Shifting Focus from Professional Career to Fiction Writing

Case Study

Stacy Windahl, When the Season Ends

Stacy Windahl remembers her freshman economics professor introducing the students to The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White—unknown to some this is not a book about fashion, rather it’s about the correct usage of American English. She earned a degree in economics and, later, business administration and moved on to a successful career and a full life.

Upon reflection of becoming a fiction writer, and beyond learning how to write in college, Windahl credits her father for instilling a strong sense of storytelling, in particular, how to build up to a punchline … and let it sit. She wonders if that somehow contributes to her own secret quirk of writing the last line of a chapter, first. At that point she knows where the story is headed and “if I like where it landed, I can write up to it.” It also helps her see where she’s enticing the reader to turn the page.

Windahl’s first foray into fiction was bubbling for many years and she realizes now that it needed to simmer for her to personally mature and experience her own various life stages. Her book, When the Season Ends, A Mackinac Island Novel (MPP, 2025) is about a woman discovering how her life has to transition after her child has left the home and she’s faced with that quintessential question … who am I?

For Windahl, writing is all about observation and curiosity. Checking in with her husband, she realized not everyone is observing other people in public or in restaurants and creating stories in their head about them. But she does this and acknowledges that women are wired to notice multiple things around them, perhaps out of curiosity, but science has proven it was a survival modality that contributed to this ability. She further notes that “I think we as women are often defined by the people around us, the people we're caring for and, in every stage, we have to figure out who am I now? And I think that's in the book.”

After years of working for both nonprofit and for-profit clients, writing everything from blog posts about pension plans to summer camp feature stories to grants—Windahl found herself in a casual conversation with a friend about her dabbling in fictional characters. He frankly said to her, "You have to finish. They deserve a chance to live outside your head."

Fast forward to a finished manuscript, Windahl wondered, is this a craft project? Will I just sell copies out of the trunk of my car? Luckily, that didn’t happen as she discovered Mission Point Press. She considered a variety of factors before choosing a hybrid press, one of them being the credibility of a Michigan-based publisher. She had approached the local bookstore on the island where this story takes place, and everything rolled out from there. Meaning, the 30-year manager loved the book, and offered to endorse it, sponsor book signings at the store, and sell it. Windahl decided then and there that she wasn’t interested in wasting time seeking out agents and big publishers, and instead it just made sense to work with MPP who understands the market, especially for a Great Lakes-focused book like hers. She expedited the process after discovering that “the [MPP] team was fantastic. They were agile and gracious.” She was so grateful for the support and how the staff believed in her book.

Needless to say, When the Season Ends, is a bestseller at The Island Bookstore. Windahl has done a fair share of her own marketing, including speaking at women’s groups and book clubs whenever invited. More sales will be racked up this summer, and she’s close to breaking even with the costs incurred with publishing. Windahl has added social media posts, readings, and is doing an audio book soon through the Amazon platform. She also is working to get more reviews through Goodreads giveaways and Amazon ads.

All this work means her book sales are climbing, but meanwhile, Windahl is deep into the novel’s sequel. Her transition to fiction is a solid reality now and she respects her writing method: “There are some writers who know their plot, some who go by the seat of their pants, ‘plotters or pantsers,’ and still others are really successful if they know their characters …. If they listen to them and know them well enough, they'll tell the story. I'm in that mode.” Carry on, Stacy Windahl, Mission Point Press will continue to support your good work and look forward to where your characters go next.