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| Cherie Priest |
There are a multitude of talented male writers. But let's take a moment to applaud women writers. It's no easy task to raise kids, make the dinner, work a part time job, and find the time to write! Yet, we do it. At the SCBWI events I attend, Lyn Oliver always starts the conference by announcing odd jobs that authors list on their membership registrations: dogwalker, product tester, ghostwriter of erotica, tugboat driver, fortune cookie writer, braille translator... you get the picture. And we come from such varied backgrounds. I'll talk about three writers who inspire me.
Cherie Priest is the author of
Four and Twenty Blackbirds and
Fathom, two lyrical and haunting novels. Brangien writes of her in
Seattle Magazine: "Priest grew up with a pension for horror and fantasy-perhaps because her mother, a Seventh Day Adventist, promised that the Second Coming could happen at any minute." She makes up her own monsters, no pre-fabs for her.
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| Alice Hoffman |
Alice Hoffman, author of magical realist novels like
Blackbird House had a series of "horrible jobs" and panic attacks every time she had to cross a bridge. She wrote convincingly about her agoraphobia through Vonny, a character in
Illumination Night. Hoffman flatly states, "I'm not very good at living in the real world." But we're glad she persists! Here's a favorite line of hers from
Practical Magic: "Fall in love whenever you can."
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| Nancy Werlin |
Nancy Werlin is a master of the YA thriller. She also merges thrillers with fantasy. On the nail-biter side is her terrifying
Rules of Survival. On the fantasy side is her novel,
Impossible. During her teens she worked at an ice-cream store and as a young adult, she sold menswear at a department store. She said she could eyeball a guy and immediately know what size shirt he wore. Important details for writing thrillers, eh?
Who are your favorite women writers? What kind of odd jobs did they have as teens or young adults? (A to Z Challenge link)
