Rosina Lippi writes under her own name and under the pseudonym Sara Donati, and her Wilderness series of six historical novels is some of the most gorgeous fiction you’ll ever read. A former linguistics professor, Rosina has been writing for decades and built quite a following, even as the publishing industry has changed.
In the latest episode of the Make Meaning Podcast, host Lynne Golodner interviews Rosina Lippi about how to make fiction your career, frustrations with book marketing, and how to create believable characters in authentic landscapes. In the episode, Rosina quotes George Orwell on writing: “Writing a book is an exhausting struggle. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.”
In this episode, Lynne and Rosina discuss:
- Making money as a novelist
- Historical fiction
- Retelling history with real women in the stories
- Choosing a pen name to not “confound reader expectations”
- How publishing has changed over the decades
- How to authentically show race, indigeneity and survival in colonial times
- Marketing & PR for books
- How to handle negative feedback on your writing
Links and Resources:
- Rosina Lippi
- Into the Wilderness (book 1)
- Sara Donati
- Elizabeth Bennet
- The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
- The Pen/Hemingway award
- Congo Square
- Lynne Golodner’s Author Brand Marketing Mastermind
- Kirkus Review
- Stranger than Fiction film
Find Rosina Lippi:
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
LinkedIn
If you enjoyed this episode, you’ll like these other Make Meaning Podcast episodes:
- Episode 128 – Becky Robinson – Building reach for books
- Episode 118 – Elizabeth Gowing – How to know a place by living its stories
- Episode 102 – Patrick Hicks – How to write historical fiction
- Episode 79 – Laura Munson – How to find refuge in writing
- Episode 18 – Shady Ladies & Detroit Hustle with Amy Haimerl