Secret Rules to Being a Rockstar

(Paperback)

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Most Anticipated LGBTQIA+ Books: Young Adult Literature LAMBDA Literary
Must-Have 2023 Queer Book ReleasesThe Nerd Daily
Most Anticipated Young Adult BooksLGBTQ Reads
Recommended LGBTQ+ YAReads Rainbow

Acclaimed musician Jessamyn Violets 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.

Reviews

Most Anticipated LGBTQIA+ Books: Young Adult Literature LAMBDA Literary
Must-Have 2023 Queer Book ReleasesThe Nerd Daily
Most Anticipated Young Adult BooksLGBTQ Reads
Recommended LGBTQ+ YAReads Rainbow

Violet persuasively develops a vivid setting that epitomizes Kylas dreams and aspirations . . . complexly rendered relationships ground this wish-fulfilling love letter to rock music and the whirlwind of fame.Publishers Weekly

Jack Kerouac collides with Lester Bangs, cynicism with hope, and the result is a book that is as sweetly pop as it's starkly punk. Violet's work will seem familiar, for better or worse, to most that have sought to make music their life. It's that authenticity that makes it such a valuable read.Brett Callwood,LA Weekly

"As hot as North Hollywood in July,Secret Rules to Being A Rockstarsears with a youthful sincerity and heat. Jessamyn Violet effortlessly captures the seedy world of music in 90s Los Angelesandthe scary, sensitive, sticky feeling of being a teenager in an adult world."Tegan Quin of Tegan and Sara

Violet spotlights art, music and queer identity through the eyes of Kyla Bell, a quirky teenage keyboardist immersed in the 90s Los Angeles rock scene in her debut book.Los Angeles Daily News

"This striking debut about an up-and-coming young musician feels reminiscent of the captivating fictional celebrity of Taylor Jenkins Reids bestsellingDaisy Jones And The Sixwith its own lighthearted, YA sense of fun and wonder . .. A sparkling debut that will become a favourite and comfort read . . . Violets stellar wit and pacing never allow for a dull moment, sweeping the reader up into a world of glamour, uncertain romance and rock stardom.The National Scotland

An evocative 90s vignette.Kirkus Reviews

Secret Rules to Being a Rockstarcrackles with the incandescent, electric thrill of being young and letting the pure act of creating art fill your soul. Your heart will beat like youre falling in love for the first time on a Los Angeles summer night when you read this book.Jeff Zentner, award-winning author,The Serpent KingandIn the Wild Light

"This is a sparkling, exhilarating, and moving debut about a young woman on the cusp of everything--but it's an even greater meditation on the ways in which, to paraphrase Kyla, we rough ourselves up in the name of art. I loved it!"Jessie Ann Foley, author,The Carnival at BrayandYou Know I'm No Good

A rockstar tale of a young queer woman navigating coming out while also diving pink hair first into a caffeine-fueled Boogie Nights-esque Los Angeles night life. I definitelywould have dog-eared so many pages if I'd gotten to read this kind of book when I was a teen.Maya Miller, drummer, The Pack A.D.

Jessamyn Violet presents readers with the sights, sounds, smells, and, above all, the tumultuous thoughts and feelings of a young life in music. This story rings true from its overture to its coda.Susan Rogers, Director of Berklee Music Perception & Cognition Lab; Author,This Is What It Sounds Like: What The Music You Love Says About You

Secret Rules to Being a Rockstarbreaks open the experience of being a new-to-the-scene musician to reveal the glittery tangle of excitement, inspiration, and danger that comes with sudden success. Jessamyn Violets queer protagonist, Kyla Bell, might be green, but she is the only person we can trust to teach us the rules to survivingand maybe even thrivingin the 1990s Hollywood music industry. An impressive, introspective debut!Kelly Ann Jacobson, author,Tink and WendyandRobin and Her Misfits

Jessamyn Violet is a real rocker and a real writer. You will love her as much as I do.Alice Hoffman,NYTbestselling author ofPractical Magic

"Secret Rules to Being a Rockstaris a magical story that reminds me of when we were first getting started with Skating Polly.I could not put this book down and definitely cried at parts.I'm proud to support such a cool, fun and feminist tale. Its the book I dreamed of reading as a teenager!!"Peyton Bighorse, musician, Skating Polly

Secret Rules to Being a Rockstaris a colorful story full of hope and wonder, immersing the reader in the near-dystopian dreamscape of the music industry in 1990s Los Angelesand I know because I lived it.Eva Gardner, bassist for P!NK, Cher, Tegan & Sara

Jessamyn Violets riveting debut novel,Secret Rules to Being a Rockstar, gives us Kyla Bell, an endearing character who strives to balance the life of a rockstar with that of the honest and loyal daughter and friend she has always been. For this, Kyla needs a complicated set of rules, and the journey that followsvivid and wiseis both poignant and exhilarating."Jill McCorkle,NYTBestselling Author

Author Bio

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.