Featured Authors Give Each Other Some Love: Meg Waite Clayton Hosts Tayari Jones on Her Blog

Featured author Meg Waite Clayton ("The Four Ms. Bradwells" and "The Wednesday Sisters") hosted featured author Tayari Jones ("Silver Sparrow") on her blog, 1st Books: Stories of How Writers Get Started.

In response to early negative reactions from publisher to the first 100 pages of the novel, Jones writes:

For months, I wrote nothing at all. It seemed pointless. My characters which I thought were so loveable and complicated had been undressed and shamed. (Some of the rejections were so pointed that I cried. One even suggested that I didn’t “understand fiction yet.”) And this was to be my third novel.

Read the full essay.

An Interview with Meg Waite Clayton

Featured author Meg Waite Clayton ("The Four Ms. Bradwells" and "The Wednesday Sisters") recently spoke about writing an "ensemble novel" with women's fiction writers blogger Amy Sue Nathan. (Note: An ensemble novel is one where there is more than one main character.)

Some highlights from the interview:

• On why Meg likes writing ensemble novels: "It gives me a lot of freedom to explore things I’m interested in."
• Meg had the title "The Wednesday Sisters" in mind before she wrote the book.
• Meg likes that ensemble novels give the readers a number of people to connect with.
• Meg is working on a novel that will follow three daughters of main characters from "The Wednesday Sisters"
  

Read the full interview.

"The Four Ms. Bradwells" Makes iTunes "Bestseller" List

"The Four Ms. Bradwells" by Meg Waite Clayton is now #12 on iTunes list of top-selling audio books. Congrats, Meg!

See the complete list.

GBF Featured Author Eleanor Brown Calls in the (Published Author) Troops

GBF featured author Eleanor Brown ("The Weird Sisters") put a call out to her network of published writers asking for one-sentence (and sometimes more!) writing advice. Included on the list of advice givers are a handful of other GBF featured authors including

• Rachel Machacek ("The Science of Single")
• Meg Waite Clayton ("The Four Ms. Bradwells" and "The Wednesday Sisters")
• Caroline Leavitt ("Pictures of You")
• Sarah Pekkanen ("Skipping a Beat" and "The Opposite of Me")

Read their advice, then come back here and let us know...

Are you a writer reading this? Then add your advice below in the comments. Aspiring writer? What's the best advice you've received?

"The Four Ms Bradwells" Goes Aural...

Audible.com is now offering an audio version of "The Four Ms. Bradwells" by Meg Waite Clayton for $24.49.

Find out more.

Another Glowing Review for "The Four Ms. Bradwells" by featured author Meg Waite Clayton

The from my bookshelf blog reviewed Meg Waite Clayton's latest, "The Four Ms. Bradwells," praising Clayton for her "knack for making her characters completely believable and tangible, with all the quirks and imperfections that would make them real people." The reviewer also calls the novel "a refreshing read for early summer." Read the full review.

Featured Author Meg Waite Clayton: She Wrote More than Just Great Merger Agreements

The Chicago Tribune published an excerpt from a recent conversation between GBF featured author Meg Waite Clayton ("The Four Ms. Bradwells") and one of the Tribune's reporters.

In the conversation, the two women explore Clayton's road from lawyer to full-time novelist. One of the funniest responses from Clayton when asked about liking the law despite leaving it behind: "Oh, yes. It was intellectually stimulating. It was an adrenalin rush. But when I died, I didn't want a tombstone that said, 'She wrote a great merger agreement.'"

Read the full conversation.

Featured Author Meg Waite Clayton's Beautiful Tribute to Her Mother

In honor of Mother's Day, which is fast approaching, we thought we'd share a recent blog post from novelist Meg Waite Clayton ("The Four Ms. Bradwells" and "The Wednesday Sisters"), which is a touching letter thanking her mother for teaching Meg to be the woman she is today.

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Dear Mom,

Motherhood. It’s a pretty incredible thing, isn’t it? Who’d ever have guessed how many of us would gladly wipe messy bottoms and be thankful for the task. I’m in my own twenty-second year of motherhood, and yes, it’s taken me just about this long to appreciate what you did for me, Mom. So thank you. For everything.

Keep reading.

Examiner Columnist Calls "The Four Ms. Bradwells" a Must Read

Examiner columnist Bonnie Jean Adams called "The Four Ms. Bradwells" by Meg Waite Clayton a "must read," citing Clayton's extraordinary characters who "become friends you want to know."

Read the full, glowing review.

Clayton's book also recently received a glowing review from the PeetSwea: Book Review blog.

Tucson Citizen Praises Meg Waite Clayton and Rita Mae Brown

The Tucson Citizen reviewed 12 novels by women writers, including "The Four Ms. Bradwells" by featured author Meg Waite Clayton and "Hiss of Death" by featured author Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown.

The reviewer wrote that Clayton's "The Four Ms. Bradwells" was "a riveting tale of friendship and the secrets we keep."

In reviewing "Hiss of Death," the reviewer wrote: "As explained on the book’s cover, it takes a cat to write the purr-fect mystery. Indeed."

Read the full reviews.

Stiletto Storytime Praises Meg Waite Clayton's "The Four Ms Bradwells"

Stiletto Storytime called "The Four Ms. Bradwells" by Meg Waite Clayton a "page-turning novel" that is "insightful and affecting." The reviewer also praises Clayton for how she "writes inspiringly about the complex circumstances facing women and the heartfelt friendships that hold them together."

The blogger is giving away one copy of the book!

Go read the full review and find out how to enter the giveaway.

More magazine Praises "The Four Ms. Bradwells"

More magazine recently called Meg Waite Clayton's "The Four Ms. Bradwells" a "satisfying third novel" with "strong characters we can relate to." Read more.

Meg Waite Clayton Keeps Collecting the Great Reviews!

Yet another glowing review rolled in this week for Meg Waite Clayton's latest novel, "The Four Ms. Bradwells." The latest review, from the blog Jenn's Bookshelves, calls the novel a "wonderfully written story" and highly recommends it to readers.

Jenn also cites Clayton's "uncanny ability to realistically and accurately portray the relationships of women, including friendship, motherhood, and marriage."

Read the full review.

GBF Featured Author Meg Waite Clayton Gets Another Spectacular Review

"The Four Ms. Bradwells" by GBF featured author Meg Waite Clayton got a "really good" and "highly recommend" from ShelfAwareness.com editor Bethanne Patrick on a NY1 show. Hear what else Bethanne had to say.

Meg Waite Clayton Writes about Keeping Her Literary Boat Afloat and the Fight for Women's Rights

Meg Waite Clayton ("The Four Ms Bradwells" and "The Wednesday Sisters") was featured yesterday on The Red Room about how she keeps her "literary boat afloat" by writing shorter essays. Read the piece.

She also recently penned a piece for AOL about Elizabeth Cady Stanton and how Stanton's cause and hard work affects Clayton's life and her novels.

Meg Waite Clayton on "The Lowly Pencil"

Featured author Meg Waite Clayton ("The Four Ms. Bradwells" and "The Wednesday Sisters") wrote a guest column for the Huffington Post about her love affair with "the lowly pencil." One of our favorite lines from the piece: "I sharpen far more often than I floss."

Read Meg's musings.

GBF Authors Show Each Other Some Love

GBF Featured Author Meg Waite Clayton ("The Wednesday Sisters" and the soon-to-be-released "The Four Ms. Bradwells") has been hosting a number of GBF featured authors on her blog, 1st Books: Stories of How Writers Get Started.

Her latest GBF featured author guest is Sarah Pekkanen who just released her second novel, "Skipping a Beat." Pekkanen writes about her days as a reporter, balancing writing and raising kids, losing a manuscript to a house fire, and how her writing has changed over the years. Read Sarah's entry.

Meg has also featured Eleanor Brown ("The Weird Sisters") and Caroline Leavitt ("Pictures of You") on her blog.

GBFs "Sister" Authors

GBF author Meg Waite Clayton ("The Wednesday Sisters" and the forthcoming "The Four Mrs. Bradwells") recently welcomed GBF author Eleanor Brown ("The Weird Sisters") onto her blog where Brown wrote about her "first novel." Why did I put quotes around the phrase first novel? You have to read to find out.