Today we’d like to introduce you to Carolyn McBride.
Carolyn, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m actually a native Washingtonian, born at George Washington University Hospital and raised in Falls Church, Virginia. I now have homes in Woodbridge, Virginia, and in Palm Beach County, Florida. My interest in writing started as a passion for reading, and I devoured books nearly from the time I learned to hold one. When I reached school-age, I realized I didn’t struggle to put words on a page like many of my classmates. Working in the school library in elementary school, I dreamed of seeing my name on a book cover.
After receiving a Bachelor’s degree in English from the College of William and Mary, I spent the first 13 years of my professional life at the National Geographic Society, where I worked as a writer and editor on both the travel and children’s magazines. I even wrote a column called Electronic Explorer to teach people how to use the internet to travel! As the World Wide Web became mainstream, I was fascinated by putting words online, and my career went in a different direction. In the next phase, I produced websites and intranets and focused on ways to communicate and collaborate online.
For many years, I rode the wave of growth in technology. Writing non-fiction was still an element of every job I held, telling stories about companies through engaging websites, blogs, and white papers and transforming complex technical topics into compelling content to foster client engagement, end user adoption, and search engine optimization. But my first love was novels. Deep inside, I wanted to write fiction, but for the longest time I didn’t think I had a story to tell. I just hadn’t learned how to tap into that creative well inside all of us.
During the pandemic at what seemed to be the pinnacle of my corporate career, I was laid off from professional life, along with many other people. Fortunately, with my daughter launched in life, I was able to take some time to rethink my next phase before jumping into another full-time job. That time in 2020 was like a life reboot. I started doing freelance copywriting for government consulting firms, and on a whim, I enrolled in a book incubator program through Georgetown University. “Write a Book in a Semester” was the hook, and the program was looking for more fiction projects.
To my surprise, I wrote more than 90K words in three months, and that was just the beginning. Within two years, I’d formed my own independent publishing company, Make Waves Press, and published two books. My debut novel, The Cicada Spring, received the Silver Award for Best Audiobook – Fiction from the Independent Book Publishers Association in 2025. Then at 57, I decided to pursue a master’s degree and recently graduated with an MFA in fiction writing from Lindenwood University. I also volunteer my time to inspire and support other local writers in the DMV as president of the 130-member Northern Virginia Writers Club.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned has been that within your struggles, new potential is bubbling, trying to find its way to the surface. As painful as it can be when you’re walking through the darkness, the deepest roots of resilience drink from hardship. I had experienced a number of “life quakes” that had rocked the foundation of my life, from losing my mother and job to an unexpected divorce. Healing just wasn’t coming, and that’s when I sat down to write my first novel, after I’d exhausted every other avenue.
What I discovered is that I could put my pain into my characters and hand it off to them, releasing it as my burden to carry any longer. While I didn’t write a memoir and the plot is different from my life story, the experiences are universal: becoming an empty nester, losing a parent, being betrayed by a spouse or friend. The transformational journey of my main character, Katie, is similar to mine in that she finds purpose again, this time within herself.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
In my Potomac Shores series, I created a motley crew called the Beach Bonfire Babes who navigate the complexities of midlife together against the inviting backdrop of the Potomac River and in the little town of Occoquan, Virginia, I immerse my characters in that sweet spot in our lives, the halftime period when our children are starting to lead their own lives, our careers are maturing, and our parents are aging, or even gone. It’s a time when we are faced with the sum of our decisions in the first half and wonder whether the next half is going to bring us both the sustenance and fulfillment of a life well lived…and well loved.
The Cicada Spring takes readers on a poignant journey of second chances and resilience through the eyes of a female boat captain, finding solace and strength on the shores of the Potomac River. Katie’s story continues in Santa Overboard, a holiday romcom in which she navigates life’s choppy seas to kick off Occoquan’s holiday festival and hopefully get her perfect Christmas gift: a second chance at a forever love.
All of my novels, including the draft of my third novel, feature women at the helm of their own boats and ultimately their own lives, reviving dreams, rewriting their stories, and discovering the strength that lies within.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
You can be “just starting out” at any age. It may sound like a cliché, but it’s never too late to pursue your dreams. “Coming of age” isn’t just for the young. In fact, I call this “coming-of-MIDDLE-age,” that calling at midlife to go after your dreams before time runs out. Answer it!
For the first time in my adult life, I put the time and energy I’d been investing in other companies—other people’s dreams—into myself. I thought I was burned OUT. In reality, the fire inside me hadn’t gone out, it just needed different kindling.
In reawakening my love for learning and pursuing a buried passion, I found my fountain of youth. We all have one, and it is filled by refreshing your vision.
If you ever doubt whether it’s too late for a second chance, don’t be afraid to turn that page and write your next chapter. Before you know it, you’ll have a whole book (maybe more than one!) of experiences, knowledge, and magical moments and amazing connections in your hand.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.carolynmcbride.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolynmcbridewriter/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cwixson/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@carolynmcbride
- Other: https://youtu.be/S-Pmk-YB_V4, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D22T8CK8/, and http://www.northernvirginiawriters.org
