Welcome!
Margaret Dilloway writes middle-grade and women’s fiction. Her first kids’ fantasy book, MOMOTARO: XANDER AND THE LOST ISLAND OF MONSTERS (Book 1) comes out in April 2016 from Disney-Hyperion.
“Today I get to reveal the cover, created by artist Choong Yoon. I’m so excited to bring you Xander and his friends.”–Margaret
Xander Miyamoto would rather do almost anything than listen to his sixth grade teacher, Mr. Stedman, drone on about weather disasters happening around the globe. If Xander could do stuff he’s good at instead, like draw comics and create computer programs, and if Lovey would stop harassing him for being half Asian, he might not be counting the minutes until the dismissal bell.
When spring break begins at last, Xander plans to spend it playing computer games with his best friend, Peyton. Xander’s father briefly distracts him with a comic book about some samurai warrior that pops out of a peach pit. Xander tosses it aside, but Peyton finds it more interesting.
Little does either boy know that the comic is a warning. They are about to be thrust into the biggest adventure of their lives-a journey wilder than any Xander has ever imagined, full of weird monsters even worse than Lovey. To win at this deadly serious game they will have to rely on their wits, courage, faith, and especially, each other. Maybe Xander should have listened to Mr Stedman about the weather after all. . . .
Pre-Order:
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SISTERS OF HEART AND SNOW is now available. The tale of a real-life 12th-century samurai woman comes to life when modern sisters Drew and Rachel Snow discover the book hidden in their mother’s house. The saga of love and loss inspires their own lives and heals their relationships.
Kirkus: “As they embark on this project together, burdened by years of conflict, hurt feelings and an impossible desire to know more about their mysterious mother, Drew and Rachel discover, in each other and in themselves, a power they didn’t know they had—a power to heal, to forgive and become sisters once again. Alternating with Rachel and Drew’s story is the story of Tomoe Gozen and her unlikely friendship with her lover’s wife, Yamabuki. In the hands of a less experienced novelist, this format might have become trite, but the two narratives don’t draw obvious parallels. The ways in which Rachel and Drew learn from Tomoe and Yamabuki and apply those lessons to their own lives are unexpected and ultimately satisfying. In this enjoyable novel, imperfect and at times unlikable women become lovable.”
Available at IndieBound, Amazon, Barnes and Noble
An eBook only edition, THE TALE OF THE WARRIOR GEISHA, will be available this fall, telling the historical part of the story. This is a unique standalone book.
Now Available in Paperback: The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns
WINNER OF BEST WOMEN’S FICTION AWARD, the American Library Association’s Literary Tastes Reading List
“Book-club alert! Dilloway’s exquisite little novel, about a biology teacher who breeds roses so she won’t have to think about her kidney disease, brims with all the heart-tugging appeal of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.”– Entertainment Weekly
“This radiant debut pays moving tribute to the power of forgiveness.”– People Magazine, 4 Stars
A 2011 John Gardner Fiction Book Award Finalist
Read the first two chapters of How to Be an American Housewife: Housewife Excerpt
Why is your blog called,”American Housewife?”
It comes from the title of my first novel How to Be an American Housewife. It’s sort of an ironic title, since neither character can be a real, idealized, “American housewife.” The more I thought about it, the more I realized– a perfect American Housewife is an unattainable myth.
The word “housewife” holds negative connotations. Like you’re kept, and your husband’s so well off you can sit around and eat chocolates and work out all day. Like you’re not a real person. If somebody asks, “What do you do?” at a party, and you say,”I’m a housewife (or stay at home mom),” they’re likely to turn away. But that’s not what the word means to me, nor is it what it meant to my mother.
I wanted to reclaim the word “housewife” for myself. I don’t want it to solely belong to the socialites on Bravo TV anymore. I’m a writer, I have opinions, I am married, I have kids, I cook, I make things, I read. I care about everything too much. I read the comics before I read the news. I have a green thumb on one hand and a black thumb on the other. I am grateful for everything I have. I am the combination of a coolly vengeful samurai and a quick-tempered Irish hooligan.
So, stay a while. Read some of my stories on my blog. Check out my novels, where you’ll find out more about me than anywhere else in the world.
Welcome!
Buy the books at Your Local Indie, Amazon, Barnes and Noble; or look for it at your local bookstore or Costco.
My work’s also included in these books:
An essay about our super wonky first year of marriage, back when my husband was in the Ranger Battalion.
A story that takes place in Hawaii. I got the idea for it when I saw the doppelganger for my husband 20 years ago sitting outside a fancy shop, reading a philosophy book and begging for spare change. I thought I’d time traveled.
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