MARGARET OF THIBODAUX
Winner of the 2026 IndieReader Discovery Awards in Coming of Age, Fiction
What’s the book’s first line?
“Daddy said I didn’t need to go to Mama’s funeral service at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.”
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
Margaret is 14 in the summer of 1974 in Louisiana. Her mother died when she was 8, and now her Daddy wants to remarry. Margaret wants nothing to do with this. Her shenanigans to get the wedding to stop have a complicating factor and significant motivator: her Mama still comes to visit her, and she’s afraid that if Muriel (Daddy’s fiance) comes into the family, Mama will stop coming around, and Margaret will lose Mama all over again.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
Margaret has abilities that in 1974 were not accepted as they are today. I did too, and it’s a retelling of what it would have been like if there was someone to explain all the weird stuff that happened to me. I didn’t understand it until I was 50. My father was also married 4 times so I know all about new people coming in to a family.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
If you remember 1974, if you felt misunderstood when you were 14, if you’ve ever had something strange happen and your friends didn’t understand, you might recognize yourself in Margaret.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
Margaret is me, basically. Only smarter, kinder, funnier.
When did you first decide to become an author?
2010 when I had to finish a college degree and didn’t remember a thing about my prior biochemistry major. I chose English. I learned that I loved to write fiction.
Is this the first book that you’ve written?
No. I published my collection of poetry and short stories, but this is the first novel.
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
I was an ER Nurse for 25 years and now I’m retired.
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
Hours and hours sometimes, then I take a break from it for a month or so, then hours and hours again – easily 8 hours a day most times.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
Best is I make all the decisions. Hardest is I make all the decisions.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
Read your work out loud.
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
Maybe. If the traditional contract brings more benefits and less work, then I would consider it.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
I have something to say. When I was growing up (Gen X), we were seen and not heard. So now I aim to be heard.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
ProustShakespeareZoraNealeHurstonHemmingway (made them all one word so it’s one writer, right?)
Which book do you wish you could have written?
Gone With the Wind. Epic, sweeping, I’ve read it 20 times.