Author and educator Tara Botel Doherty completed her novel Bread for the Table while she was a graduate student in the University of Southern California’s professional writing program. She originally presented a collection of short stories to her thesis advisor, but he told Doherty he would not approve the collection for her final project. So, over the next two days, she mapped out the storyline for Bread for the Table and completed the book in twelve weeks, while working full-time and attending graduate school. Her now-husband edited the book originally, but for current and future projects, Doherty takes her work to a professional editor and her writing group for feedback.