Episode 370: Behind the Cowriting Process of a Debut Author Duo — Interview with Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman

by Gabriela Pereira
published in Podcast

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman.

Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman have been great friends for over 20 years and are now co-authors. Their friendship has sustained them through the ups and downs of raising kids, juggling careers, and creating new family traditions. Girls with Bright Futures, their debut novel, out now, is a dark, suspenseful journey into the cutthroat world of college admissions.

Between the two of them, they have undergraduate degrees from Princeton University and the University of Michigan, a law degree from UC Berkeley, careers in marketing, non-profit leadership, and biotechnology law, two husbands, and four kids (three of whom have survived the college admissions process without a single parent landing in jail). 

In this episode Tracy, Wendy, and I discuss:

  • How focusing on mother-daughter relationships escalated the tension.
  • What they learned from keeping their cowriting process intentionally simple.
  • Why they made their alpha protagonist a bit of an outsider.

Plus, their #1 tip for writers.

About Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman

Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman have been great friends for over 20 years. Their friendship has sustained them through the ups and downs of raising kids, juggling careers, and creating new family traditions. Girls with Bright Futures, their debut novel, is a dark, suspenseful journey into the cutthroat world of college admissions out now from Sourcebooks. Between the two of them, they have undergraduate degrees from Princeton University and the University of Michigan, a law degree from UC Berkeley, careers in marketing, non-profit leadership, and biotechnology law, two husbands, and four kids (three of whom have survived the college admissions process without a single parent landing in jail).

You can find them on their website or follow them on Twitter and Instagram.

Girls With Bright Futures

Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman

Girls with Bright Futures features three mothers at an elite Seattle high school whose daughters are all vying for admission to Stanford. As the competition heats up, an attempt is made on one of the girls’ lives, sending this privileged community into a tailspin—until one might wonder if there’s any line these families wouldn’t cross to secure their daughters’ futures.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 370

(Right-click to download.)

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Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

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