Join Samantha Paige Rosen (Living, Together) Yu-Mei Balasingamchow (Names Have Been Changed), Kat Stoddard (Wasp’s Nest), and Kim Narby (Saturn Returning) for Hot Debut Summer, a celebration of the debut author experience!
You’ll learn how these first-time authors claimed space in the market; took their work from inspiration to publication at Big 5s, indies, and influencer imprints; and hear their advice for aspiring authors around approaching publicity and building literary community.
Wear your hottest outfit, whatever that means to you, and be prepared to weigh in on a literary rendition of “hot or not!” Drinks and snacks provided, plus a summer surprise!
The authors’ books will be available for purchase & signing.
Doors open at 6:30p. Space is limited, and tickets are strongly recommended!
Please note: This event will be held on H&H's lower level, which has a flight of stairs and is not ADA-accessible.
About the Authors & Books:
Samantha Paige Rosen’s writing on identity, culture, and the arts has appeared in the Washington Post, Harper’s Bazaar, ELLE, Slate, Them, Literary Hub, and elsewhere. She’s written about everything from the crazy cat lady stereotype to ADHD and running late to why Friday Night Lights is actually a queer TV show. She earned her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and lives outside of Philadelphia, where she is a freelance writer and editor, a writing tutor and coach, and an amateur potter. Living, Together: Reimagining Community in the Age of Disconnection is her first book.
Communal living isn't just for cults or millennials with a pipe dream. Amidst the climate crisis, a hostile housing market, and the loneliness epidemic, Living, Together opens a window into how people in the US are thriving through collective care. This book invites us to imagine what new opportunities for connection exist when we push through the walls society has built for us.
Yu-Mei Balasingamchow is the author of Names Have Been Changed. Her short stories have received a Pushcart Prize Special Mention and the Mississippi Review Fiction Prize. Originally from Singapore, she lives in Boston. She teaches at GrubStreet and is editor at Gaudy Boy, an independent press that publishes Asian voices.
Names Have Been Changed: Catch Me If You Can meets Counterfeit in this thrilling debut novel about Ophir--not her real name--who starts a confessional podcast about her years on the run around the globe, in an unforgettable story about the costs of freedom and the inescapable pull of home.
Kim Narby is a queer writer from Seattle. Her debut novel, Saturn Returning, was published with the Sapph-Lit imprint of Bindery Books in May 2026. She lives in Brooklyn with her cocker spaniel, Georgia.
Saturn Returning is a smoldering, soul-splitting debut that tracks three friends through the celestial chaos of adulthood, love, and queer identity.
Kat Stoddard writes fiction about gay people, divorce, and dinner parties. She lives in Baltimore with her daughter and their cats. WASP'S NEST is her debut novel.
Wasp’s Nest is a modern retelling of The Philadelphia Story—a witty, gripping love triangle unfolding over the course of seven chaotic days at a Cape Cod wedding.