Fall into Genres - Pt.3: Author Carol Fragale Brill's Guest Post

The Truth about Writing Women’s Fiction.

Petra, thanks for the opportunity to be a guest on your blog and share thought with your readers about writing women’s fiction.

Recently a colleague, who read my first novel, PEACE BY PIECE, said she kept trying to figure out what parts of the story and characters were me.
As a women’s fiction author, I hear comments like that a lot. Readers frequently ask, “Is either Katie (CAPE MAYBE) or Maggie (PEACE BY PIECE) you? In PEACE BY PIECE, who is Maggie’s husband, Donald, based on? Like Maggie, did you have an unshakable first love that got away? Was either your father or your mother really an alcoholic?”
The fact that both of my novels are written in first person may add to the misconception that they are memoir, but newsflash everyone—I write women’s fiction.
Before writing my novels, I often heard the saying, write what you know. For a long time I took that very literally and thought, “I’m a Human Resources expert, so I guess my book will be about H.R.” Then Disclosure came out with its haunting spin on sexual harassment and it seemed like the most compelling HR storyline was taken.
Eventually I learned that write what you know doesn’t have to be so literal—that I can take the feelings and experiences I know and write them into a totally different situation to create a convincing story.
If you read my post “On Being a Stepmother” (http://www.4broadminds.blogspot.com/2...) you know Maggie’s experience of step-parenting in PEACE BY PIECE is much different than my own. Izzie lives with and adores Maggie. Did some of Maggie’s feelings about Izzie come from my experience with my stepdaughter? Sure. And, near the end of the book when Maggie says of their future, “I have to believe,” you can bet that sentiment is 100% me. But, the bulk of their story is their story, not mine. Maggie is not me.
When CAPE MAYBE hit the shelves, even from her grave, I felt my mother urging, “What will they say? You have to tell them Katie’s alcoholic mother isn’t me!”
Relax Mom. I’ll say it again.
It’s fiction people.
But let’s face it. Even in fiction there are kernels of truth. Every character and scene must be part of me somehow—since it all comes out of my head.
I’d love to hear whether others have had similar experience either reading or writing women’s fiction. Please stop by the following links and connect with me.

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/6924892...
Amazon:http://amzn.to/18BM1md
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Carol-Fragale-...
Blog: http://bit.ly/1jNIjO0


Thank you, Carol!



Books by Author Carol Fragale Brill:

Cape Maybe

Peace by Piece