When not writing fiction, Charlotte teaches writing in England, the south of France, and around the Pacific Northwest. She also coaches writers privately. She is Director Emeritus and a current mentor at the Writer's Loft, a certificate-in-writing program at Middle Tennessee State University. She earned her MFA in creative writing from Spalding University and is the author of The Bonne Chance Bakery and Emma Jean’s Bad Behavior.

Charlotte lives with her husband in Portland, Oregon, in a multi-generational home that is by turns boisterous and exuberant but seldom quiet. She believes no breakfast is complete without a crossword puzzle to work and no Happy Hour can actually be happy without popcorn. (Wine goes without saying.) Despite frequent stays in France, she regularly fractures the language. She is, however, fluent in Carney. Charlotte writes stories about places you long to live filled with people you’d love to know.

Like always, I’m going to ask some silly questions to warm up, then we’ll get to the writer-ly, author-y part. Here we go!

Your username on Instagram is @wordstrumpet. I’ve always wanted to know: Where did “wordstrumpet” come from?
I started a blog on writing waaaaay back in the day—I think it was 2007, the golden days of blogging. There was a woman writing a knitting blog then and her handle was the Yarn Harlot. I loved that implication so came up with wordstrumpet. For a long time, my tag line, was wanton for words. So yes, the handle is meant to be word strumpet, the latter being a wonderful but underused word. (The dictionary calls it a “dated” word, so for the uninitiated it means essentially a female prostitute or a woman who has many relationships.) People often think it means words trumpet and that’s okay, too, so I don’t correct them. Besides, it’s too complicated to explain the strumpet thing.

I’ve read it both ways over the years we’ve worked together, and always wondered. Now I know the definitive answer. Speaking of knowing things, your newsletter often gives the exact advice I need to hear at that moment: Are you a mind reader?
I love it when people say this! And even though I don’t have ESP, I try to stay alert to what my clients and writer friends are talking about all week as I think about my newsletter. So, really, I’ve got this zeitgeist magic going—I pluck my topics from the air above all the writers’ heads. Seriously, it often amazes me how many of my writers struggle with the same issues at the same time.

Is it true that your 2022 novel, The Bonne Chance Bakery, is directly responsible for the macaron renaissance (And should we trademark the word “Macaronissance”)?
Hahaha, I love it! One of my clients is a trademark attorney, maybe I should consult him? Seriously, I’m embarrassed to admit that the first time I had a macaron was in France in 2013. Everyone else seems to have known about macarons all their lives. But not me. I fell instantly in love with them and the idea for the novel came shortly after I returned home.

Yummm…French macarons… (surreptitiously wipes drool away)… sorry, where was I?
If aliens landed on Earth, which of your characters would you send to greet them?Madeleine, from the afore-mentioned Bonne Chance Bakery. Because she is sweet and charming but make no mistake about it, she’s got a core of steel. If those ETs try anything bad, she’ll be all over them.

If you could be best friends with any fictional character, who would it be and why?
Emma Jean, from Emma Jean’s Bad Behavior. Because she says what she thinks and too bad if you don’t like it. And she’s got an adventurous spirit. Plus, she’s a writer. And writer friends are the best!

Which song is stuck in your head right now?
Once Upon a Poolside, by The National, because believe it or not my ten-year-old granddaughter has requested to learn it in her piano lessons. She and I share a love of the The National, among many other things.

Love that! You and I bonded over The National, too (their song “Start a War” is where my novel’s title comes from). On the topic of love…it’s almost Valentine’s Day. Describe your perfect date. And no fair saying “April 25th”.  At the risk of sounding hopelessly déclassé, my husband and I love nothing better than a good night out at a rollicking brewpub. Fortunately, we have lots of them here in Portland!

I will toast to that! And that’s a great place to end our silliness and move on to the more serious writing questions:

When did you start writing? And how/when did you make the transition from writing nonfiction to Women’s Fiction?
I’ve been writing since I was a young child. I used to write dreadful poems and illustrate them with even more dreadful drawings. (All three of my sisters got the drawing gene, but I didn’t.) Doing my undergrad, I figured out I could actually get a degree in writing, so I majored in journalism.  After graduation, I accidentally started a family so I wrote free-lance articles for a long time. But I got to the point where I wished that one of my feature subjects had said something more interesting and the temptation to edit their quotes was strong. I never did it, though—I started writing dialogue for fictional characters instead. And then that was all I wanted to do!

After a bout with a strange, lingering illness I decided I better get serious about what I really wanted in life—and that was writing fiction. At the same time, I learned about the low-residency MFA programs that were springing up and applied to the brand-new one at Spalding. (Now the Sena Jeter Naslund-Karen Mann School of Writing.) Two years of heaven, when my main focus was indeed writing fiction. And we had a lot of fun at the residencies as well. Writers are the best companions!

What made you want to become a writing coach?
My MFA at Spalding had a teaching component and while I’d never considered teaching, I learned I enjoyed it. I was hired in an adjunct position for a certificate program at Middle Tennessee State University. The program was modeled on the low-residency MFA, which entailed students sending packets of writing which I critiqued. Becoming a writing coach was a natural outgrowth of this. And I have to say, it’s the best career I could ever have stumbled into. I love it—love the back and forth with writers as we discuss and brainstorm how to make their stories work better. It’s magical to get to spend so much time in story land.

What is your biggest writing challenge?
Finding balance—time to write my own novels while also reading and commenting on my clients’ work.

You host annual writing retreats in the South of France. What inspires you most about writing abroad?
When you get yourself out of your routine, you see things differently. Travel also sometimes puts you in uncomfortable positions, and let’s face it, most of us live pretty comfortable lives these days. And also, committing to taking a week to write and learn results in huge leaps forward!

Besides France, I’m lucky enough to also offer retreats in England and for the first time this year, Italy. Since I’ve never been to Italy before, I’m looking forward to new challenges.

You write about women who are coming to terms with themselves and their relationships. Which comes first in your process, the character, or the inciting incident?Ooh good question. My first reaction is character! Of course! Because writing fiction is all about character. But when I stop to ponder, it’s often a simultaneous thing. The character and her problem—the inciting incident—come at the same time. And, BTW, thank you for that great description of the themes in my work.

Awww… (blushes). You’re welcome! You call your weekly Substacks “love letters.” Why?
I started that a few years ago because they do feel like love letters from me to my readers. A love letter should be supportive and encouraging to the one you love, and that is what I attempt to do each week—while urging writers to keep getting to the page. One of my loyal readers calls the letters “non-religious Sunday homilies” and I like that and try to live up to it every Sunday.

What are you currently reading?  
I’m reading The Five-Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand. I always resist her work—she’s what I call a brand-name writer because she’s all in on the current popular culture stuff—but then she draws me in. The woman is a master, no doubt about it.  And I love the Nantucket setting.

What are you working on right now?
I am editing a novel called The Matchmaker’s Temptation, which is the first in a series set in a charming (of course) small town in Oregon wine country. There’s a family of rich brothers (again, of course) and a bunch of other quirky characters. It will be out sometime this spring. I’m also drafting a stand-alone novel about a designer who finds her husband in an indelicate position with her assistant and the resulting life changes with which she must reckon.

This is the first time I’ve attempted to work on two projects simultaneously. It’s a stretch, but I’m enjoying it.

That’s amazing! Best of luck - I know I cannot wait to read both!
Finally, where can people find you? 
The best place to find me is on my Substack: https://wordstrumpet.substack.com/

My website is https://www.charlotterainsdixonauthor.com/ but it is woefully out of date and I keep writing instead of working on it. 

Oh, I suppose we’ll forgive you! I hope everyone will sign up for your wonderful, often-prescient weekly love letters. Thank you, Charlotte for being here today!!!

Thank you, Joanna, for these fun questions!