“Twisted Family Values is a deliciously salacious 50-year unraveling of family expectation and secrets with dysfunction, wit, and a taboo love that simply won’t let go. And perhaps shouldn’t. Chickering writes with her characteristic wit and insight that others dare not tread. Perfect beach read!”

- Lucy Sykes, bestselling co-author of The Knockoff

My latest novel, TWISTED FAMILY VALUES (St. Martin’s Press), is the story of secrets, expectations, and maddening desire among four generations of a funny, imperfect, dysfunctional American family over 50 years between 1968 and 2014 in upscale suburban New Jersey. There are plenty of plot twists, hijinks, laughs, and some intensity, plus just the right amount of inappropriate romance. But, ultimately it’s about acceptance and forgiveness. Awww.

The perfect vacation read, you’ll get totally sucked in to all the relatable characters worth loving and loathing.

Here’s the story:

By 1977 in the tony suburb of Larkspur, New Jersey, underage debauchery is the norm. Sisters, Cat and Claire, set the town’s social calendar by hosting tastefully lavish parties year-round. And now their own children—Bizzy and Choo—are tarnishing their good name.

For years, the Thorndens have had their privilege to fall back on, but the veneer is beginning to crack. Secrets that shouldn’t have been kept—especially from each other—are bubbling insidiously to the surface.

So, when scandal threatens to unravel this tight-lipped family, they must consider whether to let decorum dictate their decisions and how far they’ll go to keep skeletons in the closet. Their choices could free them from expectation and welcome long-awaited love, but alter the course of the Thornden legacy forever.

Written with understated humor and keen insight into the mindset of generations forced to adjust, TWISTED FAMILY VALUES revels in the hidden heartbreak of friendship and sexual longing, and one family’s struggle to find acceptance and forgiveness. Chickering’s second novel is a bit different from her first novel, NOOKIETOWN (St. Martin’s Press), the funny/racy farce about a sex coop between married wives and horny divorcees in suburbia. Her crackling dialogue and steamy/awkward sex scenes are still in evidence, however, this new story is more complicated, realistic, and intense. It spans four generations of the Thornden family as they unravel—publicly and privately—over fifty years in a small town. It’s packed with awesome outfits, throwback hors d’oeuvres, and the popular slang and music of decades past you know and love.

Bottom line is, you’ll love it. Click to buy: Amazon (and, yes, Audible), IndieBound, Barnes & Noble, Booksamillion, iBooks, Kobo, or Google Play Or order it through your local independent bookshop!

Here’s the Twisted Family Values book launch video featuring my band, Tori Erstwhile & The Montys. You heard right. I have a band. I write all the lyrics for the songs which are catchy, multi-genre, and funny. (Imagine Flight of The Conchords meets Doris Day meets Nelly McKay.) Check us out!

(FOR AUTHOR BIO, SCROLL WAY DOWN )

(FOR BOOK TOUR PICS, HOP OVER TO THE “EVENTS & CONNECT” PAGE)

PODCASTS, PRESS, & VIDEOS:

Here’s Susan Hendricks and I whooping it up during my television author interview on CNN’s WEEKEND EXPRESS MORNING SHOW in Atlanta. It was totally surreal and super-fun. Plus, I got to meet Lisa France and keep the false eyelashes! (click orange link above to watch)

That time TFV was named one of The Washington Post’s 11 Books to Get You Through Thanksgiving 2020—positioned next to David Sedaris’ book!!—which, considering the year we had, was not nothing, as you well know. Thanks, Zibby—I’m beyond grateful!! (click orange link above to read full article)

Here’s my first conversation with author champion, Zibby Owens, for her “Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books” podcast. We get so carried away, I nearly forget to mention my book! But you’ll love what we end up dishing about instead. (Hint: Nookietown)

Such fun zooming with Holly Williams, host of Grey Group ad agency’s “Grey Matter: A Podcast About Ideas.” It’s dedicated solely to exploring how a wide cross-section of intrepid thinkers come up with their ideas—what’s the mindset, how is it enacted on, then what happens next. The company I’m in will blow you away. Click the orange links to listen on Apple or Spotify.

Thoroughly enjoyed this compelling author interview with Helen Little (she asks such great questions), host of “The Public Library Podcast” on IHeartRadio. We delve into TFV’s complex cast of family characters and the fun of writing cultural details—clothes, music, and hors d’oeuvres—harkening all the way back to the cream cheese 70s.

Had a ball chatting and cracking up with Leslie Gaar, host of “My Effing Desk” —a podcast for creative moms who want to get shit done. We covered growing up in a super-creative home, choosing to give no f*cks, and how to write your novel’s first draft in 30 days—while parenting!

Here’s my instagram live interview chat with @zibbyowens during our first pandemic lockdown. We discuss Covid’s potential for a global creative craft renaissance and the internet’s democratization of comedy. Enjoy!

INTERMISSION

(click the orange link below for a treat)

MORE PODCASTS, PRESS, & VIDEOS:

My hilariously silly driving interview with Kathleen of “MorphMoms in Minivans” about what I’m probably not going to accomplish in 2020.

So enjoyed sitting down with childhood besties and co-hosts, Hannah & Cecilia, of their “Twisting the Plot” podcast. We covered the opportunity of divorce, the importance of roast chickens, taking second career chances and risky midlife leaps. Inspiring!

Gina and I let ourselves get very serious about the value of fun on her “Feminine Roadmap” podcast. She’s an absolute doll and I know you’ll enjoy our chat. Have a listen!

Heike Yates is exuberantly curious and wants to know what makes your heart zing! Listen to our inspiring chat on her “Pursue Your Spark” podcast. It’ll get you thinking about your sparks…

Visit Lori Duff Writes for her Twisted Family Values review and nitty-gritty insider author interview. You’ll also love Lori’s blog because she’s extremely funny (and a badass, and a judge!)

Here’s a fun author interview I did for “The Reading Frenzy” about developing the zany storyline for Twisted Family Values.

Here’s my insider author interview in my hometown newspaper, “The Village Green.” Absolutely loved her questions!

YOU’D LOVE MY FIRST NOVEL: NOOKIETOWN

Chickering’s first novel, NOOKIETOWN (St. Martin’s Press), is a funny/racy romp about a wife-sanctioned sex coop among friends in suburban New Jersey. Here’s the story:

Recently divorced, 40-something single-mom, Lucy, is lonely, antsy, and distractingly horny. So, when her trusted long-time married friend, Nancy, begs Lucy to sleep with her husband to save her marriage, Lucy goes for it. It's so successful the two friends invent a town-wide underground barter system whereby Nancy's married girlfriends sub-contract Lucy's horny divorcee friends to sleep with their husbands so they don't have to as often. It's a win, win, win--for a while. Then it all goes to hell in a hand-basket.

Laugh-out-loud and emotionally provocative, NOOKIETOWN is a story of risk-taking, marriage, honesty, sex, friendship, divorce, and desire, and what one woman rationalizes in order to get what she wants.

Click on any link below to order your copy: 

Amazon
Barnes&Noble
iTunes/iBooks
IndieBound

NOOKIETOWN REVIEWS:

KIRKUS Review: "With vivid characters, quick dialogue, and over-the-top situations, Chickering's debut novel alternates between moments of true hilarity and deep introspection." (full review here)

@POPSUGARLove: In 2016, Brenda Janowitz names it one of the "23 Books to Read This Winter," tweeting, "A smart, funny book with tons of sex..."  (see list here)

LIBRARY JOURNAL Review: "Chickering holds nothing back in this debut that can only be described as a Fifty Shades of Grey* for the married and divorced set. She dives in with a plethora of graphic sex scenes, creating a blend of erotica with a strong dose of women's fiction. Sure to be a hit among women seeking a feisty, thrilling, and risqué read." (*author's note: except there's no BDS&M and it's funny)

Watch the NOOKIETOWN: Funny/Racy Book Tour launch event video.

NOOKIETOWN press? Why, yes!:

Awesome V.C. Chickering interview with New Jersey Monthly

Fun V.C. Chickering interview with The Reading Frenzy 

Terrif V.C. Chickering interview with ESME

Fab V.C. Chickering interview with The Village Green

WELCOME. YOU FOUND ME (in the third person)

Quickie Bio:

V.C. Chickering is the author of the dysfunctional family saga, TWISTED FAMILY VALUES and the perennially funny/racy NOOKIETOWN (both St. Martin’s Press). She also writes charming columns, essays, and witty, clever songs for her band, Tori Erstwhile & The Montys (think Flight of the Conchords). She’s written for The Washington Post, Cosmo, and BUST magazines, as well as for Grown & Flown, Google, and Robot Butt sites. For years she wrote snappy on-air copy for Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Discovery, Lifetime, and Oxygen networks, among others. She lives at home in New Jersey with her family where she is currently at work on a historical romance set in 1987.

Longer Bio: 

V.C. Chickering’s love for writing can be traced back to umpteen penpals and those little diaries with the tiny lock ‘n key. She’s lived in New Jersey for most of her life, except for when she lived all over Manhattan for 17 years, and in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, back in the day for $250 a month rent. She’s parked cars at the Four Seasons in Boston for a summer and studied avant-garde theater in Paris for a year. She also lived in Los Angeles; San Francisco; and Edinburgh, Scotland; then back to New Jersey so she wouldn’t have to pump her own gas. Chickering wrote and directed plays and produced a performance art series while at N.Y.U, then eventually spent 10 years writing, directing and producing on-air promos for various television networks such as MTV, Comedy Central, Lifetime, and Oxygen. During this time she interviewed Judy Blume, Amy Poehler, and Joan Jett, under the byline Tori Galore for BUST magazine. She also wrote two screenplays, articles for Cosmopolitan and The Washington Post magazines. Plus countless essays, two of which were published in the anthologies, The BUST Guide to The New Girl Order and A Girl's Guide to Taking Over the World. Recently she’s enjoyed seeing her work published online for sites like Grown & Flown, Robot Butt, and the forthcoming, Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books: Quarantine Anthology.

There was that delightfully bizarre-o music video, “Friend is a Four Letter Word,” she produced for the band CAKE, and the hilarious play, Sex, Wieners and Boobs, she produced for David Wain, Joe LoTruglio and Mike Showalter. There was also the gritty and fascinating feature documentary, The Soul of Wit, Chickering co-produced and directed with Matt Walsh (Veep) about the alternative comedy scene on Manhattan's Lower East Side in the late 1990s. The film stars Walsh, Leo Allen, and the Upright Citizens Brigade (with Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Besser). It highlights a hundred comics performing in the “Night of a Hundred Stars” show at Luna Lounge. The film includes interviews with Amy, Matt, Marc Maron, Artie Lang, Tom Lennon, Joe LoTruglio, David Wain, Todd Barry, Janine Garofalo and a gazillion others. With an introduction by Stephen Colbert. Good stuff. Really funny.

Years later, Chickering decided to give novel writing a try while her kid was at summer camp. She read Chris Baty's No Plot, No Problem!, Stephen King’s On Writing, and Anne Lamott’s Bird By Bird, then wrote 1,700 words a day from July 1st to the 31st—and didn't stop there. Four years and 11 drafts later, NOOKIETOWN was published. Around the same time, she tried her hand at writing music and lyrics and found it a productive way to procrastinate. She started a band, Tori Erstwhile & The Montys, who play an unpredictable mix of original songs in various genres (alt. bluegrass/indie-pop/jazz/random Latin/R&B) most often compared to Flight of the Conchords. Laugh-out-loud funny and always charming, their music is catchy, friendly, and infectious. Click here for music videos, plus there's a Tori Erstwhile & The Montys YouTube channel. The band also opened the NOOKIETOWN: Funny/Racy Book Tour launch event and the TWISTED FAMILY VALUES: Dysfunctional Family Book Tour launch event this past June! They’re about 8 min. You’ll feel like you’re there! Check 'em out!

Chickering continues to write catchy songs and sing with her band of incredibly talented musicians--all named Monty--(actually most are named Dave) while promoting TWISTED FAMILY VALUES and hard at work on the romance novel WENDY WANDERLUST, a bitchin’ historical, European, summer romance set in 1987.

TWISTED FAMILY VALUES was published by St. Martin’s Press on Tuesday, June 25th, 2019. Makes an enticing summer beach read and goes equally well with what you’re wearing whether by the pool, lake side, or ocean.

NOOKIETOWN was also published by St. Martin’s Press on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2016. Warner Bros. Television won the option in a friendly bidding war. V.C. has written a spec pilot based on the book. The author currently retains the rights.

In a BOOK CLUB? Tell your friends to pre-order their copies then get in touch with me when you've all read it and I'll come visit or we can Skype. I’ve done both. I’m very flexible.

Click HERE for EVENTS, BOOK TOUR PICS, and to KEEP in TOUCH!

(author photo credit: Rebecca Rounsavil)