#GIVEAWAY Review Thank You For Sharing - Interview with author Rachel Runya Katz

It's long been known that I love featuring debut novels and today I'm featuring a gem, Thank You For Sharing  by Rachel Runya Katz, a snarky and warm hearted romantic comedy that received a Starred, best debut, review from Library Journal. Plus I snagged an interview with the author and for the icing on the cake Rachel's publisher St. Martin's Griffin is sponsoring a #Giveaway, details below.
Enjoy!

ISBN-13: 978-1250888297
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: 09-12-2023
Length: 352 pp
Source: Publisher for review
Buy It: Amazon/ B&N/ IndieBound

ADD TO: GOODREADS

Overview:

Our new favorite trope: Childhood friends. To enemies. To lovers. In a chemistry-filled debut romance.

Daniel Rosenberg and Liyah Cohen-Jackson’s last conversation―fourteen years ago at summer camp―ended their friendship. Until they find themselves seated next to each other on a plane, and bitterly pick up right where they left off. At least they can go their separate ways again after landing...

That is, until Daniel's marketing firm gets hired by the Chicago museum where Liyah works as a junior curator, and they’re forced to collaborate with potential career changing promotions on the line.

With every meeting and post-work social gathering with colleagues, the tension (and chemistry) between Daniel and Liyah builds until they’re forced to confront why they broke apart years ago at camp. But as they find comfort in their shared experiences as Jews of color and fumble towards friendship, can they ignore their growing feelings for each other?

With sexy charm and undeniable wit, Rachel Runya Katz's sparkling debut, Thank You For Sharing, proves that if you're open to love, anything is possible.

#Giveaway is for
One Print copy of Thank You For Sharing
US Only
Please use Rafflecopter form below to enter
Good Luck!

Interview with Rachel:

Rachel, Hi!
Welcome to The Reading Frenzy
I really loved your debut, Thanks for Sharing.
Tell my readers a bit about it.
Well first, thank you so much for reading! I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thank You for Sharing is about Liyah Cohen-Jackson and Daniel Rosenberg, two Jews of Color whose friendship at Jewish sleepaway camp ended badly fourteen years ago, bumping into each other in adulthood. First on a plane, resulting in a (re)meet-disaster, then when they’re forced to work together to market the museum where Liyah works to a millennial audience. 

I absolutely LOVE debut authors; they are so brave for putting their newborns on display for the world to see and critique.
Tell me about “the call” when your book sold
It’s certainly a scary thing to do, I’m happy readers appreciate it!

My agent, Jess, had been passing along emails from my eventual editor, Vicki, so I had a good idea the call was coming. This was the second time Vicki had read a version of the book - we’d gone on submission in the fall, and editors generally liked my writing but felt that the book didn’t have a strong enough hook, so we revised it and submitted it widely again. Vicki had responded very positively the first time but passed, and this time, she read it very quickly and immediately shared that she was getting second reads to gather support in-house. The next week, she set up a call to chat about her editorial vision. It was honestly kind of a blur because I was so excited. But we talked about the book and our cats and I was pretty sure I wanted to go with her just from that one conversation. Right after we got off the phone, Vicki told Jess that she was going to take it to acquisition, and the rest was history.

I love working with Vicki and Vanessa (an assistant editor at St. Martin’s Press) so I’m glad that the very first offer worked out!

I’m a WASP-BOOMER, and even though at times I felt like I was spying on my grandkids while reading this novel I really fell in love with your storyline and all your characters.
Who is your target audience?
I love that you still took a chance on this book! My target audience is romance readers as a whole. Of course, I really hope that people who share some or all of the marginalized identities of my characters feel seen by my work. That’s a big part of why I write! But the beauty of fiction is that you get to be in someone else’s head for 300 ish pages. If you don’t read books about people who aren’t like you, you’re really missing out on what reading is for. In that way, this book is for everyone, even if it’s not about everyone. 

One of my favorite parts of the book is the Speakeasy Survival Club, it’s a brainchild and one I wish I could have been a part of in my younger working days.
Tell me how that came to be please.
I started writing this book at a point in the pandemic when vaccines were not yet available, and truly nothing sounded better than just hanging out in a bar with a group of friends. Also, I love complaining. I think friendships built on complaining are wonderful. So I sort of took this idea to its endpoint: a friend group that meets in a bar on a regular basis to complain (it’s a little more than that, of course, but that’s where it started). 

Now I would call this novel a frenemies or even enemies to lovers story.
Where did the idea for the book come from?
I was reading a ton of romance novels during the most isolating part of the pandemic, and I have a very active imagination, so I think it was only natural that an idea popped up for me. The characters and the opening scene came to mind already mostly formed. I loved the Field Museum growing up, so I thought that would be a fun place for Liyah to work. I chose Daniel’s job because there was a joke I wanted Liyah to make about it. I’d already had in the text that they both went to Jewish summer camps and had their first kisses there, and when I was revising it to give it a stronger hook, I decided that they went to the same summer camp. After doing that, I realized that my parents (mom & step-dad) got together because of a camp reunion, AND my brother and his wife met at summer camp, so it was a fun nod to them, even though it was initially unintentional.

Rachel your bio kills me
“She has a PhD in biomedical engineering, which is minimally helpful for this endeavor…”
Wow that would be the last thing I would expect as a description for a rom-com author.
a. So, which is your day job?
My official day job is in science! Unfortunately, writing full-time is not feasible for most authors when they’re first starting out, and sometimes it never becomes feasible. Healthcare in this country is expensive, among other things.

b. Did you always want to write or are you an accidental author?
I’ve been a big reader since I was a child (my parents used to say that a nuclear bomb could go off while I was reading and I wouldn’t notice), so I even though I would change what I wanted to be when I grew up, I often said “and I want to write a book on the side!” As I got older, I didn’t really take that possibility seriously. I wrote some short stories in a writing workshop in college, and one [redacted] fanfic, but it wasn’t until writing this book that I even considered trying to get published.

Both Daniel and Liyah are complex characters with much baggage, in fact Liyah’s hated Daniel for some infraction against her from childhood and her grumpiness could actually be its own character.
Which one was easier to write?
That’s such a fun way to frame it. To me, characters come easiest, much easier than plot. I think the most difficult parts to write for each of them were Daniel’s grief and Liyah’s trauma, mostly because it made me sad while writing. In some ways, Liyah was harder to write because I really wanted to commit to her grumpiness for that grumpy-sunshine trope to work. In other ways, I found writing Daniel’s passivity as a character flaw he needed to overcome was hard, because I’m not quite so passive, and I didn’t want him to just be a doormat. I’m sorry that this is sort of a non-answer; it’s the best I’ve got!

Your handle on Insta, “rom-traum-com author” kills me.
I gotta hear the reason behind this.
On the call when my agent, Jess, offered me representation, I kept calling it a rom-com. She was like “yeah…there’s a lot of trauma here to call it that. It’s funny, but sometimes it’s a rom-sad.” I repeated this to my friend, Abby, at a potluck Shabbat, and she coined the rom-traum phrase. I also think it’s very Jewish for the traum and the com to go hand in hand. This has now become a running joke - I just pitched an idea to Jess for book 3 and we were laughing about how what started as a more fun/fluffy idea turned out to be a rom-traum under the surface once again.

Rachel thanks for letting me pick your brain.
Good luck with the new book even though I have no doubt this gem will take off.
Will there be any events where fans could meet you either in person or virtual?

Thank you for interviewing me! I had a blast answering all these questions. My launch event will be in Seattle at Third Place Books on September 12th. I’m doing an event at Annie Bloom’s in my hometown, Portland on September 14th, and one at Books Are Magic in Brooklyn on September 21st. The BAM event will be live-streamed!

https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/event/rachel-runya-katz

https://www.annieblooms.com/event/store-reading-rachel-runya-katz

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/in-store-rachel-runya-katz-thank-you-for-sharing-w-victoria-lee-tickets-677609707877

Rachel Runya Katz: Thank You for Sharing w/ Victoria Lee - YouTube https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0PvN83y02hw

My Review:

Thanks for Sharing
Rachel Runya Katz

 

Rachel Runya Katz’s debut is a multi/mixed cultural, laugh-out-loud one moment and deeply emotional the next romantic comedy starring a couple of complex characters who are childhood friends turned frenemies. Her storyline is a unique look at what it means to be a biracial Jew in America melded with a rollercoaster ride of a romance between a dynamic duo whose chemistry flies off the pages only they don’t see it. The author also deals with sensitive social issues with loving care, and even though the characters are a bit old for a coming-of-age story this novel does give off a little of that vibe too. Daniel is calm and composed, a treasured younger brother and son who’s still grieving the death of his father when the girl of his past dreams falls into his present, attitude, and all. Liyah is the Yin to Daniel’s Yang she’s opinionated, testy with a bit of a chip on her shoulder about dating, men and especially what she perceived as Daniel’s ill-treatment of her when they were kids. The supporting characters are also unforgettable especially Liyah’s bestie Neen and the other two members of the Speakeasy Suvivors club, Jordan and Siobhan. Debut authors deserve so much praise for bravely sharing their babies with the world and the world will welcome this gem with open arms.  A wide range of readers will enjoy this novel including fans of rom-coms, mixed culture and really any romance lover will find themselves staying up until the wee hours to finish this fabulous read.

Liyah Cohen-Jackson’s hoping her flight back home to the windy city from visiting her bestie in San Francisco goes smoother than the trip to the airport when she discovers her seatmate turns out to be none other than, Daniel Rosenberg the boy who ruined her last year at summer camp. Well at least she’ll never have to see him again.

 Funny how Karma will bite you in the butt as it did the very next week when Liyah and Daniel are forced to work together when the Museum Liyah works for hires Daniel’s firm to help in a museum membership pledge drive. The rest as they say is comedic relief.

Praise:

"[An] excellent, multilayered look at the experiences of Jews of color in this deftly woven story...Katz successfully portrays how romance meets real life in this terrific debut." - Library Journal (starred review)

"Impossible to put down! A delicious pressure-cooker-style slow burn of a romance, Thank You for Sharing contains the greatest ‘only one bed’ scene I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Not only is the romance delightful, but Rachel Runya Katz handles the complexity of grief and trauma with the tenderest of touches, creating a safe, welcoming space for her characters and readers alike. I have no doubt that readers will fall head over heels for Liyah and Daniel!" - Alexandria Bellefleur, bestselling, Lambda award-winning author of Written in the Stars and The Fiancée Farce

"Rachel Runya Katz's witty, heartfelt debut will transport you back to the lazy days of summer camp crushes and breathless first kisses. Thank You For Sharing combines steamy, electric chemistry with thoughtful social commentary to create an unforgettable love story. This sexy, sweet romance is a delight." - Regina Black, author of The Art of Scandal

"This is a funny, gentle, friends-to-lovers story that lingers in the quiet moments and lets the reader bathe in the romance that burns slow--but oh-so-hot. A perfect read to escape into on a rainy day and be bear-hugged in your feelings places... even if you, like hesitantly thawing heroine Liyah, insist you don't have them." - Jen Comfort, author of The Astronaut and the Star

"Rachel Runya Katz’s Thank You for Sharing is a magical love story. This is a poignant, sharp and sexy romance with the kind of complex, big-hearted characters and emotional honesty readers will adore. I loved it!" - Carley Fortune, New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After

"Thank You for Sharing is one of those books where someone will get to see themselves reflected on the page for the first time, whether in the complications of being a Jew of color, or the validation of a prickly, proud woman being fully loved for, not in spite of, her prickliness. Daniel and Liyah are both so fully drawn, and their story will stick with me for a long time. I'm so glad it exists." - Anita Kelly, author of Love & Other Disasters

"This book wrapped a fist around my heart and refused to let go. Gorgeously written, with two magnetic leads, an irresistible group of friends, and a warmth that radiates from every page. Rachel Runya Katz is a true talent." - Rachel Lynn Solomon, New York Times bestselling author of The Ex Talk

"I can’t wait for everyone to fall head-over-heels for Thank You For Sharing. Rachel Runya Katz has a sparkling, singular voice: witty, observant, razor-sharp and devastatingly tender. I treasured every moment I spent with Daniel, Liyah, and the rest of the vivid, complex supporting cast. This book is a gift." - Ava Wilder, author of How To Fake It In Hollywood

About the author:
Rachel Runya Katz (she/they) is a contemporary romance writer living in Seattle with her partner, their cat, and far too many houseplants.
She has a PhD in biomedical engineering, which is minimally helpful for this endeavor. Her books center queer Jews of color and their layered lives of joy, sadness, and love.

 

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