Writing From Life: How I Turned a Year of Dating into a Novel

media release: A Room of One's Own is thrilled to welcome local author and writing instructor Susanna Daniel for a talk on craft in celebration of her new novel Girlfriending (Pub February 10th, 2026). This talk is called Writing From Life: How I Turned a Year of Dating into a Novel.

Note: This was initially scheduled for Wednesday but was reschedules to Thursday March 12th, apologies for any confusion. 

This is an in-person lecture event at A Room of One's Own Bookstore.

About the book

After a brief, head-spinning affair leaves her heartbroken, a divorced, perimenopausal mother sets out to date ten women in exploration of what she calls her lesbian adolescence, a quest she takes on with the ride-or-die support of her best friend and the small but mighty community she gathers along the way.

From the award-winning author of Stiltsville and Sea Creatures, two beloved novels about the slippery terrain of love and marriage, and inspired by her award-winning short story, “The Goddess of Illicit Choices,” comes a lively and taut exploration of friendship, courtship, community, and all the shades in between. At its heart, Girlfriending asks: How do we remake our lives midstream, and how do we know when we've arrived?

“I swallowed Girlfriending down in one big, thrilled gulp, not having realized how thirsty I was for exactly this calmly mesmerizing and fresh book about midlife. Also? It made me want to be a better person, somehow, even though it’s sexy, page-turning fiction (i.e. not self-help). I am a huge Susanna Daniel fan and will be for life.”

— Catherine Newman, author of Sandwich and Wreck

“Ravishing, racy, and tender. Girlfriending is a joyful, full-throated

experience.”

— Flynn Berry, author of Northern Spy and Under the Harrow

“GIRLFRIENDING is a novel to read in a passionate rush, immediately start again in a more savoring way, and then press into the hands of everyone you know. This beautifully-written tale of marriage, divorce, love, sex, and everything else brims with compassion, shimmers with truth. Destined to be the dog-eared bible for those going through midlife queer awakenings (and their girlfriends, who will undoubtedly steal it). Susanna Daniel is a treasure."

— Amy Shearn, author of Animal instinct and Unseen City

“A magic trick of a story about a life that’s been knocked over and broken open, full of vulnerability, generosity and desire. This novel literally makes me a happier person.” ”

— Michelle Wildgen, author of Wine People and You’re Not You

Susanna Daniel is the author of three novels and makes her living coaching writers and guiding workshops with the Madison Writers’ Studio, which she co-founded in 2013 with author Michelle Wildgen. Her new novel, Girlfriending, a spinoff of her award-winning short story, "The Goddess of Illicit Choices," is coming in February of 2026 from Third Rail Press. Her debut novel, Stiltsville, was awarded the PEN/Bingham prize, and her second novel, Sea Creatures, was a Target Book Club pick. Susanna is a graduate of Columbia University and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and has earned fellowships from the UW Institute for Creative Writing, the MacDowell Colony, and the UCross Foundation. Susanna was born and raised in Miami, Florida, and has made her home in Madison, Wisconsin, with her two teens and one adorable mutt.