Jen Besser and Shana Feste: Don’t Be Afraid of the Blank Page

Lifelong best friends Jen Besser and Shana Feste met as 11-year-olds in California and have been collaborating ever since. Dirty Diana, first launched as a podcast starring Demi Moore, debuted at #1 on Apple, was nominated for Podcast of the Year, and won the Ambie for Best Fiction, Screenwriting. Shana is the award-winning screenwriter and director of several feature films, including Country Strong and Run Sweetheart Run. Jen is a fiction editor and publisher. They now live thousands of miles apart and talk every day. Follow them on Instagram.

In this interview, Jen and Shana discuss how a podcast starring Demi Moore led to their new novel, Dirty Diana, their hope for readers, and more.

Name: Jen Besser and Shana Feste
Literary agent: Anna Worrall & Alia Hanna Habib/The Gernert Company
Book title: Dirty Diana
Publisher: Dial Press
Release date: November 19, 2024
Genre/category: Women’s Fiction
Elevator pitch: A deliciously provocative novel about a woman caught between the comfortable stability of her marriage and her memories of a more sensual past.

Bookshop | Amazon
[WD uses affiliate links.]

What prompted you to write this book?

After completing the podcast, we felt there was so much more of Diana’s story to tell, and we wanted the chance to really dive in. We knew a book (or three!) would give us the opportunity to examine Diana’s interior world and relationships, including the complexities of her marriage.

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

Soon after the podcast launched, we were lucky to start working with Dial and our brilliant editor Whit Frick. From the start, the plan was to publish the trilogy in rapid succession. And so to pull this off, we finished writing the first two before launching book ones, with book three nearly done. And the idea for book one changed drastically as we went—initially we drafted something much closer to season one of the podcast but quickly realized that this wasn’t the right approach. And so we threw out the first draft and started again. A piece of this reimagining meant introducing Diana in her early 20s, during a period of life where her desires felt limitless. In the end, it was by far the most fun part to write.

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

Lots of learnings and happy surprises along the way. We were surprised that some initial cover sketches were too sexy for certain markets—but very happy with where we landed! The covers are still evocative and beautiful, just a little less skin.

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

Yes, definitely. Neither of us had written a novel before, so a lot of it was letting go of how we thought the process would be or should be. We’re lucky in that we’ve been friends for so long that we have a shorthand with each other—and even better, we can be incredibly messy and raw. We would send each other pages so rough we wouldn’t dare let another person read them—except for each other.

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

We hope it continues to open up the conversations around intimacy and sex and relationships. We would love women of all ages to read the book and feel empowered to talk about their own fantasies and desires. We would love to phase out the phrase “TMI!”

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

Don’t be afraid of the blank page. Fill it! Even if its unreadable at first or not funny, sexy, tender, or all the adjectives you want it to be. Once you have something on the page, you can rewrite. And that is what writing is. Rewriting. So go ahead and throw your worst ideas on that blank page—it will only get better from there!