I listened to & really appreciated this interview Barbara! Thanks for asking all the questions I would ask, and more. Emma sounds like she would be wonderful to work with. And I am taking to heart her advice to read aloud my entire novel as I do my next round of edits. I believe, hope, that after 2+ years of work the novel is fully baked. The reading aloud will be a good test. Also appreciate that you ask about older authors, given I’m seeking to ‘debut’ at 63😀appreciate all and Marrie do at Writers on Writing. I am a devoted listener (and learn so much!)
Hi Barbara. Thanks for asking: I'm honored. Would love to know with all your insight into books and writers how my novel strikes you as something you or my target audience of women ages 40 to 60+) might like to read. It's upmarket fiction. The title is RESCUING ANNIE. The brief description: Newly divorced, Annie is on the precipice of getting everything she’s ever wanted—her first published novel and an independent life—when a mother with dementia, a grieving daughter in Paris, and an ex-husband pleading to start over has Annie running off to Paris, her mother in tow, back into the caregiving role she can’t escape, until she learns that the person who most needs rescuing is herself.
Hi Amy, Sounds like your flap copy is clear. Your target audience is right on. The only thing I wonder about--and honestly, I'm the last person to offer an opinion--is will the dementia aspect put off agents and readers, though. So many women are caregivers for their mothers/fathers so will readers want to read about how a fictional character is navigating that world or will it be too similar? I really truly do not know. RESCUING ANNIE sounds like a grabber title, though. My three cents. It's often a mystery to me what gets published. So much mediocre stuff is getting published, which may bode well for all of us--maybe the bar is low? I don't know. Do keep me posted!
Hi Barbara, thanks so much for the feedback. On your thought, I actually think the dementia caregiving sub-plot is among the novel's strongest threads. Dani Shapiro handled it beautifully and masterfully in Signal Fires and I found that to be one of the most moving storylines. Also Julie Otsuka's The Swimmers, a mother-daughter relationship centered on a mother's descent into dementia. I think there is too little fiction exploring how we caregivers navigate such a difficult and wrenching illness as the vanishing of our loved ones while they are still with us. And if my Substack is any indication, the dementia-focused posts are really resonating, with many readers commenting that they want to hear more of my experience. So fingers crossed there's an agent/editor who agrees. Thanks for the thumbs up on the title. Best of luck with your writing, too.
I listened to & really appreciated this interview Barbara! Thanks for asking all the questions I would ask, and more. Emma sounds like she would be wonderful to work with. And I am taking to heart her advice to read aloud my entire novel as I do my next round of edits. I believe, hope, that after 2+ years of work the novel is fully baked. The reading aloud will be a good test. Also appreciate that you ask about older authors, given I’m seeking to ‘debut’ at 63😀appreciate all and Marrie do at Writers on Writing. I am a devoted listener (and learn so much!)
Thanks, Amy. It's good to hear agents say it's what's on the page that counts, isn't it? Good luck with your novel. Are you ready to share the title?
Hi Barbara. Thanks for asking: I'm honored. Would love to know with all your insight into books and writers how my novel strikes you as something you or my target audience of women ages 40 to 60+) might like to read. It's upmarket fiction. The title is RESCUING ANNIE. The brief description: Newly divorced, Annie is on the precipice of getting everything she’s ever wanted—her first published novel and an independent life—when a mother with dementia, a grieving daughter in Paris, and an ex-husband pleading to start over has Annie running off to Paris, her mother in tow, back into the caregiving role she can’t escape, until she learns that the person who most needs rescuing is herself.
Hi Amy, Sounds like your flap copy is clear. Your target audience is right on. The only thing I wonder about--and honestly, I'm the last person to offer an opinion--is will the dementia aspect put off agents and readers, though. So many women are caregivers for their mothers/fathers so will readers want to read about how a fictional character is navigating that world or will it be too similar? I really truly do not know. RESCUING ANNIE sounds like a grabber title, though. My three cents. It's often a mystery to me what gets published. So much mediocre stuff is getting published, which may bode well for all of us--maybe the bar is low? I don't know. Do keep me posted!
Hi Barbara, thanks so much for the feedback. On your thought, I actually think the dementia caregiving sub-plot is among the novel's strongest threads. Dani Shapiro handled it beautifully and masterfully in Signal Fires and I found that to be one of the most moving storylines. Also Julie Otsuka's The Swimmers, a mother-daughter relationship centered on a mother's descent into dementia. I think there is too little fiction exploring how we caregivers navigate such a difficult and wrenching illness as the vanishing of our loved ones while they are still with us. And if my Substack is any indication, the dementia-focused posts are really resonating, with many readers commenting that they want to hear more of my experience. So fingers crossed there's an agent/editor who agrees. Thanks for the thumbs up on the title. Best of luck with your writing, too.