Cesca Major: On Women Writing for Women

Cesca Major is a novelist and screenwriter. The author of several psychological thrillers under the name C.D. Major, Cesca’s titles include A Thin Place and Amazon hit The Other Girl, which was long-listed for a CWA Gold Dagger Award.

Having worked in television as a presenter Cesca enjoys live events and festivals. She regularly vlogs writing tips and teaches creative writing at the Henley School of Art. She lives in Berkshire with her husband and three young children. She is so far resisting getting a dog. Find her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

In this post, Cesca discusses how a busy pandemic life led her to write her new novel, Maybe Next Time, her advice for other writers, and more!

Name: Cesca Major
Literary agent: Kristyn Keene-Benton, CAA
Book title: Maybe Next Time
Publisher: William Morrow, Harper Collins
Release date: March 7, 2023
Genre/category: Women’s fiction/speculative romance/ General Fiction/Book Club read
Previous titles: I write as C.D. Major (The Other Girl) and have written as Rosie Blake (The Gin O’Clock Club)
Elevator pitch for the book: When harried working mum literary agent Emma loses her beloved husband Dan at the end of a normal, busy Monday she is bereft. But waking the next day she discovers Dan alive again. Can she work out how to break the time loop and save her love?

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The stresses of being a working mother of young children coupled with the madness of homeschool and COVID and juggling it all on my own (my husband worked full time as a veterinarian) led to this book being a sort of cry of help to busy women everywhere who take on all those extra tasks and never truly stop to look at their life and wonder … are they happy?

I wrote the book reasonably quickly, but then I have written a number of novels now. I love an outline so tend to edit that if I get a new idea or things change. There was one very big reveal that emerged during the course of writing but sharing what that is would ruin a big surprise...! Sorry!

I think realizing that this book was really the most personal thing I’ve written came as a shock. But also, to realize my experiences of being a woman were relatable to other women. When my female literary agent read it, and then my female editor read it, they all wanted to say, “I am Emma.” “No, I AM Emma!” and it made me feel grateful that this book might resonate.

There are always surprises. It’s maddening really. You’d think after 10, 11, 12 novels the process would be predictable and smooth, but writing is 90 percent craft and 10 percent magic, and the magical bit can cause absolute chaos!

I rewrote large parts of the book over the course of the edits, and we debated how to begin and end the book too. It was such a fun process and I’m so proud of the book now.

I so hope they cry buckets, laugh lots, but also leave it wanting to make some small changes in their own life.

Read and study the books you love in the genre you want to write in. See how they structure the story and how they get you to turn that page so easily.

I think lots of people can write excellent prose but putting a story together is a craft and it helps to see how others have approached it (even if you end up rejecting it all and doing it your way!!).

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