Trade Reviews for MOTHERED

We are thrilled to have received so many positive trade reviews for MOTHERED! To read the reviews in their entirety, go to MOTHERED's press page, where you will find the corresponding links under Coverage Highlights. I've posted a couple of the expanded blurbs below:

"Each of Stage's books explore the dark side of family bonds, all in their own extraordinary way. This one lays bare the true horror inherent in fables and folklore, and what Pandora lets out of her box seems negligible compared to what Grace unleashes." - Booklist (Starred Review)

"Stage thrusts dread upon readers from her book's first sentences and continues to escalate the tension with every page. A great choice for fans of intense psychological horror where nothing can be trusted and no one can look away from the emerging nightmare." - Library Journal

Starred Reviews

In the midst of this strange time, life continues on (albeit in isolation). WONDERLAND is having quite the week, with new blurbs from fabulous authors, and not one but two starred reviews in trade journals: Booklist (link to come), and Library Journal.

When BABY TEETH received its starred reviews I was quite ignorant about the business and how things worked. This time around I knew that - for better or worse - WONDERLAND would be held up against BABY TEETH, and I've been metaphorically holding my breath for quite some time, wondering what the verdict would be. It means the world to me to see these early starred reviews come in! 

Library Journal: BEST BOOKS 2018

Library Journal has been incredibly supportive of BABY TEETH's publishing journey and I couldn't be more grateful! I'm just ecstatic to be on their BEST BOOKS 2018 in the Horror category! Click here to go to page

Library Journal Interview & Cover

I was incredibly honored to be interviewed by Library Journal for their Mystery Preview 2018 issue. And I was somewhat flabbergasted to be sent out on a photo shoot so I could appear on the cover of that issue. (It is starting to dawn on me that having a career in publishing is not just about being a hermit and wearing pajamas to work.)

An excerpt from the Q&A:

Truth, and the manipulation of it, are two tropes that work so well in Baby Teeth. How did you sustain the suspense when there’s knowledge the reader has about Hanna’s behavior and yet Suzette’s retelling of that same behavior isn’t always met with sympathy or acceptance, even from her own husband?

Many people don't know this about me, but I am a theatrically trained actor. One of the most indelible things I learned from an acting class was in regard to playing "evil" characters. The advice we were given was to never think of a character as evil, but to see their motivation as a natural consequence of their life, their experiences, their desire. This changed my thinking in many areas, but in regard to Baby Teeth it meant that I was always focused on each character's truth. I think the tension actually comes from the reader, and their awareness (and frustration) that there is a disconnect between one person's truth and another's.

Read the full Library Journal interview here.

Trade Reviews for #BabyTeeth

I am very excited and grateful that BABY TEETH has received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal! Reading people's reactions to my book continues to be surprising and fascinating and humbling. I am more aware than ever that everyone brings a bit of her/himself to what they read, and it means my book is experienced differently, in subtle ways, by everyone who reads it.

From the Kirkus review: "Stage fuses horror with domestic suspense to paint an unflinching portrait of childhood psychopathy and maternal regret." Read the full Kirkus Review here.

From the Publishers Weekly review: "Stage’s deviously fun debut takes child-rearing anxiety to demented new heights." Read the full Publishers Weekly review here.

From the Library Journal review: "This twisty first novel has been aptly compared to The Omen and Lionel Shiver’s We Need To Talk About Kevin, which is especially apparent in Stage’s exploration of the dark side of modern motherhood." Read the full Library Journal review here.