Kyla is reading VALLEY VÉRlFlED ✨
@kylazhao_
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@penguinrandom author of VALLEY VERIFIED, THE FRAUD SQUAD, MAY THE BEST PLAYER WIN—on sale at link ⬇️ | Ftd. in Vogue, Forbes, GMA, CBS, NBC, Tatler✨ Agent: CAA
San Francisco, CA
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A book that I worked on for 4 (!) years comes out today😭
This is a family-friendly version of ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ 👑♟️A tale about not letting other people’s opinion nor your own doubts hold you back
Now out wherever books are sold:
I hope you enjoy💗
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murphy’s law for writers: the more free time you have, the less likely you are to actually write
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An Indian designer created these stunning haute couture looks and Vogue said:
“A little distance and a lighter touch would probably work wonders…by bringing him into the real world”.
I can’t even with them sometimes 😩 Like have they seen Schiaparelli’s lion head dress??!
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WHY IS THERE STILL NO KEYBOARD BUTTON FOR THE EM DASH
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My grandparents don’t know English but they bought a copy of my book.
And I just learned that every day, they would flip to 2 pages: the last page with my author photo, and the acknowledgments page where I thanked them in Mandarin—the only part of my book that they can read🥹
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I JUST GOT AN INTERNSHIP OFFER FROM VOGUE ✨💁♀️
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✨COVER REVEAL: THE FRAUD SQUAD✨
Meet Sam, Anya, Tim—the Fraud Squad
Of a woman who schemes her way into Singapore high-society for her dream job. But w/ sharks circling & an anonymous gossip columnist hunting for dirt, anything can go wrong
😎Buy now:
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Exactly one year ago, I wrote the first word of my first book. Today, I can't believe I get to announce THE FRAUD SQUAD has found its perfect home with
@BerkleyPub
!!! I'm just so incredibly happy & grateful that my dream of being a published author is finally coming true😭😭✨
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Hi world, meet:
✨THE FRAUD SQUAD✨
I'm so excited to share with you the story of:
a working-class woman +
an exiled socialite +
a billionaire heir
teaming up to fool Singapore high society.
I hope you enjoy reading their schemes & scandals as much as I did writing them 🫶
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A bookstore display... for my novel...
I am absolutely speechless 🥹 This is an unimaginable honor that I'm so, so grateful for.
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There’s a special place in hell for writers who don’t support other writers
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The longer I’ve been a writer, the more impressed I am that Jo March didn’t bitchslap her sister Amy to hell for burning her book
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Over 30 days of Nanowrimo last November, I drafted a book abt a young Chinese chess prodigy.
This November, I'm so happy to announce that book has found its perfect home with
@penguinkids
/
@penguinrandom
!! MAY THE BEST PLAYER WIN, my debut children's novel, comes out in 2024😭✨
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People who are able to raise only one eyebrow—how does it feel to be so powerful?
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tell a guy you're a writer and chances are that he has also written a dozen short stories and is in the process of penning a memoir that all his friends think should be published
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I’m SO thrilled to announce I’m now represented by
@aarice31
from CAA!!! 🤩 Alex is the perfect champion for my women’s fiction, THE FRAUD SQUAD, abt a working-class woman who infiltrates high society. Expect an anonymous columnist, scheming socialites & decadent settings galore!
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Romcom between two food bloggers: Eat Cute
Romcom between two Marie Kondo enthusiasts: Neat Cute
Romcom between two farmers: Wheat Cute
Romcom between two poets: Keat(s) Cute
Romcom between two feet fetishists: Feet Cute
(Lol all in good fun haha I love all romcoms!!😁)
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My hands are shaking I can’t believe I get to type this:
✨THE FRAUD SQUAD is an official
@GMA
book buzz pick!!!!!!✨
My book (and me!) got to appear on TV + on a freaking Times Square billboard🥹🎉
I’m so bowled over. Thank you to my amazing team for making this a reality!
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This time next week I'm going to be a published author 🥹
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You don't realize how many people you dislike until you try to name a character in your book
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VOGUE.
My book is featured in VOGUE!!!!
My trio of fraudsters in one of the world's biggest magazines!!!
This does not feel real 🥹 🫶
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I really want to be a writer with a cute writing routine and aesthetic: pastel-pink desk, matching ergonomic chair, vibey playlist and cold brew by my side. But most of the time, I’m slumped in bed in PJs with my laptop propped on my belly.
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Did it hurt when you plotted out a 20-page outline for your novel but your character refuses to follow it and does their own thing instead
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"a perfect size 6, with their golden-blonde hair, blue-green eyes, perfect Californian tan, and a tiny dimple in their left cheek when they smiled" iykyk lol
the way this stayed in my mind rent-free for years and distorted my understanding of what can be considered beautiful 🥲
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why does literally ever YA male lead smell either citrusy or like clean pine
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For the first time ever, I get to see and hold my book irl!! Excuse the emotions but this moment was the culmination of 2+ years 🥹🥹
Massive thanks to the whole
@BerkleyPub
team (esp my editor
@angelakim_
) and my agent
@aarice31
for making my dream come true ❤️❤️
This massive box just arrived from my publisher!!! I haven’t even opened it and I’m already feeling emotional😭😭 Should I do an unboxing vid??
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Is this for real!!!! 😭😭🫶 I’m so so grateful for all your support for my debut novel
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HAPPY 2023!!!!! It’s officially debut month for meee 🫶
Tbh a part of me is so terrified about debuting but the other part of me is SO FREAKING EXCITED to share everything that I’ve been 🤐 about and there’s so much cool stuff in store I can’t wait ahhhh
(but also im terrified)
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🚨Here it is at last!! The cover for VALLEY VERIFIED—
In this book, Zoe must:
👩💻 leave her fashion job ➡️ work at a startup
✈️ move from NYC ➡️ Silicon Valley
💀 tackle snobby coworkers & rich tech bros
⏰ prove herself before she loses. it. all.
Get it at the link in my bio!✨
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Y’all… there are officially HARDCOPIES of my book out in the wild 😭😭😭 Just look at the glossy gold!!!!! I’m so obsessed 😍
Thank you
@bookishthings97
for sending me a photo hehe
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📢A big THANK YOU to the 68 publishing professionals who responded to my survey!
The full findings can be found here: — What publishing staff wish authors would know about their work circumstances & the publisher-author relationship.
Give it a read :)
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No commencement ceremony this year but I guess an email made it official—I’m a college grad!🎉✨Exactly four years ago, I got my admissions letter from Stanford. It’s been a whirlwind ever since, but I wouldn’t trade my experience for the world. 💛
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Hi, I’m Kyla and my book THE FRAUD SQUAD comes out in just 3 weeks!!🙋♀️ If you enjoy Crazy Rich Asians & The Devil Wears Prada, you’ll love my book abt a working-class woman who pretends to be a socialite so she can get her dream job at a posh magazine
#2023debuts
#debutauthorchat
Hi, everyone! Welcome to the
#2023debuts
#debutauthorchat
!
It's DECEMBER, and next year is our year!!!
Q1: Intro yourself and your book!
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👀
S'porean writer, 23, lands 6-figure fiction book deal with Penguin subsidiary:
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I FINISHED REVIEWING MY PASS PAGES! 🥳😭 This is the last time I'll read my book before it's published, and possibly my 25498th time reading it. But I don't think I have loved my story more than I do now. I believe in it & my characters with all my heart. What a ride it has been.
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My biggest writing growth came when I stopped thinking of “said” as a boring & uncreative dialogue tag and started appreciating just how wonderfully unremarkable it is
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#PitchWars
applicants who didn’t get in, the disappointment hits hard but it’s far from the end of your writing journey; in fact, it’s only the beginning. I want to help, so like this tweet and I’ll choose 5 random people for a query+synopsis+first chapter critique! 😊
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!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM SCREAMING.
Goodreads named THE FRAUD SQUAD one of the buzziest debuts of the year!!!!!!!! 🥹🥳🥳
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Left (Oct 2020): me working on the draft of THE FRAUD SQUAD
Right (today): me reviewing the official pass pages for my debut novel, about to be published in just a few months
I am emotional 😭😭😭
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Is it even a YA contemporary book if you don't have at least one scene of info dump disguised as all the characters just ~chatting~ in a café/diner🌚
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My first (!!) long-form article for Vogue 😎 Pretty proud of this one:
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Some of the
#PitchWars
ladies finally met up in Singapore!!!! The first writing friends I actually got to meet irl 💕😭
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FORGET DARK ACADEMIA. My next goal is to write a ☠️dark athletica☠️… about athletes who do whatever it takes to get to the top—at the expense of their rivals’ well-being but also their own 🤭
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I pitched an article idea about books written by Asian authors and my editor approved it!! 🎊
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my readers have bigger brains than me😩someone just asked me "did you make her lipstick [this color] beause of [this deep symbolic reason]". and i had to tell them no, it's because I wrote that scene in a cafe & a woman w/ that lipstick color was seated at the table opposite mine
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I JUST GOT THE BIGGEST BOOST OF SERATONIN IN MY INBOX AND AM SHAKING WITH EXCITEMENT
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I am a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree???!!😭
I'm so incredibly grateful to everyone who has been so supportive along the way—from my publisher to my agency, my family to my friends. It took a village and I lucked out big time. Thank you, thank you!🥹🫶
#ForbesU30Asia
#ForbesUnder30
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VALLEY VERIFIED is out!!!🥹
It’s about:
✨Underdog in elite industry
✨Women in the workplace
✨Tackling life & career changes
✨Confronting insecurities
If you’ve ever doubted yourself, I hope this makes you feel a little more seen❤️
📚 available here:
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Doing this interview was such an incredible experience! Spoke about internalized eurocentrism from growing up on Sweet Valley books; the struggle to call myself a writer; how I dug my own grave as a pantser 🤡; and my failed meditation attempt on my auction’s closing day 👻
Creative Capital: The Singaporean who wrote her first novel to escape loneliness during the pandemic
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So remember when I was freaking out because my senior director asked me to tell my entire team of mostly male engineers & data scientists about my chick lit novel inspired by fashion and pop culture...?
Um my senior director just asked me to talk about my book at a team meeting this week. A team meeting full of male engineers and data scientists and I’ll be talking about my chick lit novel. HELP WHAT DO I SAY
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!!!! my book maybe being used as a comp title in the future?! 🙀🙀
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Exactly one year ago, I went out on sub & wrote this to myself. A lot has changed in the past 12 months but I still stand by this part:
"I created something I'm proud of. Even if I write another book, this is my first. Even if it never gets published, it will always be special."
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Hi I'm so excited!! to announce my debut novel THE FRAUD SQUAD is now open for✨preorders✨
A tale of glam and glitz; scandal and scheming.
Of an ordinary woman who infiltrates high society—only to discover everyone’s a fraud in their own way.
PREORDER:
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I FINISHED MY NANO BOOK 😭😭
On Nov 1, I wrote the first of 83.5k words. And on Nov 30, I typed out *The End*. Thank you to
#nanowrimo
& all my writing friends, for encouraging me to write the
#ownvoices
book of my dreams. It’s just a first draft, but it's still my baby :')
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being a writer is honestly the most amazing feeling because you have the power to create something that can bring comfort, escape, joy, and inspiration to another person
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This woman at the gym is running an entire business meeting by phone and telling some guy called Andrew to get his shit together WHILE working out on the elliptical machine. I have mad respect.
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Today, I submitted my last ever final exam— I’m.... done with college??? 😭😭🎉
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How often does fake dating actually happen irl?? 👀 It’s one of my fav romance tropes to read, but I know precisely 0 times it’s ever happened
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wtf I gave the same character three different last names at three different points in my ms
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So blessed by all the warmth and love at my very first book event 💗💗 Thank you so much to dear friends old and new for coming to celebrate THE FRAUD SQUAD with me. I was convinced only two people would turn up but what I saw when I entered the room made my heart so so full 🥹🫶
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✨ANNOUNCEMENT✨
I have an author newsletter!🥳 If you're interested in monthly musings from me about my writing goals, inspirations, and process + receive updates of my books, subscribe here:
Expect to read about these topics, and stay tuned for more!
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someone told me today I could do with some R&R and my entire body seized up and it took me a few moments to realize they didn't mean revise & resubmit 😭😭
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I've been living in Silicon Valley since I was 18, but I've not always felt like I belonged.
So to be featured on the front page of Silicon Valley's biggest daily newspaper means more than I can say... 🥹🫶 For the first time, it feels like I have my roots in this place.
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IT'S OFFICIAL:
THE FRAUD SQUAD is heading to the UK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🇬🇧🇬🇧😎
It's so perfect as the male protagonist is half-Brit 🥳
Preorder here:
Available on NetGalley UK (with a slightly different cover!):
IM SCREAMING
We are absolutely *delighted* to welcome the wonderful
@kylazingaround
to the Headline family and announce her dazzling debut!
#TheFraudSquad
is full of glitz and glamour, food and fashion and heaps of heart. Check out our gorgeous cover🤩
Pre-order now:
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Y’all my editor has asked for my mailing address!! 😱 I think we all know what’s coming… *EXCITED SCREECHING*
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2.5 years ago this was what THE FRAUD SQUAD looked like.
In just 2 weeks I’ll be able to walk into a bookstore and pick my book up from the shelves 🥹
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hello so I mighttttt have some news to share in less than 3 hours 👀👀
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📢Book bloggers/booktokers/bookstagrammers: please DM me if you cover women's fiction, chick lit, and/or BIPOC debut novels!! Thank youu :)
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🤩new author milestone: I just got my first blurb request!!!!!
for a book that I just know everyone is going to fall in love with
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psa that someone else's success isn't your failure :))))
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hello just a random PSA that artists are literally the best people and no i’m not just saying that because i’ve got a shiny cover-shaped something in my inbox 😌
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I wrote ✨The End✨!!! 'The Fraud Squad' will always be my first love, the book that made me fall in love with writing. But in some ways, this YA chess wip is even closer to my heart :') I can only hope I did my characters and their stories justice
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After 3 failed applications (😂), I finally got my Goodreads author profile approved!! You can now add THE FRAUD SQUAD here: 🥳🔥 And follow me on GR if you want more updates!
Exactly one year ago, I wrote the first word of my first book. Today, I can't believe I get to announce THE FRAUD SQUAD has found its perfect home with
@BerkleyPub
!!! I'm just so incredibly happy & grateful that my dream of being a published author is finally coming true😭😭✨
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my idea of self-sufficiency is writing books to make money so i can buy more books
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Might be a dumb question but in lieu of "you guys", what do y'all use when a character's addressing a mixed-gender group? I write "y'all" but just learned that apparently the term is used more often in Southern US?
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Twitter is problematic in many ways but having Instagram/TikTok become the main social media platform for authors is even worse. Even more so than Twitter, IG and TikTok reward those with pretty privilege. So someone who looks conventionally attractive will go further than others
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Never thought I’d ever get to meet my editor in person but !!!!!!!!!
@angelakim_
with her sleek suit co-ord really putting me and my Van Gogh sweater to shame 🤓
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Exactly 3 years ago, I got the idea of writing a book.
And exactly 2 years ago, I got to announce that my book will be published by my dream imprint.
There’s no good way to describe what a wild ride the past 3 years have been and how grateful I am for everyone along the way🥹🙆🏻♀️
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!!! Not me appearing on the front page of
@theSundaily
😱😱 So honored by the feature! Full article here: :)
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Look Ma, I'm in the news! I've interviewed plenty of people for work before, but it's rare being on the other side of the table. Thank you
@straits_times
for this wonderful feature of my book 🤗
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My publisher just told me my book is among the top 10 most requested titles in all of NetGalley???? I'm speechless and absolutely blown away😭
And even if your arc request isn't approved, you can win a PRINT copy of my book in this Goodreads giveaway!
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Only thing harder than writing a synopsis for my book during querying is trying to tell my parents what it’s about… As you can tell from my dad’s Goodreads review (bless him for trying), I didn’t do a very good job 🤧
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I just realized this is the one year anniversary of my Twitter account! 🥰 I joined this bird app the day before the Sept ’20 pitmad, and over the past year, I have queried, gotten my agent, sold my book, and most importantly—met people I can’t imagine not having in my life now❤️
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💃Creating a Met Gala 2021 outfits review thread because WHY NOT:
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My diplomas finally arrived after 4 months!! 🥳
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Hi friends! I'm not doing the
#PitchWars
showcase, but I'll still be working on making my MS better with
@tajmccoywrites
's help💛 I know this is a rare PW scenario/one not talked about much, so I'll be happy to share more about why I made this decision if anyone's interested :)
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finishing up the last of my edits for THE FRAUD SQUAD and I'm just so excited for this to be out next Jan so more people besides me and my editor can read it :')
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Sooo there is a certain cover-shaped something dropping on Sunday from Buzzfeed... 👀 something very glossy and shiny. I am trying not. to. scream.
✨Be the first to see it by signing up:
😎Preorder THE FRAUD SQUAD:
Sign up for our newsletter to get a first look at
@kylazingaround
's upcoming book hailed as "Crazy Rich Asians" meets "The Devil Wears Prada!"
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This massive box just arrived from my publisher!!! I haven’t even opened it and I’m already feeling emotional😭😭 Should I do an unboxing vid??
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So in all the excitement surrounding my debut novel, some other news slipped under the radar...
I'm done with the first draft of my 2nd adult novel??? 🥳🥳🥳
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✨♟️COVER REVEAL♟️✨
Fans of spunky heroines & competitive sports, you need this 📖!
A chess player makes her boldest gambit—a bet with her sexist rival that 👧 are as good as 👦 at the game
The board’s set & the heat’s on⏳🔥Find out what happens here:
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