Please welcome a new author to Type Eighteen Books, Katie O’Rourke! Born and raised in New England along the seacoast of New Hampshire, Katie went to college in Massachusetts and graduated with a degree in gender and sexuality. She lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Katie is the author of four novels and a story collection. She writes family sagas with overlapping characters. She says, “The stories in these books exist on their own and can be read in any order, independently from each other. They’re not sequels, but because all of the characters live in the same world, there’s an opportunity to revisit the past. Readers of Monsoon Season will find a familiar face in Finding Charlie; if you’re still wondering about Juliet when you finish A Long Thaw, look for her in Blood & Water.”

We’re thrilled to be publishing TWO new titles from Katie in 2025. Stay tuned for information about these novels but for now, here’s a little bit about our newest author.

Five Quick Questions for the Author

Who are some of your favorite authors, and why?

My favorite authors are Sue Miller, Julia Glass, Celeste Ng, Ann Packer. I am a sucker for stories about complicated, loveable families.

When did you know you were a writer?

I think I’ve always known I was a writer. I actually remember being quite surprised as a young person to realize that not everyone was. Writing has always been the way I make sense of the world around me. It wasn’t until after college that I began to think of it as part of my identity and to consider pursuing it as a career.

Where were you born? Do you think the places of our lives inform our writing?

I grew up in a small town along the seacoast of New Hampshire. When I walked to school, I had to cross the one busy street we had with painted lanes and a stoplight. On the weekends, I spent hours in the woods by myself, using my imagination. I spent first through eighth grade with the same twenty classmates, terrified I’d get lost in the few hundred at the regional high school, desperate for the anonymity of anywhere new after graduation.

Now I live in Tucson, which is like another planet. I traded beaches for desert mountains, the smell of pine needles for orange blossoms, shiny winter parking lots of secret ice for the kind of heat that makes the rivets in your jeans a burn hazard. These details have shaped me and my writing and set it apart from one more story set in New York City.

Where would you vacation—city, country, beach, or mountains?

Vacation, to me, is about tanning by the pool while you read a great book and plan the night out at some fantastic restaurant with decadent, local specialties. That could be a lobster roll in New England, sushi in Hawaii, or beignets in New Orleans.

What do you think is the most important part of storytelling?

What I look for in great storytelling is a connection to character. Plot is secondary. It’s the same whether I’m reading or writing. I will walk around for a year just thinking about who my main character is before I put any of it down on paper. Great storytelling should make you think, make you feel seen, and be revelatory.

Welcome, Katie! We can’t wait to share more about you and your books!