My mother had never told me or my siblings that any of her family had been placed in an orphanage. The reason for that was even more surprising, and I thought, “This is too good a story for it not to be written. And I’m the writer in the family, so it’s up to me.”

Francine Falk-Allen – 2 November 2024

The Back Flap

Based on a true story, A Wolff in the Family is a riveting saga of prejudice, passion, and revenge, perfect for fans of Kristin Hannah’s The Four Winds. What mysterious scandals led a father to abandon the youngest of his children—and for the elder siblings to keep their shame secret for eighty years?

Frank and Naomi Wolff were happily married in 1908. She was a Kansas farmgirl; he was a railroad engineer. She was excited to embark upon her role as wife and mother with a hardworking man, and in their early years together they made a life in thriving Ogden, Utah. Despite Frank’s almost-constant absence for his job riding the rails, which left pretty Naomi to raise their children virtually alone, their romantic relationship begat fourteen offspring in eighteen years. Like other lower-middle-class women, Naomi’s life was consumed with caring for her brood, who became helpers as soon as they could fold a diaper—and who, by and by, were required to attend the school of hard knocks as much as public schools. Affection and struggle endured within the family, crowded into a humble house. Despite the respite of occasional family train trips across the plains, the marriage ultimately faced exceptional challenges, just before the Depression era began.

About the book

What is the book about?

A Wolff in the Family is based on a true story from my family’s history; some scandals that took place around 1930 in Utah and other western states.

When did you start writing the book?

I started doing research for it around 2001 or 2002 but didn’t actually start it in book form until 2012… and again put it aside until 2015, since I was working on two other books first. I did outlines and a lot of detailed research for it in 2002, and I started working on the writing of the story regularly and seriously in January, 2023, after I had fully launched my second book and taken a break!

How long did it take you to write it?

Writing at what was for me breakneck speed, I had my first draft in about six or seven months, using the outline and research I’d done the year before. Then my editor and I passed it back and forth for two more months, revising it. After turning it in to my publisher, it went through a few more proofreads and revisions (on my part and theirs) and we landed on the final final final on July 15, 2024. I guess you could say it took me two years to write it, although that was not on a daily basis.

Where did you get the idea from?

I was at a memorial service for an uncle and while eating lunch afterward with an aunt, she casually said, “When we were in the orphanage…” and my jaw dropped to the floor. My mother had never told me or my siblings that any of her family had been placed in an orphanage. The reason for that was even more surprising, and I thought, “This is too good a story for it not to be written. And I’m the writer in the family, so it’s up to me.”

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

There were a lot of parts of the book that were definitely work to write, either emotionally, or in working to make the story unfold rather like a mystery book, hinting at issues so that the reader would be intrigued and want to read on. I don’t know as that was so much a struggle as a challenge, but there were a couple of parts of the book where I cried when writing it. I identified with the way I created my grandmother’s personality, and I thought I knew some of the pain she may have gone through. I was probably a bit idealistic in my vision of who she was! Oh, and my editor taught me the concept of point of view, wherein you must keep each section from one character’s point of view. For instance, you can’t reveal someone’s thoughts if it’s not their passage! You can have them say or do something, but you can’t “mind hop.” That was new to me, and I did struggle with that a bit initially until I got the hang of it. Now I notice it when other writers don’t follow that rule!

What came easily?

I had learned to write dialogue and scenes in my first book, which was a memoir. So, I knew that these aspects would make the book more colorful and relatable. It was fun to imagine the conversations; I knew how my mother spoke, which was rather folksy; she was raised in Kansas and Utah in the early twentieth century. I used the way she and my aunts and uncles spoke as a model. And that was pretty easy.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

Almost none of my characters are fully fictitious! They are nearly all based on the actual people I knew from the family, except my grandmother, her mother and a few of the rest of the family I never met. Plus, people like shopkeepers, doctors, judges, boarding house matrons and so on. I based those on what I would consider typical of those professions, but with conversational styles from that early era.

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

I’m a big fan of Louise Erdrich. I once had the opportunity to ask her how much her stories were factual, because she also bases them on family history. She said that, for instance, there was a story about nine Native American men being stuck in a cabin in the winter for months, or maybe just at least a month; I’ve forgotten. She simply imagined what that would have been like, all those smelly men sleeping under the same blankets, and took off from there. I also very much like Dave Eggers, who was kind enough to give me some good advice several years ago, and Barbara Kingsolver… Elizabeth Strout… I like authors who tell a story directly and make their characters come alive by their speech, actions and thoughts. I become uninterested when an author says, “He was the kind of person who did this…” unless the author is having his character say that! I am not a big fan of flowery writing… recently a friend loaned me a book wherein the author described a character’s lips as like two tangerine slices. I thought, “What the heck? That is so distracting!” You might remember it, but when I saw two fruit slices on the woman’s face, I lost the story line.

Do you have a target reader?

Older women read more books than any other demographic, so I always have them in mind. But for this book, anyone who is interested in early twentieth century history and lifestyles, and the difficulties women faced in just managing being mothers will find this an engaging story. Some of my beta readers said that it made them grateful for the way we live today, and that women’s lives are not as limited as they were one hundred years ago. I think given that the book has a lot of domesticity that it’s possible it may appeal to more women than men, but two men I know who read my early drafts loved it.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

Gosh, I don’t think it’s anything technical or mysterious. I just sit down when I have time; I usually have a goal of some kind, such as “Today I need to go over my outline and make sure I led up to the adoption chapter with that one conversation I wanted to fit in” or perhaps it’s just sit down and think about what should be next, and start writing. I do think it’s really helpful to have an outline and more or less follow it. But for my first book I wrote my first draft and afterward wrote a synopsis/outline!

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

For this book, I definitely needed and worked from an outline. I had researched where people were through census records and genealogical records and wanted it to be as truthful as was possible, given a lot of it was going to be from my conjecture. It really helped a lot to have a definite chronology to lead the story. In my case, each chapter was about four or five sentences; some only three, and some a full paragraph.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

I do a little bit of editing as I go if I rethink a passage, but it’s always good to read the entire manuscript at once, so I print it out and make corrections in red for the first pass. After that, I may print it again or revise things when I am reading the manuscript on the computer.

Did you hire a professional editor?

I did hire a professional editor, and she is worth every penny. She has done either developmental or copy edits or both on all three of my books. Krissa Lagos, editor extraordinaire!

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

I don’t usually listen to music, unless I am out in the world someplace where there is a lot of distraction, such as a copy shop or some other public venue. Because I used to sing, when I hear the words to a song I know, it makes me want to sing along, and I then find it hard to concentrate on my writing. Sometimes it’s fun but it often pulls me away from the mood of the piece I’m working on. I like music on, however, when I do my pool workouts; I listen to 1960’s through 90’s rock and roll mostly, no heavy metal. Doing something physical to music is fun for me.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

I did not submit to agents. I took a couple of workshops given by agents, I looked up many, many agents and what kind of genres they like, and looked especially for memoir interest when I wrote my first book. But when an agent I was acquainted with told me that it generally takes at least two years to land a book with a publisher, and other authors who write well told me that their agent was not able to place their books even after a couple of years, I thought, I think this may not be the route I want to take. Even though Dave Eggers had personally told me to find an agent! (Sorry Dave.)

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

I had been to a workshop/ lecture given by Anne Lamott, a local author I had met a few times and whose work I had read. She said if she had it to do over again, she would not go with a big guns traditional publisher. She related, “If you don’t have another book in the works as soon as you finish the one they are publishing, you will suddenly find you’re not their girlfriend anymore.” Plus, editing, title and cover are all up to the publisher, with little final say from the author. Then I went to a presentation by Brooke Warner, publisher for She Writes Press. She had been working for traditional presses as an editor and asset procurement person. A book came across her desk that was really well written, but was an unusual topic the publisher didn’t want. Then they sent her a manuscript that was essentially about makeup, poorly written, but had celebrity connections. They told her to offer the author $70,000 and land the book. She did, and then she quit and started She Writes Press. She felt that a hybrid press that specifically published women authors, who often were rejected by traditional publishers, would serve a large segment of writers. I liked what she said and signed on once I had my first book, my memoir, partially finished. Although it has cost me some significant money, I get 60% of the wholesale amount and if I push the books myself, they still sell, several years after publication. I know that not everyone would be able to afford this, but they do offer scholarships to women of color, and for me, as a retired woman, this felt like my life’s work getting out there in the world, something that people might deeply enjoy.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

All three were professionally done, but I supplied the photos for both my first book, my memoir, and this current historical novel. And I worked closely with the publisher who supplied me with the possible covers, many of which I rejected on the second and third books, until we landed on what really hit a strong compatibility with the content of the books.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

I have both; I have hired a publicist each time I brought out a book, and they manage most of the initial promotion and I take over after the book has been in stores for a month or two. It is not easy to do the promo on one’s own, and I can’t say I’m 100% successful. Some of it is fun, and some of the push just feels like obligatory work, until I land a speaking engagement or a nice interview, or a book club interest. Then I am elated and enjoy the interaction very much.  Authors are generally mostly introverts, so we’re not great, usually, at tooting our own horns.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

Save up your pennies! I have used much of my Social Security income to publish these books because my husband is happy to support me, and we also have good savings. It feels more valuable than taking a vacation in some respects! Check out your different options; there is an organization called ALLI that rates various indie presses and hybrid publishers that you may find helpful. Some provide a great deal of guidance, like She Writes Press, and some… well, I’ve heard from several authors that they “don’t do that much.” You might not get referred to an excellent editor, or the options you get for covers may be really limited and unimaginative. So, you need to do your research before you decide on with whom to work.

About You

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Yuba City, California, a small town north of Sacramento in the valley, surrounded at that time by peach and almond orchards. So, in writing A Wolff in the Family, I knew a bit of how farmers and the people who live in small towns thought and spoke and what their lifestyles were, although that was in the 1950’s and 60’s, not the 1930’s.

Where do you live now?

I live in San Rafael, California, just a few minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

What would you like readers to know about you?

I’m 76 and have a lot of life experience. I hope that as I’ve matured, I’ve learned to be more compassionate and that I may have brought that to the way I developed the characters in my novel. Given that I spend a lot of time managing the effects of Post-Polio, I need to also manage what I spend my time doing to avoid fatigue. I intend that along with my existing books and any writing I continue to do, I spend as much time as possible with close friends and relatives and hear as much live music and eat as much good food as I can fit in, in these late life years! Right now, my husband and I are trying to train our kitten, Cleo, not to nip. She’s a firecracker, but sweet. We may have bitten off more than we can chew but we’re hanging in there.

What are you working on now?

Right now, I am just concentrating on interviews and articles I’ve been assigned by my publicist to promote A Wolff in the Family. I’m additionally making all the arrangements for my book launch party and zoom on October 2. It will be part presentation, part party! After the book is well on its way, I intend to write a short story about my father’s ancestors’ immigration from southeastern Ireland to the northeastern United States. I may write a series of short stories based upon the Allen or the patriarchal side of my ancestors.

End of Interview:

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