Book Review: Sugarland by Martha Conway

If you're in the mood for a good historical fiction novel full of intrigue, mystery, and a bit of romance, you've come to the right place. Today I'm hosting award-winning author Martha Conway as she tours with WOW! Women on Writing in support of her latest novel, Sugarland. Below is a synopsis of the book:

Follow in the steps of talented young pianist Eve Riser who is caught in a drive-by shooting that kills the bootlegger standing next to her, she forms an unlikely friendship with the bootlegger’s sister, Lena. Eve is looking for her missing stepsister, a popular night club singer who has been missing since the shoot-out, and Lena wants to find out who killed her brother. Together these two women navigate the back alleys and jazz clubs of the Roaring Twenties, encountering charismatic managers, handsome musicians, and a mysterious gangster called the Walnut who seems to be the key to it all. 


Hardcover: 314 pages (also available as paperback and e-book)
Publisher: Noontime Books (May 7, 2016)
ISBN-10: 0991618556
ISBN-13: 978-0991618552

Sugarland is available for purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and IndieBound.

About the Author: 
Martha Conway’s debut novel 12 Bliss Street (St. Martin’s Minotaur) was nominated for an Edgar Award while Thieving Forest won an Independent Publishers Book Award, the Laramie Award, a Reader’s Choice Award and the 2014 North American Book Award in Historical Fiction. Her short fiction has appeared in The Iowa Review, The Mississippi Review, The Quarterly, Folio, Puerto del Sol, Carolina Quarterly, and other publications. She graduated from Vassar College and received her master’s degree in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. She has reviewed fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle, The San Francisco Review of Books, and The Iowa Review. The recipient of a California Arts Council fellowship in Creative Writing, she has taught at UC Berkeley Extension and Stanford University’s Online Writers’ Studio.

Martha Conway's website: http://marthaconway.com/
Martha Conway's blog: http://marthaconway.com/blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/martha.conway.52
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marthamconway

My Review:

Historical fiction is not a genre I normally pick to read, but I do enjoy a good look back into a snapshot of history from time to time. Sugarland was an action-packed novel from the very first page and I quickly found myself turning the pages to see where the story would lead. Simply put, I would best describe it as being an engaging story first with snippets of a fascinating era in our history woven throughout.

I loved the strong female characters in the story—Eve, Chickie, and Lena, and how they each chose to navigate the hands they had been dealt in a male-dominated era. Lena was probably my favorite, with her generous nature, determination to find out who murdered her brother Rudy, and her willingness to help Eve and Chickie even though most people they passed on the street didn’t think white and black women should be speaking to one another.

You can tell Martha Conway spent a great deal of time on research for this novel, but it doesn’t overwhelm the reader. I have read historical fiction novels that spent so many pages describing all the items found in an antebellum kitchen that I found myself bored and losing interest. Sugarland does the opposite of that. The unlikely friendship between Lena and Eve makes for a great storyline, as does the music and the backdrop of the Chicago jazz clubs. Never before have I heard music described in such a way as this:

The music became furious. Lena leaned forward. The sax asked a question, the piano answered, but apparently not to the sax’s liking because it asked the same question again. The two battled it out.

The main characters found themselves in many perilous situations that left me gnawing on my fingernails and wondering how they would get themselves out of danger safely. The only issue I had with the book (besides an ending that I did not see coming!) was that I found it hard at first to keep track of all the club owners, musicians, and bootleggers, as most of them were intertwined with one another in some way. Once I clarified who Nathan Cobb, The Walnut, Travis, Moaner, and Pin were, it was a little easier to figure out who was double crossing whom. I highly recommend Sugarland to anyone looking for a good historical fiction mystery with strong female characters and an appreciation for the healing power of music.

Want to win your own copy of Sugarland? Visit this link to read an interview with Martha and enter the Rafflecopter giveaway at WOW! Women on Writing.

Book Review: A Killer's Grace by Ronald Chapman

Have you ever wondered what would happen if someone close to you was murdered and the killer imprisoned and possibly put on death row? Would you feel justice had been served or would you extend the killer a grace he did not give to the victim?

Today I'm hosting a review of the riveting novel, A Killer's Grace by Ronald Chapman, as part of his blog tour with WOW! Women on Writing. You can read an interview with Ronald Chapman here.

Special thanks to Crystal Otto at WOW! Women on Writing for organizing this tour and for Tange Dudt for providing the review below.

About the Book:
From the high desert of New Mexico comes a tale of mystery, murder and redemption. When journalist Kevin Pitcairn receives a disturbing letter from a serial killer, he is drawn into a compelling journey with profound psychological and spiritual implications, not just for the murderer, but for himself and society as a whole. As he tries to investigate and then tell the story, he finds himself battling his own inner demons and sordid history. Events conspire to propel an isolated matter to a national stage and audiences that are increasingly hostile. Forced to explore the roots of human psychology and sanity, Pitcairn must navigate moral and philosophical realms. What is the nature of evil? What powers of choice do humans actually possess? How may we be redeemed? And in the end, how do we reconcile with ourselves?

Paperback: 240 Pages
Genre: Fiction/Spirituality
Publisher: Terra Nova Books; 2 edition (September 1, 2016)
ISBN-10: 1938288750
ISBN-13: 978-1938288753

A Killer's Grace is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and IndieBound.

About the Author: Ronald Chapman is owner of an international speaking and consulting company, Magnetic North LLC. In addition to international accreditation as a speaker and national awards for radio commentary, he is the author of two novels, My Name is Wonder (Terra Nova Publishing, 2016) and A Killer's Grace (Terra Nova Publishing, 2016 and 2012), two works of non-fiction, Seeing True: Ninety Contemplations in Ninety Days (Ozark Mountain Publishing, 2008) and What a Wonderful World: Seeing Through New Eyes (Page Free Publishing, 2004) and the producer of three audio sets, Seeing True: The Way of Spirit (Ozark Mountain Publishing, 2016, 2005), Breathing, Releasing and Breaking Through: Practices for Seeing True (Ozark Mountain Publishing, 2015), and Seeing True – The Way of Success in Leadership (Magnetic North Audio, 2005). Ron provides a wide array of social media content at www.SeeingTrue.com, content for people in substance abuse recovery at www.ProgressiveRecovery.org, and other content from his master site, www.RonaldChapman.com. He holds a Masters in Social Welfare from The University at Albany (New York.) Prior to his relocation to Atlanta, Georgia in 2008, he was a long-time resident of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Ronald can also be found online at: 

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1338592.Ronald_Chapman
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/seeingtrue/


Tange's Review: The protagonist, journalist Kevin Pitcairn, receives a letter from a serial killer claiming to have a mental disorder which caused him to kill. As Kevin starts to dig deeper, it takes him on a journey he least expected. At first glance, I thought this novel was just going to be about a journalist trying to get a serial killer off death row claiming to having a mental disorder, discussing the topic of nature vs. nurture, asking if the serial killer was made this way due to external influences or was he born this way.

I was wrong. The book is so much more than this! It does discuss that topic asking if it's okay for society to 'kill the killer' or should we try to find another way to break the cycle of violence. This book also examines the act of forgiveness, not only of others who may have inflicted pain, emotional or physical, but of oneself which tends to be the hardest. The author has you looking at the word innocence in a different way asking if we as a society can regard the most hateful person as being innocent of their actions. Honestly, I do not know how I would feel or what I would do if I was put in a situation where I lost a loved to a heinous crime, but this book has definitely given me something to mull over.

Review of Eat to Beat Alzheimer's by Francie Healey

 Today I'm happy to host author Francie Healey as she promotes her cookbook, Eat to Beat Alzheimer's: Delicious Recipes and New Research to Prevent and Slow Dementia, through WOW! Women on Writing. You can learn more about Francie's inspiration for the book,  (and find a list of blogs giving copies on the tour!) here.

About the Book: 

Eat to Beat Alzheimer's offers a practical guide and an empowering tool to bring nourishing, healthful, and delicious food into the lives of people concerned about Alzheimer's and other cognitive problems. Almost 9 million people in the U.S. suffer from Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, and the toll is rapidly increasing. This book will appeal to everyone concerned about dementia and memory loss in either themselves or a loved one.

Recent research makes clear that the impact of aging on the brain can be reduced by simple diet and lifestyle modifications. The delicious food choices and easy-to-prepare recipes in this book are based on the latest findings showing that they can help slow the progression of Alzheimer's and other conditions like it, or prevent them entirely.

Readers will gain the knowledge and tools to take charge of their health by incorporating tasty, healing foods into their diet. The information in this cookbook will be as relevant and useful 20 years from now as it is today. And the recipes will still be just as delicious.

Eat to Beat Alzheimer's is available on Amazon & Barnes and Noble.

Paperback: 200 pages
Genre: Cookbook
Publisher: Terra Nova Books (June 30, 2016)
ISBN-10: 1938288610
ISBN-13: 978-1938288616

About the Author:
Francie Healey is a licensed mental health counselor in private practice in Santa Fe, N.M. She specializes in the psychology of eating, helping people with health conditions to develop conscious eating habits and understand how food contributes to healing. Using her expertise to help clients manage cognitive decline through nutrition, Francie educates them on meal planning; the creation of simple, nutritious meals; and other keys to achieving a healthy relationship with food. She holds a Master's Degree in Counseling, and is a Certified Health Counselor and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor.

Find Francie Healey Online:

Website: www.eattobeatalzheimers.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/francie.healy.7?fref=nf

Twitter: @FrancieHealey

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/franciehealey

Review:

Roughly 5.4 million people suffer from A.D. (Alzeheimer's disease) in the U.S. alone. Nearly one in every five Medicare dollars is estimated to be spent on people with A.D. and other forms of dementia. --From Eat to Beat Alzheimer's: Delicious Recipes and New Research to Prevent and Slow Dementia

First off, I quickly realized Eat to Beat Alzheimer's is much more than a cookbook. Francie's background in mental health and nutrition shines through as she shares information and research on Alzheimer's disease and dementia, and what researchers believe is tied to both conditions. I learned about the benefits of an anti-inflammatory diet, and how it is up to each individual to listen to his or her body when it comes to dietary choices. In other words, there's a reason highly processed and preserved food leaves us feeling less than stellar. While I try my best to eat a whole foods diet, I often fall prey to the "busyness" that leaves us eating out more often than we should. Flipping through the recipes in Eat to Beat Alzheimer's made me immediately want to head out to the nearest health food store and stock up on the many of the spices and herbs found in the recipes. As a woman approaching my early 40s, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about neurogenerative diseases and know I need to step up my game in the kitchen, for both me and my family. 

The recipes in this book are plentiful, and provide a good variety for even the pickiest of eaters. As huge fan of eggs for breakfast, I was thrilled to see offerings like Spinach and Egg Bites and Mozzarella and Zucchini Frittata. There are also several soups and stews, crisp and inviting salads, healthy snacks to help curb the sweet tooth (such as Quinoa Pumpkin Muffins), and more savory fare (Garlic Shrimp with Kale, Salmon with Lemon Relish,  Smothered Chicken and Sweet Potatoes).

I recommend this book to anyone stuck in cooking rut or who wants to focus on more whole-body nutrition. There's even a one-week sample menu to get you started. 

Book Review: Afta-U by Jennifer-Lynn Keniston

About Afta-U:

Michael’s smile broadened. “It seems you’re surprised to see me, Jean. Don’t tell me you thought that they’d leave an eleven-year-old boy locked away forever.”

Twenty-nine years after the tragic death of her childhood best friend, Hope, Jean Cartwright Rhodes returns to her hometown with her husband and daughter after she inherits the house her friend’s family once lived in. Now, years later, she finds herself haunted by a dark truth – and by the specter of Hope herself.

Every time Jean looks through her kitchen window, she sees two stark reminders of her troubled past; the Afta-U sailboat, ironically named after young Hope, and the old oak tree where her eleven-year-old friend met her death at the hands of another child.

Afta-U unfolds as a psychological chess match, a complex web of intrigue, unexpected relationships, lies, and devastating secrets as Jean stuggles with the impact of decisions she made long ago on all the lives around her. When Jean confronts and tries to come to grips with Hope’s killer, she finds herself waging a personal battle between madness and redemption.

Jennifer-Lynn Keniston:

Raised in Hanson, Massachusetts, the author earned a Master of Arts degree in English, from Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, with a concentration in writing and a minor in philosophy, from Plymouth State College in New Hampshire. Jennifer-Lynn currently works as a project manager for a company that provides cloud software products for call centers at small, medium, and enterprise companies. In April 2014, she started her own business, Ansel Resume Resolution Services LLC, writing resumes and cover letters. She now lives and writes in Concord, New Hampshire, and enjoys teaching Spinning classes in her free time.

Website: http://www.jenniferkeniston.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjenniferkeniston/

Twitter: @jenkeniston

Purchase Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Afta-U-Jennifer-Lynn-Keniston/dp/1680284274/

Review:

It’s amazing sometimes what the heart and soul can endure, and the characters in the novel Afta-U are definitely a testament to that. When the main character, Jean, moves into her best friend’s childhood home, she wants to feel connected to the innocence of her early years and the good memories of Hope, her best friend who tragically died at the age of eleven. Unfortunately, it doesn’t turn out that way.

As a parent, reading the details of Hope’s death was terrifying, especially seeing how quickly something meant to be a game can spiral out of control. The memory of that event is something Jean buried deep within herself and never truly confronted. But now she’s sharing Hope’s childhood home with the ghost of Hope herself, a solemn figure who doesn’t speak.

Constant reminders of you swirled around me every day. I could hear your laugh in the physical walls of my current house and the land itself, haunting echoes of my childhood memories of you.

The paragraph above is an example of how Jennifer-Lynn Keniston’s lyrical prose draws the reader in from the opening pages, along with the use of symbolism and the complex and often complicated nature of human relationships. The characterization is also excellent—I loved the character of Nick, Jean’s husband, and I loathed the two villans, Damian and Michael.

I think many of us can relate to the feeling of being overwhelmed by a traumatic event in our lives, and how it can make you want give up and stop fighting, even if just for a little while. Afta-U is a heartbreaking tale of the loss of childhood innocence, and how the emotional scars can find a way to resurface no matter how much time has passed. But it’s also a testament to how a person can heal if they can hold on to their faith and have a strong support system to lean on.

As a bonus, the author is also a talented poet, and poems that add depth to the story are interspersed throughout the novel:

Autumn

Red flames danced

As the white envelope

With black penned ink fell

Trying to silence the voice whose story it was to tell

A lamb’s choice breathes air to the fire below

Shifting from shielded innocence

To the heavy stature of a lioness

Defining a choice and one’s free will

The catcher of lost souls

A saddened sparrow weeps

As colored beach sand and tears freely flow

Learn more about the inspiration behind the book in this interview at WOW! Women on Writing.

Guest Post by Jadie Jones: The Three E’s of Romance and Relationships in YA

Today I'm pleased to welcome author Jadies Jones, in support of her blog tour for The Moonlit Trilogy. As an avid YA reader and aspiring YA novelist myself, I knew her post on romance and relationships in young adult literature would be a great read--and she didn't disappoint. Read Jadie's post below and see how you can win your own copy of the first book in the trilogy!

The Three E's of Romance of and Relationships in YA
By Jadie Jones

As we all know, romance and relationships can get really, really messy. This mess becomes even more tangled when you add a third party in the mix, and in the case of young adult fictional relationships, the third party is the reader. Our emotions respond to these characters as we begin to invest and trust in them. We have expectations for how the relationship will unfold, and how fast. And our environment shapes what we deem acceptable for these two fictional love birds as their romance progresses.

Do writers owe readers a protected, empowering, literary-romance experience? I don’t think so. But I do think we writers owe readers reality, and that we have a responsibility to make our characters truly, utterly responsible for the choices they make, even when it’s not pretty.

Emotions: While it’s a controversial subject, I cast my vote in the belief of infatuation at first sight, especially for teen characters. As adults, we can look at these doe-eyed situations and roll our been-there-seen-that eyes all we want, but I well remember walking into third period graphics arts on the first day of my freshman year in college, and spotting a blond haired, ice-blue eyed boy with a dimple in each cheek and a grin that lit up the room. I remember nothing else about that day.

Teen characters are experiencing these emotions for the first time, and, on the cusp of adulthood, coming to a budding understanding that the actions we take and the relationships we make have the potential to affect our lives forward for a very long time. I know that from that day forward for the rest of the semester, my heart sped up on the walk from the cafeteria to graphic arts. And I remember the one time he stopped by my desk to compliment me on a project (I have no idea what I’d made.)

I also remember the gnawing stress of guilt when, in my senior year, my religion and my first serious relationship were at a crossroads. I remember feeling suffocated by either option. The relationship didn’t survive the weight, and it took me a long time to be able to sift through the debris with any real perspective. As these fictional characters come to similar moments on their romantic journeys, it is imperative a writer explores the internal consequences, both positive and negative, of choices made.

Expectations: The “expectation” factor applies particularly to the timing in a YA relationship. Our protagonist experiences an initial flutter of emotion in the presence of the will-be-love-interest. In our minds, we have an expectation as to what comes next, and how quickly. How long before a first kiss? Do we expect the love to make our protagonist more or less impulsive? Do we expect them to never make mistakes? To never hurt each other? Do we expect a literary romance to run a perfect course? And what the heck is “perfect,” anyway?

The idea of “perfect” is different for all of us. A good friend of mine expected guys she dated to coordinate their outfits for nights on the town. That’s about as far from my perfect as you can get. Another friend of mine expected her boyfriend to propose on Christmas in front of her entire family. That sounds absolutely horrifying to me. We bring these experiences with us into the first page of a new book, which shapes what we expect from the characters therein. The author is bringing his/her own experiences and expectations to the same dynamic, turning the triangle into a square.

Environment: External pressures and reactions also have a big impact on relationships both fictional and in real life. How do the people closest to you or the main character feel about the relationship itself and/or the decisions the protagonist makes because of the relationship? I saw a great video about how the six people you spend the most time with will begin to impact what you deem acceptable, and I believe this to be absolutely true. So who does the protagonist hang out with, and how does this environment respond with the introduction of the love interest? What advice do his/her besties offer? How does the advice make the character feel? How does the protagonist’s home life/relationship with parents/etc. affect the boundaries or lack thereof in regards to the romance?

Outside stress can also fast-track the timing of a relationship. Suddenly each moment seems more critical, something you have to grab out of the air before it flies away. This mirrors itself in real life. Take my grandparents, for example, who met in the throes of World War 2. Days after they met, they were engaged. They married months later. My Nana would’ve had it sooner. She and my grandfather went to the local court house and tried to convince the judge she was 18, but the judge wasn’t having any of it. He deployed soon after they married, and I imagine each moment they had together, in person and through letters, was like a fire consuming everything in its path, burning the oxygen from the air. And typically, a protagonists and/or his/her world is experiencing some kind of new external stress in some way, or there wouldn’t be much of a story.

Throughout my life, books have been where I go when I don’t want to feel alone. I find solace in characters who have had similar thoughts/experiences/conflicts/yearnings. So now, as a writer, I want to give readers characters who will sit down with them and hold their hand and be quiet and be still, so that for just a moment, that reader knows someone else out there gets it; someone else out there went through it and made it to the other side. And I do believe we owe our readers a realistic look at the entire journey.

About the Author:

Jadie Jones wrote her first book in seventh grade, filling one hundred and four pages of a black and white Mead notebook. Back then she lived for two things: horses and R.L. Stine books. Fast forward nearly twenty years, and she still work with horses. It’s amazing how much changes... and how much stays the same.

The dream of publishing a novel has hitchhiked with Jadie down every other path she‘s taken (and there have been many). Waitress, farm manager, road manager, bank teller, speech writer, retail, and more. But that need to bring pen to paper refused to quiet. Finally, in 2009, she sat down, pulled out a brand new notebook, and once again let the pictures in my head become words on paper.

Confession time: Jadie Jones is a pen name created to honor two fantastic women who didn't get the chance to live out their professional dreams. First, Jadie’s grandmother - a mother of four during post World War II America, who wanted to be a journalist so bad that even now when she talks about it, her blue eyes mist and she lifts her chin in silent speculation. And second, a dear friend's mother who left this world entirely too soon. To Judy Dawn and Shirley Jones, Jadie Jones is for you. It's been a pleasure getting to know her.

Jadie Jones Online:

Website: http://www.jadiejones.com

Blog: http://www.jadiejones.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jadiejones1

Twitter: @jadiejones1

Moonlit is the story of eighteen-year-old Tanzy Hightower knows horses, has grown up with them on Wildwood Farm. She also knows not to venture beyond the trees that line the pasture. Things happen out there that can't be explained. Or undone. Worse, no one but she and the horses can see what lurks in the shadows of the woods. When a moonlit ride turns into a terrifying chase, Tanzy is left to question everything, from the freak accident that killed her father to the very blood in her veins. Broken and confused, she turns to Lucas, a scarred, beautiful stranger, and to Vanessa, a charming new friend who has everything Tanzy doesn't. But why do they seem to know more about her than she knows herself?

Book One: Moonlit
Paperback: 310 pages
Publisher: WiDo Publishing (April 16, 2013)
ISBN-10: 1937178331
ISBN-13: 978-1937178338

Tanzy's journey continues in Windswept, the second installment of the Moonlit Trilogy when Tanzy is the key in an ancient prophecy pivotal to the existence of all beings, both Seen and Unseen. Unseen who have waited a millennium for her birth are relentless in their efforts to see the prophecy fulfilled--whether for good or evil, depending on which side of the conflict one stands. Others have sworn an oath to end Tanzy's existence, permanently. Already, Tanzy's body has been compromised by her enemies, her veins now home to the blood of a wild horse whose instincts are becoming impossible to control. While Tanzy's Unseen enemies work to draw her out of a remote safe house, her friends beg her to stay in hiding. Tanzy is torn, wanting to reunite with Lucas, who has loved her since her first incarnation, yet unsure whether fulfilling the ancient prophecy will protect those she loves or destroy them.

Book Two: Windswept
Paperback: 289 pages
Publisher: WiDo Publishing (July 8, 2014)
ISBN-10: 1937178536
ISBN-13: 978-1937178536

In Wildwood, the third book of the Moonlit Trilogy, Tanzy's journey races toward a final battle within the Unseen. Tanzy Hightower has crossed the veil and entered the Unseen world to fulfill the destiny she has at last embraced, to either seal or destroy the veil between the Seen and Unseen worlds. She is the only mortal in a land teeming with creatures who want her dead. To stay alive long enough to stop Asher, the most powerful of the Unseen, Tanzy accepts his marriage proposal and seeks refuge inside his palace. On the Seen side of the veil, Tanzy's allies are fragmented and lost, without leadership. They must gather forces and train an army of candidates to defend their world against unfathomable predators poised to strike should the veil holding them at bay dissolve. While Tanzy has accepted her own inevitable death in fulfilling her destiny, her closest friends refuse to stop searching for the impossible: a way to save Tanzy's life.


Book Three: Wildwood
Paperback: 312 pages
Publisher: WiDo Publishing (September 22, 2015)
ISBN-10: 1937178706
ISBN-13: 978-1937178703

Win your own copy of the book that started it all, Moonlit! Enter the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck, and thanks for stopping by!

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Guest Post by Nina Schuyler: A Writing Life and Motherhood

Please join me in welcoming author Nina Schuyler, author of The Translator, here today as part of her blog tour through WOW! Women on Writing.

Note from Renee: How timely this guest post is, as I lately I've been chauffeuring the kids (ages 9 and 12) around much more than I've been writing! I started out writing as a way to make extra money while staying home with my children, but over time it required me to get quite creative in terms of pitching articles, interviewing sources on the phone during nap times, going on assignment while they attended preschool, etc. Nina Schuyler has some great tips for keeping our writing souls refreshed. Enjoy!

***

A writing mother. It sounds like an oxymoron. Like jumbo shrimp. Or airline food.

Mothering requires an attention turned outward, to your children, who, especially when they are small, need help with just about everything. While writing requires an attention turned inward, to listen to the characters and the emerging story.

I reject that it’s an either/or proposition—mothering versus writing; children versus art. It’s not impossible for the two aspects of yourself to find a certain coexistence, even if, at times, it’s a tension-filled existence. I have two sons, and from the very early days, I’ve found a way to write. Not because I had a deadline or anyone was expecting anything from me, but because writing has always been a source of delight. I figured I’d be a better mother, a better wife, a better person, if I made time for that source of delight.

I’ve found that mothering has increased the complexity of my work, intensified my commitment to both writing and mothering. With children, the world matters even more. What will they inherit? Will there be this bird with a splash of hot red on its face? Or this bright eggshell blue frog? Through my four-year-old’s eyes, the world is new, fresh, astonishing. The mundane is made extraordinary. He makes me see anew.

Here are some things that might help you manage this oxymoronic state:

1. Stop Before You Are Done: I still use this technique because it allows me to easily move from making breakfast and packing lunches to writing. So even though I know how the scene might end, I leave it for the next day. Ernest Hemingway offered this advice to a young writer: “The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next.”

2. Fiddling with Words: Another way I move from the world of mothering—from dinner and baths and bedtime stories—is to print out the half-finished scene and read it over at night, when the house is quiet. Invariably I cross out a word, find a better one, or come up with more specific details, or a more interesting way to describe a gesture, an object. I the morning, my scribbled page is my entrance back into the story.

3. Keep a Notebook Nearby: I always have a notebook near me. Nothing fancy, I use a sketchbook, so I’m not forking out lots of money each month. Though I might not be physically at my desk writing, some part of me is mulling over the story. Sometimes a thought comes to me—or a line of dialogue, a description, a sense of my character—and the notebook is ready to receive. It’s interesting, too, when you are deep at work on a story, the world seems to hand you little gifts that fit perfectly into the story. They come via the radio, a snippet of conversation at the drug store or preschool. Those fragments make it into my notebook, and, the next day, into the story.

4. A Baking Timer: In the early days, when my son woke every three hours, I was, of course, exhausted. Yet I still wanted to experience some writing delight. When he’d nap, I’d go to my desk, set the timer for ten minutes and write. Not judging, censoring, editing, just write. When the timer rang, I’d get up, walk around. Then, if I could, I’d set it again. I needed the timer to keep myself sitting there, doing the work, otherwise the exhaustion would have won every time.

5. Writers Group: I run a bi-weekly writer’s group. All of the members are mothers who write. I come with writing prompts and for two hours, we write together. We know what it takes to get to this gathering—kids dressed, fed, teeth brushed—and the things that await us after the meeting ends—doctors’ appointments, soccer, swimming, ballet lessons. But here, in this quiet space, we’ve carved out a time to commune with story and words and the imagination and each other.

6. Be Kind to Yourself: Goals are good. Goals are great, but don’t set them so high that they cause frustration or, worse, inhibit you. I remember roiling with envy when one young man, single, childless, said he wrote 35,000 in five days. But, I reminded myself, I’ve made choices and those choices have led to a peopled life—children, whom I love, a husband, whom I love. So my goal is simply to write something every day. The fragments, the 100 to 200 words, do add up. It’s how I wrote The Translator, and it’s how I’m writing my next novel.

7. An Inspirational Quote: I’ve taped this quote from Carl Jung on my wall: “Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment and especially on their children than the unlived life of the parents.”

About Nina:

Nina Schuyler's first novel, The Painting, (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2004), was a finalist for

the Northern California Book Awards. It was also selected by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of the Best Books of 2004, and dubbed a “fearless debut” by MSNBC and a “great debut” by the Rocky Mountain News. It’s been translated into Chinese, Portuguese, and Serbian.

Her short story, “The Bob Society,” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her poems, short stories and essays have appeared in ZYZZYVA, Santa Clara Review, Fugue, The Meadowland Review, The Battered Suitcase, and other literary journals. She reviews fiction for The Rumpus and The Children’s Book Review. She’s fiction editor at Able Muse.

She attended Stanford University for her undergraduate degree, earned a law degree at Hastings College of the Law and an MFA in fiction with an emphasis on poetry at San Francisco State University. She currently teaches creative writing at the University of San Francisco.

Find out more about the author by visiting her online:
http://www.ninaschuyler.com/
https://www.facebook.com/nina.schuyler
Twitter: @Nina_Schuyler

About The Translator:

When renowned translator Hanne Schubert falls down a flight of stairs, she suffers an unusual condition― the loss of her native language. Speaking only Japanese, a language she learned later in life, she leaves for Japan. There, to Hanne’s shock, the Japanese novelist whose work she recently translated confronts her publicly for sabotaging his work.

Reeling, Hanne seeks out the inspiration for the author’s novel ― a tortured, chimerical actor, once a master in the art of Noh Theater. Through their passionate, volatile relationship, Hanne is forced to reexamine how she has lived her life, including her estranged relationship with her daughter. In elegant prose, Nina Schuyler offers a deeply moving and mesmerizing story about language, love, and the transcendence of family.