1--What is the title of your latest release?
LAVASH AT FIRST SIGHT
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Two women fall for each other at a food packaging conference only to realize that their parents are mortal enemies, owning rival Armenian food businesses. The two women, along with their nosy, scrutinous parents, are pitted against each other in a competition at the conference to win an ad in the Superbowl. Their attraction to each other and the stakes of the competition keep ratcheting up and up until it’s absolutely boiling.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I lived in Chicago for a year and fell so deeply in love with it. I knew I wanted to set a book in the Second City, and this idea for the big conference came to me. I went to ALA in Chicago at McCormick Place one year for work, so the idea of a food packagers conference being set there came to mind. The book is infused with tons of Chicago adoration from this West Coast lifer.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
By the end of the book, yes definitely! Nazeli needs someone to help her let loose, so in that way Vanya is perfect for her. Me? Not quite as much. Though if we went out to The Conservatory together (a fictional fancy cocktail spot inspired by The Aviary, featured in Lavash at First Sight), I bet we’d have a blast.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Type A, driven, longing.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
That I could write a book while pregnant and working full time in just four months. I still cannot believe I pulled that off.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I edit a little as ideas come to me because I don’t want to forget them, particularly their wording, but I don’t do any major edits until the first draft is totally done.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Anything dark chocolate. Total unabashed chocoholic here. I am the easiest person to buy gifts for, just present me with some schmany dark chocolate and I will be eternally grateful (hint hint to loved ones reading).
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I hope one day I’ll have an office, but living in San Francisco, I’m not totally sure that’ll happen. My writing space is the main couch in our living room. I write when no one is home during the day. The thought of having a dedicated separate space for writing feels so luxurious.
10--Who is an author you admire?
So so many. I am getting close with many fellow Berkley authors and their work ethic and drive and love of writing is so inspiring. Jesse Q. Sutanto, Mia P. Manansala, Sarah Hawley, Isabel Cañas, Jenna Levine, Eve Chung, Sajni Patel among many other stars!
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Is it fair to say all of them? But if we’re talking about the biggest impact, probably Matilda by Roald Dahl, since that book helped me feel very seen as a small bookish girl. I hoped for superpowers for several years after reading.
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 incredibly lucky with Lavash, lightning-strike lucky. On my call with Cindy Hwang and Angela Kim about Sorry, Bro, way back in August 2021, they asked me if I had any ideas for other books. I pitched a few but none were romcoms. They asked if I had a romcom idea, and I did have one in the back of my mind but was worried it was too similar to another book that had just come out. I shared this and they said, “well, tell us anyway”. So I clumsily pitched Lavash with three unpracticed sentences and they loved the idea! Took me 5 years to get my first book published and 10 seconds to get my second book deal.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I read so many genres, it’s hard to pick a favorite. I love women’s fiction and domestic dramas, romance of course, mystery, literary fiction, YA, fantasy, and memoir. I have a favorite in each genre.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
Either Clueless or the 5-hour A&E version of Pride and Prejudice.
15--What is your favorite season?
Late spring/early summer. I love the warmth and flowers blooming everywhere, the long days of sunshine, the feeling of growth and optimism.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
As a Leo I’m a bit crazy about my birthday but lately, with kids, I haven’t celebrated it much. Getting about six hours alone to read a book somewhere warm is what I’d love these days.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I’ll give one of each! I am still obsessed with Veep and am doing a rewatch now. Movie-wise, Portrait of a Lady on Fire had me weeping in the best way. I am - loving - A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch by Sarah Hawley. Her enemies to lovers dynamic is so satisfyingly rendered and it is deliciously spicy. And J.P. Der Boghossian’s Podcast This Queer Book Saved My Life is a must-listen!
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
My mother’s cooking. Armenian-Lebanese food is my comfort food. But beyond that I love Japanese and Indian cuisine. I recently took a North Indian cooking class that was so informative and helped me appreciate the food even more than before.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
I spend a lot of time chatting with other writers on Discord actually! And I used to garden a lot but the critters in our backyard have wised up to the fact that there were delicious fruits and veggies being grown and kept eating all my hours of work. I may skip planting this spring unfortunately.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
I still have to sell my next books! I am currently writing an unsold Armenian adventure romance and there are a couple other ideas I have cooking. Fingers crossed publishing gives me a chance to share more Armenian stories!
Sparks fly between two women pitted against each other in this delectable new romantic comedy by Taleen Voskuni, author of Sorry, Bro.
Twenty-seven-year-old Nazeli “Ellie” Gregorian enjoys the prestige of her tech marketing job but is sick of the condescending Patagonia-clad tech bros, her micromanaging boss, and her ex-boyfriend, who she’s forced to work with every day. When Ellie’s lovingly overbearing parents ask her to attend PakCon—a food packaging conference in Chicago—to help promote their company and vie to win an ad slot in the Superbowl (no big deal), she’s eager for a brief change and a delicious distraction.
At the conference, she meets witty, devil-may-care Vanya Simonian. Ellie can’t believe how easy it is to talk to Vanya and how much they have in common—both Armenian! From the Bay Area! Whose families are into food! Their meet-cute is cut short, however, when Ellie’s parents recognize Vanya as the daughter of the owners of their greatest rival, whose mission (according to Ellie’s mother) is to whitewash and package Armenian food for the American health-food crowd.
Sworn as enemies, Ellie and Vanya must compete against each other under their suspicious parents' scrutiny, all while their feelings for each other heat to sizzling temps.
Romance Comedy | LGBTQ Romance [Berkley, On Sale: May 7, 2024, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593547328 / ]
Taleen Voskuni is an Armenian-American writer who grew up in the Bay Area diaspora surrounded by a rich Armenian community and her ebullient, loving family. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in English and currently lives in San Francisco, working in tech. Other than a newfound obsession with writing romcoms, she spends her free time cultivating her kids, her garden, and her dark chocolate addiction.
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