced the nuclear threat and won the Cold War. The discussion examines how W...| A Better Peace: The War Room Podcast
So, I’m going to board the hype train. But not as a passenger. As the driver! Think about it. Who better to write a book on AI than a diehard curmudgeonly tech-savvy skeptic who treats this whole thing as one big conditioning experiment? Exactly. No one. Now, the topic. Ethics, of course. What else is there. Whether we like it or not, the concept of AI is going to be around for quite some time. It signifies a major cultural... Read More Read More| The Lost Words
Well, well, that was quick. Three months, done. Now, let me throw some lovely statistics at ya. Book length? About 80,000 words, give or take a few, thirty-five images, thirty-three tables, a combat simulation (written in octave). Study material? I read about 150 books, and about thrice as many reports, journals, monographs, and webpages in six languages. I marked about 800 annotations, and ended up with slightly under 700 citations and references. And the genre? Now, that’s something I’d...| The Lost Words
A few years ago I watched , which was a movie about famed writer Elizabeth Wurtzel. In the movie, the writer, played by a moody Christina Ricci, would hammer...| Tadaima.
Waking up in 2025 is weird. Take this morning as just one example. I open my eyes and immediately fumble for the phone, opening BlueSky and Threads to see what craziness has come out from the USA w…| The Thesis Whisperer
A couple of months back, I finished writing my brand new-old fantasy book. A fresh, third attempt at an old idea. Why, you may ask. Well, the old one just wasn’t good enough. Despite its verbosity, almost three quarters of a million words, it was clunky, ponderous, perhaps even boring. And reading, I was quite surprised, and delighted, by how much my writing style has changed over the years, and decades. This got me wondering. How many words does it take for one to find their “true” voice?| The Lost Words
Lately I’ve been hearing from pissed off PhD students – both people enrolled at my university and others. The cost of living is high, higher education in Australia is in crisis and peop…| The Thesis Whisperer
For about 10 years now, I’ve had a profitable side hustle teaching writing. ANU has a generous external consulting policy, which means I can fly all over the country, and the world, teaching …| The Thesis Whisperer
Between 1997 and 2001, throughout my military service, I wrote my first proper fantasy book. It was a hefty effort, 630,000 words in total. The book had everything: magic, monsters, lore, epicness, colorful protagonists. Only I never published it. Simply put, I tried sending it to various agents and publication houses, and they all turned it down. Rightfully so, because it wasn’t very good. In fact, it was pretty bad.| The Lost Words
Ok, it wasn’t a fancy academic book, but still… I want to share how we did it, and what we learned about generative AI in the process, but first some context. For a long time, my friend Profe…| The Thesis Whisperer
I’m working on the second edition of ‘How to fix your academic writing trouble’ with Katherine Firth at the moment. We’re doing a new chapter on writing process, specificall…| The Thesis Whisperer
The post Quote of the Day: Herman Hesse appeared first on James D. McCallister.| James D. McCallister
Give a kid a cup of coffee and you’re telling us something.| Why It Matters
We have to talk about ChatGPT, or as my sister @anitranot styles it, ‘ChattieG.’ (which is both funnier and easier to say). The reaction to Chattie in academia seems to oscillate betwee…| The Thesis Whisperer
Not a traditional mystery and not quite horror, a thriller has its own defining characteristics.| Celadon Books
On the well-heeled heels of editor Elle River’s excellent post on editing self checks, we thought you’d enjoy an author’s take, and some apps he’s found to make the job a bit less painful! Our thanks to author William Lobb for this guest contribution, and we welcome our newest tribe members from KILLER NASHVILLE! May you never commit these word crimes…| Where Writers Win
Our thanks to editor Elle River for this guest contribution!| Where Writers Win
I’m on sabbatical for the next three months and have committed to doing a literature review on neurodiversity and PhD study. Ugh. I hate doing literature reviews. I’m just going to say …| The Thesis Whisperer
Writing a thesis or book is an enormous task that takes years and involves reading hundreds, sometimes thousands, of books, papers and articles. At the same time, you must produce your own words an…| The Thesis Whisperer
