Today, June 8th, is Women’s Fiction Day! Started by the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA), it’s a day to celebrate women’s fiction books and their readers, authors, agents, booksellers, and publishers. According to the WFWA, women’s fiction is a book genre characterized by “layered stories in which the plot is driven by the main character’s emotional journey,” regardless of whether those stories are set in the past or contemporary, or if they include elements like romance, mystery, horror, humor, or thrills.
Though I’m originally a romance author, I’ve been increasingly writing women’s fiction–stories that often have romantic love, yes, but also focus on a woman’s emotional journey and the other relationships in her life. In particular, I’ve been writing stories about women who uncover long-buried secrets in Texas small towns, and how this shapes their families, friendships, communities, and romantic lives. I’m agented for my women’s fiction novels, and hope to have more news soon on these stories coming out into the world. (If you’re not already on my newsletter list, you can sign up here to be in the loop.)
Of course, I also love to read women’s fiction novels! Some of my favorite women’s fiction books I’ve read this year include The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James, Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters by Emily Carpenter, and The Hunting Wives by May Cobb–three very different stories that nonetheless have an emotional journey at their core.
How can you celebrate Women’s Fiction Day? Besides reading (or writing!) a fabulous women’s fiction novel, check out #womensfictionday on Instagram, where you can participate in giveaways as well as Instagram live videos from authors and agents on the women’s fiction genre, book recommendations, and so much more!