TJ Newman dreamt up her terror-in-the-skies novel Falling while guarding the cockpit as the pilots took a toilet break. She reveals how she kept going through furlough and 41 rejectionsFlight attendant Torri Newman was working on the red-eye flight from Los Angeles to New York when the idea for her debut novel came to her. To be precise, she was blocking access to the cockpit, a security procedure required when pilots take a toilet break. “I was standing at the front of the airplane,” she says, “looking out at the passengers. It was dark and they were all asleep. And I had this thought, ‘All of their lives, our lives, are in the hands of the pilots.’ That’s not exactly new – but the flipside of that also came to mind. With that much power and responsibility, how vulnerable does that make a commercial pilot?”Newman, speaking via Zoom from her home in Phoenix, Arizona, was rattled. “I just couldn’t shake the thought. A few days later, I was working a different trip with a different set of pilots, and I said to the captain, ‘Hey, what would you do if your family was taken, and you were told that if you didn’t crash the plane, they would be killed?” What was his reaction? “He had no clue what he would do – the thought terrified him.”I almost gave up. But seeing two authors at a Q&A reminded my why I had to keep going Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2021-05-04 05:00:21 UTC ]
The 24-year-old’s debut novel Bestiary gained plaudits in 2020. Now her love of fairy tales and queer literature has led to a collection of short storiesK-Ming Chang’s origins as a writer can be traced back to when she was approximately eight years old. At school in California, she would amuse... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-08-17 08:32:12 UTC ]
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A debut novel views a middle-aged organic farmer through the eyes of a 21-year-old woman he preys upon. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-08-15 19:37:36 UTC ]
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Sneha, the 22-year-old protagonist of Sarah Thankam Mathews’ debut novel All This Could Be Different, is the dutiful immigrant daughter. Despite the long recession, she bagged a corporate job right after college, and a free apartment in Brewers Hill, Milwaukee. She regularly sends money home to... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2022-08-11 11:00:00 UTC ]
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The latest from Jamie Ford, a debut novel by Anthony Marra, and two Jane Austen classics are among the titles selected by book clubs across the country for the month of August. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-08-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Taymour Soomro’s debut novel Other Names for Love begins with a son flinching at the sound of his father’s voice. Sixteen-year-old Fahad has been ordered to spend the summer with Rafik, his authoritarian father who manages their family farm in Sindh, Pakistan. It’s on the train ride there that... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2022-08-02 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Gentrification takes center stage in Cleyvis Natera’s debut novel Neruda on the Park, which follows the different reactions the members of the Guerrero family have to the impending redevelopment of their predominantly Dominican New York City neighborhood.When a neighboring tenement is demolished... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2022-07-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Before we begin, I must confess to my bias. I am not an objective reader, so in some ways I have already failed. A few months before I read Elif Batuman’s debut novel The Idiot, I had a conversation with a friend that unlocked a safe in my brain. After, there was nowhere I could […] The post... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2022-07-19 11:05:00 UTC ]
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An excerpt from Tess Gunty's debut novel The Rabbit Hutch. The post Where Life Lives On appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta
[ Granta | 2022-07-19 10:43:28 UTC ]
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Leila Mottley’s debut novel about a teenager’s serial abuse is based on a true story. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-06-07 09:00:12 UTC ]
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‘Careful when you turn your eyes towards someone, you allow them the chance to turn theirs on you.’ Tice Cin on her debut novel Keeping the House. The post Podcast | Tice Cin appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta
[ Granta | 2022-06-03 13:00:57 UTC ]
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I wrote the bulk of my debut novel between 2016 and 2020, years of intense political tension and heightened concern for our planet and the people we love. My debut novel, Walk the Vanished Earth, is a speculative exploration of what it means to be both a parent and a child at the mercy of […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-06-01 08:51:21 UTC ]
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Katie Runde’s debut novel takes readers on a stroll down a sandy boardwalk and into a family facing a big loss. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-05-24 09:00:07 UTC ]
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A book for “White Lotus” fans, a coming-of-age story in the Canary Islands, Werner Herzog’s debut novel (yes, it’s grim) and more. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-05-21 09:00:17 UTC ]
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Naheed Phiroze Patel’s debut novel Mirror Made of Rain follows Noomi Wadia, an indignant young woman raised in a Parsi family in India, through a world that is keen to control women and safeguard long-established pecking orders. Since her childhood, Noomi has had a difficult relationship with... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2022-05-19 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Lisa Bird-Wilson's debut novel revolves around a Métis girl adopted by a White family. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-10 22:14:37 UTC ]
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Okay here we go. I’m about to get in my car and drive 14 hours. Rae has picked out twenty albums for us to listen to. All this driving is because my debut novel Teenager is coming out. I have to drive around America a little bit and read it to some nice people. Fittingly, […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-05-10 08:52:01 UTC ]
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The Branford Boase program annually awards a debut novel for children–and the winning author's editor is honored, too. The post Children’s Books Edition: The UK’s Branford Boase Award 2022 Shortlist appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-05-06 19:55:39 UTC ]
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Vaishnavi Patel’s debut novel is a powerful, feminist retelling of the epic from the vilified queen’s point of view. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-04-26 12:19:32 UTC ]
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Aamina Ahmad’s debut novel The Return of Faraz Ali begins with a moment of no return. Born and raised in Lahore’s old city, the young Faraz is forced to leave behind his mother and his sister Rozina. It isn’t until Faraz is an adult in 1968 working as a policeman, that he goes back to […] The... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2022-04-07 11:00:00 UTC ]
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A debut novel traces a young Chinese woman’s coming-of-age: abandoned, trafficked — and posing as a man. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-04-03 09:00:09 UTC ]
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