Meet Pamela Norsworthy | Author of historical fiction

We had the good fortune of connecting with Pamela Norsworthy and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Pamela, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
As a writer, feedback along the way is vital. I’m working on my third historical novel and am so lucky to be part of a small and honest critique group. They tell the truth about what they see in the submissions we share and they do so in kind and constructive ways. At one meeting, we discussed a new character I’d introduced who would eventually go on to create some trouble. When one critique partner compared him to Snidely Whiplash (if you know, you know), I knew I’d given too much of him away–readers would be looking for the crisis he’d cause sooner than I would want them to. I had to pull back and rewrite. I had to reexamine what this character needed to do–what his motivation might be in order to keep him from being a flat villain. This is not giving in, exactly, but it is recognizing that retrenching might be required in order to go forward. My second book, THE FLORENTINE ENTANGLEMENT was published earlier this year. Midway through writing that one, I realized I had to completely change the structure of the novel in order to obscure a major plot point. It took me a year of writing to figure this out.

So for me, “giving up” means being willing to consider new approaches–not going down a fruitless literary road just because that’s where I originally planned to go. It’s letting go of lesser ideas to keep going with better, richer ones.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I have written all of my life–as a journalist, as a marketing and communications professional, as a PTA volunteer. Ten years ago, I had some time off and found myself in front of my computer one morning, fashioning a scene I saw in my mind’s eye–the evacuation of children from England’s cities at the cusp of World War Two. How would it have felt, I wondered, to send your child off on a train to a family you didn’t know, to keep them far from German bombs soon to fall? I explored how a mother might have felt, how the child might have fared. Then I turned to writing what I knew about my father, who’d been a POW in the war– the kind British families he had met outside his air base in England and the Germans he encountered in the prison camp. Within a few weeks, I had 100 pages filled with characters eager to tell their stories. So I had to keep going. My novel, WAR BONDS, was the result and earned a 2025 Georgia Author of the Year nomination for first novel.

But before all that, I sent out more than 100 query letters to agents and attended a dozen writer’s conferences hoping to get published. I met with agents and publishers who made promises in the room, then stopped returning emails. My experience is not unusual. But after four years of this, I got a publication deal.

If you’ve got an idea for a book, start with just a few notes on the page, Word pictures. Scenes. You don’t have to prepare a full outline before you write. Just start by exploring this place and these characters who are pestering you to get on the page. Then surround yourself with readers and writers and take their feedback. Find a book club or a critique group and ask them to read a chapter. Or a page. Or a paragraph. Then just listen to how it hits them. Don’t defend and explain. Simply take this precious feedback back to your desk…and revise.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
As a writer of historical fiction, Atlanta’s historical landmarks and museums are most compelling to me. The National Center for Civil and Human Rights, the MLK Birthplace, Old Ebenezer Baptist Church are the top places I make sure my visitors see. On our way home, we’d stop by R. Thomas on Peachtree (there’s a painting of Dr. King in the ladies room, by the way) for some unique Atlanta flavor.

To explore civil war history, we’d head to the Atlanta History Center to see the Cyclorama and learn about the Battle of Atlanta. Afterward, we’d enjoy a bite at Souper Jenny’s there in the Center. Then we’d stop by the Piece of Cake on Roswell Road and get some cupcakes.

The next day, we’d head to Vinings and climb to the top of Vinings Mountain to see the view General Sherman beheld before he laid siege to Atlanta in the Civil War, then wind our way down West Paces Ferry Road to follow the route the Union army took. For dinner, we’d double back to Soho in Vinings for unique cocktails and a quiet dinner.

The Carter Center would be next on the itinerary, as it seems many Americans are only now beginning to appreciate the character and contributions of this son of Georgia. We’d spend a full day at the Carter Center.

And if it’s summer, my friends and I would head to Truist Park to see the Braves, grabbing a bite at Goldberg’s Deli in the Battery before the game.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Shoutout to my family–my husband, Gray, my brother Jeff and my sister, Melanie, my children and their partners–who have supported my late-in-life writing career in countless ways.

And to my father, whose heroics as a bomber pilot in World War Two gave me the seeds for my first novel.

Website: https://www.pamelanorsworthywrites.com/

Instagram: @pamsstories

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