Jen Doll is, in fact, my real name, though my mom calls me "Jennifer." When my brother and I were little she'd tell people our names were Ken and Barbie. No one has been able to top that Doll joke yet, but you're welcome to try. My first young adult novel, Unclaimed Baggage, is out from FSG Books for Young Readers on September 18. It's about three teenagers who come together one summer in a small Alabama town, and it tackles love and loss and the power of friendship (and romance!). You can preorder it here. My first book, Save the Date, is a memoir that explores what I've learned about marriage, relationships, and myself through 17 key weddings. It was published by Penguin/Riverhead in May 2014. Buy it here and also here. Though I moved around a lot as a kid, my formative childhood homes were in Downers Grove, Illinois, and Decatur, Alabama. I've been a senior writer at The Atlantic Wire, a staff writer for The Village Voice, and the managing editor of the sadly defunct Radar and Mental Floss magazines. Once, a boss passed out in front of me after eating too many carrots. As a teen, I had a poem published in Sassy magazine. I keep it framed in my apartment to remind myself of young me. Since those days, I've written for The Atlantic, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Esquire, Glamour, GQ, The Hairpin, Marie Claire, Mental Floss, New York, The New York Times, Taste, The Toast, Topic Stories, Vice, The Village Voice, and other lovely publications. I'm a contributing writer at The Week. You can read more of my work here. I live in Brooklyn and upstate New York. I have way too many books in both places, which means I have exactly the right amount. I tweet and Instagram a lot. Follow me here and here if you are so inclined! Illustration by Aude White |