Sylvia Dickey Smith writes women’s stories. Her own life could be a story. She came from a Scots-Irish family and grew up in the Cajun culture of southeast Texas and has lived in Trinidad and Tobago. At 40 years old, she went to college and kept going until she’d achieved her B.A. in sociology and a Master’s in counseling. Now, she uses her education and life experiences to write fun, compelling novels.
Her first Sidra Smart mystery is called
Dance on His Grave, then came
Deadly Sins, Deadly Secrets. Her third in the series is
Dead Wreckoning. Her latest book,
A War of Her Own, veers from the series and takes us back into the past and the life of a woman named Bea Meade.
A War of Her Own is set during WWII. Bea Meade struggles with demons from her past, demons that haunt her, yet she can’t understand why. She’s also struggling with a husband who spends more time in the bars and with another woman than with her. Even though this book is set during WWII, a time when women began to move into the workforce, Bea has never been anything but a faithful wife and daughter. If she’s going to save herself, though, she’ll have to learn what she’s capable of doing.
Sylvia Dickey Smith’s move from mystery to women’s historical fiction is one that she felt compelled to do. Tomorrow, she’ll tell us why and how she did it – and what will happen to Sidra Smart and the other characters her readers came to love.
Sylvia has
a great blog. If you haven’t visited her there, click over. By the way, if you sign up in August to subscribe or follow her, your name will be entered into a drawing for a free copy of
A War Of Her Own. If you already have a question for Sylvia, you can leave it here today or just say hi.
A War of Her Own sounds interesting - I’ll be back tomorrow to find out more. In the meantime, I’m off to visit Sylvia’s blog.
ReplyDeleteI think you'll like her blog, Jane. Sylvia has redesigned the look and focus of it.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an intriguing story. I can image that era would have been a difficult time for women. Looking forward to learning more tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteMason
Thoughts in Progress
The inklings of women's lib started before this, but this time period was a huge step forward.
ReplyDeleteHey you "Rosie's" yourself--off tackling a world heretofore known as a man's world--the world of published author! Before Rosie's day, there were women who fought their own battles of equality--and to a lesser degree, still do today!
ReplyDeleteAlthough the end of WWII saw many women return to house and home, it never did to the degree it had been before that. Women proved themselves--and more times than not, they proved it TO themselves! Looking forward to this discussion. Let 'er rip!!
Sylvia Dickey Smith
A War of Her Own
Moving from one genre to another seems to be very difficult. I'm always impressed when I see an author do this. I'll certainly tune in tomorrow to find out more.
ReplyDeleteStephen Tremp
The premise sounds great and I'm already a fan of Sylvia's blog!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Helen - she sounds like she's had quite an interesting life! Off to have a look at her blog.
ReplyDeleteShe has indeed lived an interesting life, Talli. She's also a wonderful person.
ReplyDeleteHave been to Sylvia's blog and back and will be back here tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteLook forward to learning more about this book. Beautiful cover, BTW.
ReplyDeleteI just heard a speaker talk about the Women's History Project and she talked about women who made important contributions to society, but have been overlooked in history books. There are a lot of strong, interesting women that helped form the world and most people don't know their names.
Maybe it's because I am a woman, but I'd like to read books that tell us about women who either made history or were living during an historic time.
ReplyDeleteSounds great definitely back tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good book and a very interesting life.
ReplyDelete~jon
Sounds like a wonderful book. I've been learning more and more about Sylvia throughout the past few years, and have to admire her work. Thanks for the blog link, too - I need to get back over there more often!
ReplyDeleteI know that author!
ReplyDeleteThanks folks, for all the great comments and remarks. Does an old heart good! LOL I'm interested in this Women's History Project, Mary Ann. Will Google it and see what I can find out.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was a bold risk to rebrand--especially when you are relatively new to the writing field anyway. But on the advice of my publisher, took the leap--especially because writing strong women is my passion anyway! At least I'll be true to myself. At this age--it feels darn good! Looking forward to tomorrow's discussions!
Perhaps that will be your brand, Sylvia - strong female characters.
ReplyDeleteNo perhaps abut it, LOL--that's the rebranding! The sub-title of my new website is Writing Strong Women
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading Sylvia's book, but I'm even more eager to give a copy to a ninety-two-year-old relative who was a riveter in Victoria, Texas. I know she'll enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteI love reading historical novels that concentrate on the struggle of women when they had so few rights and opportunities. I wish we could make some of them required reading for teenage girls.
ReplyDeleteKathy, make sure you mention that tomorrow in the comments in case Sylvia doesn't see it here tonight. She's connected to a project looking for women from that time.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Susan. That's a very good idea.