Sometimes the toughest journey is the one that takes you back to your roots. For Katie, navigating life and love is trickier than walking barefoot on a beach full of broken shells. Maybe Katie will break the family cycle of alcoholism. Maybe she won’t. Set against the backdrop of picturesque, seaside Cape May, Cape Maybe traces the push and pull of Katie’s conflicting love for her erratic mother and steadfast grandfather and her ever-growing attraction to her best friend, Dennis. Katie’s life is shaped by her vow to be nothing like her alcoholic mother. Her reckless teenage choices test the strength of family ties, friendship, and first love. Ultimately about hard-earned hope, what we inherit, and what we choose to let go, in Cape Maybe, Katie discovers what she never expected about motherhood, forgiving yourself, and creating your own second chances.
Targeted Age Group:
Women – all ages
How is Writing In Your Genre Different from Others?
I write contemporary women’s lit for women who enjoy reading about characters they can identify with–women who deal with love in all its many forms, aren’t always lucky in love, have cherished girlfriends, careers, and real day to day struggles balancing family, desires, maybe dealing with eating disorders or alcoholism.
What Advice Would You Give Aspiring Writers?
When I started writing creatively, I had no idea there were so many elements to writing craft. Put in the time to study craft—characterization, plotting, show don’t tell, creating a sense of time and place. Once you start to understand craft, grab a few books in your genre and read them like a writer, dissecting how the author uses craft to create emotion and drama. Also, the support of other writers has been so valuable to me. Find critique partners, join a writing group, and open yourself up to feedback. Perhaps the most important lesson is learning that writing is just the beginning, rewriting is where the story becomes what it is meant to be.
Author Bio:
Carol Fragale Brill’s fiction received recognition from Poets and Writers and was a reader’s favorite for The Best of Philadelphia Stories. Her works have also appeared in Wide Array, New York Journal of Books, the Press of Atlantic City, and numerous online e-zines and business journals. The author of two novels, PEACE BY PIECE and CAPE MAYBE, she earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
She is a happily married beach and book lover, living her dream in Cape May, NJ. In her “day job” as a Leadership Coach and educator she frequently uses stories in training.
Find her book reviews for New York Journal of Books at http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/reviewer/carol-brill
And her blog at http://4broadminds.blogspot.com/search/label/Carol
What Inspired You to Write Your Book?I have loved stories ever since my parents read me Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Black Beauty at bedtime when I was five or six. I know Grimm’s may not seem like the stuff sweet dreams are made of, but mostly they read the ones about princesses being rescued by the prince. I started dreaming about writing a book when I was 20-something. It took me another 20 years to join a creative writing critique group and get started.
Website(s)
Author Home Page Link
Link To Buy Book On Amazon
Social Media:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6924892.Carol_Fragale_Brill
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Carol-Fragale-Brill/112297472164769
https://twitter.com/carol_brill
