THE BOOK: The Insatiables
PUBLISHED IN: 2018
THE AUTHOR: Brittany Terwilliger
THE EDITOR: Jenny Miller, Cassandra Farrin
THE PUBLISHER: Amberjack Publishing
SUMMARY: Since she was a child, Halley has been desperate to escape her simple Midwestern town and reinvent herself. In Dayton, Ohio, the only way to do that is by landing a top-tier position at Findlay Global Manufacturing, Inc.
Spending her days as a lowly assistant in a shared cubicle, Halley is ecstatic when a new job opening presents an extraordinary opportunity: a chance to relocate to Europe to launch a new product. For Halley Faust, this job is the epitome of the American dream, and she will do anything to get it. She soon begins to understand that ruthless guile is the only path to success, and the harder she chases after her dangerously decadent American dream, the more her dreams seem to elude her. Ultimately, Halley must decide how much she is willing to sacrifice in pursuit of a life that may very well be a fantasy.
The Insatiables details a young woman’s climb up the corporate ladder and the irrevocable choices she must make to survive.
THE BACK STORY: I started writing The Insatiables while I was living and working in Europe. I would send emails to my family and friends back home, mostly about the absurd situations I’d find myself in as a foreigner traveling on business, struggling with local languages and bumbling through, and my mom and a couple of my friends used to read these emails out loud to everyone in their offices because they all thought they were so funny. After a while, several people suggested I write a book. So, I thought, why not?
All the writers who are reading this now are no doubt thinking “ha, idiot,” because, as I quickly learned, writing a book is really hard! I spent three months putting all of my stories on paper, and what I ended up with was a series of poorly written essays about my life, which were only interesting to people who knew me. It was total crap, full of clichés and dumb jokes. It had no through-line. It was boring at parts, in a very you-had-to-be-there sort of way. The characters were based on real people, so they were not very interesting or dramatic. I gave it to a few friends to read, and it was so bad that no one even knew how to tell me what was wrong with it.
So, what did I do? I picked up a few books on craft and started attending workshops. Since I had done the work to get this far, I felt like I needed to see it through.
Five years, 4 craft books, 2 workshops (one of which was Tin House, which helped me enormously), 2 professional editors, and at least 10 full rewrites later, the book was accepted by a small press and finally published. The final book doesn’t at all resemble what I started with—it is completely fictional, and therefore much more interesting—which is a good thing.
WHY THIS TITLE?: The story is about a bunch of people who are never satisfied… “insatiables,” if you will. There’s more explanation of the title towards the end of the book, but it’s a plot point that I don’t want to spoil for anyone who might decide to read it.
WHY WOULD SOMEONE WANT TO READ IT? It’s fun, and it has something to say. It seems to resonate especially well with people who have worked for large companies. There’s friendship, betrayal, travel, corporate satire, and a goldfish named Phil Collins. How can you go wrong?
REVIEW COMMENTS:
“A humorous and thought-provoking tale about searching for the ever elusive brass ring.” — -Kirkus Reviews
“This well-written story examines our desire for success and recognition, and what it means to win and lose.” — Washington Independent Review of Books
“One of the best inside looks at the madness of contemporary corporate capitalism you’re likely to find.” — New Pop Lit Extra
AUTHOR PROFILE: Brittany Terwilliger grew up in the Midwest and graduated from Indiana University. She is the Managing Editor at Pithead Chapel, and her novel, The Insatiables, was published by Amberjack Publishing in 2018. She lives in New York.
AUTHOR COMMENTS: At its heart this book is about the failure of the American dream, how our dreams can be used to manipulate us into consuming, and how our relentless desire for more—in the workplace, in families, in love—is necessary but also destructive.
SAMPLE CHAPTER: See Amazon page.
LOCAL OUTLETS: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781944995591
WHERE ELSE TO BUY IT:
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-insatiables-brittany-terwilliger/1128061692#/
Books A Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Insatiables/Brittany-Terwilliger/9781944995591
Target: https://www.target.com/p/insatiables-by-brittany-terwilliger-paperback/-/A-53992333
Wal Mart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/The-Insatiables/974648262
PRICE: $14.95
CONTACT THE AUTHOR:
Find my email address and all of my social media handles on my website,
Snowflakes in a Blizzard 