FROM BESTSELLING AND PRINTZ-AWARD WINNING AUTHOR NINA LACOUR, PERFECT FOR READERS OF WRITERS AND LOVERS “A study of complex, modern love...Expertly illuminates the trauma that Sara and Emilie are both wrestling with, as well as their hope and healing...Lingers like a perfectly mixed cocktail.” —San Francisco Chronicle “A Carol for our times.” —Harper’s Bazaar Sara Foster runs away from home at sixteen, leaving behind the girl she once was, capable of trust and intimacy. Years later, in Los Angeles, she is a sought-after bartender, renowned as much for her brilliant cocktails as for the mystery that clings to her. Across the city, Emilie Dubois is in a holding pattern, yearning for the beauty and community her Creole grandparents cultivated but unable to commit. On a whim, she takes a job arranging flowers at the glamorous restaurant Yerba Buena. The morning Emilie and Sara first meet at Yerba Buena, their connection is immediate. But soon Sara's old life catches up to her, upending everything she thought she wanted, just as Emilie has finally gained her own sense of purpose. Will their love be more powerful than their pasts? At once exquisite and expansive, astonishing in its humanity and heart, Yerba Buena is a testament to the healing qualities of a shared meal, a perfectly crafted drink, a space we claim for ourselves. Nina LaCour’s adult debut novel is a love story for our time. "Trailblazing...One of my personal favorite authors." —Casey McQuiston, New York Times bestselling author of One Last Stop

Read Susan Breen's posts on the Penguin Blog. A witty, honest, and hugely entertaining story for anyone who loves books, or has a difficult mother. And, let’s face it, that’s practically everybody . . . On paper, Arabella Hicks seems more than qualified to teach her fiction class on the Upper West Side: she’s a writer herself; she’s passionate about books; she’s even named after the heroine in a Georgette Heyer novel. On the other hand, she’s thirty-eight, single, and has been writing the same book for the last seven years. And she has been distracted recently: on the same day that Arabella teaches her class she also visits her mother in a nursing home outside the city. And every time they argue. Arabella wants the fighting to stop, but, as her mother puts it, “Just because we’re family, doesn’t mean we have to like each other.” When her class takes a surprising turn and her lessons start to spill over into her weekly visits, she suddenly finds she might be holding the key to her mother’s love and, dare she say it, her own inspiration. After all, as a lifelong lover of books, she knows the power of a good story.

A poignant, funny and engrossing exploration of family life, centred around a cataclysmic event and its aftermath; from the author of Summerwater and Ghost Wall.

The definitive guide to crafting a series! From the Hunger Games Trilogy to the Jack Reacher series, from Harry Potter to Harry Dresden, there's no denying that writers--and readers--have caught series fever. But if you're contemplating writing a series, there are plenty of considerations you'll need to make first. Writing the Fiction Series is the complete guide to ensuring your series stays hot after the first, fourth, or even fifteenth book. Inside, you'll learn how to: • Write a series that captures the hearts of readers and stands out in a sea of competition. • Find the focus of your series, develop your idea, and plan ahead. • Hone in on the two most important aspects of series writing: characters and consistency. • Utilize a variety of series organization techniques, complete with downloadable worksheets and checklists. • Market your series effectively and increase your sales. With insights from nearly 100 series authors and publishers, as well as "Grow Your Series Muscles" exercises, Writing the Fiction Series is the only book you'll need to write a series that sizzles.

Whether you want to improve your impact in speeches, staff meetings, pitches, emails, PowerPoint presentations, or any other communication setting, this book provides a novel approach that teaches you how to go from simply sharing a thought to making a difference. --

This book presents readers and creative writing enthusiasts with comprehensive coverage of the elements of fiction and real-world writing techniques that help build skills--such as sensory detailing, character construction, and cause and effect plotting. Plenty of practical advice completes this treatment of the fiction genre. Chapter topics include character, plot, story structure, dialogue, point of view, style, and details. For writers pursuing a hobby or a dream--or just dabbling, this insightful guide will teach them how do it and "say" it better.

What makes a story a story? What is style? What’s the connection between realism and real life? These are some of the questions James Wood answers in How Fiction Works, the first book-length essay by the preeminent critic of his generation. Ranging widely—from Homer to David Foster Wallace, from What Maisie Knew to Make Way for Ducklings—Wood takes the reader through the basic elements of the art, step by step. The result is nothing less than a philosophy of the novel—plainspoken, funny, blunt—in the traditions of E. M. Forster’s Aspects of the Novel and Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style. It sums up two decades of insight with wit and concision. It will change the way you read.