Upcoming Special Literary Event

Author Visit: JJ Elliott

There Are No Rules for This (2023)

Tuesday, November 14 • 1:00pm-2:30pm • OnlineCourse 12244 • $30

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Meet author JJ Elliott in conversation with Anna Katsavos as they discuss Elliott's debut novel, There Are No Rules for This (2023), which is garnering significant press. The novel draws readers into a deeply affecting story of friendship, loss, guilt, healing, and forgiveness surrounding Liddy, Max, Ali, and Feeney, four adults who had celebrated, comforted, and commiserated with one another in Sonoma, California. Narrated from Ali's perspective, the story begins with Feeney's suicide and progresses through aftershocks while continually flashing back to memorable incidents over the course of the women's friendship. Interweaving moments of hilarity with expressions of profound grief, the novel offers glimpses of what drove Feeney to take her own life through comments that her friends dismissed and passages in the diary she kept. When the novel closes, the reasons Feeney did not seek help from her friends and felt unable to go on living remain a mystery. What shines out, however, is the value of Feeney’s life and her ongoing gift to the women she loved.


Pair this course with the book discussion led by Anna Katsavos, (Course 12249), also in the fall schedule. Separate registration is required.

JJ ELLIOTT is a professional copywriter with a degree in English from UCLA. She lost her mother to suicide as a teenager, and spent over two years in her twenties manning suicide hotlines in Los Angeles. One of the reasons for writing her debut novel, There Are No Rules for This, was to address frustration in the way suicide is treated in print and on-screen as a mystery to be solved instead of a multi-layered, complex condition that can rarely be boiled down to one specific reason.

Register for Author Visit with JJ Elliott on Tuesday, November 14, 2023 at 1pm

Time will be reserved for audience Q&A. The talk will be recorded and distributed to enrolled students for up to one week of viewing post-lecture. Register in advance to receive the video, even if you are unable to attend the live session.

ANNA KATSAVOS, PhD, is an experienced book group facilitator. A SUNY Professor Emerita of English Literature and Women’s Studies, she has received numerous awards for teaching, and her scholarship has been published in a variety of literary journals. She has interviewed many best-selling authors and has presented interactive programs focusing on a wide range of women’s issues. Additionally, she conducts writing, editing and publishing workshops.

Register for There Are No Rules for This Book Chat with Anna Katsavos on Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at 10am
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