What is the title of your latest release?
THE COVER GIRL
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
THE COVER GIRL is a dual-timeline novel about a teenage model in the 1970s who, at age 15, poses for a rock star’s album cover, and finds her life forever changed when he makes himself both her boyfriend and her legal guardian.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Both the main characters’ jobs and classic rock history informed the setting the most: New York as a fashion capital and Los Angeles for the Sunset Strip rock scene that inspired parts of the novel. When Birdie needed somewhere else to go, I turned to my own former home of Massachusetts.
Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
I would, though I think it’d take a lot of effort on both our parts – we are both shy, so I’d probably assume she didn’t like me and vice versa. But she has a dry wit and a genuine desire to help people that I think would be nice to be around, even if she is not a particularly warm or forthcoming person.
What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Birdie is observant, distant, and compassionate.
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I knew the basics about models and modeling, but my research brought me to learn more about some pretty amazing women. Modeling is often a young woman’s game, but I was blown away by how many models creatively kept their careers going long after their 20s. I learned so much about models who leveraged their visibility to improve the lives of others, like Tina Chow and Bethann Hardison, especially after AIDS devastated the fashion community, and I also learned about the diversity of the fashion industry in the 70s and early 80s and how that changed in the 90s.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
For The Cover Girl, I edited as I went and was able to draft pretty cleanly. For my current project, I found myself getting overwhelmed by decisions that needed to be made, so I charged ahead, no looking back, vibes only, or else I was never going to get the draft out. Those edits await!
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Anything chocolate and anything pasta. And when I’m cooking, I like to indulge in doing everything from scratch, like a lasagna bolognese with homemade sauce, pasta, and ricotta.
Describe your writing space/office!
While I have a perfectly functional office, I do most of my writing in the corner of a deep pink velvet sectional in my living room, often sandwiched between two 80-pound dogs.
Who is an author you admire?
One of my weaknesses is my inability to provide just one answer to questions like this. I admire Megan Giddings so much. Her novels are spectacular; her every sentence is spectacular. Spending time with her work makes me feel lucky to be a reader. I also admire Weike Wang; again, at the sentence level, I’m just like, look at that! – without falling out of the story. Whenever I see new books out by them, I’m hitting that preorder button fast.
Is there a book that changed your life?
COWBOYS ARE MY WEAKNESS by Pam Houston – when I picked it up at the Brookline Booksmith, I had stopped writing. I had no idea what I wanted to write or if there was a place for it. That book showed me what was possible and inspired me to seek out other writers and really think about what I enjoy and why. As much as a straight line can exist in a writing career, it’s a pretty straight line from me picking up that book to being here today. A long line, but a direct one!
I also want to mention THE LEAVERS by Lisa Ko because this book reminded me of the power of literature. You can hold a belief system and understand how to articulate your beliefs, but a book can give you the access and perspective that helps you understand why you believe something. THE LEAVERS did that for me.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
Two years ago, summer, at a video shoot for work. It was so hot, and I was trying to get the content I needed while making sure the students in the video were comfortable. My agent had a sense that a preempt offer was coming, so I’d been antsy for a day or two. Then I saw her message as I was walking to my car. My first book didn’t sell, and I had been waiting for this moment for so long, and I sent probably the least excited-sounding message in the world because I just wanted her to know I’d seen it before I drove home to freak out in private.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
I most often read fiction – any kind, really, but I do love sinking into a good twisty mystery or thriller.
What’s your favorite movie?
Road House. There’s only one version I countenance, and it has Sam Elliott in it.
What is your favorite season?
The holiday season! I am a full-on Hallmark Christmas movies in October, lights up in November, making dozens of dozens of Christmas cookies kind of person.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Spend time with the people I love and eat something special. If some travel is involved, all the better!
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Monica Lewinksy recently released an episode of her Reclaiming podcast with Tarana Burke, who founded the metoo movement in 2006 – it’s incredibly compelling and powerful.
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Italian, but I am truly here for any noodle- or dumpling-based cuisine, and I love discovering the many variations across the globe.
What do you do when you have free time?
Spend time with my partner and our dogs, watch sports, and hang out with my sister, who I am lucky enough to live next door to.
What can readers expect from you next?
I am working on a second novel that explores some of the ideas in THE COVER GIRL – commercialized nostalgia, memory, pop culture’s impact, being a woman making entertainment and being a woman on the sidelines of someone else’s story – but in a very different way.
THE COVER GIRL by Amy Rossi
Find them early enough, and they will always be her girls.
Birdie Rhodes was only thirteen when legendary modeling agent Harriet Goldman discovered her in a department store and transformed her into one of Harriet’s Girls. What followed felt like the start of something incredible, a chance for shy Birdie to express herself in front of the camera. But two years later, she meets a thirty-one-year-old rock star, and her teenage heart falls hard as he leads her into a new life, despite Harriet’s warnings. Then, as abruptly as it began, it’s over, like a lipstick-smeared fever dream. Birdie tries hard to forget that time—starting over in Paris, in the dying embers of the LA punk scene, in Boston at the height of the AIDS crisis. She’s not that person anymore. At least, that’s what she’s been telling herself.
Decades later, Birdie lives a quiet life. She works modest gigs, takes Pilates and mostly keeps to herself. Maybe it’s not the glamor she once envisioned, but it’s peaceful. Comfortable. Then a letter arrives, inviting Birdie to celebrate Harriet’s fifty-year career. Except Birdie hasn’t spoken to her in nearly thirty years—with good reason.
Almost famous, almost destroyed, Birdie can only make her own future if she reckons with her past—the fame, the trauma, the opportunities she gave up for a man who brought her into a life she wasn’t ready for. Just like she’s not ready now. But the painful truth waits for nobody. Not even Birdie Rhodes.
Told in two timelines, this striking debut novel explores the dizzying fallout of being seen and not heard in a high-stakes industry that leaves no silhouette unscathed.
Women’s Fiction [MIRA, On Sale: August 5, 2025, Hardcover / e-Book , ISBN: 9780778368267 / eISBN: 9780369760388]
Buy THE COVER GIRL: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Ripped Bodice | Walmart.com | Target.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Amy Rossi
Amy Rossi holds an MFA in creative writing from Louisiana State University. She lives in North Carolina, by way of Massachusetts, with her partner and two rescue dogs. Her writing has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best Small Fictions, and Best of the Net.
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