As soon as I thought about one of my favorite women in history — there are so many! — the poet, Emily Dickinson , came to mind. She was born in 1830 in Amherst, MA, and had only 10 poems published, yet she wrote almost 1800. Nobody really knew about her passion until after she died and her sister found the poems. The sister had a collection published, but allowed the poems to be edited to fit popular fashion (bah humbug!). Only in 1955 did Thomas H. Johnson create The Comple

Sometimes we humans get pretty judgy about what other people read. Then we get indignant when they throw shade at what we read. Lesson: don’t judge! Each of us have very different reasons for choosing what we read. If a book takes you where you need to be, that’s awesome! I like: sci-fi, literary, poetry, memoirs, essays, short stories, novels What’s your jam? ___ For updates about Martha’s forthcoming books, news and giveaways, subscribe to her website: MarthaEngber.com . SC

Women’s History Month has arrived! Every Monday I’ll post a question that’ll hopefully encourage you to think more deeply about the women who’ve been in your lives. My answer to this question: women who help, but if they need it, accept help, too. I’ve found that’s a necessary combo for every character I’ve ever created, and for myself, too, which I discovered while writing BLISS ROAD . I’ll be the first to admit that the second part of that combo is sometimes wicked hard. _

Buy NOW! I’m sure all of you know that while Amazon makes purchasing convenient, the corporation often takes a big chunk of the profit from independent authors and small presses. My publisher, Vine Leaves Press , did something about it! The press made it easy for you to buy ebook copies of my books, and those of the many other authors at the press, that can be used on any ereader. Please share this post and encourage friends and families to buy direct from VLP and other smal

Buy NOW! Valentine's Day has never seemed like a fair holiday: if you don't have a love interest, too bad for you. So Valentine’s Day has become, for me, a day about loving yourself. And if you're like Mary Donahue does in SCATTERED LIGHT , you might have to learn to love yourself. Because it’s hard to love others if we don’t love ourselves! ___ For updates about Martha’s forthcoming books, news and giveaways, subscribe to her website: MarthaEngber.com . SCATTERED LIGHT , a n

Buy Now To find out you don’t have the same father as your siblings is one thing. To find out your beloved grandma took part in a Nazi secret eugenics program that encouraged healthy women to have babies by men with Aryan features in order to purify the race is a whole other thing. The author of this fascinating memoir, ILLEGITIMATE , does a wonderful job of showing her very young years in the care of her grandmother in Germany, until, that is, her mother returns with an Amer

Here’s a funny/not so funny thing about the writing/authoring/book business: many unscrupulous people understand how desperate authors are to get traction for their books and guarantee a winning promo campaign for the low, low price of ___. Here’s the newest spin, thanks to ChatGPT and AI in general: Those same scammers now send highly polished AI-generated letters filled with promises of overnight bestseller lists to authors in hopes they’ll send money. This trend started ab

Today 10 internet bookish gals — dedicated readers all — are going to start a monthlong read-along of SCATTERED LIGHT , the sequel to WINTER LIGHT . If you want to join, DM me! Out of curiosity, how many of you are in book clubs? Thank you Kelly Lacey and Love Book Tours for organizing this read-fest! ___ For updates about Martha’s forthcoming books, news and giveaways, subscribe to her website: MarthaEngber.com . SCATTERED LIGHT , a novel, sequel to WINTER LIGHT , (Nov. 202

Buy NOW! I started researching THE WIND THIEF in 1995, the story of Madina, a strange, young Sahara Desert woman who believes she can stop a forthcoming war of winds, and Ajay, the young male thief from Mumbai who tries to dissuade her. The concept of climate change had been a thing for some thirty years already. What inspired me more than any news reports about a warming globe and more severe weather, however, was experiencing nature while backpacking. Standing atop a snow-

FLOATING IN THE MIDDLE sings about nature like no other! Set on the gorgeous, but rough California coast north of San Francisco, seven friends unite for a weekend in a remote beach house. Rather than just fun and games, however, Tam, the protagonist, has come to find out if, after long separation from her husband, Jamie, he’s willing to try again. Because she is. Tension continues to build via the feisty dynamics of people who’ve known one another for a long time, and from n

Buy BLISS ROAD now! When writing BLISS ROAD , my memoir about being the daughter of an undiagnosed autistic dad, I found almost no resources to help me understand and heal from the emotional distance that can occur between neurotypical kids and their neurodiverse parents. Then I found the Adult Children of Autistic Parents Facebook page. Run by a caring, sensitive moderator, there are now over 500 members from around the world. If you know of anyone who might be struggling

I do so much weird research for my books that I thought I’d start sharing some with you. The above fish knife is made by a company called Maestro Wu , which claims its knives are made “from salvaged artillery shells fired on Taiwan by mainland China since the early 1900s.” I found the detail when looking for the knife that one of my OCEAN LIGHT (due out January 2028) characters would use: a Chinese American woman who does surf fishing in SoCal (Malibu area). Out of curiosit

Buy SCATTERED LIGHT! Even when writing WINTER LIGHT , my YA book about Mary Donahue as a teen, I already had the ghost of an idea: to show her life in a trilogy. Now that SCATTERED LIGHT , the second book, was just published, I’m hard at work on the third book, OCEAN LIGHT. This has always been my thinking: we all have points in our life where we change, and change big because of what happens to us. After my mom died, I changed, and changed big. Big enough to write my memoir

I’ve never done an Instagram Live interview before, but I know Elaina Battista-Parsons is going to make it fun! 3:30 Pacific/5:30 Central/6:30 Eastern TONIGHT, Nov. 10, 2025 IG @WritingInThe.Winter To get your name is the drawing for the 2-book set giveaway of WINTER LIGHT and SCATTERED LIGHT … Do as the video says: leave a question or comment below regarding protag Mary Donahue, or on Elaina’s IG profile during the event. I hope to see you there! ___ For updates about Mart

Buy NOW! My third book was just published by Vine Leaves Press , a traditional small press based in Greece and founded by publisher Jessica Bell. Everybody knows buying from Amazon is convenient, but it also sucks money away from presses like this one and authors like me. Here’s how VLP is digging out from under the Online Behemoth, and 3 reasons to peruse their bookstore this holiday season: They’re giving a 25% discount on SCATTERED LIGHT and all books until Dec. 5. They’r

Buy NOW! Don’t like to buy books without getting a recommendation? Consider following these Instagram bookstagrammers. They’re reading copies of SCATTERED LIGHT , and will post every day with comments and reactions. They’re not shy about giving their opinions! Dec. 1 @katiesluvtoread Dec. 2 @bluefairybugsbooks Dec. 3 @book_a_holic_17 Dec. 4 @reading_mel Dec. 5 @bianca_reads_books Dec. 6 @afelton6212 Dec. 7 @daisyhollands Thank you, Kelly Lacey and Love Book Tours , for organi

Shop NOW! Tired of giving your money to corporations? This holiday season, here are 3 tips to supporting your literary artists in your community: buy books from local small press authors like me buy straight from the small presses buy from local bookstores, or through BookShop.org , which supports both! We authors are here for you and have something for everyone you love! ___ For updates about Martha’s forthcoming books, news and giveaways, subscribe to her website: MarthaEn

Buy NOW! I’ve interviewed a lot of people in my career as a writer and journalist, but none have been as interesting as interviewing Mary Donahue, the protagonist of SCATTERED LIGHT (just published!). Find out how she answered on Women Writers, Women’s Books , a fantastic website of books by/for/and about strong women. Look for “Character interview: Martha Engber.” What would you ask Mary? ___ For updates about Martha’s forthcoming books, news and giveaways, subscribe to he

Order NOW! I'm so grateful to Haley Blanchard of Readers' Favorite for giving me a 5-star review! Here's the whole review: "Scattered Light by Martha Engber follows Mary Donahue, a smart but cautious lawyer in Chicago who has just won a big case on her 36th birthday. To celebrate, she decides to treat herself to lunch at Herzl's. This is where she meets Damba Rugundi, a law professor and human rights activist from Uganda. Damba is charming and graceful, and what starts as a p

Order SCATTERED LIGHT now! I know carving a few minutes out of your evening might not sound like fun, but then you’ve never seen a free spirit like Elaina Battista-Parsons operate! Please join our discussion and get the chance to win a free copy of SCATTERED LIGHT ! 6:30 EST (3:30 Pacific/4:30 Central) Wed., Dec. 10 IG Live (@WritingInThe.Winter) ___ For updates about Martha’s forthcoming books, news and giveaways, subscribe to her website: MarthaEngber.com . SCATTERED LIGHT