Secret Rules to Being a Rockstar - Paperback

by Jessamyn Violet (Author)

Most Anticipated LGBTQIA+ Books: Young Adult Literature --LAMBDA Literary
Must-Have 2023 Queer Book Releases --The Nerd Daily
Most Anticipated Young Adult Books --LGBTQ Reads
Recommended LGBTQ+ YA --Reads Rainbow

Acclaimed musician Jessamyn Violet's debut LGBTQA+ novel sizzles with a coming-of-age story set in an industry of ambition, secrets, lies, and utter joy.

Eighteen-year-old Kyla Bell dreams of one day being a professional musician... but gets little to no support from her parents. Still, she practices every day and performs locally, harboring her own secret hopes. One night, her dreams are answered in the form of sultry rocker Ruby Sky, the magnetic frontwoman of her favorite band, Glitter Tears. Ruby hears Kyla perform and asks her to join the band on keys for their upcoming tour.

In order to accept, Kyla must drop out of her Western Massachusetts high school and move to Los Angeles immediately to live with a renowned yet highly volatile producer who has agreed to put her through "rock star boot camp" in a matter of weeks. Blindsided by her emerging feelings for Ruby Sky, Kyla tumbles through the lights and shadows of the 90s music scene in Los Angeles.

Author Biography

Jessamyn Violet is a writer and musician, born and raised in Massachusetts. She received her BFA in Writing, Literature and Publishing from Emerson College, and her MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco's California College of the Arts. In Los Angeles, she has written for entertainment magazines, interviewing celebrities including John Green and Matt Groening, and worked in film production. Her poetry collection, Organ Thieves (Gauss PDF), was published in 2017. Her full-length screenplay "Exit Strategies" was a quarterfinalist in Scriptapalooza in 2018. Her short stories have been published in Ploughshares (forthcoming, Spring 2023), 805 Art + Lit Magazine, Adelaide, Little Break, and 3 Elements. Jessamyn plays drums for the band Movie Club. Secret Rules to being a Rockstar is her debut novel. She currently lives in Venice Beach, California.