Today we’d like to introduce you to Margaret Dilloway.
Margaret, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started writing stories in kindergarten, when I learned how to write. I didn’t talk much in school and it was how I made sense of the world. Then I got some positive attention from my family and classmates and I found out I could entertain people this way too. I wrote through high school, was selected for the California State Summer School for the Arts, but majored in art in college. Every job I had led back to writing, though. My first sold book was actually Bluetooth for Dummies; it was canceled but it taught me I could create something of book length. I started writing my first published novel, HOW TO BE AN AMERICAN HOUSEWIFE, when I was pregnant and on bedrest with my youngest; it came out when they were in kindergarten (2010). I’ve sold 10 books altogether, in four different genres; won two American Library Association Awards; was a Zion National
Park artist in residence; sold a book to Hollywood and had a shopping deal to write a TV series since then.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s been a wild ride personally and professionally. My first book was rooted in the relationship I had with my mother, who passed when I was 20. Every book I’ve written deals with some issue I was processing at the time. I don’t come from money and had no connections to publishing, so learning the industry while raising three children and freelancing as a marketing writer was challenging–and often exhausting (in retrospect any financial planner would’ve slapped me for not having a regular day job during these years!). Later, I faced serious health issues similar to the ones that took my mother’s life and required several medical procedures. The industry has been full of hits and misses, too. I’ve won lots of awards but missed being a bestseller. I sold a book to Fox Animation and the producer called to tell me to get ready to fly out to be a consultant and the next week my agent called to tell me Disney had bought Fox and canceled all their projects. But you have to be resilient and keep trying–and really, writing is part of my personality. My marriage ended right before COVID and my career stalled a bit, but I eventually pivoted into tech marketing. Now I’ve got a couple more books in the works, a new sense of balance, and get to experience the joy of being a grandmother. It’s been a long road, but I finally feel like I’ve reached solid ground.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I write fiction that’s full of humor and heart: women’s fiction, fantasy, kidlit, and historical. I hope to entertain while also moving people. I’m most proud of notes I’ve gotten. A woman told me my book inspired her to reconnect with her estranger mother. Another book allowed a woman to heal her childhood trauma. Another comforted a child through the death of her grandmother. And another helped a child accept a chronic health condition. I feel like my books are connectors and encourage empathy.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
That’s funny because according to Ancestry.com, I do NOT have the risk taker gene. It is the opposite. Yet despite this innate desire to cocoon at home, I have often taken risks because I intellectually can see they’re beneficial. A small risk is performing improv–making stuff up on stage in front of a live audience– which I became good enough at to perform on a main stage show for a few years. I’ve taken a risk by focusing on creative writing instead of a corporate career. I’ve ended my marriage not knowing what else was out there but also understanding the kind of life I needed was not contained there. And creatively, every time I start something new, it has to feel like a risk–a stretch– or I know I won’t stay interested in it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.margaretdilloway.com
- Instagram: @margaretdillowayauthor
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/margaretdillowayauthor
