Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Eliza Knight to HJ!
Hi Eliza and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Confessions of a Grammar Queen!
Thank you so much for having me here!
Please summarize the book for the readers here:
In Confessions of a Grammar Queen, step into 1960s New York City—a world of martinis, manuscripts, and male-dominated boardrooms—where ambitious copyeditor Bernadette Swift is ready to edit the patriarchy out of power—she wants to be the first female CEO of a publishing house. Armed with red pens, impeccable syntax, and a secret feminist book club hidden behind the stacks of the New York Public Library, she’s determined to climb the publishing ranks and smash a few glass ceilings along the way. Add in a lovable Great Dane with a flair for drama, a cast of sharp-tongued, warm-hearted women, and rom-com banter with a vintage twist, and you’ve got a fierce, funny tale of friendship, feminism, and finding your voice—one grammatically correct sentence at a time.
Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:
Ohhh, it was so hard to pick one, so here are a few!
“Either you’re with the pink or you’re against it.”
“She was holding it together with pink lipstick and a spine made of stitched-together courage.”
“Knock down walls. Don’t stop at the glass ceiling; don’t stop until it’s open air on all four sides.”
Please share a few Fun facts about this book…
- Fun Fact #1: Bernadette Swift is based on several women who broke barriers in the publishing realm. Most notably, The Grammarian — Eleanor Gould Packard, who was a copyeditor for the New Yorker. Part of how she advocated for herself in gaining employment at the New Yorker was that she took a published copy of the magazine to the editor and showed him several places she’d copyedited the finished version. Mic drop moment!
- Fun Fact #2: The Great Dane, Frank, in the book is based on a real dog I met at a bar in Ohio. Frank walked in greeting patrons like he owned the place, and I knew two things right away, one, that I needed to meet him, and two, that he needed to be put into a book!
- Fun Fact #3: The first female CEO of a publishing house was Phyllis E. Grann in 1987. She worked her way up in the industry from the late 50s. Bernadette’s bestie/college roommate in the book is based on of Grann, though pieces of her are also part of Bernadette’s journey.
What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?
Graham’s a senior editor with a sharp eye for talent—and he can’t help but notice Bernadette. It’s not just her red pencil precision or her refusal to let the boys’ club win. It’s her fire, her literary zingers, her dictionary-level vocabulary… and, okay fine, her legendary oatmeal cookies. Grit, grace, and baked goods? He’s hooked.
Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?
“Taking one for the team again, I see?” Graham Reynolds, executive editor, took up the space beside her, the messenger bag he used as a briefcase slung casually over his broad shoulder. Looking at his reflection beside her own in the elevator doors, Bernadette took note that his short brown hair was fastidiously styled and his face cleanly shaven, which only made him, and his perfect bone structure, stand out more.
He had a cavalier attitude and an irritating sense of style to go with his Paul Newman jaw. Most men in the office wore the same professional outfits their fathers and grandfathers wore. But instead of a skinny tie, Graham had donned a thick and often colorful one. And she couldn’t ignore how his socks often matched his tie.
If she didn’t have to work with him, she’d be impressed.
Bernadette redirected her gaze firmly to the elevator ticker. She’d gotten mixed up and heartbroken by a handsome face before, and she wasn’t going replicate that mistake. “Skipping out early, I see?”
“If only.” He held out his hand. “Let me take the shirt.”
“What?” Bernadette gaped, her gaze swiveling toward him. “I’m not in the mood for games, Mr. Reynolds. Didn’t your mother teach you it isn’t nice to tease?”
“We’ve known each other for years, Miss Swift, and it’s still Mr. Reynolds?”
“It will always be Mr. Reynolds.” She clutched the shirt closer, realized what she was doing when the distinct, unpleasant combination of coffee and sweat infiltrated her nostrils, and then pushed it back out again.
Graham shrugged. “Just trying to save you a few steps. The dry cleaner is on the way to my meeting.”
This time Bernadette turned her whole body to face him, acutely aware that even in heels she had to look up. “Your offer was in earnest?”
There was nothing on his face to indicate it wasn’t. In fact, he appeared completely genuine. “Earnestly, yes. I’ve seen the stack on your desk. You don’t have time to run errands. I think Wall gives you more work than the rest.”
Bernadette had suspected the same thing on numerous occasions.
Graham nodded, then leaned forward like he was going to tell her a secret. “And I’ll even tell them to rush it.”
“Why?” She pursed her lips, the shirt hanging heavy between them.
Graham righted his stance and eyed her, not in the usual way men seemed to devour her, but more like he was studying her, trying to understand the nuances of her being. That was also uncomfortable because she didn’t want to share. “I think the question is, why not, Miss Swift?”
Readers should read this book….
If you love grammar and glamour, I wrote Confessions of a Grammar Queen just for you. It’s set in 1960s Manhattan—a time of sharp suits, clacking typewriters, and workplace dynamics that were… let’s just say, less than progressive. Bernadette Swift is a copy editor with a killer red pencil, a sharper tongue, and a Great Dane named Frank who may or may not be the real hero. This book is my love letter to language, to women who push back, and to the kind of friendships (and slow-burn flirtations) that make life sweeter. And if you’ve ever wanted to see sexism corrected like a dangling modifier—you’re in the right place.
What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?
I’m currently out on a book tour! Check my website to see if I’m in a city near you!
Just before I left, I finished and turned in my next historical/nostalgic women’s fiction novel–LOST IN THE SUMMER OF ’69. It will release in summer of 2026. A soon-to-be empty-nester’s mother—who was recently diagnosed with dementia—goes missing, leading her to enlist the help of her withdrawn, college-age daughter on a road trip to track down grandma at a series of music festivals that popped up across the country that summer, where they discover that she has been dubbed the Dame of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
And I have a new pen name which will debut next month in July, Michelle Brandon, with Rush Week. An irresistible, juicy contemporary novel based on the TikTok phenomenon #BamaRushTok—about four sorority sisters brought back to the top-tier house they ruled at the University of Alabama, when secrets they’d thought long buried threaten to resurface.
Thanks for blogging at HJ!
Giveaway: A print copy of CONFESSIONS OF A GRAMMAR QUEEN and special grammar queen stickers!
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Excerpt from Confessions of a Grammar Queen:
At lunchtime, her boss, Mr. Wall, stormed out for a meeting, and rather than wait at her desk for his return, with her nerves for company, Bernadette went to the park and sat on her favorite bench in the sun. She closed her eyes for a second, breathing in the balmy air, feeling the gentle breeze on her skin. Letting the luminous sky warm her skin and assuage her worries.
“So, Miss Swift, have you applied?”
Bernadette didn’t turn at the sound of Graham’s voice, but she did open her eyes. “Are you now the voice of my conscience?”
Graham chuckled and came around the bench to face her. He had a hot dog from a nearby stand, all loaded up with pile of mustard.
“I’ll have you know I will not take your shirt to the drycleaner when you spill that chemical-laden yellow paint.” She pulled out her carefully wrapped apple-and-cheese sandwich on fresh sourdough and took a satisfying bite.
Graham considered her sandwich, then took a large bite, no spillage, offering an obviously false frown. “And here I thought I’d racked up plenty of points by helping you with Mr. Wall’s shirts.”
“You have a point. But alas, I have not received any cookies from you.” She took a bite of her sandwich.
He grinned around a swallow. “Is that a challenge?”
“Definitely not.”
For a few moments they just ate. Her sitting. Him standing. As Bernadette took her last bite, she crumpled up the wax paper from her sandwich and rose, tossing it into a nearby bin.
Graham followed behind her, adding his yellow-stained napkin to the trash. “You ready?”
“For what?” Bernadette knew exactly what he was asking, but just thinking about it made the sandwich she’d just eaten feel like she’d stacked a pallet of books in her stomach.
“To fight for your future at Lenox & Park.”
“Is it in jeopardy?” she teased, trying to lighten her own sense of doom. Besides, she didn’t need Graham Reynolds’s help. Pursuing a promotion was her responsibility.
Graham shrugged. “I suppose not. But you don’t strike me as a woman who is satisfied staying in her lane.”
“An interesting turn of phrase. I’m not a weaver, Mr. Reynolds. I stay the course.”
“And sometimes, to stay the course, Miss Swift, you must rise over a hill. Or mountain.”
Wall Mountain.
Lenox & Park Mountain.
Woman Mountain.
Bernadette suppressed the urge to huff, because he was right. “True. But I came out here to enjoy my sandwich and contemplate my life. Not have you contemplate it for me.”
“Touché. Shall we contemplate mine then to make it even?” He held his arms out to the side as if offering for her take a stab in this witty game of banter.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Book Info:
There are no female publishing CEOs in 1960’s New York. And that is exactly what savvy, ambitious Bernadette Swift plans to change.
Bernadette Swift, a young copyeditor at Lenox & Park Publishing, is determined to become the first female CEO in the publishing industry. But first she needs to take the next step up that ladder with a promotion that her boorish and sexist boss wants to thwart. Seeking a base of support, Bernadette joins a feminist women’s book club at the New York Public Library, and soon, she’s inspiring her fellow members to challenge the male gatekeepers and decades of ingrained sexism in their workplaces and pursue their personal and professional dreams.
And that is precisely what Bernedette does on a daily basis: keeps her eye on the prize—equality for women in the workplace, and a promotion—while fending off the ire of her boss and the sabotaging efforts of a jealous coworker. With the support of her book club buddies and a certain charismatic editor at Lenox & Park who has completely fallen for her, maybe, just maybe, Bernadette will prove able to claim victory for herself and the young women coming after her.
Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | kobo |
Meet the Author:
Eliza Knight is the award-winning, USA Today and international bestselling author of Confessions of a Grammar Queen. An avid history buff, her love of history began as a young girl when she traipsed the halls of Versailles. She also writes contemporary women’s fiction under the pseudonym Michelle Brandon. Eliza is the creator of the historical blog History Undressed, and co-host of the History, Books and Wine podcast. She lives on the Suncoast with her husband, three daughters, a dog, and a turtle.
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Debby
I would go to 1920s. I would love to see the speak easies and the dances.