Hannah Orenstein is the author of Playing with Matches (2018), Love at First Like (2019), and a third novel forthcoming from Atria Books (2020). She’s also the Senior Dating Editor at Elite Daily; previously, she was a writer and editor at Seventeen.com and the youngest matchmaker at the largest luxury dating service in the country. She lives in Brooklyn. Find her at: Twitter Instagram: What’s the strangest job you’ve ever had? When I…
I’m so excited to host the brilliant and funny Erin Judge on the Debutante Ball this week! Erin Judge is a comedian, writer, actor, and producer based in Los Angeles. Erin’s debut novel, Vow of Celibacy, won Best Fiction at the Bi Book Awards, and was named a Must-Read Indie Press Book by BookRiot. Erin started out doing stand-up at the best comedy club in the world: the Comedy Studio in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since…
I was raised by romance novels. Not literally. I mean I do have actual parents. But I grew up reading them. I started out with the Sweet Dreams series, which had covers like this one (and according to the Wikipedia article, models included Diane Lane and Courteney Cox – don’t you love Wikipedia?), and gave me a very skewed view of teen romance. Or maybe I was just choosing my…
I’ve always envied people who dream about fun things like flying or showing up naked to work. Though my dreams start out normal, there’s usually a point where my subconscious shifts and says, “You know what would make this dream about browsing the library even better? Gnomes! And let’s line the floor with Pop-Tarts. And what if all the books grew wings and started flying around sqwaking about a shoe…
If you told me to name my top three turn-ons, I wouldn’t need to pause for breath before answering. Great hands. Nice smell. Sexy voice. The latter is a big one for me, and I’m staggered to learn some women are capable of hearing Jason Mraz sing “After an Afternoon” without spontaneously dropping their panties. Years ago, I worked for the marketing department of a large corporation. My job required…
Earlier this year, I got a wallop of freedom I wasn’t looking for when my husband of 13 years decided he wanted to split up. I haven’t blogged much about it, mostly because I write romantic comedy and…uh, well, divorce isn’t very romantic or funny. But I’ve been muscling through like always, and am actually doing great now. One advantage of my new freedom is that I’ve acquired a surprising…
Right now, I’m in New York City for my first ever national convention of the Romance Writers of America. In addition to packing an assortment of fancy dresses and more shoes than any human could possibly wear in a week, I also brought a ridiculous collection of technological gadgetry. I have with me a camera, an iPod, a laptop, an iPhone, and a Kindle. Several of those devices can not…
From the moment I glanced at this week’s topic, “fuel for writers,” on Monday morning, I’ve had Dire Straits’ 1991 tune “Heavy Fuel” stuck in my head. In it, the band extols the virtues of cigarettes, hamburgers, scotch, lust, money, and violence as a means of fueling yourself. Though I’m pretty sure the song is meant to be ironic, I’ll admit I gain a good bit of writerly inspiration from…
I always wanted to be a beach read. Well, not me personally. My book. When I first began writing Making Waves, it was in the back of my head like a chant: Beach read! Beach read! Such a fun beach read! I’ve never been one of those writers who wanted to craft profoundly moving prose with a deep moral message. I wanted to make people laugh. I wanted to titillate….
I don’t watch a lot of movies. I know that sounds snobby, especially when I add that I strongly prefer reading books. It really isn’t some high-minded literary thing, I swear. It’s more an issue of attention span and the fact that I don’t have one. Books keep me engaged because I’m an active participant, but sit me down in front of a movie and I guarantee at least 50%…
