Catherine Adel West (author of Saving Ruby King) talks about how she found her agent, the strong women of Saving Ruby King, and how she decided to make the church a narrator.

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Highlights

• How different her first draft was from the final book.
• The story of how she found an agent (via a Twitter contest for marginalized writers!) and Saving Ruby King was bought by a publisher.
• The exact tweet she used to pitch Saving Ruby King in the Twitter contest.
• Her advice to querying writers.
• Saving Ruby King‘s original title and Ruby’s original name.
• The message Catherine wanted to share about the strengths and struggles of black women through her story and her characters.
• What growing up on the South Side of Chicago was like for Catherine.
• How she decided to make the church a narrator.
• How her own relationship with her faith and church shaped the book.
• Her Dad’s (he’s a pastor and the character of Jackson Potter is based on him) reaction to the book.
• The prequel to Saving Ruby King that Catherine is currently working on…and the possibility of this being a 4 book series.
• How Catherine got Leesa Cross-Smith to blurb Saving Ruby King.
• A bit about the lack of diversity in the publishing industry and the #publishingpaidme hashtag.

Catherine’s Book Recommendations [31:30]

Two OLD Books She Loves

• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (My Review) | Buy from Amazon [31:54]
• Kindred by Octavia Butler | Buy from Amazon [35:00]

Two NEW Books She Loves

• So We Can Glow by Leesa Cross-Smith | Buy from Amazon [38:05]
• The Chiffon Trenches by Andre Leon Talley | Buy from Amazon [41:12]

One Book She DIDN’T LOVE

• Life After Life by Kate Atkinson | Buy from Amazon [45:41]

One NEW RELEASE She’s Excited About

• The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Harris (Release Date: 2021) [47:28]

Last 5 Star Book Catherine Read [48:47]

• Choke by Chuck Palahniuk | Buy from Amazon [51:42]

Other Books Mentioned

• Saving Ruby King by Catherine Adel West (My Review) | Buy from Amazon [2:38]
• The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer (My Review) | Buy from Amazon [33:27]
• Fledgling by Octavia Butler | Buy from Amazon [37:05]
• Whiskey & Ribbons by Leesa Cross-Smith | Buy from Amazon [39:10]
• This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith (out February 2, 2021) | Buy from Amazon [39:51]
• Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk | Buy from Amazon [52:14]
• Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk | Buy from Amazon [53:01]

Other Links

• #publishingpaidme

About Catherine

Website | Instagram | Twitter

Catherine graduated with both her BA and MA in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her work has been published in Gay Magazine, Black Fox Literary Magazine, Five2One, Better Than Starbucks, and others. Catherine was born and raised in Chicago. Saving Ruby King is her debut novel.

Next Episode

There will not be a new episode next week since the podcast is on a bi-weekly schedule.

The following week will be the Fall 2020 Book Preview episode with Catherine from Gilmore Guide to Books (airing September 2).