Meet Penelope
Penelope writes upmarket Women’s Fiction enshrouded in Southern Gothic motifs. She's always been a story teller, forever has and will continue to view life as a lovingly worn book filled with on-going narratives about the here and hereafter, its pages smudged and tattered from her constantly jumping into the book's countless adventures and journeys.
As a child, Penelope entertained—and usually scared—her brother and sisters with bedtime tales of ghosts, trolls, fairies, and monsters. In summer camp she kept her adolescent tent-mates up at night as she spun yarns of terror that often left them sleeping with the lights on. She conjured up fairy stories about favorite dolls and My Little Ponies for her daughters and now weaves wild myths of magic Hot Wheels cars and Monster Trucks for her 5-year-old grandson.
While she enjoys many different types of fiction, Penelope especially loves Gothic elements in novels. The first stories she learned before she could read were fairytales, whose Gothic elements she internalized long before she understood them; the first adult novel she read as a child was the timeless Jane Eyre, one of the finest examples of Gothic literature ever written; as an adolescent, she read Edgar Allen Poe, and in High School, she discovered William Faulkner, whose works are the epitome of true Southern Gothic. So, she grew up charmed -- and often beguiled -- by mysterious houses, dark secrets, generational trauma, hidden rooms, spiritual and physical decay, ghosts, broken hearts, lost causes, talking crows, and all too often, uncertain endings.
Night Mirrors is Penelope's debut novel, and encompasses all of the above Gothic elements with the exception of talking crows. She's currently writing a second upmarket Southern Gothic novel, this one set in the first half of rural 20th century Louisiana.
Join me on my publishing journey
I completed Night Mirrors near the end of 2025, and like many debut authors, I’ve been trying the traditional publishing route—researching literary agencies, writing and re-writing my query package, tailoring each one sent to each specific agent in the best way possible, then hoping and praying as I sent each query out into the world. Still, I knew traditional publishing had changed, so I considered self-publishing early on. The problem was, I didn’t know where to begin. Despite all the books, articles, reddit posts, and Substack notes available, and despite all the “learn from me” hooks that popped up in my email and social media feeds, I was at a loss. I even tried a few free offers designed to hook me into a paid contract but always left those lessons disappointed.
Luckily, I stumbled across an online conference, InkersCon 2026. (NOTE: this is not an affiliate link. I receive no payments from any links to a business, artist, author, or service I place on my website. I only want to earn money selling my books, and maybe one day on Substack subscriptions, but I love sharing things I find helpful).
With almost two weeks of online classes and round table discussions covering marketing, advertising, business, and craft, I left inspired AND determined to set a hard deadline for when I would self-publish.
After reviewing my self-publishing budget, I contracted with an author management service I met through the conference. I can be the author, the visionary, the marketer, and the worker-bee required to self-publish, but I needed help with managing those and all the other roles self-publishing entails. And, without a doubt, I needed expert guidance with regards to printing and distributing. I’m a month into my contract and happy with the arrangement so far. I’ll keep you all updated on my progress but not name the company until after our work together is complete. At that time, I will post an honest and detailed review.
I’m considering turning my self-publishing quest into a blog category, so please contact me to let me know if that interests you.
Thank you for being part of my grand adventure.
~ Penelope
For writers who never gave up
When I start with that moment I set pen to paper to compose the opening scene of Night Mirrors (November 1995) and then count the years until I wrote my novel’s closing paragraph (October 2025) … well, it took almost 3 decades for me to complete this story inscribed forever on my heart.
Don’t be like me. Or, rather, be like me when it comes to never giving up on your writing no matter how much you self-sabotage, but please don’t take decades to achieve your own writing dream. Oh, I had reasons—working full-time while wrangling our daughters through adolescence and their teen years (usually while my husband was on the road for weeks at a time due to work) Moving twice, changing jobs, losing a job when the internet bubble collapsed, scrambling to help keep us afloat. Dealing with family drama. Dealing with soul-wrenching tragedy. Refusing to deal with my fear of failure, not to mention refusing to deal with other issues. And so on….
We all have reasons; we all have excuses; we all self-sabotage. Unfortunately, we writers then tend to blame and shame ourselves instead of finding new ways to nurture our writing.
I chuckle a bit at the thought of any agent I’ve queried reading this. And some will; after all, they usually ask for a link to my website. So here I am, 74 years old with a debut novel in one hand and a scary history of time management (or so it would seem to any agent or publisher) on the other. Now that looks like a risk, even to me.
But I instantly shrug it off. I believe in my novel. I believe in myself. I believe in the writing process. I’m over beating myself up about not writing instead of just writing. And I can’t be the only one.
So, I’m currently constructing both a special website and a Substack publication for writers who struggle with completing their work, although all writers will be welcome. No coaching, no “Buy my tried-and-true method,” or anything like that. The website will be a blog about writing and not writing along with (non-affiliate) links to writing resources that helped push me across the finish line. The Substack will be much the same, although I will one day turn on paid subscriptions for essays and other short pieces. These are being built here and there as I both continue to pitch Night Mirrors to agents but also work towards self-publishing. I want to create what in my heart I call “A Community of Us,” those of us who, no matter what, are still writing.
Let’s get together soon. I’ll keep you updated in my newsletter,
I’m still writing, and you should be too!
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Books that shaped my love of storytelling
Like all writers, what I've read across the long years of my life helped nourish the storyteller in me.
Jane Eyre
My childhood introduction to both Women's Fiction and the Gothic Novel
The African Queen
A classic enemies to friends and more set against the backdrop of WWI
To Kill A Mockingbird
When the arc of the moral universe bends towards injustice.
As I Lay Dying
My high school drama teacher handed me this novel. It uses 15 different characters across 59 chapters to recount an odyssey of family, decay and death.
The Prince of Tides
A Southern Gothic tale of generational trauma and the power of family.
Lonesome Dove
An unforgetable grand adventure of honor, true friendship, love, and heartbreak. IYKYK
Stay updated with Penelope's latest musings.
hello@penelopeembry.com
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