An Unlikely Prospect Archives - Shelley Blanton-Stroud

An outsider/imposter loves her interview

Shelley Admin2025-08-18T23:45:16+00:00An Unlikely Prospect, AUTHOR, Book Event, Book launch, Fact and fiction, historical fiction|

I was a little verklempt when I got the print edition of the San Francisco Chronicle and found Allison Arieff's [...]

Fan-girling the SF Chronicle

Shelley Admin2025-08-15T20:15:53+00:00An Unlikely Prospect, Fact and fiction, historical fiction, historical thriller, Uncategorized|

I've always had the San Francisco Chronicle on my mind as I've written my four books. In my fictional world, [...]

History and mystery, like peanut butter and chocolate

Shelley Admin2025-08-05T00:22:18+00:00#amwriting, advice, An Unlikely Prospect, historical fiction, historical thriller, How to write historical fiction|

I've always thought history and mystery go very naturally together. When I read them both, I'm always after revelation. That's [...]

You’re invited–Launch Events!

Shelley Admin2025-09-08T22:30:59+00:00An Unlikely Prospect, AUTHOR, Book Event, Book launch, Book Passage, Capital Books, CapRadio, events, Fact and fiction, historical fiction, Indie Bookstores, Launch|

We're looking forward to a number of events to welcome An Unlikely Prospect to the shelves. I hope you can [...]

Women who make good trouble, August 20

Shelley Admin2025-08-04T14:26:22+00:00#amwriting, An Unlikely Prospect, AUTHOR, Book Event, Book launch, feminist fiction|

I’ll be talking to the talented writers and close friends in my critique group—Ashley Sweeney, Gretchen Cherington, and Debra Thomas—on [...]

“A coterie of lively, colorful women”

Shelley Admin2025-07-09T20:56:18+00:00An Unlikely Prospect, Fact and fiction, feminist fiction, historical fiction, Review|

Thank you BookLife. I appreciate a review that really gets the book.

An Unlikely Prospect is a prospect after all

Shelley Admin2025-06-29T16:49:56+00:00American Fiction Award, An Unlikely Prospect, Award, historical fiction, Women's Fiction|

I did quite a happy dance around the desk when I got the news that An Unlikely Prospect was a [...]

Fact, meet fiction

Shelley Admin2025-06-29T16:38:51+00:00#amwriting, An Unlikely Prospect, Historical Novel Society North America, HNSNA, How to write historical fiction, Presentism|

A few weeks ago I spoke with my audiobook narrator, April Doty, who asked to hear audio clips of An [...]

The imperfect human voice

Shelley Admin2025-06-09T16:09:17+00:00AI, An Unlikely Prospect, audiobook, AUTHOR, events, Uncategorized|

It was an odd-hour Zoom call—me at 1 p.m. in California, and my narrator April Doty at 10 p.m. in [...]

What happened?

Shelley Admin2025-06-07T23:34:15+00:00#amwriting, 2025, Akashic Books, An Unlikely Prospect|

My toddler grandson has a favorite question. He asks it about nearly everything: “What happened?” While I was visiting recently [...]