Tag: writer

Interviews, my reading life

Ben Reeves, author of Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt, reveals the books that shaped his life

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Ben Reeves, author of Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt, reveals the books that shaped his life

Ben Reeves’s debut novel has already earned significant recognition before publication, with an early draft of Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt winning the 2024 Bath Novel Award. Now, the UK author makes his debut with a novel that asks one of literature’s oldest questions through an unexpected narrator.

In Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt, Death isn’t a terrifying force but a quiet, compassionate presence named Travis, who spends his days comforting people in their final moments. But when he befriends a midwife and her young daughter across the hall, he begins to discover what it truly means to live. Tender, philosophical, and quietly hopeful, Reeves’ novel is a moving meditation on grief, love, and the fleeting beauty of being alive.

Reeves answered the recurring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could get to know the books that shaped his life and influenced his debut novel.

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Interviews

Alison Leiby on Identity, Chronic Pain, and Why the Messiest Parts of Life Are Worth Writing About

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Alison Leiby on Identity, Chronic Pain, and Why the Messiest Parts of Life Are Worth Writing About

I’m a Lot, the debut memoir from comedian and writer Alison Leiby, showcases her signature deadpan humor and combines it with sincere reflection to create a memorable memoir-in-essays that unravels the expectations put on modern women. Drenched in wit, her writing unpacks everything from the impact of a near-death experience to the highs of discount shopping, and even the joys of being a “Housewives” stan. Pushing back against the narrow definitions women are told they need to fit into, Leiby embraces the joy of unrepentantly living every one of your identities. 

I spoke with Leiby about the complexities of writing a memoir, the pressure to be palatable, and why humor was integral to her essays.

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Interviews

Chiara Bullen on D&D, Fantasy Taverns, and Writing Like You Rolled a Nat 20

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Chiara Bullen on D&D, Fantasy Taverns, and Writing Like You Rolled a Nat 20

The Inn at the Foot of Mount Vengeance captures everything that makes a great TTRPG campaign memorable: the camaraderie, improvisation, and delight of telling a story with friends. In her debut novel, Chiara Bullen follows an ambitious historian investigating a legendary mountain where adventurers arrive eager for glory, yet somehow never make the climb. We spoke with Bullen about D&D’s influence on her writing, creating unforgettable fantasy taverns, and why food scenes are always a critical success.

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inside the collection, Interviews

Inside the Collection: T Clark dissects All This Want (And I Can’t Get None)

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Inside the Collection: T Clark dissects All This Want (And I Can’t Get None)

What makes a great short story collection? In Debutiful’s latest Q&A series, Inside the Collection, short story writers will take readers through their writing, editing, and sequencing of their debut short story collection.

In All This Want (And I Can’t Get None), writer T Clark captures the feverish hunger and dizzying pleasures of Black girlhood and queer coming-of-age. Set largely in and around a working-class neighborhood just outside New York City, the stories follow young Black girls, women, and nonbinary characters as they navigate the uneasy space between adolescence and adulthood, desire and restraint, and the people they are and the people they might become. Prior to publishing their debut collection, Clark’s fiction appeared in Joyland, The Kenyon Review, American Short Fiction, The Offing, Fourteen Hills, and elsewhere. They also received fellowships and support from the Omi International Arts Center, the Fine Arts Work Center, the Lambda Literary Foundation, the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, and the Vermont Studio Center.

In our latest Inside the Collection Q&A, Clark takes readers inside their debut short story collection, All This Want (And I Can’t Get None).

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Interviews, my reading life

Cay Kim, author of The Future Perfect, was initially inspired by We the Animals

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Cay Kim, author of The Future Perfect, was initially inspired by We the Animals

Cay Kim‘s debut novel, The Future Perfect, is a coming-of-age story about a young woman growing up between Korea and the United States. As her family moves back and forth between two countries, she struggles to reconcile the expectations placed upon her by a devoted mother with her own evolving sense of identity and belonging. Spanning childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, the novel is a moving exploration of family, ambition, cultural inheritance, and the search for a place to call home.

We asked Kim to answer our My Reading Life Q&A so readers can get to know the books that shaped her life and influenced her writing.

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News

See the cover for Buzzard by Inez Ray

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See the cover for Buzzard by Inez Ray

Buzzard, the debut novel by Inez Ray, is a dystopian novel set in a future where fertility is tightly controlled, abortion is outlawed, and corporations wield enormous power over reproductive rights. Imprisoned midwife Mae Bastet uncovers a dangerous conspiracy involving mysterious pregnancies among teenage drone pilots, forcing her to choose between her own freedom and her commitment to protecting others. Blending political urgency with high-stakes suspense, Buzzard explores bodily autonomy, surveillance, and the enduring strength of family bonds.

Buzzard will be published on September 22, 2026, by Bindery Books and is available for preorder now.

Debutiful is honored to reveal the cover of Buzzard, designed by Charlotte Strick and featuring illustrations by Kwonny, along with a Q&A with Ray about its creation.

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book list, News, Recommendations

The Most Anticipated Debut Books of 2026, Part 2

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The Most Anticipated Debut Books of 2026, Part 2

The first half of the year produced some of the best debuts in recent memory. And the upcoming months promise to follow up with just as many unforgettable books from writers with promising careers ahead of them.

From family sagas to coming-of-age comedies, the novels, collections, and memoirs below represent the titles I’ve read completely, started and want more of, or have caught my attention. 

When I last stopped counting, I had over 2,000 emails and submissions pitching debut books for all of 2026–an insane amount. These stood above the rest for one reason or another, but it doesn’t mean there won’t be a knockout book on this list. That’s the beauty of debut books. Even someone like me, who only reads debut writers, will miss a banger from time to time.

Still, these are ones that offer something for everyone. Lucious prose, taut pacing, fun concepts. You’ll find everything from literary fiction, horror, satire, and true crime in this list.

I hope you find your next favorite writer.

A bonus Most Anticipated Book that is not included below is Living, Together: Reimagining Community in the Age of Disconnection, edited by Samantha Paige Rosen. Why wasn’t it included? Because I have an essay in it and have already proclaimed it a Most Anticipated Debut Book. It features essays about home, found family, and finding connection in the modern age. Kristen Arnett, Kim Stanley Robinson, Sarah Thankam Mathews, and so many more amazing writers are featured in the anthology.

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News

See the cover for Good People by Kat Lewis

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See the cover for Good People by Kat Lewis

Good People, the debut novel by Kat Lewis, is a sharp, darkly funny debut about race, identity, ambition, and the stories we tell ourselves about who we are. Raised by a Black family after being abandoned as a baby, Jo Tope—a white woman obsessed with achievement and belonging—believes success will unlock the life she was meant to have. But as her pursuit of a Rhodes Scholarship collides with alcoholism, privilege, and uncomfortable truths about herself, Jo is forced to confront what it really means to be a good person.

Good People will be published on April 27, 2027, by Simon & Schuster and is available for preorder now.

Lewis is a video game writer and professional Dungeons & Dragons game master who holds degrees in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University and the University of South Florida.

Debutiful is honored to reveal the cover of Good People, designed by Madelyn Rodriguez, along with a Q&A with Lewis about its creation.

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