If my math is right, we’re almost one-third of the way through our 99 recommendations for #read99women! I picked the number 99, of course, because WOMAN 99 is now out in paperback. But when I was brainstorming titles with my editor and agent, the idea of a woman called by a number instead of a name came up as an abstract idea — we didn’t know at first what the number would or should be. I tried out different combinations until one sounded right, and 99 won out primarily because it’s right on the edge of something — the exact feeling I wanted for a novel about a sane woman in an insane asylum. Certainly there may be a point farther along in this series of recommendations when I may wish I’d called the book WOMAN 33, but so far, so good!

Today’s guest is Kathryn Craft, the award-winning author of two novels from Sourcebooks, THE ART OF FALLING and THE FAR END OF HAPPY. She’s also the author of chapters in AUTHOR IN PROGRESS and THE COMPLETE HANDBOOK OF NOVEL WRITING from Writers Digest Books. Long a leader in the southeastern Pennsylvania writing scene, Kathryn leads writing workshops and retreats, works as a freelance developmental editor at Writing-Partner.com, and blogs at Writers in the Storm and Writer Unboxed. She lives in Doylestown, Pennsylvania with her husband.

Kathryn’s recommendation is Glendy Vanderah’s debut, WHERE THE FOREST MEETS THE STARS. ”This is exactly my kind of book: an intimate cast of quirky characters, each bravely trying to surmount the pain they carry by choosing to face life together. Many great insights infuse this tale, filled with all the wonders that Mother Nature and human nature have to offer.”

Read her full review on BookBub here.