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Women's Fiction: What is it...really?

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Contributed by: Reya Patton on 9/20/2007

When author Mara Purl began writing her Milford-Haven Novels, she thought was writing fiction. Turns out, she's actually writing Women's Fiction.

What's the difference? Here's how Mara explained it at the recent Central Coast Book Festival. "You know when you share a story with a man? I don't know about you, but usually the man will say to me, 'Yeah, but what happened? Get to the point!'" (This is where she had to pause for a moment, because her audience was laughing out loud.)

"But ," she continued, "when I take his advice, then try to tell a quick version of the story to a woman friend, she usually says, 'Wait...where are we?'" (More laughter.)

"As women, we like context, and to really get context, we read or hear details as code that gives us a tremendous amount of information." She goes on to add a disclaimer, saying not all men or women fit so neatly into categories. None the less, 55 million female readers are now reading Women's Fiction. And despite the fact that this category has yet to show up on the New York Times Bestseller list, the genre is cooking like a well-seasoned stew, even threatening to boil over and swamp other categories.

For the past two years, Mara's series has been proving to be one of the more piquant additions to the menu. Her debut novel, "What the Heart Knows," won the Silver at the coveted Benjamin Franklin Awards. Second in her series, "Closer Than You Think," won the Gold at the Evvy Awards. Now reviewers are saying her latest, "Child Secrets." is her best so far.

Since book one also won a USA Book News Finalist Award, her third opus promises to be both a savory and a satisfying read. Get your copies of her award-winning books delivered to your door by visiting www.HavenBooks.net.

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