Authors Interviewing Characters: Jennifer Banash

Jennifer Banash’s new novel THE RISE AND FALL OF AVA ARCANA (Lake Union Publishing; on sale April 1, 2023) is inspired by a twisted Lady Gaga conspiracy theory (talk about going down internet rabbit holes!) and transports us to the gritty exhilarating streets of New York City where two young talented women hope to be noticed, loved, and transformed into stars. This haunting novel explores how a tight but fragile friendship grows, thrives, and then ultimately crashes when the ugly pressures of promise and fame take control. Think Daisy Jones & the Six mixed with Almost Famous and kissed with A Star is Born. 

THE RISE AND FALL OF AVA ARCANA

Rolling Stone journalist Kayla McCray is assigned a cover story on pop icon Lexi Mayhem, Kayla stumbles across a startling new angle to the exposé. Years ago, another rising star from Lexi’s past mysteriously leaped to her death. Some things are better off forgotten, Lexi says. Kayla disagrees.

It’s 2005 and Ava Petrova moves to New York with a notebook full of songs and a dream. Then she meets Lexi, an up-and-coming singer who brands Ava with an enigmatic new stage name and introduces her to an intoxicating city alive with possibilities. From fast friends and kindred spirits to creative muses and inseparable soul mates, Ava and Lexi embark on a parallel journey to stardom, but there is room for only one at the top.

As past and present converge, Kayla chases the ghost of a young woman doomed by betrayal and erased by a secret and unravels the truth that it takes more than ambition to become a star.

Jennifer Banash Interviews Lexi Mayhem

Jennifer Banash: Thanks so much for making time in your schedule today! I know how busy you must be with the upcoming tour. 

Lexi Mayhem: *Laughs* It’s insane. We’re rehearsing, like, twelve hours a day, so I only have a few minutes, but I’m happy to have a break. 

Jennifer Banash: What’s it like, playing huge venues like Madison Square Garden? It must feel a world away from the dive bars where you got your start on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. 

Lexi Mayhem: It’s amazing. The crowds, the rush, it’s why I got into this business in the first place. 

Jennifer Banash: It wasn’t about the music?

Lexi Mayhem: Of course it was. See, this is why I hate interviews. I just meant that there’s nothing like playing in front of a live audience. Making a record is fun, but it’s also grueling. It’s about getting it all exactly right—the songs, the track list. I could talk all day about the monumental importance of choosing the perfect Track 5 on an album. But the stage is where it all comes alive. It’s one thing to perfect your songs in the studio, but watching the reaction of the audience, hearing them singing your words back to you at the top of their lungs, seeing their faces light up when you walk on stage, that’s what it’s all about.

Jennifer Banash: Do you ever experience stage fright? 

Lexi Mayhem: No. Not at all. I’ve had friends who’ve really struggled with performing, but I’ve never understood it. When it’s time to get out there, my body just takes over. I lose all sense of myself. I lose track of time. The stage is the only place I feel at home. 

Jennifer Banash: Friends in the industry? 

Lexi Mayhem: *Silence*

Jennifer Banash: I heard there’s a book coming out about your friendship with someone from back in those early days in NYC—The Rise Fall of Ava Arcana. 

Lexi Mayhem: No comment.

Jennifer Banash: Ok but perhaps—

Lexi Mayhem: I said no comment. 

Jennifer Banash: Understood. 

Lexi Mayhem: The past is behind us for a reason, ok? I need to get back to rehearsal. 

*Click*

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Jennifer Banash is a former professor of English and creative writing, and author of the novels Silent Alarm, a finalist for the American Library Association’s Best Fiction for Young Adults; White Lines; Simply Irresistible; In Too Deep; and The Elite. Jennifer is also the former cofounder and editor of Impetus Press, a small, independent publishing house that championed works of literary fiction with a pop edge. A native New Yorker, her first apartment was an illegal sublet located next door to the Hells Angels’ former headquarters on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. For more information, visit www.jennifer-banash.com.

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing