1--What is the title of your latest release?
IN DEFENSE OF GOOD WOMEN
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
A successful, small-town lawyer is court appointed to represent a seventeen-year-old minister’s daughter accused of hiding her pregnancy and drowning her newborn in the St. Clair River, the shipping channel between Ontario and Michigan. The girl denies being pregnant and giving birth and the lawyer must unravel the truth of the case. As she does, memories of her own life that she has suppressed are unearthed.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I lived on the banks of the St. Clair River for ten years and was always fascinated by Michigan’s proximity to Canada. I always knew that if I wrote a novel, the river would be a character in it. It plays a major role in my novel.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
I absolutely would. I practiced law in the area where my book is set. Although my style was different from Victoria’s, I always enjoyed spending time with female lawyers (who were few in number) who were brash, tough, and successful.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Successful, focused, vulnerable
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned much while writing this novel (my first). Mainly I spent a lot of time and energy polishing chapters before I had written the entire novel, which was wasted time. I wrote myself into corners and then had to begin again.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
Originally, I edited as I drafted but ultimately edited the entire manuscript when it was finished.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Sea salt caramel frozen yogurt with chocolate sprinkles.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I mainly sit in a flowery overstuffed corner chair next to my living room fireplace as I write in longhand first. My laptop is on a small, built-in desk in an upstairs loft. There’s an old sofa in the room and bookshelves with many other books, read and unread.
10--Who is an author you admire?
There are many: Julia Alvarez, Carol Shields, Chris Bohjalian, early Barbara Kingsolver, Niall Williams, Sue Monk Kidd, and Geraldine Brooks
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Unless by Carol Shields. I’ve read it many times. There’s a parent-child conflict that’s extremely puzzling to the mother, many feminine insights brought out by the writer-mother, a mystery, and a political point of view the daughter teaches the mother by example. This book made me want to try writing a novel.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I had been seeking an agent for about two years without success. A friend, whose work I admire, had published two books through She Writes and had been a beta reader for my book. She encouraged me to submit my novel to Spark Press, which I did. They green-lighted my book with the condition that I have a sensitivity read, which I did through Salt and Sage. After passing that, I seriously pursued hybrid publishing.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
Literary fiction with a subtle social message.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
“The Way” starring Martin Sheen. It’s about a father who seeks to know his deceased, estranged son by walking the Camino de Santiago, where his son died. He wants to distribute his son’s ashes at the end of the path. Along the way he connects with a series of characters, each of whom teaches him something about love and forgiveness.
15--What is your favorite season?
Autumn. I like the idea of hunkering down and spending more time with family. It’s a time of nesting, cooking soups and stews, and reading beside the fireplace.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
With my husband at a nice dinner after receiving birthday wishes from my stepchildren.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
The tv series “Ted Lasso”. I liked the clever plot and Ted’s repeated kindnesses to others in the face of antagonism. Some scenes shocked me but that was part of the attraction.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
French, particularly the simpler country dishes. Nothing too fancy or “saucy”.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Read, garden, bake or cook
20--What can readers expect from you next?
Maybe a sequel to IN DEFENSE OF GOOD WOMEN. I also am writing a lot of poetry as I’m in treatment for lymphoma and writing about it seems to calm me and yet lets me express my emotions.
A Novel
This debut novel shines a light on the dark subject of infanticide when a successful female criminal defense lawyer is ordered to defend a seventeen-year-old minister’s daughter charged with murder in the drowning death of her newborn child.
In Defense of Good Women is the story of Victoria Stephens, a successful, hard-nosed criminal defense attorney appointed by the court to represent a seventeen-year-old minister’s daughter charged with murder in the drowning death of her newborn child. Victoria faces a hostile community, a salivating press, an uncooperative client, but most of all, a nagging intuition that she should not be handling this case. Forced to delve into the psychology of neonaticide as she searches for a defense, Victoria discovers a link between this case and her own past which, once uncovered, leads her beyond the boundaries of not just her profession, but the law.
Thriller Legal [SparkPress, On Sale: June 10, 2025, Paperback / e-Book , ISBN: 9781684633180 / eISBN: 9781684633197]
Marilyn J. Zimmerman grew up and practiced law in a small downstate Michigan county for twenty years. When health issues forced her retirement, she and her husband built a home in Northern Michigan, where they currently reside. Marilyn enjoys cooking, gardening, writing poetry, reading, journaling, and she is learning to play the guitar. Marilyn is an Advanced, Certified Labyrinth Facilitator and currently serves on the Board of Veriditas, the non-profit organization that promotes labyrinths and their psycho-spiritual offerings. Marilyn enjoys the music and poetry of Indiana native Carrie Newcomer, and she is currently in treatments at the University of Michigan Cancer Center for her lymphoma. She is optimistic that her treatments will be successful.
In Defense of Good Women is Marilyn’s first novel.
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