Blank

Author, podcaster, publisher, CEO, and mom of four, Zibby Owens, the powerhouse behind Zibby Media, monthly book round-ups for Good Morning America, and the hit podcast, Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books, has written her first novel, BLANK, where she dives head-first into a meta-satirical story about the publishing industry, rounding it out with themes of motherhood, friendships, marriage, career, and…betrayal.

In BLANK, with picturesque L.A. as the backdrop, we follow Pippa Jones, a forty-something mom of two in her used Volvo playing chauffeur to her kids, chasing open house leads for her secretive, but hugely popular Instagram account, Zooming with her three best friends for “book club,” and longing for the days when she and her husband were intimate. But Pippa is about to encounter one of the biggest obstacles ever when she is informed that if she doesn’t deliver the follow-up to her bestselling book by the end of the week, she’ll have to return her advance (already spent!) and risk becoming a one-hit wonder. The problem? She hasn’t written a word…

Panicked, Pippa starts fielding ideas from her friends and her children, until she lands on the best one…really the only one that will work. Her book will be blank. It’s on-the-nose commentary on the publishing industry and the arbitrary nature of bestsellers. People will flock to it as a conversation starter! Use it as a journal! It’ll work, right? Well, it has to…

During the course of the week, Pippa’s agent dumps her, there’s a scare at her son’s Hebrew school, inappropriate advances are made towards her by a man in a position of power, and she has to handle all of the chaos without her husband’s help. And then she discovers a secret that the people closest to her have been keeping and her life seems to spiral out of control. Who can she trust? Will this book idea work? Or will she evaporate into the literary ether?

Amid the chaos, readers are met with humorous, witty, dialogue and they get to peek inside the mind of a gloriously imperfect middle-aged woman who they’re left feverishly rooting for. BLANK is a breezy, funny, smart story of self-discovery and the power of believing in yourself.

This discussion guide was shared and sponsored in partnership with Little A.