Bio and Press Kit
Photo Credit: Charlie Dargan
Reprint is permitted for publicity purposes. |
WHERE TO FIND LIZ
Location: Madison, Wisconsin Email: [email protected] Social Media (some accounts more active than others):
REPRESENTATION
Allison Hellegers, Stimola Literary Studio |
SHORT BIO:
Elizabeth Holden (she/her) is a writer, a physics teacher, a travel company owner, an X-Files podcast host, and an avid roller derby player. Her debut novel, Mighty Millie Novak, was released by Flux Books in 2024. She believes the ideal conditions in which to write a novel are in the dining car of a train traveling through the Alps, with a pot of tea beside you--though she does most of her writing at her home in Wisconsin.
Elizabeth Holden (she/her) is a writer, a physics teacher, a travel company owner, an X-Files podcast host, and an avid roller derby player. Her debut novel, Mighty Millie Novak, was released by Flux Books in 2024. She believes the ideal conditions in which to write a novel are in the dining car of a train traveling through the Alps, with a pot of tea beside you--though she does most of her writing at her home in Wisconsin.
LONGER BIO:
Like the protagonist of her debut novel, Mighty Millie Novak, Elizabeth Holden (she/her) is an avid roller derby player. She's been a blocker with Madison Roller Derby since 2015. Liz’s leaguemates know her as Auntie Matter; her derby name references her job teaching physics at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. (And, yes, she is also an aunt.) She got her M.S. in physics from Northern Illinois University because she knew she could still write fiction with a physics degree but would have a hard time doing physics with a writing degree.
When not busy writing, playing derby, or teaching, Liz is most likely leading international trips with her company, Leaping Hound Travel. She's led tours with themes as varied as cakes and coffeehouses in Budapest and Vienna to vampires in London and Paris.
She also co-hosts an X-Files podcast, We Want to Believe, exploring the real-life science behind each episode (or lack thereof).
Liz believes the ideal conditions in which to write a novel are in the dining car of a train traveling through the Alps, with a pot of tea beside you--though she does most of her writing at her home in Wisconsin. Her tattoos are vibrant and numerous, her laugh is loud, and her heart belongs to her pet greyhounds.
Like the protagonist of her debut novel, Mighty Millie Novak, Elizabeth Holden (she/her) is an avid roller derby player. She's been a blocker with Madison Roller Derby since 2015. Liz’s leaguemates know her as Auntie Matter; her derby name references her job teaching physics at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. (And, yes, she is also an aunt.) She got her M.S. in physics from Northern Illinois University because she knew she could still write fiction with a physics degree but would have a hard time doing physics with a writing degree.
When not busy writing, playing derby, or teaching, Liz is most likely leading international trips with her company, Leaping Hound Travel. She's led tours with themes as varied as cakes and coffeehouses in Budapest and Vienna to vampires in London and Paris.
She also co-hosts an X-Files podcast, We Want to Believe, exploring the real-life science behind each episode (or lack thereof).
Liz believes the ideal conditions in which to write a novel are in the dining car of a train traveling through the Alps, with a pot of tea beside you--though she does most of her writing at her home in Wisconsin. Her tattoos are vibrant and numerous, her laugh is loud, and her heart belongs to her pet greyhounds.
BUY Mighty Millie Novak (Flux Books, 2024): Flux, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Indie Bookstores
Paperback ISBN: 9781635831030
Ebook ISBN: 9781635831047
Reading Age: from 12 to 18 years
Publication date: Aug 20, 2024
Paperback dimensions: 5.25 x 8 in
Paperback Pages: 304
Paperback ISBN: 9781635831030
Ebook ISBN: 9781635831047
Reading Age: from 12 to 18 years
Publication date: Aug 20, 2024
Paperback dimensions: 5.25 x 8 in
Paperback Pages: 304
Get to know Liz
LET'S TALK ABOUT BOOKS:
My favorite novel is The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. This 2005 novel has everything I want: European train travel, adventure, intrigue, mystery--and vampires. I re-read it every few years, ideally in October when things feel the spookiest.
I typically read a mix of adult thrillers and YA contemporary (hey, it's no coincidence that those are the genres I write in!). In 2023, the most unputdownable book I read was Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson, the book that made me cry the most was Cold Girls by Maxine Rae, and the book I read the fastest was Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld (all in one sitting, on a transatlantic flight!).
As a kid, I adored the Babysitters Club, Nancy Drew, and anything by Madeleine L'Engle. The first book I read on my own was Sleepover Friends #1: Patti's Luck, when I was about 6 years old. The book that motivated me to write my first complete story of significant length, at age nine, was The Double Fudge Dare by Louise Ladd; I wrote what was essentially fan fiction in which the main character and her sister won a contest to become princesses and then solved an attempted murder. Looking even further back in time, the first stories I ever told were recorded by my mother, before I could write them down myself, and they are absolutely unhinged tales about the Care Bears and My Little Ponies (the stories contain numerous abductions, a few pregnancy tests, and no real plot to speak of).
ROLLER DERBY 101:
Let me tell you a little about my favorite sport! Roller derby is played in two 30-minute periods which are broken up into shorter increments called jams. In each jam, both teams field 4 blockers and a jammer on the flat, oval track. The jammer (who wears a star on their helmet) scores points by lapping the opposing blockers. Jams last up to two minutes. The jammer who gets past their opponents first is called the "lead jammer" and can choose to end the jam early (for example, to prevent their opponent from scoring). At the end of the jam, a new set of skaters takes the track for the next jam.
A few answers to common questions we derby players hear: No, it's not fake (like the roller derby of earlier eras was). This legit sport had a rebirth in 2002, originating in Austin, Texas, and quickly spreading across the country. No, we are not allowed to elbow each other (in the face or otherwise). Yes, we can choose our own derby names (or go by our regular names, if we choose!). Also, most roller derby teams play on a flat track (which is just what it sounds like) rather than a banked track (sloping upward from inside to out, like you may have seen in the movie Whip It!).
Learn more about roller derby at WFTDA.com.
TOPICS I'D LOVE TO CHAT WITH YOU ABOUT:
My favorite novel is The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. This 2005 novel has everything I want: European train travel, adventure, intrigue, mystery--and vampires. I re-read it every few years, ideally in October when things feel the spookiest.
I typically read a mix of adult thrillers and YA contemporary (hey, it's no coincidence that those are the genres I write in!). In 2023, the most unputdownable book I read was Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson, the book that made me cry the most was Cold Girls by Maxine Rae, and the book I read the fastest was Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld (all in one sitting, on a transatlantic flight!).
As a kid, I adored the Babysitters Club, Nancy Drew, and anything by Madeleine L'Engle. The first book I read on my own was Sleepover Friends #1: Patti's Luck, when I was about 6 years old. The book that motivated me to write my first complete story of significant length, at age nine, was The Double Fudge Dare by Louise Ladd; I wrote what was essentially fan fiction in which the main character and her sister won a contest to become princesses and then solved an attempted murder. Looking even further back in time, the first stories I ever told were recorded by my mother, before I could write them down myself, and they are absolutely unhinged tales about the Care Bears and My Little Ponies (the stories contain numerous abductions, a few pregnancy tests, and no real plot to speak of).
ROLLER DERBY 101:
Let me tell you a little about my favorite sport! Roller derby is played in two 30-minute periods which are broken up into shorter increments called jams. In each jam, both teams field 4 blockers and a jammer on the flat, oval track. The jammer (who wears a star on their helmet) scores points by lapping the opposing blockers. Jams last up to two minutes. The jammer who gets past their opponents first is called the "lead jammer" and can choose to end the jam early (for example, to prevent their opponent from scoring). At the end of the jam, a new set of skaters takes the track for the next jam.
A few answers to common questions we derby players hear: No, it's not fake (like the roller derby of earlier eras was). This legit sport had a rebirth in 2002, originating in Austin, Texas, and quickly spreading across the country. No, we are not allowed to elbow each other (in the face or otherwise). Yes, we can choose our own derby names (or go by our regular names, if we choose!). Also, most roller derby teams play on a flat track (which is just what it sounds like) rather than a banked track (sloping upward from inside to out, like you may have seen in the movie Whip It!).
Learn more about roller derby at WFTDA.com.
TOPICS I'D LOVE TO CHAT WITH YOU ABOUT:
- Well... writing, roller derby, travel, physics, greyhounds, and tea, for sure
- Rules for writing: the ones I love, the ones I struggle with, and the ones I break all the time
- Integrating multiple passions together (ex: my physics of roller derby events, the writing retreat in the Irish countryside that I co-organized, my guide to the most magical tea rooms in Europe, and of course, my novel about roller derby!)
- Ridiculous personal travel disasters--and how they've taught me to be a great travel advisor
- Playing a competitive team sport as an adult with zero childhood team sport experience (and lots of junior high gym class nightmares)
- Racing greyhounds, Spanish galgos, and the importance of sighthound rescue
- Lots more! Reach out and let's chat!