A Matter of Chance
Julie Maloney's debut novel, A Matter of Chance, releases on April 10, 2018. Published through She Writes Press, the psychological suspense follows a desperate mother's search for her missing daughter.
"This potent book explores some of the major touchstones of the female experience: the joy of birth, the pain of loss, and the strength to endure. By immediately grabbing our attention with a shocking disruption – a mother having her eight-year-old daughter abducted during a simple walk on the beach –author Julie Maloney starts up a roller-coaster ride of emotion and suspense that will keep readers hanging on until the end."
- excerpt from IP's review of A Matter of Chance
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Women Reading Aloud
Focusing on the Power of Community
In September 2018, a small group of women will gather in Alonnisos, Greece to embark on a writer’s journey. These women hail from all over the world, but they have one thing in common: a drive to share their stories, hone their writing craft, and push their creative growth.
Founded in 2003, this will be Women Reading Aloud’s eighth international writer’s retreat in Greece alone; the non-profit has also lead writing and yoga retreats in southern France, an annual writer’s weekend in New Jersey, and an upcoming international retreat in Prague (2019) as well as numerous workshops throughout the year. With the goal of creating an artistic space and strengthening writer voices, the organization is quietly empowering women around the world to find their “roar.”
The 2017 writer's retreat. Images via Women Reading Aloud website.
Women Reading Aloud was founded by Julie Maloney in 2003. A poet, dancer, and recent debut novelist, Maloney is deeply connected to the arts. After studying modern dance as a child, she went on to obtain an MFA from the University of North Carolina and lead the Julie Maloney Dance Company in NYC. She credits this background of exploring her own creative channels as part of the inspiration for Women Reading Aloud, saying:
I am a fervent believer in the talents all of us possess. I call them “gifts.” What haunted me was that I saw few places where women’s voices were being honored, honed, and encouraged to soar.
(JKS Communications, 2018)
Developing Women Reading Aloud not only provided a space for women’s voices, but allowed her to share her philosophy that writing is about more than just getting published - it is a life tool. While the WRA retreats and workshops acknowledge publishing trends and structure new offerings accordingly, they are also deeply focused on the idea of a “kula.” According to the website, this is a “community sensitive to energies given and received from the writing circle.” Reading aloud in a like-minded community not only affirms the individual’s talents and unique strengths, but allows her to benefit from the spirit of camaraderie inherent in WRA gatherings; the guiding three-in-one principle puts equal focus on writing, reading, and listening.
Maloney’s unique background is apparent in this three-in-one approach. She is trained to be a workshop leader in the Amherst Writers and Artists Method, a philosophy that operates under a few simple principles: “every person is a writer, and every writer deserves a safe environment in which to experiment, learn, and develop craft” (Amherst Writers website).
The 2013 writer's retreat. Images via Women Reading Aloud website.
In today’s publishing landscape, the obsessive focus on monetizing and maximizing your writing can be creatively draining. Women Reading Aloud is a return to the beauty of writing for itself, and a much-needed breath of fresh air.
To learn more about Women Reading Aloud, visit the website here. Visit Julie Maloney's website here to find out more about her publications and projects, or read IP's review of her debut novel here.
Julie Maloney is the founder/director of Women Reading Aloud, a non-profit organization devoted to promoting women writers. She is a trained workshop leader in the Amherst Writers and Artists Method and holds an MFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is a former dancer, choreographer and artistic director of the Julie Maloney Dance Company in New York City. Her book of poems, “Private Landscape,” was published by Arseya Press. Her poems have appeared in many journals, such as Tiferet, WomenKin, Paterson Literary Review and others. She is a frequent speaker on “Writing as a Life Tool.” As director of Women Reading Aloud, she leads writing workshops throughout the year. Maloney will return to the island of Alonnisos in September 2018 to lead her eighth international writer’s retreat in Greece. In 2017, she led her second writer’s retreat in the south of France. Her debut novel, A Matter of Chance, will be published by She Writes Press in April 2018.