LOCAL AUTHORS DISCUSS: Women Writing Fiction

Write On’s Door County Published Authors Collective (DCPAC) presents the on-going series, Local Authors Discuss, in which writers address a specific genre or theme. Today’s program focuses on women writing fiction. Authors Jane Hensge, Ann Heyse, Patricia Neuman, and Patsy Buell Stierna will share work from their novels, discuss their genres, and take audience questions. The program is free and open to all ages. No registration is required. Light refreshments will be available.

Jane Hensge’s writing has mystery, strong friendships, and romance along with a humorous take on everyday life. At the Women Writing Fiction event she will be talking about why and how to use humor in your story. As with many women, life kept Jane busy, and she did not start writing until after her boys were grown. Now that she is writing, it has become her passion (right alongside cooking without recipes). She has published several pieces in the Pulse over the last few years and will have a poem in honor of the ship John Purvis in the spring edition of the Maritime Museum magazine. Jane advises aspiring writers, “There is almost nothing to get upset about except if you drop a dinner fork repeatedly. Then, a conversation admonishing the fork is in order, and it should not be allowed on the table for a few days.” About her own writing, Jane says that if she had not taken classes at Write On, Door County, where she met other working authors, she might still be getting ready to get ready.

Ann Heyse is a poet, children’s picture book author, and most recently, an author of The Light is Ours, a novel of historical fiction set in Door County in 1871-72.  After retiring from teaching and moving to Door County several years ago, Heyse started a small publishing company and has coached several authors through the publishing process.  She is on the board of Write On, Door County, and believes in its mission of encouraging reading and writing for all ages. At the August event she will focus on the writing of historical fiction and offer some tips about self-publishing.

Patsy Buell Stierna spent 20 years researching and writing her first book, a historical fiction biography, Visions from Two Continents. When it was published in 2018, she traveled to Australia via a cruise ship to trace the beginnings of the story and promote it. She publishes a fascinating blog, Visionsfromtwocontinents, about that journey and her subsequent adventures in travel and writing. She has also self-published a memoir, Getting Beyond…Abuse and Codependency, and is currently working on a novel, Alice Goes Down Under, which will be published in 2025. Patsy moved to Sturgeon Bay in 2007 when she retired from teaching special education in Minnesota. Visions from Two Continents, despite being fictionalized, is complete with detailed footnotes reflecting her intense background in academic research. A great deal of experience and creative writing classes have helped her get beyond footnotes and write a romance novel, Alice Goes Down Under. She utilizes the Scrivener writing program to write and set up the book for publication. At the August event, she will discuss the benefits of using this program to organize your writing. She now lives on two continents, dividing her time between Sturgeon Bay and Melbourne, Australia.