Writer Friendly

Peggy McCarthy

Peggy McCarthy lived in/hitch-hiked through Italy, England, Belgium and France, and lived out of a backpack for a week in the Dublin airport; had babies in New Jersey, moved back to the Midwest where she (finally) earned an English Degree and won literary prizes. Her incarnations include teacher, librarian, writing consultant, editor, and British barmaid.

Short stories are my favorite, but when a couple of mine won literary prizes, (First Place and Honorable Mention in Purdue University’s Literary Competition, 2000), I let myself go and wrote as much as I wanted about the character. Also won Psi Iota Xi best Fiction of 1999 with an unrelated story. I’ve finished The Novel and I’m seeking an agent

I’ve had the urge to write since before I had the motor skills, when I wanted to record how unfairly-treated a three-year-old can feel. I knew I needed a pencil, I just didn’t know what to do with it. I was right to want to get it down on paper. I remember how it felt, but why I felt that way has escaped me.

I’ve created and led several writing groups, and currently host a county-wide group once a month. I worked on academic papers as a writing consultant at the local college, but my favorite is critiquing fiction, because I usually learn something as I look at someone else’s writing to help sort out what’s working and what’s not, and why.