Monday, May 7, 2012

Let's Hear it For the Girls: Musing Mondays

Another Musing Mondays prompt from Should be Reading:

If you were going to write a book, what would you write about? Would it be fiction, or nonfiction?


Love this topic. My debut novel, Depression Cookies, is about the mother-daughter bond and the importance of strong female relationships. A coming of age story, it's told from two different perspectives, teenage daughter and her mother. The best part, I co-authored it with my mom.

I have a couple of novels in the works, but there is one general theme: strong female characters and an in-depth look into women and relationships. I'm sure it's because I am a woman, the oldest of three sisters, and now mom to three daughters that I am so intrigued by the complexity of women and their bonds.

I usually read stories with women at the forefront. Nothing against men. I will mix in a male-focused book from time to time. And this definitely does not exclude male authors. One of my favorite female stories was She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb. I can't tell you how many times I turned back to the front cover while I was reading, just to convince myself yet again that a man wrote the book. He did an amazing job!

She's Come Undone Summary (Amazon): Dolores Price. She's 13, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood goodbye. Stranded in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally orbits into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before she really goes under.

I so loved this book that I went on to read I Know this Much is True by Wally Lamb, a book centered on twin brothers. Male-focused, but definitely a relationship story.

At the end of the day, people intrigue me. Call me boring, but I find WHY people do things more intriguing than WHAT they do. I want to write those stories.

How about you? What type of book would you write?

3 comments:

Unknown said...

The book you wrote with your mom sounds like a really fun one :)

http://carabosseslibrary.blogspot.com/2012/05/musing-mondays.html

Kwizgiver said...

I was convinced that Wally Lamb was a woman when I read She's Come Undone. And it's really cool that you wrote a book with your mom.

Tia Bach said...

Library Snake, Thanks!

Kwizgiver, Glad I'm not the only one that did that with She's Come Undone. I loved writing with mom, a true blessing.