Episode 143: Shelley Read on Becoming a Novelist in Midlife

“I am just discovering myself as a novelist,” says international bestselling novelist Shelley Read, author of Go as a River. In this conversation, Shelley shares with us how her journey from poet and non-fiction writer shifted into fiction with a single moment of observation and wonder. She shares with us how she crafts scenes, her penchant for playing with language, why she didn’t share with anyone about what she was doing for many years, how a love affair with her main character drove the whole novel, and what she has learned about her own creative process along the way.

Shelley Read’s debut novel,Go as a River, is an international bestseller that has sold over a million copies worldwide, been translated into thirty-four languages, and is in development for film with the Mazur Kaplan Company. Winner of the High Plains Book Award for Fiction and the Reading the West Book Award for Debut Fiction, Go as a River is also a Sunday Times bestseller, a Goodreads Choice Award finalist, an Amazon Editors’ Pick Best Debut Fiction, an Indie Next Pick, and a Colorado Public Radio Books We Love selection, among other national and international accolades. Shelley was an award-winning senior lecturer at Western Colorado University for nearly three decades, where she taught writing, literature, environmental studies, and honors. She is a mom, mountaineer, world traveler, and fifth-generation Coloradan who lives with her family in the Elk Mountains of Colorado’s Western Slope.

You can meet Shelley in person at the Grand Mesa Writer’s Symposium August 8-10 in Cedaredge. The event features numerous workshops and gatherings, including an open mic. For the keynote, Christie will talk with Shelley, the poet Wendy Videlok (a previous guest on our show) and nonfiction writer Tim Winegard about their work. More info at: https://www.grandmesawriters.org/

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit emergingform.substack.com/subscribe