Burn

“BURN is filled with beautiful losers covered in scars of their own making. And yet it also finds hope in the dark places, both real and in the mind. A stunning, assured, and risky debut.”

-Tod Goldberg, New York Times bestselling author

The Mountains. 1999. Shannon Story returns to college from winter break, happy because she has an escape plan for her mother who is trapped in an abusive marriage. Instead of salvation, Shannon finds herself facing extreme fire conditions: her car breaks down on the side of the road, her would-be boyfriend abandons her, and the unusually dry winter in the mountains shows no sign of letting up. When she meets the hotshot, a wildland firefighter, on the night of her 21st birthday, she thinks maybe this is the guy who will save her. To no one’s surprise (except maybe Shannon’s) he sends her into the mother of all downward spirals putting at risk her remaining relationships: Daniel, her best friend and emotional boyfriend; Rebecca, her sex-crazed roommate; Adrian, her struggling artist friend and Daniel’s roommate; and finally, her mother, whose refusal to recognize her own pathology will not just sink herself, but her daughter. After the last cigarette goes out and the party blows up, Shannon is forced to make a choice: the life her mother (un/knowingly) conditioned her to accept or the life she can live on her own terms but only if she faces a reckoning of the painful codependent cycle she's been living inside.


“BURN is gritty, pretty and real, highly entertaining—like a ‘beach read,’ only if the beach were a good dive bar, BURN is a novel to sink into and enjoy every moment.”

–Monica Drake, author of Clown Girl

“Clear your calendar: once you pick up BURN, you won’t put it down until the final, aching word. In Shannon, Stephanie Austin has created an antiheroine for the ages, a young woman equally bent on self-destruction and surviving any way she can. I saw parts of myself in her I didn’t want to see, and I couldn’t look away.”

–Jennifer Wortman, author of This. This. This. Is.
Love. Love. Love.

“Stephanie Austin’s BURN is a raw, unforgettable debut novel that ignites from the first page and never lets go. Step into Shannon’s chaotic world—a gritty, heartbreaking journey that doubles as a love letter to the 90s. These characters will steal your heart, break it, and make you laugh through the tears. Austin’s writing is fearless and devastatingly beautiful, cementing her place among today’s most powerful voices. BURN doesn’t just tell a story—it consumes you, leaving you scorched and begging for more. This is a debut ready to set the literary world ablaze.”

–Danny Goodman, author of Amerikaland

“In BURN, Austin jolts the reader into the mind of Shannon, a lonely young woman whose every attempt at connection leaves her more isolated than before. Set in the grimy and hypnotic world of 90’s college-age partying, Burn asks how anyone raised amid sexualized violence can ever escape its patterns, even when they recognize them. A heartbreaking novel, BURN will leave a reader singed but ultimately hopeful for women who must navigate the world with a smashed compass.”

–Amanda Bales author of Pekolah Stories

“Stephanie Austin's BURN is a gripping and unforgettable journey of transformation. Austin weaves a powerful tale of passion and survival, as flames of change threaten to consume everything. One woman is pushed to the brink as relationships ignite and collapse, as her courage is tested and she must reshape her one destiny. With vivid storytelling and emotional intensity, BURN delves into the heart of what it means to endure and rise from the ashes.”

–Brittany Ackerman, author of The Brittanys

Cowboy Jamboree Press
good grit lit.