SHORTER
Fame / Katie Couric Media
Pretending Not To Know What I Want / Autostraddle
On The Artist’s Way / Catapult
Playlist for Getting Clean With Stevie Green / Largehearted Boy
“Journaling and What I Have Misremembered” / Psychology Today
Guide to Writing a Novel (Illustrated) / Electric Lit
Metaphors for Writing a Novel (Illustrated) / Lit Hub
“All the Things I’ve Loved to Death” / Catapult
On transformation, on lies (Issues 3, 5) / Human Shift
”The Sociopath Who Loved Me Enough” / Autostraddle
On living in a hippie commune in Brooklyn / The Rumpus
“How To Be a Soho Nanny and Survive - Just Barely” / Salon
“The Worst Kind of Want” by Liska Jacobs / LA Times Book Review
REVIEWS
“A deliciously twisted love story that sneakily upends your expectations at every turn; a candy apple with a razor blade hidden inside.”
Graham Moore, Academy Award-winning writer
“A modern, stylish thriller that probes the bleeding edge of self and other. Huntley’s novel is sexy, propulsive, and damn good.”
Ivy Pochoda
“Unforgettable characters, sharp social commentary, twisty turns, and sky-high stakes — I devoured this book like a tasty treat made my Jane Bailey herself.”
Katie Sise
GETTING CLEAN WITH STEVIE GREEN
Huntley (We Could Be Beautiful) shines in this story of a woman returning home to get her life together...This smart and expertly plotted tale captivates."
Publishers Weekly
“Huntley has constructed a compelling protagonist who oscillates between obliviousness and excruciating self-awareness, building a complex internal landscape and allowing readers a layered understanding of Stevie's eventual personal evolution… [This novel’s] core is animated by genuine emotional resonance — plus a thoughtful exploration of addiction, anxiety about sexual identity, and the ways family bonds shift in adulthood.”
Kirkus Reviews
“Maddening, charming Stevie...Loyal readers of Kelly Harms, Lia Louis, and Maria Semple will fall for this compelling novel of identity, reinvention, and the contrast between ordered spaces and hidden chaos.”
Booklist
“An engrossing portrait of female friendship, Huntley’s sophomore novel explores the risks and rewards of finding an unexpected soul mate. Huntley lets the idyllic Hawaiian setting wash over the reader, the volcanoes and starry skies the perfect background for Nancy’s self-discovery. Readers who enjoyed Camille Pagán’s Life and Other Near-Death Experiences and the works of Meg Wolitzer will savor the slow burn of this expressive and electric novel.”
Stephanie Turza, Booklist (Starred Review)
“Single White Female in a tropical setting.”
Claire Stern, InStyle, “7 Books You Need to Read in July 2017”
“If Swan Huntley’s 2016 bestselling suspenser, We Could Be Beautiful, grabbed you and wouldn’t let you go, hold on to The Goddesses, about a woman who has just moved to Hawaii with her family an develops a friendship with a yoga instructor that gets close—and then way too close—for comfort.”
Lisa Shea, Elle
“A biting and seldom-flattering portrait of a ‘friend crush’ gone horribly wrong.”
Casey O’Brien, SF Magazine
"Huntley is adept at deploying Catherine's good fortune as a fulcrum of suspense... Huntley deftly establishes Catherine's tendency to rationalize and repress... Lively... Huntley writes with wit and verve, excelling at economically hilarious descriptions... The book's strengths lie... in the zippy social satire, in the portrait of a dysfunctional family (Catherine's relationship with her sister turns out to be especially affecting) and, most of all, in Catherine's voice--strange and funny and engaging to the very end."
Jennifer DuBois, The New York Times Book Review
“A riveting psychological thriller, Huntley’s debut takes you inside the world of Manhattan’s elite—and keeps you on tenterhooks.”
People, “Book of the Week”
“Posh Manhattanite Catherine West has everything but the family she's always wanted. But when she falls for the man of her supposed dreams, she unravels a web of deception that upends life as she knows it… Mesmerizing… As elegantly plotted as it is—and it is—Huntley's debut stands out not for its thrills but rather for her hawkish eye for social detail and razor-sharp wit. It is more than a classic psychological thriller: it is also a haunting—and weirdly moving—portrait of love and family among Manhattan's flailing upper crust. An intoxicating escape; as smart as it is fun.”
Kirkus (Starred Review)
ABOUT
Swan Huntley’s novels include I Want You More, Getting Clean with Stevie Green, The Goddesses, and We Could Be Beautiful. She’s also the writer/illustrator of the darkly humorous The Bad Mood Book and You’re Grounded: An Anti-Self-Help Book to Calm You the F*ck Down. Swan earned an MFA at Columbia University and has received fellowships from MacDowell and Yaddo. She lives in Los Angeles.
These are my author photos for books 3, 2, and 1.
2024 EVENTS
5/21 at 7pm, Annabelle’s Book Club w/Lisa Bloom (Studio City, CA)
5/22 at 6pm, Zibby’s Bookshop w/Brant Cox from The Infatuation (Santa Monica, CA)
5/23 at 7:30pm, Warwick’s w/Natasha Feldman (La Jolla, CA)
5/30 at 6pm, Bart’s Books w/Danica Nava (Ojai, CA)
6/3 at 7pm, Ruby Fruit, NOT FUNNY Reading Series w/Gina Young + Friends (Los Angeles, CA)
6/11 at 6:30pm, Fan Girl Cafe w/Anna Goodman (West Hollywood, CA)
6/20 at 7:30pm, Lyric Hyperion Theater, NOT FUNNY Reading Series w/Gina Young + Friends (Los Angeles, CA)
6/29 at 10:30am “LGBTQ+ and Free: Queer Books in an Era of Book Bans” Panel at ALA (San Diego)
6/29 at 4pm, Annabelle’s Book Club w/Emily Hampshire (Studio City, CA)
7/2 at 7pm, Green Apple Books w/Esmé Weijun Wang (Inner Sunset, San Francisco, CA)
7/6 at TK, Malaprops (Asheville, NC)
8/7 at 7pm, The Powerhouse Arena w/Elizabeth Greenwood (Brooklyn, NY)
8/8 at 12pm, Barnes & Noble Bridgehampton Event w/TK (Bridgehampton, BY)
8/8 at 6:30pm, Canoe Place (Hamptons Bay, NY)
8/9 at 9:30am Elements Barre Class (Sag Harbor, NY)
8/9 at 12pm, Shelter Island Yacht Club Finley’s Fiction Event w/Zibby Owens (Shelter Island Heights, NY)
8/9 at 5pm, Southampton Cultural Center Author Panel w/Zibby Owens (Southampton, NY)
