YOUNG FOOLS: A NOVEL
BY LIZA PALMER
(Lake Union Publishing, 9 September 2025)
Interview by Anna Roins
Two-time EMMY AWARD-nominated, (who sometimes writes for MARVEL), international, best-selling author, LIZA PALMER has just a few days ago, released the ‘highly recommended’ YOUNG FOOLS: A NOVEL (Lake Union Publishing, 9 September 2025).
In this chat with AUTHORLINK columnist Anna Roins, Liza talks about the complications of being an artist, the struggles between commercial art and heart-felt creativity, and more. Which comes first, the plot or characters? How does she deal with vulnerability? Anna probes Liza deeply for real answers.
In the novel YOUNG FOOLS, When two writers blow apart their decades-long friendship, who has the right to tell their story?
Two women do the best they can to make something of their lives―even at the expense of their friendship―in a witty, emotional, and startling novel by the author of Family Reservations (2024), YOUNG FOOLS is breathtaking with its honesty.
Helen Hicks may not have any friends, but she does have a plan: prove her doubting, elitist parents wrong and become a literary sensation before she turns thirty.
When she’s finally accepted into the esteemed Hayward Writing Intensive (or, “HayHo”, as we learn to know it) at 24, Helen believes she’s right on schedule…
At Hayward, Helen meets Cherry Stewart, a free-spirited, ambitious 20-year-old whose eclectic tastes skew far more pedestrian than Helen’s.
Still, as Cherry’s champion and mentor, Helen decides they’ll set the publishing world on fire and go down as one of the literary world’s most iconic duos.
When Helen turns thirty with no debut novel in sight and a breathtaking case of writer’s block, she is forced to put her dreams on hold. Thinking Cherry shares her sad fate, Helen is shocked to learn that her best friend has not only finished and sold a novel in secret, but even more devastating, it’s a ‘genre fiction’ novel that slots into a recognizable category, rather than ‘literary fiction’ – which is more Helen’s style…
As Helen and Cherry’s years-long friendship comes crashing down, Helen finally has the clarity and inspiration to take her own art to the next level. It’s going to get personal!
The remarkable Liza Palmer sold her first book in her late 20s. YOUNG FOOLS is her tenth standalone and twelfth novel (she wrote two for MARVEL), but she is best known for Family Reservations – in the works as a Drama Series at NBC, from Ilene Chaiken and Universal TV – and Nowhere but Home, Winner of the Willie Morris Prize for Southern Fiction.
Liza worked as a Creative Executive at BuzzFeed for seven years, lives in Los Angeles and is currently working on Book 11.
Liza shares her fascinating writing process, concerns, and successes with AUTHORLINK!
About the Author:
Two-time Emmy-nominated, international best-selling writer who sometimes gets to write for Marvel, Liza Palmer has written ten novels and is best known for Family Reservations – in the works as a Drama Series at NBC, from Ilene Chaiken and Universal TV – and Nowhere but Home, Winner of the Willie Morris Prize for Southern Fiction. Liza worked as a Creative Executive at BuzzFeed for seven years, lives in Los Angeles and is currently working on Book 11.
You can find out more about Liza Palmer at https://lizapalmer.com/author/, https://www.instagram.com/lizapalmer/ and https://substack.com/@lizapalmer.
