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About Therese Walsh

Therese Walsh co-founded WU in 2006 and is the site's editorial director. She was the architect and 1st editor of WU's only book, Author in Progress, and orchestrates the WU UnConference. Her second novel, The Moon Sisters, was named one of the best books of the year by Library Journal and Book Riot; and her debut, The Last Will of Moira Leahy was a Target Breakout Book. Sign up for her newsletter to be among the first to learn about her new projects (or follow her on BookBub). Learn more on her website.

Recent Posts by this author:

  • The Ourstory of Now
  • How are you? Check in, WU Community.
  • Special Announcement: Helping Fellow Authors in the Age of Coronavirus
  • Capturing Real: Beyond Two-Dimensional Character Building
  • Women’s Fiction Day
  • Pursue Your Contentment — and Your Chaos
  • Tipping Points (and also: VOTE)
  • That Time Jane Friedman’s Advice Saved My Novel
  • Take 20 with Audiobook Narrator Julia Whelan + Giveaway!
  • 13 Ways to Promote Before Publication
  • Think Your Writing Is Brilliant One Day and Horrible the Next? Here’s Why.
  • Save the Cat Revisited — a Q&A with Salva Rubio

    • The Ourstory of Now

    By 40 Comments

    Time and again over the last few years we’ve heard it, thought it, felt it: “History is being made, right now.” Meaning, the sort of history that becomes far more than a footnote in a future book on this decade. The sort of history that becomes its own library of books, not only because it is prominently newsworthy in its day but because it marks a turning point or new precedent, or its ramifications will have ramifications on ramifications. This is such a tentacled moment, and in a sea of other tentacled moments you may not know what I mean, so let me be clear: I’m speaking of the murder of George Floyd on May 25th in Minneapolis, and the element that made his death–and the deaths of countless other Black Americans–part of a much larger picture of racism in this country.

    “[H]istory is written by the winners,” attorney general William Barr recently said of another subject, and an LA Times article pushed back: Writers across the board hold power in documenting the truths of their time.

    My mother-in-law, with a passion for genealogy, recently did a deep dive into my family history. One of the many gems she unearthed was an opinion piece that my grandmother wrote in 1965 about “[t]he recent horrible beatings and murders in Alabama over civil rights and the basic right of every American citizen to register and vote…” I feel such pride reading her letter, and I’m so very glad that she took the time to document her thoughts, that she troubled to see her letter published, and that the press obliged. It’s history that reveals herstory. I know how she’d feel about what is going on in this country now. I know what she’d say. I think I know what she’d write.

    Not everyone is comfortable with politics, and I’m not here to shame the silent. But I am here to highlight some who’ve chosen to add their voices to this moment, to help record and hopefully shape the history of now, and to show how many ways this can be done.

    I’m beginning with WU contributor and friend Nancy Johnson, whose Facebook post resonates with power, and then will follow with other posts that showcase the various ways writers are using their platforms, from documenting the moment to amplifying the messages of others. In some cases, you may need to click through to read a full message, but all posts are public.

    View this post on Instagram

    Reposted from @brendadrakeauthor #repost @nicstone ・・・ Doing something next week. Monday through Friday, 8pm EST. ⠀ Special guests: @pete_forester – Editorial Director at StockX @jodipicoult – #1 NYT Bestselling author of like a jillion books, one of which is explicitly about race/racism and based on a true story (#SmallGreatThings) @brendankiely – NYT bestselling co-author of #AllAmericanBoys @tiffanymjewell – Antiracist educator and author of my current favorite antiracism 101 handbook, #ThisBookIsAntiracist @dwatkinsworld – lecturer and NYT bestselling author of some of the littest nonfic I've had the pleasure of reading (if you pick one to read before Friday–and you should–pick #WeSpeakForOurselves) ⠀ #ItsGonnaBeGood #WeJustBoutToBeTalkin #ReallyJustToEncourageOtherPeopleToGetToTalkingToEachOther #HumaningTogether #VulnerabilityOnDeck #MoreQuestionsThanAnswers #AndThatsAllRight #ComeThroughAndGetHunanized #WeInThisTogether #ThisIsAmerica #LetsTalkAboutIt – #regrann

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    #blackouttuesday

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    Lastly, this: [Read more…]

    How are you? Check in, WU Community.

    By 180 Comments

    Everything can change in an instant. Most of us are living examples of that right now, as COVID-19 ravages the world and its people. So while I had another post planned for today–one about the essentiality of story at a time like this–I want to do something more personal. Something different. I want to know […]

    Special Announcement: Helping Fellow Authors in the Age of Coronavirus

    By 8 Comments

    Please view to learn about special programming coming soon to Writer Unboxed.

    Capturing Real: Beyond Two-Dimensional Character Building

    By 16 Comments

    If you want your characters to seem like real people, they must present on the page as more than tokens that run through a plot point obstacle course. You already know, I’m sure, that real people are complex. They don’t always know who they are or what they want or why they behave as they […]

    Women’s Fiction Day

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    Once upon a time, circa 2005 to be exact, an agent suggested that the story I had written wanted to be women’s fiction. I had no real idea what ‘women’s fiction’ meant, and so I set out to learn—and ran into some significant silence. Few articles existed about women’s fiction and fewer were publicly labeled […]

    Pursue Your Contentment — and Your Chaos

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    It is January 1st, and as I sit in my kitchen writing this, there is a strong wind outside. The bird feeders sway, unsynchronized; leaves I thought were long gone fly around the deck; a plastic saucer lacking a plant lifts briefly into the air before crashing into the glass; and my cat stares warily […]

    Tipping Points (and also: VOTE)

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    It’s Election Day in the U.S., which you surely know unless you’re living under a sound-proof stone that hasn’t been picked up and thrown at someone. Hard to believe that a few short years ago many of us rarely expressed controversial opinions, choosing to be ‘polite’ rather than overtly ‘political,’ yet here we are. So […]

    That Time Jane Friedman’s Advice Saved My Novel

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    Today marks the paperback and audiobook release for The Moon Sisters–a book that earned some critical acclaim, but not before nearly dying on the vine, pre-publication. Below is one story behind the story, complete with rising stakes, a ticking clock, a dark moment, and a turning point. THE SETUP I had been working on The […]

    Take 20 with Audiobook Narrator Julia Whelan + Giveaway!

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    My second novel, THE MOON SISTERS, comes out in paperback in two days. It also comes out in audiobook, and I feel so lucky; actress Julia Whelan delivered a beautiful performance. Julia isn’t just an actress (Once and Again) and prolific audiobook star; she’s also an author. Her debut novel, MY OXFORD YEAR, released this […]

    13 Ways to Promote Before Publication

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    A number of months back, I wrote an article on how to promo preorder books for Bookbub. The original piece was pared back a little, but today’s post is the whole enchilada. Enjoy! For a traditionally published author, a hefty number of preorders can increase a print run and create a sense of excitement around […]

    Think Your Writing Is Brilliant One Day and Horrible the Next? Here’s Why.

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    I recall the frustration I felt when, after having worked on my first novel for over two years, I was still able to sit with my printed pages and create a mess of red-line edits for myself. No, this word is better. This sentence is drivel.  Move this graph over there. Nope, nope—there. She would never […]

    Save the Cat Revisited — a Q&A with Salva Rubio

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    Back in the early days at Writer Unboxed, Kathleen Bolton–my friend and co-founder here at WU–and I used to do weekly interviews with authors and industry gurus. These interviews not only brought us some fantastic traffic and were instrumental in raising WU’s profile, they were richly rewarding to everyone, including Kath and me. There were, of […]