This week on the Limelight, debut author Emily joins Jenna and Cait to talk about her first novel, The Care and Feeding of Dead Mothers. A disgraced author named Margot Hale flees Manhattan for the Wisconsin Northwoods after fraudulent accusations blow up her career, and five years later she is a recluse trying to piece her writing life back together when her estranged, shapeshifting sister comes crawling back into the picture. It is dark, it is twisty, and the buried trauma does not stay buried. We get into Emily's very Wisconsin murder research, her writing-coach-guided path to indie publishing, and the wildly ambitious meta-project she has planned for the world of Margot Hale.

Margot's career is unraveling. So is her mind. If you love Sharp Objects and anything by Alice Feeney, this one is for you.

In this episode:

• (00:00) Meet Margot Hale and the premise behind Dead Mothers
• (03:00) Where the story came from, and how Emily's husband Michael talks her through plot logic
• (04:40) The research rabbit hole: augers, flowages, and the best time of year to drown a body in Wisconsin
• (10:00) How the book actually came together during pregnancy
• (11:00) The publishing journey and finding the right writing coach
• (16:15) Comp titles and read-alikes
• (20:50) Launch details, personalized book boxes, and supporting indie authors
• (23:40) Book two, and the Stephen King style twist of bringing Margot Hale to life as a real author
• (29:00) Wrapping up

If you liked these, you'll like Dead Mothers:

• You Killed Me First by John Marrs
• Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera
• One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole
• His & Hers by Alice Feeney
• We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
• Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
• Anything by Lucy Foley or Alice Feeney

Get the book:
Launch week runs August 24 through 30, with a 99-cent ebook deal. Find it on Amazon, or order a personalized signed copy with book box extras directly from Emily's website. Local to Sun Prairie? Grab it at Prairie Pages.

• Buy on Amazon: https://a.co/d/057SNwdY
• Order direct from Emily: https://elkaltenbergwrites.com/

Find Emily:

• Website: https://elkaltenbergwrites.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writing_kaltenberg