A Cleaning Lady Coming Clean by Beth Uznis Johnson

Author Express

Beth Johnson always had dreams of writing a novel, but it wasn’t until her baby son Alex was home sick one day that Beth decided: this day job is too much. "I should write a novel so I can stay home to write and take care of Alex." It was a wildly unrealistic plan that took going back to school, keeping the day job, two decades, and hundreds of rejection letters. But hey, what writer has it easy? And who cares if Alex is 23 years old now and lives in his apartment? Getting Coming Clean published was worth the wait and the work. It was that labor of love that taught both her sons to never give up.

Beth feels like she found herself in writing and has published short stories and essays in some of the most reputable literary journals. Coming Clean is the fourth novel she drafted, but the first to find a home with Regal House Publishing. She has high hopes for her other projects and, at 52, sees no reason not to believe maybe someday she’ll be able to lose the day job and make a living as a creative writer.

Until then, she has found meaningful work at the University of Chicago, writing fundraising materials for the UChicago Medicine Biological Sciences Division.

Beth’s writing journey has included a low-residency MFA program, writing conferences and workshops, and prioritizing continuing education. Building a writing community kept her going—summer workshops, the AWP Conference, and the Women’s Fiction Writer’s Association daily write-ins. These connections made a difference when it came to finding a publisher.

Coming Clean was always Beth’s favorite project and the one she kept returning to. The idea of a cleaning lady having access to 5 homes worth of people’s stuff was too enticing to give up. The novel takes place over one week. Dawn cleans a different home each day. In the process, Dawn’s backstory unfolds. She is grieving the death of her fiancé, Terry, in a motorcycle crash. She lives in a trailer. She cleans houses for a living. This is not the life she pictured. But, Dawn changes and grows. Matthew’s photography project forces her to compare her life to her customers. She makes major decisions, but most importantly, comes clean about a secret she’s been keeping since Terry’s death.

You can learn more on her website, bethujohnson.com, and find her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @buzjohn (which sounds like a drunk man but is actually a condensed version of Beth Uznis Johnson).

Support your local bookstore & this podcast by getting your copy of Coming Clean at https://bookshop.org/a/90599/9781646034154

A little about today's host-

Kristi Leonard is a modern Renaissance woman deeply rooted in the book world. When she's not immersed in crafting novels, she's orchestrating writing retreats through her business, Writers in the Wild, or lending her voice to non-fiction audiobooks. She leads the Women’s Fiction Writers Association as the president of the board, and interviews her writer pals as one of the hosts of the Author Express Podcast. She will start querying her first book in 2024.

Beyond the realm of words, Kristi embraces the Florida sunshine by hiking with her writer-hiker group and leisurely walks on the beach. She and her husband juggle a couple side businesses and take turns sharing the couch with their goofy Golden-doodle, Maddie. Kristi enjoys travel adventures with her twin sister and living vicariously through her grown children. You can learn more about her and connect at: https://linktr.ee/kristileonard.

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