Hot Desk

Younger meets Writers & Lovers in this rollicking, sparkling, and funny novel that spans decades and generations of a family in the publishing industry.

In the post-pandemic publishing industry, two rival editors are forced to share a ＂hot desk＂ on different days of the week, much to their chagrin. Having never set eyes on each other, Rebecca Blume and Ben Heath begin leaving passive-aggressive Post-it notes on the pot of their shared cactus. But when revered literary legend Edward David Adams (known as ＂the Lion＂) dies, leaving his estate up for grabs, their banter escalates as both work feverishly to land this career-making opportunity. Their fierce rivalry ultimately forces each to decide how far they’ll go to get ahead, what role they want to play in the Lion’s legacy, and what they mean to each other.

As their battle for the estate gets more heated, Rebecca learns of a connection between her mother, Jane, and the Lion. The story travels back four decades earlier to when Jane arrives in Manhattan and meets Rose, soon her best friend. Jane and Rose are two strong, talented young women trying to make their mark in the publishing world at a time when art, the written word, and creative expression were at their height. But one fateful day during the April blizzard of 1982 will change the course of Jane’s life, and of their friendship, forever...

Laura Dickerman has a BA in creative writing from Hamilton College, an MA in fiction from NYU, and an MA in English from Middlebury College’s The Bread Loaf School of English. She has taught high school English at The Hopkins School, the Collegiate School for Boys, and Germantown Friends. She was an intern at The Paris Review many, many years ago. She’s been a bookclub leader, private tutor, and recipient of an NEH grant. At her lowest point, she spent a month temping for her younger brother Colin at Grove/Atlantic where he was critical of her Xeroxing skills. Hot Desk is her first novel.

Colin Dickerman is a thirty-year publishing veteran, currently an editorial director at Grand Central. The idea for Hot Desk originated with him, and he collaborated with Laura on plot and structure. He was also the publishing consultant for the beloved show Younger. He enjoys being the funnier sibling.