Heather Abel’s debut novel, The Optimistic Decade, published last year, was an Indie Next Pick and received praise from the New York Times, People Magazine, the New York Post, New York Magazine, Buzzfeed, Bustle, the Seattle Times, and the Pittsburg Post-Gazette, among other places. Her essays and criticism have appeared widely, including in the New York Times, the LA Times, Slate, and the online Paris Review. She received an MFA in fiction at the New School and has taught writing at the New School, Lang College, UMass Amherst, and Smith College. Originally from California, she lives in Northampton, Massachusetts with her kids and husband.