1--What is the title of your latest release?
FRIENDS IN NAPA
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
The White Lotus (HBO) meets Friends from College (Netflix). I pitched the book I wanted to read — privileged people behaving badly in wine country.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I’ve been to Napa and the wine regions that surround it more times than I can count. Napa Valley looms large in the popular imagination and while it can be all romantic, rolling hills and resplendent wine tastings and meals, it can also get messy. I wanted to spotlight both sides of Napa, as it pertains to tourists.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
FIN has several protagonists and they’re all problematic. Maybe V. At least she’s a good yoga teacher.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonists?
Gutsy, gregarious, delusional.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
If I don’t have a deadline, it doesn’t get done.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I line edit as I draft but more substantive stuff happens afterwards.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
There are so many … right now, Epoisses.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I have a small office at home with a desktop, a bookshelf, and a couch, but lately I’ve been writing in transit, on my laptop or my phone.
10--Who is an author you admire?
Again, so many. I love that Susan Orlean isn’t afraid to try new things. She just launched a Substack.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
The Catcher in the Rye, cliche as that may be.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I was in the parking lot of my go-to butcher in Los Angeles and ran back inside to get cured meats to pair with the champagne that I knew I’d open the minute I got home.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
literary fiction.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
Clueless.
15--What is your favorite season?
Summer.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
By getting away to a place with bath water-warm bodies of water.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Girls on the Bus, a new HBO Max series created by my very good friend, Amy Chozick. It’s about a group of female reporters who form unexpected bonds while covering a presidential campaign. Having been a campaign reporter — though not to the degree that Amy has, she covered Hilary Clinton for the better part of a decade — it’s thrilling to see a compelling, consummately entertaining portrayal of a singular job in journalism.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
I’ll narrow it down to three, and they’re going to be maddeningly broad: Indian, Chinese, Mediterranean.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Attempt to read and end up on my phone.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
More explorations of my favorite genre — rich people acting out.
Six old friends descend on Napa Valley for a luxurious weekend of fine wine and good times…until old tensions simmer to the surface. So much can go wrong in this dark comedy by the author of The Goddess Effect.
Just get yourselves here, everything else is on us.
Raj and Rachel Ranjani have invited a small group of their ride or dies from college for a celebratory weekend in Napa Valley. On the agenda: three nights in the couple’s vineyard mansion, a lavish dinner at Napa’s hottest new restaurant, exclusive tastings, and the grand opening of the Ranjanis’ ultra-high-end winery. It’s a reunion of six friends who haven’t seen each other in years. What could go wrong?
To start, there’s the less-than-warm welcome: a brick flung through a window and palpable tension between the hosts. But no worries—all Raj has to do is pop a few bottles of vintage Dom, and the college vibes come rushing back. So do old resentments, animosities, and unrequited crushes. Soon enough, the illusion of friendship shatters like a gossamer wineglass, and one of the friends ends up dead. Everyone has their motivations. Everyone has something to hide.
Here’s to a weekend in the valley. Drink up and watch your back.
Suspense Psychological [Mindy's Book Studio, On Sale: April 1, 2024, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781662513176 / ]
Sheila Yasmin Marikar’s work has been published in the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Economist, Fortune, Bloomberg Businessweek, Vogue, and many other publications. Her New York Times Magazine profile of the chef Gaggan Anand was selected for the 2021 edition of Best American Food Writing. Sheila began her career at ABC News. A native of New Jersey, she is a graduate of Cornell University, where she studied history. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband.
No comments posted.
© 2003-2026