We talk with author Heather Coley about The Gilded Butterfly Effect, tracing how glamour, power, and campus mental health collide through the entwined voices of Stella and Penny. The conversation moves from craft to consequence, ending on the sharp note of a fate that feels earned and haunting.
• debut novel context and linked short stories
• crafting Stella’s voice and rapid interiority
• dual protagonists merging by design
• psychiatry, self-medication, and system failures
• writing drug scenes without glamorizing harm
• cyclical relapse risk and ambiguous endings
• blackout structure and tonal balance with humor
• moral ambiguity in romance and the Jack reveal
• classic literature influences and unhinged heroines
• dedication to dad, rejection, and persistence
• lessons for students about status and myth
• upcoming collection Public Property and where to follow Heather
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Go and get The Gilded Butterfly. It is out on October 21st
Watch our full length episode if you haven’t yet
Editing done by Connor Luther @clfilms.co
Music by @thundercatlouis
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