Page Created: 07/16/25. Last Updated: 08/10/25.
DARIA LAVELLE
ONLINE
Website: <https://www.darialavelle.com/>
SOCIAL MEDIA
Bluesky <https://bsky.app/profile/darialavelleauthor.bsky.social>
Instagram <https://www.instagram.com/daria.lavelle.author/>
TikTok <https://www.tiktok.com/@daria.lavelle.author>
Meeting Date: July 12, 2025.
Meeting Site: Barnes & Noble. Paramus, New Jersey.
Attendance: 23 + 7.
Meeting Program: Talk / Q & A w/fantasy writer.
Notes:
Ten people attended the post-meeting Suburban Diner gathering.
Newsletter Account:
The following account is reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2025 Philip J De Parto:
The July 12, 2025 General Meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County was held at Barnes & Noble in Paramus, New Jersey. The meeting started at 6:30 PM to accommodate the store's closing time. There was no pre-meeting program. Our speaker was fantasy author Daria Lavelle.
Our speaker was born in the Ukraine and grew up speaking Russian. Her family moved to New Jersey when she was 2, and lived in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. She was an introverted, straight-A student as a child. Daria began writing at 15, completed her first book and sent it out when she was 16, and was rejected by Tor Books with a form letter. Undeterred, she wrote a second book, a Middle Grade twisted fairy tale which landed the author her first agent but not a book sale.
Next stop was Princeton where our guest met her husband and graduated with degrees in Creative Writing and Comparative Literature. After that was a job in advertising, the birth of her first child, and the decision to pursue a Masters Degree. Daria discovered that she was pregnant with twins while awaiting responses. Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York was willing to extend her acceptance for a year. She graduated with a MFA in Speculative Fiction.
Ms Lavelle completed AFTERTASTE while at Sarah Douglas and got her a new agent while at the school. It was published by Bloomsbury in the U.K. and by Simon & Schuster in the U.S. Additional notes can be found at the club website, <SFABC.org> at 2025 - 07/2025. Our thanks to Kathy Cannarozzi for running the zoom.
Additional Meeting Notes:
Visual Writer - Scenes in her head
Made scene into a short story that died
Inspiration: Hotel Bar named The Library of Distilled Spirits
Every normal sense has a psychic sense - vision / clairvoyance, hearing / clairaudience. See wikipedia article.
Pantser, not a plotter.
College made her learn to develop and outline.
A Ghost is a memory that haunts you and won't let you go.
Always knew book would be a love story.
Wanted ups and downs, highs and lows in her story.
Structure book like a wedding cake. There are tiers. There is a love story, a ghost story, a food story.
Lead character could always sense dead, but it was not until he was in his 30s that he accidentally made his first AFTERTASTE meal.
Had outline with beginning, end, and some midpoints but discovered surprising twists during the writing.
Has three small children. Her youngest are twins.
As part of her workload at Sarah Lawrence, students were set up at pitch sessions to two agents. They were told that this was merely to become familiar with the pitch process, not to expect an agent to show interest. Both of Daria's agents asked her to send them her book.
Agent Lucy Carson of the Friedrich Agency became her agent.
Book published in U K / Worldwide by Bloomsbury. 14 Countries. US / Canada by Simon & Schuster.
Very little of her two unsold books were recycled into AFTERTASTE.
Long form is her natural length.
Advice from writing instructor Kelly Link - Follow you obsessions.
Likes to write in cafes with ambient noise.
Stops writing in the middle of a sentence or scene so she is not looking at blank screen when she resumes.
Writes consecutively, from start to finish.
Knows beginning, end, and some of the middle.
Alcohol
Researched by going to lots of restaurants. Not just the food, but the decor, service, and conversations at other tables.
Older cousin is an NYC chef.
Read books about cuisine. Had to learn where to obtain some ingrediants.
Every flavor has an emotional connection.
All the book's recipes are her own.
Cooking shows have made cooking hip in the 21st Century.
Starts with an idea, then looks to see where (genre) she can use that idea. Likes to mash up genres.
Taste and sound are the hardest senses to translate into words.
Saw bad description - This wine tastes like fresh-cut garden hose.
Next book is THE 100 YEAR WAIT. It deals with long-lived couple who must wait 100 years to connect with their true love and how time changes them.
Comps - Forest Gump / The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.
What do the characters want? How do they try to get it?
Throw obstacles in the way.
Very useful: SAVE THE CAT film.
Autobiographical in the sense that both she and the main character are Ukrainian expatriots.
Princeton - Joyce Carol Oates was among the guest lecturers.
Does not use beta readers. She is one of a group of five authors, all of whom are now published, who met at Sarah Lawrence and critique each others work.
Was 7.5 months pregnant when she received an 11:00 PM text from her agent. Are you awake? Yes. Called to give the news that Bloomsbury UK had made a preemptive bid.
Useful Twitter hashtag - MSWL (Manuscript Submission Wish List)
Wrote AFTERTASTE while experiencing a personal loss, plus Covid and the Russian invasion.
Instagram, etc from all over the world telling personal stories
Advertising: Did Naming & Branding
Husband has always been very supportive about her writing
Full time mom & writer
Book released two days apart in US & UK
Contract for one book with first look at second book
Writes first draft, then creates a reverse outline
Greatest happiness is when she is writing
Less happy if she doesn't on a day
Useful info: V E Schwab newsletter - No Write Way
Rebecca Makkai - Substack