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Liz Alterman

Writer, Editor, Storyteller

Welcome! Thanks for stopping by. 

Available June 11, 2024 

The last person Liz Alterman expects to hear from during her Thanksgiving prep is her husband, Rich. He never calls from his job at a busy Manhattan newsroom. And he never will again, because he's just been laid off. Two months later, Liz is downsized, too.

At first, Rich is enchanted with his new leisurely lifestyle. But when he's still unemployed six months later, his euphoric mood devolves into depression and despair. It falls to Liz to figure out how to support their family of five and keep up appearances in their well-to-do suburb, where even nannies drive the latest model Lexus.

Sad Sacked blends the wit of Nora Ephron’s Heartburn with the madcap hilarity of Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go, Bernadette to expose the pressure on women to put on a happy face even as their world falls apart. In Liz Alterman’s gifted hands, we laugh until we cry about what happens when the bottom drops out.

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Available Aug. 6, 2024

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When Laurel and Rob West move into their new home, it feels like the fresh start the couple needs. But Laurel can't shake her old feelings of anxiety. Is there's something people aren't telling her about this house . . .

Corey Sutton is trying to outrun her past. Recently divorced and reeling from a devastating loss, she moves into her widowed mother's condo in Florida. Everyone says she just needs time to recover and rebuild . . . but is Corey beyond saving? She wants answers. And there's very little she won't do to get them.

 

Though Laurel and Corey have never met, the women have something in common, and if they're not careful, it may just destroy them both . . .


Praise for The Perfect Neighborhood

“No neighborhood is perfect, but Oak Hill has more secrets than most. When a young boy goes missing, four women’s lives are sent spiraling: the babysitter who was late to pick him up, his mother, a neighbor and a woman who escaped Oak Hill only months ago. Suspicions arise, and everyone’s a suspect. And then another child goes missing … Can they figure out who is responsible before it’s too late? Alterman deftly uses alternating perspectives to show us the building tensions, leading to one surprising twist after another. I couldn’t put this down.”
—Catherine McKenzie, USA Today bestselling author of Please Join Us and Fractured

“In theory, The Perfect Neighborhood is the ideal place to raise a family. In reality, it’s disturbing and completely riveting. Inside every house is another fascinating character, another lie, another betrayal. Reading this book made me feel like I lived in Oak Hill, and I refused to leave until every secret was uncovered.” 
—Samantha Downing, internationally bestselling author of My Lovely Wife and For Your Own Good
 
“Big Little Lies meets Everything I Never Told You in this wholly propulsive and utterly enthralling neighborhood suspense. With razor-sharp commentary and biting humor, I simultaneously howled with laughter one minute while tearing through the pages, racing toward the entirely shocking conclusion. Liz Alterman is a masterful storyteller and The Perfect Neighborhood is a devour-in-one-sitting read.”
—May Cobb, author of The Hunting Wives

Publisher's Summary: 

When Tess Porter agrees to pick up her boyfriend’s college pal at the airport on a snowy December night, she has no idea she’s about to embark on the most dangerous ride of her life. 

Two days later, the 17-year-old wakes up in a hospital with broken bones, unable to remember how she got there. Her parents are acting strange, and neither James, her boyfriend, nor her best friend, Izzy, has visited. 

 

As she struggles to physically recover, Tess wrestles with haunting questions: What happened? Will her memory ever return? And what if she’s better off not recalling any of it?

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Sad Sacked

Listening Sample

"I didn't realize how much we needed a new Erma Bombeck to report from the tense bowels of modern suburbia. This book is a sweaty, funny examination into suburban marriage, motherhood, social status and all the other reasons I left New Jersey." - Joel Stein, author of In Defense of Elitism: Why I’m Better Than You and You Are Better than Someone Who Didn’t Buy This Book

Books

Upcoming Events

Morris County Library Author Day: Presenting: Taking the Scary Out of the Query

Saturday, April 20 at 10 a.m.

NJALA Conference at the Mercer County Conference Center: Presenting: Ready to Write Your Memoir? Here's How to Begin

Tuesday, June 4, 2024 1:45 p.m. 

Presenting: Ready to Write Your Memoir? Here's How to Begin

Library of the Chathams

Tuesday, June 18, 2024  7 to 8 p.m.

About

Storyteller at Heart

Liz Alterman lives in New Jersey with her husband and three sons. She spends most days repeatedly microwaving the same cup of coffee and looking up synonyms.

Photo credit: Gracemarie Photography

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Contact

Get in touch!

liz.alterman@gmail.com

I love connecting with readers! I'm happy to join your book club discussion by Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, or in-person if you live near Morris County, NJ.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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