SPECTACULAR THINGS: A NOVEL
by Beck Dorey-Stein
(The Dial Press, 1 July 2025)
Interview by Anna Roins
REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • Two sisters examine what they owe each other and what they are willing to sacrifice to make their dreams come true in this “epic story” (Reese Witherspoon) from New York Times bestselling author Beck Dorey-Stein.
What would you give up for the person you love most? What would you expect in return?
Mia and Cricket have always been close. The gifted daughters of a young single mother, the “Lowe girls”, are well-known in the small Maine town they call home. Each sister has a role to fill: The responsible and academically minded Mia assumes the position of caregiver far too young, while Cricket, a bouncing ball of energy and talent, seems born for soccer stardom. But the cost of achieving athletic greatness comes at a steep price.
As Mia and Cricket grow up, they must grapple with the legacy of their mother’s secret past while navigating their own precarious future. Can Mia allow herself to fall in love at the risk of repeating a terrible history? Will Cricket’s relentless chase of a lifelong goal drive her sister away? When does loyalty become self-sabotage?
A sharply observed and tender portrait of sisters, love, and ambition, Spectacular Things is a sweeping story about the impossible choices we’re forced to make in pursuit of our dreams.
AUTHORLINK: Beck! Hello and welcome to AUTHORLINK. We are thrilled to discuss SPECTACULAR THINGS: A NOVEL with you. It’s about two sisters, Mia and Cricket, who examine what they owe each other and what they are willing to sacrifice to make their dreams come true. Tell us a bit about SPECTACULAR THINGS and what inspired you to write this story? Are the main characters inspired by people you know? Do you have a sister yourself?
DOREY-STEIN: Spectacular Things is about two sisters, Mia and Cricket Lowe, who share a deep connection until a string of surprising events forces them to confront the limitations of loyalty. Grounded in women’s soccer, the novel grapples with the sticky themes of familial bonds, love, ambition, and sacrifice.
I was inspired to write this story after cheering on the U.S Women’s National Team in the 2019 World Cup. They were a team I found profoundly inspiring on and off the field. The project began as a love letter to soccer and teammates, but as I continued to write, I couldn’t unsee the parallels between teammates and sisters. I do have a younger sister, Caroline, who is a tremendous runner. Like Mia and Cricket in the novel, we are extremely close.
AUTHORLINK: That’s great! SPECTACULAR THINGS also goes into detail about soccer. Are you a fan or a player yourself, or was this all research?
DOREY-STEIN: I played soccer through high school and even the first year of college, until I tore my meniscus. After graduating, I taught English at a boarding school and was the assistant coach on the girls’ varsity soccer team. Later, when I moved to D.C., I joined a women’s soccer team because soccer players are my people. Now I’m just a fan. I did quite a bit of research for this book, but honestly, I had too much fun chasing facts down different rabbit holes to qualify it as such.
AUTHORLINK: Excellent. We also wish to congratulate you on THE SPECTACULAR THINGS being chosen for REESE’S BOOK CLUB. How did that come about? What was your reaction to hearing the news?
DOREY-STEIN: Thank you! I learned I would be Reese’s July Book Club Pick in a Zoom meeting with my publishing team. There were a few unfamiliar faces, and when my editor explained these were people from the RBC team, I surprised everyone – and myself – by dissolving into tears. Only weeks before that call, I’d told my partner that Reese’s Book Club was a white whale in publishing and something I, of course, wanted but would never get.
AUTHORLINK: Awww, how wonderful. How long did it take you to write the first draft of THE SPECTACULAR THINGS? And did you map it out first by setting out the plot, or did you write by the ‘seat of your pants’? Thereafter, how many times did you edit it before sending it to your agent? Who is your first reader?
DOREY-STEIN: Oh boy, so my first draft I wrote during my second and third trimester. Those pregnancy hormones made me way more relaxed than I am otherwise — so relaxed, in fact, that I submitted a draft I deemed “the best I could do,” given all the naps my body suddenly craved. Fast forward to six weeks after I gave birth, when my publisher very gently let me know I needed to start over.
My second and third drafts were written when I was still in the sleep-deprived, post-partum phase of motherhood. I’d say we didn’t start really getting somewhere until the fourth draft, but even in that earliest trash heap of a first draft, I knew this book was about sisters, and that there was a Cinderella-story moment for the goalkeeper right when her sister needed her most. I wrote by the seat of my pants, which is a pretty inefficient way of going about things, but also an apt introduction to writing-while-mothering. I hope to be more successful in mapping out the plot for my next project. My first reader is always my agent.
AUTHORLINK: Thank you for sharing that – it’s so interesting! We understand you taught English for a few years and that you always wanted to become a writer from the age of six. Have you done any writing courses? Who was your greatest mentor in your writing career?
DOREY – STEIN: I took one creative writing course at night while working at the White House and applied to MFA programs after the White House, but didn’t get in anywhere. I’ve had supportive lampposts since high school – my 11th grade English teacher pulled me aside to say I had talent, as did an English professor in college. My friends and family have always been encouraging. But now that I’m thinking about it, I think my greatest mentors are the great writers whose work inspires me.
AUTHORLINK: You were a stenographer in the White House from 2012 to 2017. A White House stenographer serves as the first line of defence against the press, ensuring that reporters do not misquote the president outside the Oval Office and create fake news. Your position took you into the depths of the Roosevelt Room in the West Wing, witnessing history being made under President Obama and living out the drama of your twenties as one of five elite stenographers, travelling the world at his side. You visiteed 45 countries, were responsible for recording and transcribing President Obama’s speeches (including after the most tragic events), briefings and official statements both for the press office and the presidential archives. That must have been such an exciting period of your life!
Unwilling to continue working under the Trump administration, you decided to write a memoir about your time with President Obama instead, and called it From the Corner of the Oval: A Memoir (2018). We understand you were encouraged by David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker, to take some notes during this time in your life, and luckily, it paid off! From the Corner of the Oval became a New York Times bestseller! What a thing to tell your grandchildren.
DOREY-STEIN: Thank you. Yes, it feels like another life now that we’re closing in on a decade since President Obama left office, which is crazy. A lot has changed since then – internationally, domestically, and personally – but I am forever grateful for that time and those opportunities to witness history unfold firsthand.
AUTHORLINK: We can imagine. Your memoir is so refreshing, laying out your feelings and thoughts with complete authenticity. You were never your typical Washington DC insider, yet you had a seat on Air Force One. At first, you worried President Obama might be “a politician who comes across great on TV yet is quite greasy in person…” But you were pleasantly surprised that “he was so much better in real life,” is that right? Do you still feel the same way about him now? Do you keep in touch?
We enjoyed the anecdotes about your time in the Oval Office, such as how you were hired after responding to a Craigslist ad for a position as legal stenographer and were working five part-time jobs when you landed the position. When you were told you would be working directly with the president, you asked, “President of what?” The first time he talked to you was on a treadmill. You looked over and realized it’s not a Secret Service agent; it’s the president saying, “I thought you’d be faster than that.” How entertaining.
DOREY-STEIN: I have not kept in touch with President Obama, but I still often think of what Michelle Obama said during the 2016 campaign: “Being President doesn’t change who you are, it reveals who you are.” I doubt President Obama has changed much over the past decade, and the person I saw had – what did President Biden once say? – “a backbone like a ramrod.”
AUTHORLINK: You once said, “My job changed the way I perceive power because President Obama used his in the best, most effective way — to be kind while also establishing boundaries, constructive communication and high expectations. He used his power to listen, to ask questions, to raise awareness and compassion. Seeing his leadership skills in action made me appreciate that power is the opportunity to be generous…or a jackass. (Redacted, October 25, 2019) Do you still feel this way today about President Barack Obama?
DOREY – STEIN: I sure do.
AUTHORLINK: We understand you left after two months working within the Trump administration out of disappointment. You say, “Obama was extremely committed to being transparent with the American people, having a full transcript for everything for the press office, the press and the presidential archive, and with President Trump and his team, they didn’t even tell us when they were meeting with members of the press, so there was no stenographer in the room for the Lester Holt interview, with ABC, we weren’t there, and even when he met with Bill O’Reilly he actually ended up taking Bill O’Reilly up to the Oval office for an hour for an interview, and I wasn’t in the room for that.” (MSNBC 19 July 2018).
We understand that White House stenographers are no longer as necessary since video recordings are available. What is your opinion about that?
DOREY – STEIN: I think keeping an up-to-date presidential archive — and providing transcripts to the press in the name of transparency — are integral pieces to a functional American democracy.
AUTHORLINK: You had stated you no longer wished to write another memoir after your first and only one, to date. How easy was it to convince your agent and publisher to transition from the genre of memoir to fiction? How difficult is it to write fiction from a memoir? You released your debut fiction in 2021 called Rock the Boat (2021), to rave reviews! Bravo you!
DOREY – STEIN: My agent and publisher were instantly supportive of switching from nonfiction to fiction. Memoir is difficult in that it requires 110% vulnerability. Novels are difficult because anything can happen, which makes the buffet of characters and events more than slightly overwhelming.
AUTHORLINK: What were some of the challenges you faced on the road to publishing? What are you working on now?
DOREY – STEIN: Self-doubt is the constant challenge so I’m trying to tune into it. I used to think it was something to overcome but I’m now realizing it’s something to recognize and keep in check without ever expecting to eradicate it entirely. Like weeds in the garden. Or sand in the car.
AUTHORLINK: Great advice! Beck, thank you so much for your time today and discussing SPECTACULAR THINGS with us here at AUTHORLINK, as well as your writing career. We wish for your future success!
DOREY – STEIN: Thank you so much for these thoughtful questions!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: BECK DOREY-STEIN grew up in Narberth, Pennsylvania. Her first book, From the Corner of the Oval, was a New York Times bestseller and her debut novel, Rock the Boat, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice selection. She now lives in Maine with her family but will always root for longer summers and Philly sports teams. You can find out more about Beck Dorey-Stein at https://beckdoreystein.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/beckdoreystein/?hl=en
