How Lauded Debut Author Isabel Banta Writes

The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience

Lauded debut author, Isabel Banta, spoke to me about working at Books Are Magic with Emma Straub, her love of Britney Spears, and capturing Y2K era pop superstardom in her debut novel HONEY.

Isabel Banta is a writer, book publicist, and indie bookseller at Books Are Magic in Brooklyn.

Her debut novel is HONEY, named a 'GMA' Buzz Pick and described as “...a coming-of-age story about a pop star in the late '90s and early 2000s who's determined to find and claim her own identity.”

Honey was named a best book of the summer by PEOPLE, ELLE, PureWow and Our Culture, as well as a Goodreads Editor's Choice and IndieNext Pick.

New York Times bestselling author Emma Straub said of the book, "Honey is a sexy swagger of a debut." LitHub named it one of 18 Books to Read this Summer, “A delightfully bubblegum novel of hot summer nostalgia that also lands some serious blows to the patriarchal mores of a cultural milieu we still haven’t fully shaken off.”

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In this file Isabel Banta and I discussed:

Why she loves talking about and promoting other writers

The surreality of finally publishing her own book

How she approached the subject of the commodification of young stars in the music industry

Why you need to pivot POVs as a novelist

Her writing routine

And a lot more!

Show Notes:

isabelbanta.com

Honey: A Novel By Isabel Banta (Amazon)

Isabel Banta on Instagram

Kelton Reid on Twitter

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