Janis Robinson Daly and #31TitlesWomenInHistory: Celebrating Women’s Stories Through Historical Fiction

In this episode of Armchair Historians, Anne-Marie Cannon talks with award-winning historical fiction author Janis Robinson Daly about her inspiring #31titleswomeninhistory initiative, a Women’s History Month project that spotlights historical fiction by women authors centered on women whose stories deserve more room in the historical record.

Janis shares how the project began as an act of literary citizenship: authors supporting authors while also helping readers discover powerful, under-told stories of women from across time, place, and culture. The conversation also touches on Janis’s own novels, The Unlocked Path and The Path Beneath Her Feet, both inspired by pioneering women in medicine and her genealogical discoveries.

If you love women’s history, historical fiction, and discovering new books for your TBR, this episode is for you.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How #31titleswomeninhistory began
• Why historical fiction can bring overlooked women’s stories to life
• Janis’s selection criteria for the annual list
• Literary citizenship and supporting fellow authors
• Women in medicine, women in literature, and women whose contributions have been pushed to the margins
• How readers can follow along during Women’s History Month

About Janis Robinson Daly:
Janis Robinson Daly is a historical fiction author whose novels center on pioneering women in medicine and other overlooked stories from history. Her work is rooted in genealogy, research, and a passion for bringing hidden women’s stories into the light.

Links and Resources:
Janis Robinson Daly official website:
https://janisrdaly.com

Janis’s Women in History page:
https://janisrdaly.com/women-in-history/

Janis’s books:
https://janisrdaly.com/books/

Janis on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/janisrdaly_writer/

Janis on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/JanisRobinsonDalyAuthor/

Janis events page:
https://janisrdaly.com/events/

Follow the project on social media:
Search the hashtag
#31titleswomeninhistory

Books mentioned or referenced:
The Unlocked Path by Janis Robinson Daly
The Path Beneath Her Feet by Janis Robinson Daly
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
Madam President by Nicolle Evelina
The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victo

Transcript

0:06

Hello fellow. I'm chair Historians. Welcome to the show. I'm Annmarie Cannon, your host, historical fiction author, and curious soul, always chasing the human side of history. Show notes include my website, links to content discussed in the episode, how to support the show, and a free short story download that introduces readers to bedlam from my soon to be released historical fiction series. On this podcast, my guests share the history they love most and we experience it through their eyes, what fascinates them, what they've uncovered, and why the story still matters. Let's get into it. Today on Armchair Historians, I'm talking with the award-winning author, Janice Robinson Daley, whose historical fiction brings to light the untold stories of early women physicians. Inspired by her own genealogical discoveries, Janice's novels, the unlocked path, and the path beneath her feet, explore the resilience. Determination and brilliance of women who carved out space in medicine during the early 20th century. Today we're talking to Janice about her hashtag 31 titles, women in History Initiative that uplifts women authors and highlights women's history all month long. Let's get into it.

Anne Marie 1:39

janice, welcome to the show. Thank you for being here today. Thank you, Anne-Marie.

Janice 1:45

It's wonderful to be chatting with you this morning.

Anne Marie 1:47

Hashtag 31 Titles, women in History Project. Yes. So let's talk about that now So you do have this project and I was looking at some of the titles in the project so far. It's called hashtag 31, titles, women in History. Sure. When my first book came out I thought back of, why was I writing this book? And yes, I wanted to sell copies. I wanted to make a little bit of money, make back a little bit of money, yeah. That I had put into creating my product. And that's how I view publishing. You're creating a product. And like any product, there are startup costs. There are production costs. To make that product. The real reason I wanted to write the book was just to celebrate these women in history whose stories hadn't been told There were. A lot of those types of books being written in the past, 20 years or so that other authors were finding those stories of those women buried in, the histories pages and telling their stories. And so wouldn't it be cool to have a list of them? Share with other readers who wanna be inspired and educated about women in history who aren't in our textbooks and come together in a program. I refer to it as a, an example of literary citizenship. Of authors supporting other authors because we're not in a competition. We're out here to celebrate and showcase these women's stories. And so by putting together a list of 31 titles of women in historical fiction. That we can read about meant. I was also then engaging and working with 30 other authors who had books that would be appearing on the list. It became a a little bit of a passion project. Started in 2023 with my first list of 31. Now, of course, my book was on there because I do talk about the Women's Medical College, and I do have secondary characters in the book who were. Based on real women and their accomplishments are highlighted in the book. But then I was also able to, I'm taking a quick look at the 23 list. Who had ever known about Caroline Faraday? Philanthropist from Connecticut and New York who helped save and rehabilitate of women, survivors of Ravens book, lilac Girls, written by Martha Hall, Kelly or whoever knew the story of Victoria Woodhull. The first female presidential candidate in the 1870s? I do because we do have an episode about that. I'm gonna do a little plug here. Wonder. Great. Excellent. So Madam President by Nicola Evelina. Absolutely. I will put that in the show notes. Yes. Who knew about Bell DeCosta Green, the personal librarian to JP Morgan. Who was a black woman passing as white, written by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray. So just amazing books and I was able to come back in 2024. With another list of another 30 books with more women that we were learning about, we were learning more about Francis Perkins, the first woman to hold a cabinet position in becoming Madame Secretary by Stephanie Dre last year. Came out again with another list and we are able to learn more about writer and editor Jesse Redmond Faucet. Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria, Christopher Murray, just so many amazing stories. Claire Eiffel, who was the daughter of Gustav Eiffel, the architect and engineer of the Eiffel Tower, and who knew that his daughter, Claire, was instrumental in his business in getting the Eiffel Tower built. So I'm working right now on my 2026 list. Which will be the fourth year of the program and excited to dive into more stories in identifying more women that need to have their stories brought forward from the shadows of history. So where do you find these books? Research. I keep my ears open. I subscribe to Historical Novels Review, which does a roundup of upcoming books in the historical fiction genre. I get suggestions from other readers who are plugged in to the genre as well. I ask. Authors that were on my list in prior years. Are you working on anything? Do you have any publishing sisters that you know of that are coming out with a book that would be meeting my criteria and it might be. Helpful to just take a quick moment to mention my criteria because it's hard to actually cu down and only include 31 books. So again, it is historical fiction, so no biographies or memoirs because I do think the fiction angle makes books reach a larger readership and audience. Of course, I want the author to be a woman. I want diversity, and diversity comes in many different forms, and so it's the subject matter herself, cultural identity as well as the subject or area where she reached a claim. The cultural identity of the authors themselves and even type of publisher. So it's not just all the typical mainstream, traditionally published Big five. Books, but there's a lot of indie presses. There's some self-published books that are also included because they're still wonderful books and and they need the help in getting the the awareness build that this program creates. And then finally I do look at Good Reads ratings to make sure it is a well written book, that my readers are going to enjoy the writing of the story, not just the story itself. Okay. I have a book for you to consider. Okay. It might not meet your criteria, but for some reason, as I was planning for this interview, I kept thinking about this book, and it was one of the first historical fiction books I ever read. So it was published quite a while ago, but it's called The Red Tent. Oh yes. That was on my very first list. Oh it was? Yes. Yay.'cause it was one of my favorites. I loved it. Was one my favorite book. I love that book. Yes. It just spoke to me on so many different levels and for me it was this, the thing that I loved most about it was this through kind of theme story about the change from paganism to monotheism. Yeah, and I really, or was it on my list? Now I'm looking. It was one of my favorite books ever. I use it as a reference point all the time. Oh. Maybe you'll need to reconsider it. It was the Red 10. I'll put it on this year, 1997 by Nita Diante. I'm just gonna read this so that listeners can pick up the book if they're interested. It's a historical novel that retells the biblical story of Dyna. Daughter of Jacob and Leah from Genesis. Yeah, from Dina's own point of view. And it is just, so that is one of the most brilliant historical fiction books still to this day that I've ever read. Absolutely. There's just so many amazing things about it. And I'm not a religious person, but I loved the way that she brought that story to life. So yeah, that's my 2 cents. Is there anything else you wanna say about hashtag 31 titles? Can I just put in one other plug? Absolutely. So I encourage everyone to starting March 1st search the hashtag on social media, hashtag 31 3 1 num numerals titles, women in history. And what you'll find then is. All, or hopefully all the other authors promoting the list. And again, supporting each other's titles, not just their own. So each day of the month is a different title that we're showcasing and spotlight. And I'll have that order. Put together in a calendar, visual and everything. And then at the end of the month, we do a nice wrap up and I have a survey that folks can take. And again, you'll be able to follow me on social media or subscribe to my newsletter and get the link to the survey. And in the survey I ask, which books have you already read on the list? Which books are you now adding? To your TB red list, and you can enter to win a copy of those books because the authors offer up free copies as prizes for taking the survey. Ooh, fun. Do you have audio books of your novels available to people? Yes, my novels are available wherever books are sold. You can ask your local bookstore to order them for you. And then on Amazon, they are available as a Kindle ebook. Also Kindle Unlimited, if you have a KU subscription. My books are available there and Audible. Janice, thank you so much for being here. I really enjoyed our conversation. Oh, thank you, Anne-Marie. This has been great.