‘Ellipses’ author details toxic mentorship in the world of glossy magazines

Life is one long oval, and for Vanessa Lawrence, “The Ellipse” is the title of her first novel.

Dutton Publishing’s page-turner is set in the glossy world of New York City media. It’s familiar territory for the author, a Yale University graduate who spent nearly seven years at WWD during his time at Condé Nast and another seven years at W Magazine. As a senior feature writer. As a senior editor at Elle Deco during the pandemic, Lawrence had the unexpected blessing of some free time at night to begin writing the first draft. “Just like many of us have been able to or are lucky to be able to work from home, working from home has allowed me to: [some extra time.] I didn’t have to commute,” she said Thursday night after speaking at the Mulberry store in Soho.

Polite and insightful, Lawrence’s debut novel focuses on a young woman whose toxic mentoring bonds her with an older, devoted beauty mogul who is described as “one of the few queer women in the corner suite.” There is.

Needless to say, the digital age is fraught with messy career choices, affiliations, and relationships. Inevitably, people will wonder who the song “Ellipses” is about. Lawrence said, “This is the main character. It’s a true coming-of-age story. It’s about a young magazine writer who is looking for an agency and ends up receiving harmful guidance from a beautiful executive he meets at a party. It’s a story about a 32-year-old woman trying to find out.

Fictional magazine writer “Lily” interviews influencers, actresses, and fashion designers for the magazine’s stylish pages while navigating office microaggressions. Stuck in her job and worried that her plum-print career will soon be wiped out by the rise of social media, the main character also finds herself stuck in her relationship with her girlfriend “Alison”. I feel that. On top of that, her Lily is unable to voice her true self, and her other people’s perceptions of her mixed race and bisexual identity repeatedly drown her out.

Before Ellipse, Lawrence had written another book, but it was never published. “I spontaneously wrote my first novel because I had ideas, thoughts and questions that I wanted to explore in a novel. Obviously, it was never published. But that’s why I really love fiction. When I realized that, I really wanted to try this.”

Lawrence, who started freelancing in the summer of 2021, applied to an MFA program and decided to pursue fiction at Sarah Lawrence. However, she ended up writing “Ellipse” in advance and selling it after her first semester.

And Lawrence has already sold a second book to Dutton. The film centers on a beauty mogul facing the potential collapse of her career and the process that led her there.

Regarding the inspiration for this beautiful executive, Lawrence said:Of course I interviewed hundreds of people [though thousands might be more accurate]. But to be honest, my inspiration came from my own youthful fantasies of what a successful woman should look like. She is a very tough, very domineering woman. ”

As a self-described “older Millennial on the cusp of Gen When I was dreaming, I expressed that youthful fantasy.”

Ms. Lawrence was welcomed Thursday night to an event celebrating Women’s History Month by Laura Kaplan, general manager of Mulberry North America. The Zoe Report’s Kathie Lee moderated the talk. Afterward, guests lingered to chat with Lawrence and have their copies signed by her. While some authors are happy to reward themselves once they publish, Lawrence was content to connect with his readers and just swallow it all up.