Sarah Vacchiano
Author Interview - Sarah Vacchiano
Author of Soft Launch: A Coming-of-Adulthood Novel
A starter marriage propels a young woman onto a path of reinvention as she chases her dreams of moving to New York City to become an entertainment lawyer.
Author Interview - Sarah Vacchiano
Author I draw inspiration from:
Laurie Colwin, and particularly her novel "Happy All the Time". I discovered Laurie Colwin in my mid-thirties. She mostly wrote during the 70s and 80s; a bit into the early 90s. She died young. I've never found anyone who can write about the complexity of relationships - friendships, romantic, familial - like Laurie Colwin. She was an absolute literary Jedi and her ability to help decode the humanity that underlies every meaningful relationship we are lucky enough to have is an absolute work of genius.
Author Interview - Sarah Vacchiano | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
Ideally when it's raining outside (rarely here in Los Angeles, where I now live). I would travel to a cold climate just to read while it's snowing outside. I like to be cozy. I work in film, and I'm not above "staging" a cozy reading space wherever I am. There's something about sunshine that feels anathema to me when it comes to reading. I'm not a pool reader.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Scarlett O'Hara - not only because I'd have to explain what an elevator is, but because I would take the chance to peel back the layers and really get to the heart of what made her an obstacle to the happiness she wanted so badly.
Author Interview - Sarah Vacchiano | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
When I was 9, and entered my middle school short story contest. I won, but I can only remember the title was "A Country Girl". I don't remember what it was about. I'd give anything to find a copy, but my parents weren't the type to keep things like, that so I can only imagine it was a semi-autobiographical story about a girl growing up on a farm in Virginia, which was me. But the idea that I could derive so much intrinsic satisfaction from writing, and have it be read by others and validated, was imprinted on me. As a born pleaser, I was intoxicated by that winning combination.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
Now that I live in LA and spend a lot of time in my car, I have discovered a love of audiobooks. I aspirationally buy paperback and hardback books, but they tend to pile up unless I'm traveling and have the chance to read. In the last decade, I've found myself on the Sally Rooney train more than once - buying new hardcover copies as soon as I can get my hands on them. I always say it's a gift to desire reading a book, and to enjoy it as much as you hope you will.
The last book I read:
Diane Keaton's memoir (one of three), "Then, Again". It was every ounce of therapy I needed to process that she was unexpectedly gone. I think we all felt like we knew Diane Keaton, and I felt that even more after listening to her narrate a memoir about her relationship with her mother.
Author Interview - Sarah Vacchiano | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
Laptop. I like to move around - I'm upstairs, at the dining table, on the sofa - I need movement when I'm writing. I love to write on airplanes with a glass of bad wine. For "Soft Launch", I wrote it over a period of ten years, so the process evolved quite significantly. I finished the first half right before Covid hit, and took the opportunity to finish it over the following year while working remotely from places like New England and Montana.
To be even more granular, I found Scrivener to be incredibly helpful in organizing a massive Word document into chapters. I don't know if I'd have been able to finish my novel if it weren't for the organization that Scrivener offered.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
Can this be a real person from a memoir? If so, Gail Sheehy from her memoir "Daring: My Passages", because she was the first person whose words made me feel like my own non-linear adulthood made sense. She embraced so many different facets of herself fearlessly - motherhood, career, relationships - at a time when the expectations of women were still fairly one-track.
Author Interview - Sarah Vacchiano | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
A private chef. Cooking for people is my love language. When we first moved to LA nearly four years ago, we started hosting Shabbat dinners to get to know people - neighbors, co-workers, etc. - and it was magical. It was immensely helpful in finding a sense of community as NYC transplants in Los Angeles. Now, we do it for the love of gathering, and I personally do it for the love of cooking.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
Paris in the 60s. Zouzou and Brigitte Bardot.
Place I’d most like to travel:
The Japanese countryside. I'm mesmerized by the idea of Japanese architecture against the backdrop of mountains, and it feels like the perfect place to cozy up and read with a cup of tea. I grew up in the Virginia foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and I will never not be captivated by a mountain aesthetic. The San Gabriel mountains in LA will never cease to grip me. But my imagination makes it seem like the mountains of Japan would be gripping and inspiring in a different way.
My signature drink:
Red, red wine.
Favorite artist:
Lin Manuel-Miranda. Anything he writes, I'll read or listen to.
Number one on my bucket list:
Learning to play the piano with my son. We picked one up off the side of the road and had it re-tuned, and I'm just waiting for him to be ready to start learning together. Next Christmas, I want to be able to play a Jingle Bells duet on the piano with him.
Anything else you'd like to add:
When I finished the manuscript in 2021, I had just started the process of querying literary agents when I learned we were moving from NYC to LA, and on top of it all, having a baby. Somewhere in the middle of that, we also got married - and the manuscript went into a metaphorical drawer and I didn’t think about it again until last year, when someone who I now owe everything to emailed me out of the blue asking if I’d ever sold my book. The publisher bought it in January and it will be released February 1, 2026.
My book is proof that publishing fairytales do exist, and to never, ever give up, whether it takes 1 year or 10 years.
Find more from the author:
https://www.sarahvacchiano.com
https://www.instagram.com/softlaunchbook
https://www.facebook.com/sarahmvacchiano
About Sarah Vacchiano:
Sarah Vacchiano
Sarah Vacchiano is an entertainment lawyer and writer based in Los Angeles. She graduated from Duke Law School and has worked across many aspects of the film industry. "Soft Launch" is her debut novel. She lives with her husband Matt, son Gus and hound mix Josephine (JoJo).
