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Home / Programs / Salon Series / No Good Deed… Writing Thrillers with Megan Giddings

No Good Deed… Writing Thrillers with Megan Giddings


On Friday, October 30, Lakewood author Megan Giddings hosted a thrilling edition of our Friday Night Salon Series.

Prompt #1

In Lakewood, I had the main character, Lena, write several letters to her best friend, Tanya to talk about the book’s events. I want you to begin a story by having a character write one letter to another character. Think about how you’ll create a voice, a world, and a connection with a reader all through this letter.

Prompt #2

When I wrote Lakewood, one thing that was the most fun for me was writing different experiments that Lena has to take part in. Write your own outlandish research study experiment, try to make it as detailed as possible, and think about what a reader could learn from a character who does this.

Prompt #3

How an object can help you create a character. Choose something that is seemingly small that belongs to the character you created in prompt 1. It could be something like a bag or a T-shirt or even a pen. We’re going to write three paragraphs. Each paragraph should be a different important moment in your character’s life where the object is also present.

Megan Giddings is a visiting assistant professor at Michigan State University, a fiction editor at The Offing and a senior features editor at The Rumpus. Her work has been published recently in The Iowa Review, The Paris Review online, The Southeast Review and Story. In 2018, she won a Barbara Deming Memorial Grant for feminist fiction. Megan’s first novel, Lakewood, was published in March 2020 by Amistad.

Electric Literature called Lakewood “One of 55 Books by Women and Nonbinary Writers of Color to Read in 2020” and Lit Hub and The Millions listed it as one of the “Most Anticipated Books of 2020.” It is also highlighted as an Amazon Book of the Month Pick, Audible Editor’s Pick, Essence’s Pick, Glamour’s Must Read and Ms. Magazine’s Anticipated Feminist Read of 2020.

lakewood blurb

Our Friday Night Salons are a space for our community to learn from and write with incredible authors, poets, journalists and novelists. This event is free and open to the public because of generous viewers like you who power Girls Write Now’s cutting-edge programs. If you are able to donate, your tax-deductible gift will help make more events like this possible. Thank you!

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Celebrate Black History Month!

Each week throughout February, we’ll be sharing stories, resources and events from our community and our partners that honor Black art, writing, culture and history!

Life Resources and Events

At Girls Write Now, we work to challenge and change the systemic racism and inequality by breaking down the barriers of race and poverty to elevate the voices of girls and gender nonconforming youth who are too often not heard—or worse, silenced. From mental and emotional wellness to advocating for racial justice, we are here to support you individually and as a community through our robust programming. Check out our calendar to see our current offerings or visit our Life Resources page to support you during this time.

Friday Night Salon with Megan Reid & Wendi Gu

Join us on Friday, February 26, 6-7:30 PM ET for Picture Books 101: Writing for Kids When You Aren’t One with Megan Reid and Wendi Gu!

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Girls Write Now’s services are more essential than ever before—serving the hardest hit communities—and many of our young women and gender nonconforming youth have themselves become essential workers to help their families. They carry an enormous burden and face devastating loss, slipping further into poverty. To meet the need, we have enriched and extended our programs, leading the historical transition to virtual learning.

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Writing from our Future Leaders

Taking Our Place in History: the Girls Write Now 2020 Anthology was published with support from Dutton and Amazon Literary Partnership, available for purchase from McNally Jackson Books and anywhere ebooks are sold!

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Girls Write Now’s work has recently been featured by the National Endowment for the Arts, Time Out New York, NYXT and more!

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