Tell us about Such a Fun Age:

Such A Fun Age starts on a Saturday night in September in 2015. Emira Tucker is a recent college graduate, a bit broke and aimless, and she’s out with her friends. Alix Chamberlain, the mother she babysits for, calls and asks her to babysit as the Chamberlain family has had an emergency. Emira takes three-year-old Briar to an upscale grocery store, and they’re dancing, having fun, until a customer and security guard, upon seeing a black woman with a white child, accuse her of stealing the child. Alix sets out to right the night’s wrongs. But the story turns into a comedy of good intentions as Emira and Alix learn they have something in common.

Do you have a bird story or favorite feathered friend?

I've never been asked this question, and I'm so pleased to see it now. I had a pet bird for seventeen years! Her name was Tinkerbell, and she was a green Quaker Parrot, and she had a lot of personality. She said things like, "Okay, goodnight," and "Hey baby," and she loved taking baths in the sink. 

What is your most memorable reading experience?

I remember reading Donna Tartt's The Secret History, which is so wonderful, while I was in my freezing apartment. It was the kind where the landlord controlled the heat for the entire building, and they kept it extremely cold. I was reading the scene where the protagonist is in a freezing room himself, and when he wakes up, he sees the doorknob turning. He calls out, "Hello?" And the turning stops. I remember coughing in my room, and I could see my breath. It was all too much, and I had to put the novel away.

What makes you most excited about Such a Fun Age?

It was wonderful to see that readers respond the same way I do to those tiny, low-to-the-ground, and almost petty instances between people. I'm most excited to continue searching for and writing about those little moments and making them seem incredibly high stakes.

To tweet or not to tweet?

Twitter is a place for me to support books I like, events I'm doing, and things happening in Philadelphia. That's pretty much it. I'm a better retweeter. I have about two tweets in me per month, and that's more than enough.

What books do you have in your bag right now?

It's funny because I haven't used a purse in over two months, but if I were using one...it would have Jeff Wilste's Contested Waters and Bryan Washington's Memorial.

Can you tell us your favorite rejection story?

The first time I applied to MFA programs I received a series of rejections and waitlists. I was on a plane, and when I landed, there was the rejection from the University of Arizona program, which was so high on my list and located in Tucson where I grew up. I thought, Don't cry now, wait till the cab. So I waited, and when I got in the cab I told the driver I needed to be a little upset, and he said that was fine. Once or twice he checked on me and said, "You good back there?" It was very nice.

What literary journals do you love?

I have such a soft spot for so many journals that gave my writing a chance while I was working as a receptionist and barista, and it's great to see how they are continuing to do such interesting things on the page. Ploughshares, December, and Lumina for sure. And funnily enough, I still love Diagram, the lit journal from the University of Arizona.

What shakes your tail feathers?

Medicare for all.

What advice do you have for fledgling writers?

Fail early and often. If you're not sure what word or sentence should go in that spot, skip it. Move on and come back to it later. And add some nonfiction titles to your bookshelf. Whatever you're interested in, an expert somewhere has already done most of the work for you, and putting actual truths into your fiction will make it so much more real.

What other eggs do you have in your basket right now?

I'm executive producing the film adaptation of Such A Fun Age, which is a really exciting opportunity, and I'm slowly starting on novel number two.