Margaret South is a writer, teacher, and story consultant whose career has wandered cheerfully from Hollywood soundstages to middle-school classrooms and back again. She co-founded All Girl Productions with Bette Midler and Bonnie Bruckheimer, where she helped develop feature film projects including the enduring favorite Beaches. With Ms. Midler, she co-wrote the screenplay A View from a Broad for Walt Disney Studios—proof that even in Hollywood, good grammar can survive.
After discovering that real-life students were often more dramatic than movie stars, Margaret created a children’s writing program approved for use in public schools nationwide. She has taught screenwriting at the University of Hawaiʻi and at Story Summit, the writing school founded by former Paramount Pictures president David Kirkpatrick, where she learned that every writer wants the same two things: inspiration—and a deadline that’s negotiable.
About
About Us
Margaret has appeared at the Crossroads Writers’ Conference, the Maui/Hawaiʻi Writers’ Conference, the Women in Film Convention, and events hosted by American Pen Women and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She believes structure is liberating, revision is a form of courage, and coffee counts as a character motivation.
Through her websites margaretsouth.com and allgirlpublishing.com, she offers individual coaching and small-group workshops, helping writers of all levels turn messy, marvelous ideas into meaningful, well-structured stories—preferably without crying, though tissues are provided just in case.
From the Publisher
All Girl Publishing
We worked on this story for ten years. Author Suzanne Lay shared all the quirky characters she came across in her small town in Georgia. We collaborated on the plot— Anna Kilner, the librarian at Parker High School, shows up one morning to find a hysterical student who has just discovered a dead body on the football field.
In one of our sessions, I asked Suzanne, “Why did you choose to be a librarian?”
She answered, “Because you get to help people find what they’re looking for.”
I launched All Girl Publishing in honor of one of my earliest chapters in Hollywood, co-founding All Girl Productions with Bette Midler and Bonnie Bruckheimer, where we developed and produced the beloved Beaches.
Suzanne’s book represents everything we stand for at All Girl Publishing: a fidelity to the craft of writing as well as the end result.
All Girl Publishing
Overdue for Murder
A body on the football field. A sharp-eyed librarian with questions. Overdue for Murder is a cozy mystery full of small-town secrets, snark, and Southern charm.
Write in Full Color
Writing prompts that actually lead somewhere. This inspiring guide helps you find your voice and shape your story—with structure, soul, and a little sass.