Blog Archives
Friendship and Abandonment
High School Epic follows a teenage girl through her high school years in the early 1990s who struggles with issues of abandonment and with discovering who she is and who she wants to be. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
My own life is definitely the inspiration for High School Epic. I had a friendship and boyfriend breakup at the onset of high school that resulted in a type of heartbreak that only emphasized the feelings I had buried of abandonment from when my father left us (the first time) when I was six. Although he did return and remain with my mother for another 11 years, their relationship was shaky at best. Deep down, I was always anticipating when he would leave again for good.
In many contemporary coming-of-age novels, authors often draw on their own life experiences. Are there any bits of you in this story?
Yes! Every event is based on real events from my middle and high school years. Characters are derived from real friends and classmates. The main character has traits that are similar to me, but she really is her own person and not me.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Friendship and abandonment are the most important themes in the book, even within the context of the romance that happens.
What is the next book that you’re working on, and when can your fans expect it out?
I have a current project that is part memoir and part short story collection, all with the themes of relationships, love, loss, and heartbreak. I’m hoping it will come out sometime by the end of next year.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
Left behind, Dani meets Kevin Martin, an outsider who seems to give her everything her world is missing. Until betrayal cuts deep, leaving her reeling once more. Dani’s circle keeps reshaping again and again: new friends like Ryan O’Leary offer comfort, while old wounds resurface.
Through each season of high school, Dani is tested through heartbreak, mistakes, and hilarious missteps, as she wrestles with who she is and who she wants to be.
Told in a unique blend of letters and chapters, Hannah R. Goodman’s HIGH SCHOOL EPIC captures the chaos of teenage life in the early 1990s with raw honesty, humor, and heart.
High School Epic
High School Epic is a coming-of-age YA novel that follows Danielle from the first days of freshman year in 1989 through the messy, funny, dramatic, and sometimes painful moments of early adolescence. The story centers on Dani’s tight bond with her two best friends, her growing fixation on a skater boy named Kevin, and the quieter, heavier ache of her dad’s disappearance two years earlier. Built around friendships, crushes, family fractures, and the small-but-big moments that mark high school, the book blends teen romance and heartfelt drama in a voice that feels both nostalgic and relevant.
I found myself slipping into Dani’s head easily. Her voice feels like sitting on someone’s bedroom floor with the lights low while she tells you everything that’s been happening. There’s a looseness to the writing that works, especially in scenes with Tiff and Kris, who bounce off each other in a kind of chaotic harmony. Their friendship is loud and weird and sometimes exhausting, which is exactly why it feels real. The author leans into those small sensory moments that stick, like the smell of Dani’s dad’s sweater or the warm buzz of walking outside with Kevin after detention, without ever feeling showy. The tone stays grounded even when the drama spikes, which kept me on Dani’s side even when she spiraled or overthought things, which she does a lot.
What surprised me most is how layered Dani’s inner world is. The school crush storyline is fun and sweet and very YA-romance, but running right underneath is this deeper thread of loss and confusion around her dad. Those moments hit in a softer way, like when she tries on his sweater in the attic or clings to old fantasies of him returning. They add weight without dragging the story down. It also made her desperation to feel wanted by Kevin and her friends hit harder. The book captures that strange ninth-grade cocktail of insecurity and longing and sudden boldness, the way you can feel childish one minute and painfully grown the next. It felt honest and familiar.
I found myself thinking that High School Epic will speak most to readers who like contemporary YA that blends romance, friendship drama, and emotional family threads. It’s especially perfect for anyone who remembers the late ’80s or early ’90s, or just loves that vibe in their coming-of-age stories. If you want something that feels like reliving freshman year through a friend who tells it all, the awkward, the funny, the embarrassing, the sweet, this book is worth reading.
Pages: 353 | ASIN : B0FVFCL3YC
Life Steps In
I Love That Girl follows four young adults navigating the emotional highs and lows of the complex relationships that evolve between high school and early adulthood. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I love this question, yet it’s also a tough one to answer succinctly: Back in 2012, I wrote a novel during NaNoWriMo. Actually, it felt like it wrote itself! That book was I Love That Girl. However, it was a different story with different characters. Those characters were grown-up versions of the teens in another one of my books that, at the time, was unpublished—Till It Stops Beating. Fast forward to 2018, and Till It Stops Beating is published by Black Rose Writing. In the years in between, I rewrote that novel from the 2012 NaNoWriMo with brand new characters and an altered storyline. The only thing that stayed the same was that it was told from 4 different points of view of 4 long-time friends. Not only that, at the advice of my agent at the time, I “spiced it up,” and it became a romance book. I parted ways with that agent and obtained a publisher on my own, The Wild Rose Press, who is publishing it on January 1, 2025. I like to think that I Love That Girl is the book that the main character of TISB would have written if I ever wrote a book about her as an adult. So it’s not a sequel but more of an “inspired by.” By the way, Till It Stops Beating is available on Amazon, as are the three other books in that series.
There is so much to be said about love in this book. What do you hope your readers take away from your story?
Love is love regardless of sexual preference and sexuality.
One of the main characters, Gwen, struggles with the fact that she has fallen for her best friend, Andy, who, way back when, was briefly her boyfriend and who, at that time, came out as gay and ended their relationship. Now, years later, they are reunited under interesting circumstances and find themselves falling for each other again. When Andy comes out as bi, Gwen struggles to fully understand what that means.
There is an old Yiddish proverb: “We plan, God laughs.” This applies to the other couple in the novel, Ethan and Nori. They each have a plan that will change the course of their relationship, and when they struggle to reveal their “secret plan” to each other, life steps in and changes everything. In love and life, we try to control things that we ultimately can’t. Ethan and Nori’s relationship is an example of that.
What were some of the emotional and moral guidelines you followed when developing your characters?
What an interesting question! Overall, I allow my characters to have their own life, so to speak. I may not agree morally or values-wise with everything they do, but that’s okay. That’s art. Emotionally, I allow my characters to act out and behave imperfectly because that’s authentic. I write characters that people can relate to. Morally, I can’t have protagonists, the characters who drive the story, be abusive or sociopathic. That’s just not my jam as a writer!
Can fans look forward to seeing more work from you soon? What are you currently working on?
I am working on two projects. The first one is another New Adult romance influenced by some of the great first love stories I read as a young person—Forever by Judy Blume and Endless Love by Scott Spencer.
The second is a memoir, part romance story, and part self-help book. I know it sounds a little odd, but my life has been part romance story and part self-help book!
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Bluesky | Linktree | Instagram | Threads | Substack | Amazon
I Love That Girl
Hannah R. Goodman’s I Love That Girl masterfully weaves the lives of four young adults, Nori, Ethan, Gwen, and Andy, as they navigate the complexities of love, friendship, and self-discovery. From the turbulence of high school relationships to the challenges of early adulthood, the story captures the evolving connections between these friends. Their intertwined journeys are marked by emotional highs and lows, showcasing both the strength and fragility of human bonds.
The narrative unfolds through the perspectives of each character, offering a deeply personal glimpse into their thoughts and emotions. Nori and Ethan’s relationship serves as a focal point as they grapple with balancing their love for one another against the pull of individual aspirations. Meanwhile, Gwen and Ethan explore the possibility of a deeper connection, though unresolved issues from the past loom large, threatening any chance of a future together.
Goodman’s ability to tackle themes of identity and self-awareness shines, particularly as Ethan confronts his sexual identity and what it means for his relationships. Through introspective narration and dialogue, the novel explores these delicate topics with care, immersing readers in the characters’ struggles and growth. However, the reliance on the miscommunication trope, while effective in driving the plot at times, occasionally feels repetitive. Readers may find themselves yearning for decisive moments instead of the recurring uncertainty and questioning that dominate many interactions. The story culminates in a reunion trip that forces each character to make pivotal decisions about their paths forward. The epilogue ties up several threads while introducing new dimensions, leaving some lingering questions unresolved, particularly around Gwen and Ethan’s past relationship, yet offering a sense of closure that many readers will appreciate.
I Love That Girl, by Hannah R. Goodman, delivers a compelling exploration of friendships tested by time, love, and identity. The rich emotional landscape and dramatic dynamics will resonate with fans of contemporary romance, while its deeper reflections on personal growth and connection lend it a thoughtful edge.
Pages: 268 | ASIN : B0DK3YV4J6
LITERARY TITAN 