Kate Schatz

New year, new offering! Want some regularity and accountability for your writing practice and/or wanna be someone who *has* a writing practice and/or wanna hang out with me virtually once a week and write quietly?! GOOD NEWS, that can happen. Starting this Wed 1/7 and most Wednesdays thereafter I’ll be hosting a one-hour co-writing Zoom at 9am PT—I’ll start each session with a few writerly words and thoughts and a prompt for those who like prompts. Then we write quietly, together! Zoom link in my bio! And in my Substack post! Which you’d receive if you subscribed! And guess what the link to subscribe is also in my bio! Open to anyone—FREE to anyone who’s a paid subscriber to my Substack, and sliding-scale-of-cheapness to anyone else who wants to join. Low-to-no commitment, just show up when you can/want. Not a workshop or class, no sharing out loud and no feedback (I’ll be offering those things this year, but this is not that!) I will definitely recommend books I love and am reading, and you’ll most likely get to see my cats. Genuinely hope to see some/many/any of you there. I guess it’s also a low-key way to see more faces?! And also to carve out precious time for precious words in a world that loves to convince us that we’re too busy to create, or that taking time for your self and your art isn’t OK. Guess what! That’s a lie! It’s more than ok! It’s necessary! C U next Wednesday then, yes?! *THE ZOOM LINK IS IN MY BIO, I TRIED TO MAKE IT VERY EASY*

📚BRING THIS FUN AUTHOR TO YOUR SCHOOL! (Or library! Or…other kind of space that wants to host an author visit?!📚 Hey it’s me, the person who wrote all these books and can barely hold them for this silly selfie! I’m here to tell you that I’m currently booking Author Visits (in-person and virtual) for the 2025/26 school year. K-12! College too! Link in bio, or contact me directly. Visiting schools, libraries, and other community spaces is truly one of the best parts about my career. I absolutely love sharing my books with students of all ages, and connecting the stories in the books to the lives we are leading. And in this moment, when histories are being erased, books are being banned, voices are being silenced, curriculums are being white-washed, and budgets are being gutted, I am more committed than ever to sharing my ***thoroughly-researched, fact-based, bestselling books about actual histories that really happened and actual factual people who literally existed and will always exist no matter what*** and making my author visits accessible and available, inspiring and empowering. Hit me up. Tell a friend. Bring me to your school. I’m fun and friendly and also always me. 💕✌️😘

I’m pretty much exploding with excitement about the cover of WHERE THE GIRLS WERE, my novel coming out 3/3/26 on @thedialpress . I’m also pretty much exploding with excitement that I wrote a whole-ass novel, that I FINISHED (and sold!) a whole-ass novel, and that it will be out in the world for you to read. I’ll be sharing lots more about the book and the histories and stories that inspired it in the coming months, both here and on my Substack and hopefully other places in print, on air, and online. But for now please enjoy this stunning cover that totally nails the vibe I was hoping for—San Francisco in 1968, a young woman on the verge of so much, and the swirling chaos of an unexpected pregnancy in the pre-Roe era. Thanks to @thedialpress for being a dream team, @people for the cover reveal (!!!), @woodsarawood for her illustrations, my wife Lauren for the new headshots, and, of course, my mother, who said yes when I asked if I could write a whole-ass novel inspired by her. Link to preorder and subscribe to substack etc etc in bio. More to come! ✌️ 💕✊🏽

hello from Laguna Beach where I got to share WHERE THE GIRLS WERE with an incredible audience of mostly older women (and a smattering of men, and also some folks who aren’t yet senior citizens!) at the Susi Q Center, and they had so many questions and insights and invaluable stories to share. The wonderful husband of @stonemarrie took two pictures of me that are just really damn good so they’re going here on the main grid for posterity. There was an exhibit of art by local folks and I got to sit beneath this clown painting all evening. 🤡 Also the sweet young woman at the hotel front desk saw my Chinga La Migra hat and my necklace that says ‘abortion’ in gold script and she smiled and whispered “you don’t see looks like this a lot in this town” and I was like “that’s why I’m wearing them” ☀️ 🤡📚✌🏻

Belated @latimesfob appreciation post! This was my first time at this very legendary book fest and it lived up to the hype for sure. It was hot and super crowded and sprawling and jam-packed with amazing authors and events and soooo many enthusiastic book-loving humans. Like, at levels that helped restore my faith in the future of books. People read! They buy books! They show up! Good stuff, phew. I loved my panel with @cynthiadsweeney and @jenniferniven and @_dylanlandis , and @clairemiye was an excellent moderator. So special to be there with @chiarabarzini , and ran into so many people and publishers and book-world-people I admire and adore. Of course I did spot some celebrities, and also had a great time at @reparations.club at @thestackspod party. All in all it was overwhelming and fun and the green room was, as everyone told me, definitely the place to be (in large part bc of the A/C and food, but also A+ people watching and A+ running-into-people-I-know-ing). Yay LA, and fuck that reality tv grifter trying to be your mayor. I am rooting for your Lakers tho. 💜💛

WHERE THE GIRLS WERE.....📖 . Author, activist, anti-racist, and HUGE @valkyries fan Kate Schatz invited us into her beautiful home to talk about her latest book, Where the Girls Were. We had a grand time talking about breakfast tacos, abortion laws, parenting, and her mom. And on our way out, we found ducks just chilling on her lawn.....it was magical ✨. . You can find the conversation up at the link in our bio and you can find Kate's book at your local indie bookstore and library.

I met @k8shots after hours in our college library at @ucsc where we bonded over the fact that I was reading a cheesy 90’a erotica book from a series she also knew. From there, we started trading books and music, introducing each other to writers and musicians we’re still obsessed with to this day, and realizing how many passions we shared. We ended up in the same creative writing workshops at @ucsc_creative_writing , sharing stories and ideas, eventually editing a literary journal together, and becoming part of each other’s personal and writing lives ever since. Kate is also the third in the trio with @rubyjewel1 , who isn’t a writer but has been just as essential, who joined me on the aqueduct road trip that brought “Aqua” to fruition. At the time, Kate was working on her own novel about the secret lives of the girls who lived in homes for unwed mothers in late-1960s California. Now, almost 30 years after that first bad lit night in the library, we both have books out about hidden California histories. Tonight we’ll be in conversation with @cariborjafashionfilmfood about those histories, about research and writing, about workshops and motherhood, and about how to try to do it all. I couldn’t have done half the things I’ve done in life if Kate hadn’t been there. I couldn’t have written many of the stories or followed many of the ideas that became this book. So tonight is a celebration of our books, but also of our friendship. And of all the ways we hold each other up in work and in life. I hope to see you at @clios_oakland in Oakland at 7 PM ✨ #aqua #wherethegirlswere

ONE WEEK FROM TODAY—grab your tickets now! As Mother’s Day approaches, Bay Area authors @k8shots (Where the Girls Were) and @tracyclarkflory (My Mother’s Daughter) explore the stories we inherit from our mothers—and how they continue to shape our lives across generations. Set in 1968, “Where the Girls Were” follows a young woman whose life is upended by an unexpected pregnancy—sending her to a home for unwed mothers and into the hidden history of “the girls who went away.” “My Mother’s Daughter” picks up that legacy decades later, as Tracy uncovers the story of her own mother’s experience in a similar home, and the long shadow of shame, love, and survival passed down across the decades. There will be wine. There will be cheese. And lots of books (including special early copies of Tracy’s book, which officially pubs May 5). Head to @booksocietysocial for tix! #bayarea #feminism #books #motherhood #family

The events for WHERE THE GIRLS WERE keep comin! Catch me in Denver, LA, Ojai, and the Bay! Saturday 4/11 SAN FRANCISCO, CA 9pm NIGHT OF IDEAS at the San Francisco Public Library with @rae_alexandra_writing Monday 4/13-Thurs 4/16 BOULDER, CO Featured panelist at THE CONFERENCE ON WORLD AFFAIRS at CU Boulder Wed 4/15 DENVER, CO TATTERED COVER BOOKS (Aspen Grove location) 5:30pm with poet @camilledungy Saturday 4/18 LA, CA LOS ANGELES TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS 12:30pm with Dylan Landis, Jennifer Niven, and Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney Monday 4/20 OJAI, CA EL ROBLAR HOTEL 5pm with @chiarabarzini Wednesday 4/22 OAKLAND, CA CLIO’S BOOKS 7pm with @chiarabarzini Tuesday 4/28 BERKELEY, CA BOOK SOCIETY 6pm with @tracyclarkflory Saturday 5/2 LIVERMORE, CA THE LAS POSITAS LITERARY ARTS FESTIVAL with W. Kamau Bell, Leila Mottley, Julissa Arce, and Tomas Moniz Thursday 5/14 LAGUNA BEACH, CA 5pm EVENING WITH AN AUTHOR at The Susi Q Center Sunday 5/31 BERKELEY, CA BAY AREA BOOK FESTIVAL 🩷✌🏻📚

I know a lot of authors who never look at their @goodreads reviews which is a very reasonable and legit decision, as it’s pretty harrowing to see any old random stranger on the internet rating your precious art and espousing their opinions on a public forum (that the publishing industry actually pays VERY CLOSE attention to). It’s also super addicting/toxic to get attached to your “goodreads rating” (this is very much a thing for authors). In the lead-up to the publication of WHERE THE GIRLS WERE I checked it pretty often because I was so wildly curious to see what would happen when the book I’d held so close for so long went out into the world. And then for the past few weeks I’ve just let it be, and hadn’t checked reviews until today. And wow, ok, THANK YOU RANDOM STRANGERS OF THE INTERNET WHO READ BOOKS AND CHOOSE TO POST THEIR THOUGHTS ON GOODREADS! To be very clear there are definitely some less-than-glowing reviews (swipe to last slide to see someone’s high praise) but I’m genuinely ok with that. Not everyone will like my book, duh, I can handle criticism, etc etc. What really means a lot and matters to me is seeing how and why the story IS resonating with people, and when I think about how to truly measure “success” I keep coming back to knowing that I’ve written a book that will really mean something to some readers. Like impact them, affect them, make them think and feel and care (and act!) And also, always: feel seen. So point is I’m glad I checked the reviews today (even if my rating has DROPPED, gasp!) and fyi if you love a book and an author do them a solid and give them some stars and a nice review! It matters!

Gotta put last night on the grid because it was so great. I wish that Kal, Hunter, Meher, and Allyson—and all of the Piedmont High School Affinity Mentors!—could join me onstage at all of my events. Sure it would be crowded, but damn is it impactful when we bring the teens onto the stages, under the lights, and give them the mics. The plan was for them to interview me, about my books and my work, but I wanted to hear from them—what books changed their lives (The 1619 Project! Giovanni’s Room! The Poet X!) What does being in community mean to them? What is it like for them to be young changemakers, in this particular historical moment? Their answers were eloquent, insightful, unrehearsed, fierce af, and exactly what all us grownups need to hear. These kids aren’t just alright—they’re amazing. They see alllllll the bullsh!t, they feel alllllll the anxieties and stresses and fears, and they’re *still* showing up, and believing in their power, individually and collectively. They show up for each other, for their peers, and for the younger kids in their district. Bravo @happy_supplanter for your empowering leadership, and hell yes to all the Affinity Mentors! You inspire us all. @piedmonthigh

OMG MARCH! Thank you to EVERYONE who has been part of the launch of my novel WHERE THE GIRLS WERE! The friends and family and readers and booksellers and bookstores and educators and librarians and reviewers and bookstagrammers and the entire @thedialpress team. I feel accomplished and proud and loved and excited and tired. I feel relieved that a feminist historical novel I worked on for so long is out in the world, and I feel confident that my beloved characters are in very good hands. I feel honored to get to share my work with the world; to tell meaningful, impactful stories; to hear and witness the stories of the women who lived the lives I try to recreate in my book. Including, of course, my mom. 🩷 I don’t take this writing career lightly, not for a moment. I believe that community kills fascism, and so does art. To be able to publish book as part of a creative community, and to be supported by so many different communities, is everything. It’s how we get through, and survive, and transform. Special thanks to: @booksmithsf @booksincofalameda @bookshopsc @powellsbooks @thirdplacebooks @caro_derobertis @sleater_kinney @molly.wizenberg @tracyclarkflory @psbookfest @jasonblitman @peters___online @keplersbooks @alibibookshop @jesslitagent @sheedylit @suttonolga @barbarashots I also feel ready for the next round of events! See you at @tatteredcoverbookstore in Denver; the @latimesfob ; @clios_oakland ; @booksocietysocial ; @baybookfest ; and more. For now, that’s a wrap on Pub Month! On to Pub Year!