Today we are very excited to share an interview with Author Olivia Worley (THE DEBUTANTES)!
Meet the Author: Olivia Worley
Olivia Worley is an author born and raised in New Orleans. A graduate of Northwestern University, she now lives in New York City, where she spends her time writing thrillers, overanalyzing episodes of The Bachelor, and hoping someone will romanticize her for reading on the subway. People to Follow is her debut novel.
About the Book: THE DEBUTANTES
Jessica Goodman meets The Agathas in this taut, twisty YA thriller set in the glittering world of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, where secrets–and bodies–never stay buried.
For the New Orleans elite, the Les Masques Ball is sure to be the social event of the season—if they can avoid another dead Queen. When debutante Margot Landry was found dead the morning after her reign at last year’s ball, it was a tragedy, but not a shocking one. Margot was a wild child with a self-destructive streak, nothing like this year’s Queen, Lily LeBlanc. With a perfectly poised debutante on the throne, everything is going according to plan…until the ball is hijacked by a mysterious figure in a Jester costume. That night, Lily sends a text to three of the Maids on her royal court—her best friend, Vivian; her boyfriend’s sister, Piper; and April, her former frenemy—asking them all to meet the next morning. But Lily never shows up.
On the surface, these three debutantes don’t have anything in common except their exclusive private school and their ties to Les Masques. But soon, they realize why Lily brought them together: something dark is lurking beneath the glamorous surface of the debutante world, and it might be the reason she disappeared. And the further the girls dig, the more they begin to suspect that Margot’s death may not have been an accident—and that Lily may be next. When the Jester starts threatening to expose their own secrets, this unlikely trio must team up to uncover the monsters behind the Mardi Gras masks—before they’re left with another dead debutante.
~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
I keep saying that The Debutantes is the most “close to home” book I’ve ever written, and it is—in more ways than one! I was born and raised in New Orleans, so I grew up intimately familiar with Mardi Gras debutante culture. I was always deeply uncomfortable with the history of it, but the tradition was important to some members of my family, so when I was in college, I agreed to participate out of love for them. The experience was both more fascinating and more horrifying than I had initially imagined, and as soon as it was over, all I could think was that I had to write a book about it one day.
While The Debutantes is not quite autobiographical, I think it was born out of my need to explore the conflict between loving where you come from and, at the same time, knowing it’s got some deep-rooted flaws. Also, secret societies, elaborate balls, and creepy masks? New Orleans debutante balls are literally the perfect setting for a thriller!
YABC: What came first, the concept, landscape, characters, or something else?
I’ve always wanted to write a book about New Orleans, so the setting was definitely there from the beginning! I actually had the first inklings of what would become The Debutantes almost ten years ago: April, Vivian, Lily, and Wyatt were all characters in my first-ever novel (a terrible, terrible book I wrote when I was like sixteen that will thankfully never see the light of day.) While the plot was quite different, it was still set in New Orleans, and there were only scattered references to debutante culture. Now, in my Wise Old Age, I’ve realized that the debutante world is actually the heart of the story I’ve been trying to tell, and that’s how this book became its fully-formed self.
YABC: If you could only write one genre for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
Thrillers (shocker!) There’s just something about them that never gets old to me. Even though there’s a clear formula, there are infinite puzzles to create and solve, and there’s nothing like the thrill of writing a pulse-pounding twist or reveal.
YABC: How do you keep your ‘voice’ true to the age category you are writing within?
This a really interesting question, and something I think about a lot—voice is such an important part of YA, but it’s also hard to pin down the “YA voice” as any one thing. Teenagers speak and express themselves in so many different ways, and that’s something I try to encapsulate with my characters. In general, though, I do have a few tips and tricks: for example, I’ll often pass over perfect grammatical correctness in favor of wording that sounds younger and less overly formal (not a lot of “whom” in my YA!) I also try to pay attention to the way young adult voices sound in real life, whether that’s on TV, TikTok, or out in the world. Sometimes, I’ll even revisit journal entries I wrote when I was 18 or 19, which, while deeply embarrassing, is also informative!
YABC: What can readers expect to find in your books?
So far, a lot of secrets, creepy and immersive settings, Big Twists™, privileged kids behaving badly, unreliable narrators, feminist narratives, and endings that will surprise you!
YABC: What do you do when you procrastinate?
Scroll on TikTok 💀 (I always tell myself it counts as research for making author content but most of the time that is simply a lie)
YABC: What’s up next for you?
My adult thriller debut, So Happy Together, will be releasing in 2025! It’s about a 24-year-old aspiring playwright in NYC who, after getting unceremoniously dumped by her dream man, decides she won’t let anything get in the way of their happy ending—including his new girlfriend. I’m so excited to dive into the adult world, but I won’t be leaving YA behind. More on that soon, hopefully!
YABC: What is your favorite holiday or tradition and why?
I mean, I feel like I have to say Mardi Gras! There’s truly nothing else like it. It’s complete and utter chaos, and a perfect encapsulation of New Orleans—our weird, creepy traditions, but also proof that nobody knows how to have a good time like we do! I haven’t been able to make it home for Mardi Gras in the past five years, but now that I’m writing full-time, I’ve got my eyes on a 2025 trip 👀
YABC: Is there anything that you would like to add?
If you’re reading this, or if you’ve picked up one of my books (or even thought about it)—from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Nothing brings me joy like writing these books and sharing them with readers, and I’m grateful every day that, thanks to people like y’all, this is my real-life job!
Title: THE DEBUTANTES
Author: Olivia Worley
Release Date: 10/29/2024
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Genre: YA/Thriller
Age Range: 13-18
