Novelist Dawn Reno Langley joins me today to chat about her new women’s literary fiction, Analyzing the Prescotts.
Dawn is touring with Wow! Women on Writing. Full tour details are at the bottom of the interview. Feel free to visit her other stops for other insights!
Bio:
Dawn Reno Langley has written extensively for newspapers and magazines, published more than 30 books (children’s books, novels such as The Mourning Parade (Amberjack, 2017), and nonfiction), dozens of award-winning short stories, essays, and poems in journals such as Hunger Mountain, The Missouri Review, The Oklahoma Review, The Provo Canyon Review, and Superstition Review, as well as hundreds of articles, theater reviews, and blogs for national and global publications. A Fulbright scholar and TedX speaker with an MFA in Fiction from Vermont College and a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies from The Union Institute and University, Langley lives in North Carolina but travels the world with her husband. Her latest book, You Are Divine: A Search for the Goddess in All of Us (Llewellyn) was released nationally and internationally in January 2022. Her latest novel, Analyzing the Prescotts, is set to release in January, 2024 from Black Rose Writing. Currently, she is working on a new fictional trilogy called The Art of Rivers, a historical saga about an interracial couple’s relationship during the 1960s-1980s.
As an editor and book coach, Langley has assisted writers from all over the world to publish their work. She believes strongly that a partnership exists when an editor works in partnership with a writer, and she proudly supports the many writers who now sell their books to readers everywhere.
Welcome, Dawn. Please tell us about your current release.
Analyzing the Prescotts is the story of a therapist who has been leveled by a client’s suicide and is struggling to resume her practice. She begins working with the Prescotts, a family fractured when the father comes out as transgender and begins transitioning. They relate their stories in their chosen voices, each family member’s narrative in a different format. Journals, social media, and other nontraditional narratives challenge Dr. Cotton Barnes’ therapeutic skills. While Cotton treats each member of the Prescotts, and they all dodge land mines behind the closed doors of her therapy office, the Raleigh, North Carolina area is rocked by a series of LGBTQ+ hate crimes. As Cotton finds herself stalking the family, worried that she might not be able to “save them,” her husband slips away, and Cotton is forced to make a decision that will determine whether she saves her own marriage or the Prescotts.
What inspired you to write this book?
During my doctoral program, I studied transgender authors to determine whether their written work was different pre- and post-transition. The writers I read were successful, published, and unique in that they were from various places around the world. I was fascinated by their strengths and their struggles, and when I concluded my research, I discovered their written work remained the same, though they often wrote about new subjects.
As I worked through my research, the voice of Hailey Prescott arose, and I initially wrote a story from her point of view. But the novel was truly about the whole family who each went through an identity crisis determined by their family roles. Analyzing the Prescotts has gone through a lot of changes, but I do hope that it shows the difficulties that both trans people and their loved ones undergo when the trans person’s role in the family changes. Having the therapist as the central character allowed me to explore each of the family member’s responses in a way I would not have been able to if I wrote it from just one point of view.
Excerpt from Analyzing the Prescotts:
~ Book One ~
Gray Prescott
Though in Venice you may sit in courtyards of stone,
and your heels may click up marble stairs, you cannot move without riding upon
or crossing the waters that someday will carry you in dissolution to the sea.
~~Mark Helprin
Cotton Barnes sucked in a deep breath and pulled open the Mental Health Alliance’s heavy steel door to greet a visibly distraught woman wearing a heavy black parka though the weather had turned unseasonably warm. Three months, two weeks, and six days ago, at 10:30 AM, Cotton opened the same door to her client Brighton Ogelle, a bright and loving 15-year-old with a penchant for gray cats. Brighton committed suicide at 11:30.
Cotton has not worked since.
The client at the door: Gray Prescott (age 35, white female, married, three kids, Cotton noted) left an urgent message the day before that pulled at a piece of Cotton’s soul. Something in the woman’s voice cried, “please help me,” and it was a siren call Cotton couldn’t ignore. Throughout her 15-year career in psychotherapy, her commitment to the field was a selfish one. She wanted to help people in crisis, she derived a deep sense of emotional power when a client moved forward—psychologically healthy, and she savored the challenge of saving a person about to fall apart. Even if it meant facing a watershed moment of her own, Cotton couldn’t turn down this new client.
“Please see us. My children….” Mrs. Prescott rushed over descriptions of each of them. Three kids. Father left home. Garbled reason why. “Please can you see me this week? As soon as possible? Please?”
Cotton heard the break in the voice. A physical break. Could there be a psychological one as well? She booked Gray Prescott immediately. It was time to go back to work anyway. After three months, most of her client list had moved on to other therapists, but that was fine. A new beginning meant a new set of challenges, and that’s what she needed. No memories.
Cotton mentally noted: Mrs. Prescott is slight, attractive in a mourning-bird type of way. Her dull brown sweater’s slightly ragged sleeves pulled down to her knuckles, one button missing, another dangling by a thread. That inattention to her appearance, the way she avoided Cotton’s eyes, the slight smell of last night’s wine, all summed up as depression, but it’s too early for a diagnosis.
What exciting project are you working on next?
I’m working on a trilogy called The Art of Rivers about an interracial couple and their relationship throughout the Civil Rights years. They meet after a tragic accident brings them together, and they fall in love despite the obstacles. In the second book, they work for Kennedy during his presidential campaign in Mississippi, and in the third, the story of their marriage unfolds as Graham, the husband, searches for their son in the Alligator River National Refuge. Beth is an artist, which weaves through all three stories, and Graham is a cop who becomes part of Kennedy’s security patrol.
The story spans three decades, from 1957 through the early 1980s, and though their relationship is central, the historical moments they live through color the story and bring up themes of racial and social justice.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
My first essay was published in the local newspaper when I was 9, but I didn’t consider myself a writer until I was in college and became the editor of the newspaper. After that, I worked in publishing for the Association of Trial Lawyers, then became a freelancer, working for newspapers and magazines. My first published books were children’s books, then I started writing books on art and antiques, particularly African-American and Native American art.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
Yes, I write full-time, though that might not mean forty hours a week. My workday starts with tea and toast, and I watch the birds at the feeder while my mind roams and I read myself for whatever task I have that day. That might mean working on a new scene or editing a chapter or doing some marketing for whatever new book I have out.
I teach yoga occasionally and conduct a meditation on TikTok at least 5 times a week. My husband and I travel quite a bit, we hike, and we like to meet new people, so that takes up a bit of time.
Time to write – even if it’s just fifteen minutes, I write every day. Always have. To be honest, it’s not about finding time to write, but about wanting MORE hours to write.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Quirk? Hmmm, maybe that I do my best writing in bars on napkins with a stolen pen from a bartender.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a flight attendant, because I wanted to see the world.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
You can do anything if you put your mind to it!
Links:
Website | Facebook | TikTok | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Amazon | Black Rose Writing
Blog Tour Calendar
February 5th @ The Muffin
Join us at WOW as we celebrate the launch of Dawn Reno Langley’s novel Analyzing the Prescotts. Read an interview with the author and enter for a chance to win a copy of the book. https://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com
February 6th @ The Mommies Review
Visit with The Mommies Review for a review of Analyzing the Prescotts. https://www.themommiesreviews.com/
February 8th @ Knotty Needle
Stop by Judy’s blog for a review of Dawn Reno Langley’s Analyzing the Prescotts. http://knottyneedle.blogspot.com
February 9th @ Boys’ Mom Reads!
Find out Karen’s take on Analyzing the Prescotts in today’s review. https://karensiddall.wordpress.com
February 10th @ Boots, Shoes, and Fashion
Visit Linda’s blog for her interview with author Dawn Reno Langley about her novel Analyzing the Prescotts. https://bootsshoesandfashion.com/
February 11th @ A Wonderful World of Books
Visit Joy’s blog for a guest post by Dawn Reno Langley on the challenges of writing using multiple points of view. You can also read an excerpt of Langley’s novel Analyzing the Prescotts. https://awonderfulworldofwordsa.blogspot.com/
February 12th HERE!
February 13th @ Nikki’s Book Reviews
Read Nikki’s take on Dawn Reno Langley’s Analyzing the Prescotts. https://nikkitsbookreviews.wordpress.com/
February 15th @ Debra-Zenha Adams
Visit Debra’s blog for a guest post by Dawn Reno Langley exploring transgender authors: PhD Dissertation and the novel. https://www.deborah-adams.com/blog/
February 16th @ The Book Diva Reads
Stop by Vivian’s blog today when the spotlight will be on Analyzing the Prescotts by Dawn Reno Langley. https://thebookdivasreads.com/
February 18th @ Così faccio io
Don’t miss Cecelia’s review of Analyzing the Prescotts today. https://cosifaccioio.substack.com/
February 20th @ Writer Advice
Visit Lynn’s blog for a guest post by author Dawn Reno Langley that gives us a peek at The Writer Life. https://www.writeradvice.com
February 22nd @ The Faerie Review
Visit Lily’s blog for her review of Analyzing the Prescotts by Dawn Reno Langley. https://www.thefaeriereview.com
February 25th @ Choices
Visit Madeline’s blog for a guest post by Dawn Reno Langley about writing about sensitive sociological issues. http://madelinesharples.com
February 28th @ Author Anthony Avina’s Blog
Stop by Anthony’s blog for a review of Analyzing the Prescotts by Dawn Reno Langley. http://www.authoranthonyavinablog.com
March 4th @ Author Anthony Avina’s Blog
Read a guest post about violence in the LGBT++ community by Dawn Reno Langley, author of Analyzing the Prescotts. http://www.authoranthonyavinablog.com
March 5th @ Così faccio io
Author Dawn Reno Langley shares how to deal with broken characters at Cecelia’s blog. https://cosifaccioio.substack.com/
March 7 @ Michelle Cornish Blog
Read Michelle Cornish’s review of Analyzing the Prescotts by Dawn Reno Langley. https://michellecornishauthor.com/blog/book-reviews
March 10 @ Coffee and Ink
Stop by Coffee and Ink for a review of Analyzing the Prescotts by Dawn Reno Langley. https://coffeeandinkbooks.wordpress.com/
