Book review: How to be Single

I was looking for a fun, light read, and this book started out quite promising. The author had a great voice in the first pages, introducing a series of women and explaining how these bright, intelligent women living in New York had arrived to their mid and late-thirties without ever having married. The stories explaining…

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Favorite reads so far for 2016

I’m always pleased to get a good reading start to the new year. Luckily, despite a few duds, 2016 has started out quite well for me as a reading year. Here are my favorites so far (and I’m hoping there will be many more): The Last Summer Judith Kinghorn I enjoyed this atmospheric story, a…

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A Nobel laureate’s views on women’s stories

Women tell things in more interesting ways. They live with more feeling. They observe themselves and their lives. Men are more impressed with action. For them, the sequence is more important. Svetlana Alexievich 2015 Nobel Prize Winner for Literature quoted in the New Yorker, 26 October 2015 I was struck by this observation by Svetlana…

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Wrap-up of the Matera Women’s Fiction Festival 2015

Wow, another amazing year in southern Italy at the annual Matera Women’s Fiction Festival. I have been going for the past few years, and I always enjoy this yearly pilgrimage to this beautiful Italian cave town, and the chance to learn about trends in publishing and writing, to attend writing workshops and one-on-one sessions with…

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Greetings from the Matera Women’s Fiction Festival 2015!

When this post goes out, I’ll be happily on my annual hajj to Matera, the beautiful cave town in southern Italy. Each September, the town plays host to the Matera Women’s Fiction Festival, and I always enjoy my literary escape to this idyllic spot. Each year, I learn so much about the publishing industry, chat…

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More summer favorite reading … That Summer

After reading and enjoying Lauren Willig’s The Ashford Affair, I was happy to pick up That Summer.  Willig’s new novel is a dual narrative following both modern Julia Conley, a victim of New York’s financial crisis who finds herself out of a job, but inheriting a house – Herne House – from a mysterious aunt…

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Favorite summer reading so far … Big Little Lies

The summer is still young – or at least that’s how I choose to look at it since my vacation (read: peak reading time) comes later in the summer – but my favorite read so far is Big Little Lies  by Australian author Liane Moriarty. I discovered Moriarty this year with The Husband’s Secret and…

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Making room for your writing

This helpful article was in the last issue of Writer’s Digest. Its author is the women’s fiction novelist Amy Sue Nathan, who also hosts the popular Women’s Fiction Writers blog. Nathan offers some helpful insight into how to carving out time and space for your writing, even in the midst of the overwhelming demands of…

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Congratulations to Ali Smith – Bailey’s Prize 2015 winner

Congratulations to Ali Smith! Her novel How to Be Both was named as this year’s winner of the Bailey’s Prize. I’m always pleased to celebrate the Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction (formerly the Orange Prize). I’ve already posted the 2015 short list on my site, and I don’t envy the judges for what must have been a…

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