Happy Friday! I’m so thrilled to have author Casey Dembowski on today’s Friday Five. Casey’s novel, When We’re Thirty, is available now.
Let’s dive into the interview!
Describe your decision to become a writer.
What an interesting question! For me, there was really no active decision. Being a writer is just who I am. That said, there was a decision to take it beyond my laptop and enter the writing community and put my work out there. It wasn’t an easy decision because so much of publishing is rejection. But I have to say, right now, I’m glad I made it!
What are some of your favorite novels (or your favorite novelists) and why?
My all-time favorite author is Sarah Dessen. But I go through phases with reading. I really love paranormal/fantasy romance series like Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunter Chronicles and Deborah Harkness’ All Souls trilogy, but then this year I read a lot of rom-coms and historical romances, which has been so much fun. I really loved both books in Evie Dunmore’s The League of Extraordinary Women series. I also love a good, but light mystery like Marissa Meyer’s Truly Devious series.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Take the writing course. Go to that writing conference. I’ve been a writer for most of my life, but when I was in late high school and college and making decisions about my life and career, I didn’t allow myself to study creative writing in a real way. I’d take a class there or go to a seminar there, but I felt like it wasn’t a path I could go down for a major or a career. Deciding to get my MFA was a huge step for me because it was the first time in my young adult life I allowed myself to go all in on writing.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received for writing?
Maybe not necessarily advice, but the idea that if you write a page a day you’ll have a novel in a year. I’ve always done a million different things at the same time. During my MFA, I worked two (at one point three) jobs and had classes at a university an hour away from where I lived twice a week. Now I’m a #writermom and that mom-side takes a lot of time. Keeping in perspective that you can write a novel in a year really helps me push through the worry that I don’t have as much time for writing as I would like.
How do you balance writing and the rest of life?
I’ve learned to fit writing in where I can. In graduate school, it was the three hours in the middle of the day between my two jobs. Now, it’s early mornings and late nights and nap times. Being able to write a novel in half-hour increments is a skill I highly value.
About When We’re Thirty
Two friends. One pact. The performance of their lives. Hannah Abbott is stuck in a dead-end relationship and at a job she loves but that barely pays the bills. The four walls of her tiny New York City apartment have never seemed so small. She’s barely toasted her thirtieth birthday when her old college friend Will knocks on her door with an unexpected proposal.
Will Thorne never forgot the marriage pact he made with Hannah, but he also never imagined he’d be the one to initiate it. One ex-fiancée and an almost-career-ending mistake later, however, he finds himself outside Hannah’s door, on bended knee, to collect on their graduation-night pinky promise.
With both of their futures at stake, Hannah and Will take a leap of faith. Now, all they have to do is convince their friends and family that they’re madly in love. As long as they follow the list of rules they’ve drafted, everything should go smoothly. Except Will has never been good with rules, and Hannah can’t stop overthinking the sleeping arrangements. Turning thirty has never been so promising.
About Casey
Casey loves to write stories that focus on the intricacies of relationships–whether they be romantic, familial or platonic. Her novels focus on the inner workings of women and how everything in their lives leads them to exactly where they are, whether they like it or not. Casey lives in New Jersey with her husband, daughter and their two cats. She has an MFA in Fiction from Adelphi University, and currently works in corporate marketing communications. In her (limited) spare time, she enjoys reading, baking, and watching her favorite television shows on repeat.
You can connect with her on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, or Bookbub.
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