New book, new blog!

I'm thrilled to announce that my new novel, Dollface, will be published next fall by NAL, a division of Penguin. When you tell someone you've sold a new book, they ask what it's about so here's  the elevator pitch: Dollface is a Roaring '20s novel about a young flapper who falls in love with two mobsters from rival gangs during Prohibition Chicago.

I started working on this book over eight years ago, before I sold my first novel, before there was a Boardwalk Empire or Ken Burns had produced Prohibition, even before they decided to remake The Great Gatsby. As far a I knew, the 1920s wasn't on anyone's radar back in 2003 or 2004 when I started working on Dollface but now, thank god, it appears that people can't get enough of that bygone era. From the fashion runways, to Oscar-winners like The Artist, to bestsellers like The Chaperone, there's a renewed interest in the Roaring '20s. I know of several other books set in that time period as well so I think I'll be in good company.

And of course with a new book, my first foray into a adult historical fiction, comes lots of change. A real departure from my YA novel, Every Crooked Pot, Dollface calls for a new take on things. So in the weeks and months ahead I'll be redesigning my website (www.reneerosen.com) and redirecting the focus of my blogs. I'll always have something to say about writing and publishing but there's so much to share about the Roaring '20s, about Chicago's notorious and lesser known gangsters. They were a fascinating lot. Believe me when I say you couldn't make up characters like Dion O'Banion, Hymie Weiss and Vincent Drucci. 

So stick around for changes. They're coming just as soon as I can get 'em in the works!