Register NOW! Only 1 week to go! Here's the official deets! Kick off Printer’s Row Lit Fest weekend with Read & Run Tours and journalist Malissa Rodenburg with a special evening celebrating writers and books. Join us on Wednesday, September 9 at 6:00 PM at the American Writers Museum in Chicago for a casual three-mile run (12:00 minute per mile pace) with author Martha Engber through the Chicago streets that inspired her books’ settings, followed by the first-ever live taping

Listen NOW! Thank you so much Kenneth B. Humphrey and Luella Schmidt for hosting me on The Midwest Writing Room podcast and YouTube channel sponsored by the Wisconsin Writers Association! The episode is available via podcast and/or this YouTube link. I hope the above clip encourages you to check out the interview in which I talk about my latest novel, SCATTERED LIGHT (Mary Donahue Chronicles), my Chicago roots, my number 1 advice for writers, and why, for some of us, writing

I’m so happy Malissa Rodenburg will be interviewing me during the Read&Run Chicago event for SCATTERED LIGHT Sept. 9 in Chicago! You can register here. She’s an independent science journalist, editor and poet who’s interviewed dozens of writers for her Writers Who Run column. I’m going to be in good company! All of which has me wondering: how many writers also run? If that’s you, let me know! ___ For updates about Martha’s forthcoming books, news and giveaways, subscribe to h

Are you a word geek? If so, you’ll love Grammar Girl, a.k.a. author Mignon Fogarty, a former faculty member at the University of Nevada - Reno, who has a YouTube podcast about grammar. She includes a lot of fun history about the English language, including how indented paragraphs came to be and why detective novels routinely use the descriptive phrase “broad daylight.” Out of curiosity, how much do you notice proper grammar when reading a text, email or book, and do you get j

Buy NOW! For me, novels are all about the magic and internal strength and struggles of the main character, and in creating Ash Reilly in LOST IN SOUND (due out Aug. 11), Clifford Mae Henderson has conjured a complex sleuth of soft do-gooder heart and been-through-it-thick skin. When a clearly mentally ill homeless man known as Captain Eddie finds a murdered young man along a river in the coastal California town of Tres Ojos, the blood on his clothes initially ties him to the

May is typically Mental Health Awareness Month, but that’s not nearly enough promotion. I’m reminded daily of the need to assess my mental health and advocate for those who have mental illness. I experienced a lot of ups and down when writing BLISS ROAD, a memoir about my neurodiverse family. While the book helped me figure out that part of my life, I don’t discount the need to check my mental health often, and to take seriously people who are struggling. Mental Health Americ

So I have to tell you about this very fun gig I’ve got set up for Sept. 9: a "Read and Run Chicago." Yes, it is ALMOST like it sounds. I’m going to join a bunch of runners in the Windy City, my hometown. Rather than read while we’re running, however, we’ll instead run first past downtown locations featured in SCATTERED LIGHT (Art Institute, Board of Trade, etc.). We’ll end up at a venue (TBD) where I’ll get to know them, they’ll get to know me and we’ll talk about books. The

by Steve Zettler Buy NOW! Steve Zettler hits the ball out of the park with his hilarious forthcoming memoir, LEAVE THE KID ALONE! He writes from the viewpoint of his seven-year-old self grousing about having to operate the family’s inn and restaurant’s industrial dishwasher on an Easter Sunday in the 1950s in Bucks County Pennsylvania. The day dramatically changes, however, when the restaurant closes, the family finally sits down to eat, and the author goes upstairs to discov

I wrote GROWING GREAT CHARACTERS in 2007, but ever since then, I often revisit the idea about defining details: an itty, bitty, teensy, tiny detail that explains how a character rolls. One of my favorite characters is Alexandra Fuller, who wrote this memoir about her youth in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Her defining detail? That photo! Like a little pirate girl. “Take no prisoners, arrr!” Check out this excerpt. It's hilarious and exactly matches her photo. Who’s your favorite c

My thanks goes out to Kara Infante for interviewing me about SCATTERED LIGHT on your podcast, Bookish Flights! The episode (#224) dropped today, so those who want to know about the books I’ve been reading lately and the ones that changed my life, check it out at BookishFlights podcast. What podcasts have you been listening to lately? Me: Advisory Opinions (about the Supreme Court), The Good Fight and Derate the Hate. ___ For updates about Martha’s forthcoming books, news and

Buy NOW! Ah, to open an email with this sunny message! And how appropriate that Independent Publisher Book Awards gives as much of a nod to my gutsy labor lawyer protagonist, Mary Donahue, as it does to Chicago, the location of the first book, WINTER LIGHT, and SCATTERED LIGHT, this second book in the Mary Donahue Chronicles. Woohoo for the Windy City, a rad place to grow up! ___ For updates about Martha’s forthcoming books, news and giveaways, subscribe to her website: Marth

Yes, I just finished typing those important words, because I’ve finally finished writing OCEAN LIGHT, the third book in the Mary Donahue Chronicles, which began with WINTER LIGHT and was followed last Thanksgiving by SCATTERED LIGHT. There’s still lots of rewriting and shaping until this unusual literary mystery — yes, mystery — turns into a book that’s worth your precious time (the tentative publication date is January 2028). But finishing that final chapter has left me usel

Part of me is always surprised when I learn about a service I take for granted that turns out to be a relatively new concept. That was the case when I learned the first tax-supported library in the US was established in 1833 in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Less than a hundred years ago! I would have been toast without a library, especially in my youth. Reading helped me deal with everything: my emotions, insights into human nature, curiosity about places I’d never been. More

May was National Trauma Awareness Month, but I missed mentioning it. As the comedian Jackie Mason said, “So sue me!” And since “Happy Trauma Awareness Month” doesn’t convey the right vibe, I’m opting for a bit of humor, perspective and encouragement. If you’ve been fortunate enough to heal from something bad that happened in your life, pat yourself on the back, have a piece of cake, do a cartwheel. Looking at the source of pain, and what caused it, takes a ton of guts. Here's

Buy NOW! Three years ago today started my launch week for BLISS ROAD, my memoir about being the daughter of an undiagnosed autistic dad. Since then the book continues to sell well, primarily because of people like you who recommend it to neurodiverse families — those with special needs and those without — who need some help in understanding the challenges they face. Thank you! ___ For updates about Martha’s forthcoming books, news and giveaways, subscribe to her website: Mart

By Roz Morris Buy NOW! Rarely do I find nonfiction memoirs nowadays that combine what Roz Morris accomplishes in her newest book TURN RIGHT AT THE RAINBOW: warm humor; lyrical writing; travel through physical, emotional and time landscapes; and a whimsical, yet deep rumination about what makes a house a home. As soon as long-married writers Roz and her husband, Dave, decide they want to move out of London after thirty-odd years to a more rural location that’s quieter and allo

Buy NOW! I am absolutely stoked to announce that SCATTERED LIGHT, the sequel to the award-winning WINTER LIGHT, was awarded the honor of an Eric Hoffer Fiction Finalist! I congratulate all of the other finalists and to those who captured the top spot! We writers can mark our progress by the company we keep, and the authors in the finalist group are topnotch. Then again, that seems like a logical outcome of the fact that as more books are self-published and published by small

by Angie Athanassiades Buy NOW! I’ve read so much fiction and nonfiction in long book form that when I read this spare, poetic memoir, I AM TWIG, FEATHER, BONE by Angie Athanassiades, I felt I’d been lifted into the air. There I gradually transformed through some ethereal means that can only happen amidst the beautifully described setting of a quiet, isolated Greek island and a woman turning a serious eye upon nature as a means of healing her trauma. The book’s language is ab

Buy NOW! Happy book birthday to BLISS ROAD! Though very painful at the time, I’m so glad I worked through the difficulties — and beautiful moments — of living in a neurodiverse family with an undiagnosed autistic dad. And I am so much happier. And my family relationships are so much stronger. So if you suspect you lived in a neurodiverse family, read the book and then contact me. I love hearing from readers! ___ For updates about Martha’s forthcoming books, news and giveaways

We arrived in the Okavango Delta today. It’s a veritable Disneyland x 1000 for people who love wildlife. During the summer (Jan.-June), rain from the Angola highlands flows into the delta, spreading out over 14,500 square miles, attracting all kinds of wildlife. About this area, my sister warned me, “Bring earplugs.” Apparently the hippos are really loud at night. A fun fact that may appear in one of my books someday. Have you been lucky enough to hear a hippo conversing wit