"You write women of layers and substance" means "you create women of layers and substance in your writing". The person is praising the way that the author portrays female characters in their books. NB There isn't a word missing: in this context 'you write women' makes perfect sense. Too often, female characters in books and films are one-dimensional: they are simply 'the wife', 'the mother' or 'the temptress': they're flat and 'flimsy', with only one attribute. This writer is different, however: the women in their books are strong characters who are multidimensional and believable. 'Women of layers' means that this writer's female characters are not just what they appear to be on the outside. The characters have depth and complexity, and they reveal more and more about themselves as the book goes on - like peeling the layers of skin from an onion. In this context, 'substance' has nothing to do with money or class. Here, 'women of substance' means that they are solid, powerful and convincing characters. I hope that's clearer now.

'layer and substance is a phrase sometimes used to describe complexity. A woman of layer and substance is a woman of complexity and depth. She is not shallow or superfical. Her personality is complex and has many layers. Her personality may be a complex mix of many traits and her personality may not be easily deciphered/understood at first glance. When you say she has substance it also implies she has depth to her beliefs - she holds strongly and passionately to her beliefs and she is not easily dissuaded from them. I also am not quite sure about that "you write women". Does a writer writes "to", "for", or "about" rich ladies? If you say an author 'writes women' a certain way, you are referring to how this author always creates or portrays the women characters in his writings. As an example, if the woman characters in an author's novels are always rich and beautiful, then you could say "The author always writes women as rich and beautiful".

Bookworm, Leslie, Olivia - thanks for your thorough explanations and prompt help!

A person of substance isn't necessarily rich, as substance can be any type of capital (financial, social, etc). When coupled with the term layers, I would think substance means a character who has a fully-fleshed personality (with details like morals or interests- something that makes them feel like a real person). Layers in this case would mean a character who has "more to them than meets the eye"; they are more than what they seem. For example, a shy, selectively-mute character might have a passion for singing, and maybe a rambunctious young lady character could have a lot of emotional depth that she is hiding behind a rough tomboy persona to protect her fragile heart, etc. When in doubt, think of Shrek ! Onions have layers. :) Shrek is rough on the outside, but underneath his layers he is kind hearted. You could say "She said she likes that you write about women of layers and substance". If you were writing to, you would be writing the lady of layers and substance a letter addressed to her. If you were writing for, you would be writing a letter to someone on behalf of the lady of layers and substance (sort of like how people write letters on behalf of the queen).

First, yes, there was a missing word and unless you can see the other part of the paragraph, you don't know if it was "about" or "for" or "to." However, regarding the reference to "women of layer and substance," my impression is that "layers" means women who have much more to whom they are than what appears only on the surface. For example, a woman who maybe looks poor by the way she dresses, may have many interesting aspects of her being underneath that surface appearance. Peel away the top layer and you might find an self-educated person, or below that, a woman who has perhaps suffered in her lifetime. It would imply that if we take the time, we can find out much more about the person than appears outwardly. The same thing with the use of the word, "substance." It sometimes refers to wealth, but in this case it may also refer to the depth of the woman - that she is caring, that she is giving, that she is forgiving, that she has strong convictions - these and other qualities make up a person's "substance." The two - layer and substance - are related but there's a fine difference. I hope this helps you.