Indies Introduce Interview

Amy Zhang is the author of Falling Into Place, a 2014 Summer/Fall Indies Introduce New Voices title for middle-grade readers and a top 10 pick on the Autumn Kids’ Indie Next List.

Jennifer Longo is the author of Six Feet Over It, a Summer/Fall 2014 Indies Introduce New Voices pick for young adults.

Fives and Twenty-Fives by Michael Pitre, a former Marine Corps officer who deployed twice to Iraq, is “a mesmerizing debut set in the Iraq war and its aftermath,” said Bill Cusumano of Nicola’s Books. Here, Pitre talks about the inspiration for his debut novel, how literature can help us understand the experiences of America’s military men and women, and more.

Dana Alison Levy is the author of The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher, a New Voices pick for middle-graders that Sara Hines of Eight Cousins calls “a laugh-out-loud story of a patchwork family that balances zany antics with heartfelt moments.”

Tom Bouman is the author of Dry Bones in the Valley (W.W. Norton), which was chosen by booksellers for both the Summer/Fall 2014 Indies Introduce promotion and the July 2014 Indies Next List.

In the debut memoir Bulletproof Vest: The Ballad of an Outlaw and His Daughter, “Maria Venegas tells the story of her complicated relationship with her estranged father with an honesty and tough vulnerability that is compelling and moving,” said Adrian Newell of Warwick’s in La Jolla, California.

Livia Blackburne is the author of Midnight Thief (Disney-Hyperion), a Summer/Fall New Voices pick for young adults, which Emily Ring of Inklings Bookshop called “tightly written, with a perfect mix of romance, peril, and mystery.”

Smith Henderson is the author of Fourth of July Creek, a featured title in the Summer/Fall 2014 Indies Introduce promotion. Stephanie Crowe of Page & Palette said Henderson’s novel is powerful and disturbing.

Chris F. Westbury is the author of The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (Counterpoint), a featured title in the Summer/Fall 2014 Indies Introduce promotion.

Sean Michaels is the author of the 2014 Summer/Fall Indies Introduce title Us Conductors, a novel about Lev Termen, the Russian scientist and spy who is most famous for his invention of the theremin, an unusual musical instrument.

Jennifer Mathieu is the author of The Truth About Alice, a Summer/Fall 2014 Indies Introduce New Voices pick for young adults and a top 10 title on the Summer 2014 Kids’ Indie Next List.

S.E. Grove is the author of The Glass Sentence (Viking), a summer/fall 2014 New Voices selection and a Summer 2014 Kids’ Indie Next List pick. 

Valeria Luiselli is the author of Faces in the Crowd, a Spring 2014 Indies Introduce pick. 

Rachel Weaver is the author of Point of Direction (Ig Publishing), a Spring 2014 Indies Introduce and May 2014 Indie Next List pick.

Rebecca Petruck is the author of Steering Toward Normal, a spring 2014 New Voices selection for middle grade readers and a Kids’ Indie Next List pick.