Novel and Nosh

Author Interview: Sasha Preston, Novelty Turns Ordinary Lives Into Adventures

• Courtney

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A rule follower joins a heist, discovers her nerve, and reminds us why novelty can make life feel bigger. We sit down with author Sasha Preston to unpack The Sweetest Getaway, a witty, food-sprinkled caper where friendship, entrepreneurship, and courage take center stage. Jennifer, a cautious comic artist with big dreams, and Nari, a fearless hustler with flexible ethics, team up against a corporate villain and learn that risk can be a bridge to growth. It’s sharp, funny, and full of heart.

We go behind the scenes of Sasha’s creative process—how weekly short-story swaps rekindled her writing habit, how she drafted on walks and lunch breaks, and why she now blends a loose outline with room for surprise. She shares the invaluable role of beta readers and editors, the sting and payoff of honest feedback, and the craft choices that turn a playful caper into a page-turner. For readers and writers alike, you’ll hear practical strategies for building momentum, shaping character arcs, and sustaining voice across a series without losing spontaneity.

Food weaves through the book as a love language—Thai dinners, mango mocktails, and cookies that taste like freedom—inviting cross-cultural connection and presence in a screen-heavy world. We talk about friendship as fuel, women’s entrepreneurship as a throughline, and small, repeatable adventures that slow time and spark joy. Expect a smart heist rec for your TBR, a silky tofu smoothie you’ll actually make, and a sneak peek at an upcoming international caper that raises the stakes without losing the humor.

If you’re craving a fun, fast read with thoughtful themes—female friendship, cozy crime, culinary fiction, rom-com energy—this one’s for you. Grab The Sweetest Getaway on Amazon, snag the free first chapter at sashapreston.com/newsletter, and stick around for the bonus chapter info. Loved the conversation? Follow, rate, and share the show with a friend who’d join your dream caper crew.

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SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Novel and Notch, a cozy space where good books, novel ideas, and nourishing food come together. Today I am interviewing Sasha Preston, the author of Sweetest Getaway. She writes women's fiction, fine papers full of excitement, humor, and heart. Stories where close friendships and adventure come together to inspire your next big escape. Or at least make you think about planning one. When she's not writing, she loves exploring, exercising, and spending time with her husband, daughter, and girlfriends. Hi, Sasha. How are you today?

SPEAKER_01:

Hello, I'm doing great. Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_00:

Of course, I'm so happy to have you. I received your book. I'm not done with it quite yet, but I received your book, The Sweetest Getaway, and I wanted to have you on to speak about this. Can you tell me just a little bit about yourself as we begin?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, absolutely. So my name is Sasha Preston. I am based in Southern California, and I write women's fiction crime capers that are designed to help women kind of escape, feel a sense of adventure, a sense of playful joy, and also inspire women to be a little bit more bold and take a few more risks in their everyday life. So that's kind of the inspiration that comes behind my novels. And I'm super excited to talk to you about those today.

SPEAKER_00:

And I love that because one thing that I have been really trying to do, so I am in midlife at this point. And um I have noticed that we spend so much time, and this might be, you know, something that happens with where we are in society today. There's so much like consumption of you know, videos, everything, even educational consumption that we spend not as much time doing and living and being. So the concept that you are sharing today, where creating more adventure in your life, I absolutely love that.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, that's amazing. Yeah, I I totally agree with you.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Okay, so can you tell me a little bit about the book?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, absolutely. So the book, um, The Sweetest Getaway, follows Jennifer, who is a wholesome daydreamer. She's a rule follower. That's her on the cover. She's basically never broken a law in her life. Um, but she has these awesome dreams. She wants to be an entrepreneur. She draws comic books, she's super creative, but she doesn't really take risks. She hasn't ever really tried to start her own business. Meanwhile, her roommate Nari is this crazy freewheeling entrepreneur who's constantly coming up with new ways to make money, and they're not always completely legal. So one day Nari comes to Jennifer in the middle of the night and kind of pulls her into this heist that's against a bad guy that Jennifer happens to know all too well in Evo Corporation. And um, Jennifer can't believe that she's being pulled into this, but somehow she joins this heist with Nari. They pull it off, and despite herself, she can't really believe how much fun it is to actually go in and fight against the bad guys. So they somehow they pull it off. They they need to pull off a second heist, um, but the cops are onto them. So they need to recruit another couple of women who are a little bit more experienced to help them do a bigger, more complex job this time around. So it's filled with adventure, hijinks, crime, playful energy, and you get to see our heroes pull off a second heist. Will they be able to escape the cops? Will they end up forever in prison in orange jumpsuits? That's what the big question is, and that's what you get to find out with the book.

SPEAKER_00:

Perfect. I'm actually at the point where they have they're actually getting ready to go into the next job. Oh so um I'm having a lot of fun with it. I've noticed that as you write, you put a lot of food information in there. You know, there's lots of food throughout the book. Is this something that you're naturally drawn to? Is because I noticed your other book that what was it? A sweet scheme. Sweet scheme. Okay. That's also, I'm assuming, something to do with food, like food rel food adjacent, I guess, is what what I would say. Oh, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so a sweet scheme actually follows Martha, who's one of the core heist perpetrators in the second book. Um, a sweet scheme comes first, it's the standalone um prequel short story. And basically, Martha has a mango mocktail business, and competitor tries to go up against them. And so it is very food uh oriented. The the first book, a sweet scheme, and the sweetest getaway is packed with food as well. And you know, I didn't actually go into that with as a goal, like I didn't want to necessarily feature food a lot, but I feel like it just naturally, organically came up because it's such an important point of connection between people for shared moments, for celebrations. And I also think, you know, the book has people from a ton of different cultures coming together, sharing their traditions with each other. And that's a big part of the book as well. And I think for culture and for sharing your background with people, food is incredible. It's one of the best ways that you can share your awesome traditions with other people. So I think that just kind of those two influences just kind of brought it into the storyline more naturally.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Yeah, because I'm look I'm reading through it. I think I've got a few of them saved because I like to try to cook and bake as I read through them. And um, there were a few things that I was like, oh, I want to try that. Obviously, there were conversations around Thai food. You were talking about Kenyan democracy and women's movements, usually white chocolate macadamia nut, because those cake cookies taste like freedom. So there's a lot of little snippets in here about different foods. It's almost every page. I was like, I love this.

SPEAKER_01:

That that's amazing. You know, I actually didn't even realize that. Um, but I guess yeah, it just kind of naturally comes up as a point of conversation. You know, I I love food, I love different flavors, I love trying new things. And I I feel like I connect with people really well that are also into that. And it's a it's such an exciting way, as you were saying, of like stepping into the more experiential things. Cooking is a way to just really be present in the moment and to share foods with other people and to um just experience different cultures, I feel like is is so much better than you know living on a screen. So it's one of those things that you can really use to bring you into the present moment and feel a lot of joy with people.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. What got you into writing? Like, have you always been a writer or it's funny.

SPEAKER_01:

I actually as a kid, I was obsessed with writing. I would fill pages and pages and pages, and um, during the creative writing sections of my classes, I would just write these in-depth stories, and it was my most favorite thing to do. And then as I got older, I kind of didn't write as much because it it kind of got a little bit more non-fiction oriented, more professional, and I let that interesting, innovative fiction side of me go. And I didn't really realize it, but it was kind of like this this void that I had in my life, this area of creativity that I really needed to tap back into, but I had let it go. And um, one of my friends, when I was in my probably late 20s, she said, Um, I you and I both love to write. Why don't we write short stories with each other? And I was like, that's an amazing suggestion. I would love to. So basically, each week we would take turns coming up with a theme, and we'd both write short stories on the theme. No rules, they could be any length. It didn't have to be on any particular topic. You just had to cover that theme in some way. And so after a week, we'd swap our stories, and it was so much fun just seeing how different our creative impulses were and the different directions that we took the stories. And so I felt a lot of inspiration, both from moving my own creative muscle, but also from seeing what she did with the same prompt and just feeling inspired by her and her creativity and how different we both were. And so that really got me moving. It really got my creativity going. And I actually continued doing those short stories with my mom. My mom's also a writer, and yeah, and that was also such a fun experience. And then little by little, actually, a few of my friends suggested, hey, you know, I'm joining this writing contest. Would you like to enter with me? And I didn't actually end up entering these contests, but I thought, I feel like this is a sign. Like multiple people keep suggesting that I write something. Why don't I write something longer? I don't have to just stick to short stories. And so that's when I started to write The Sweetest Getaway. Um, you know, I work full time, so I was doing it in the mornings. But then gradually I was getting so passionate and so excited about the story that I was creating that I was writing in all of my spare time throughout the day. Like I would go on walks for my lunch break and write on my cell phone during my walk. Yeah. And then I'd write in my breaks in the evening, or if I had spare time waiting in line somewhere, I'd pull up Google Docs on my phone and keep going. And and I'd come up with all these ideas and it would feel like I was spending time with these people. And I'd have inspiration throughout the day. And so basically it was the creative engine just got sparked and it it was going all the time. And so um, you know, it all started with these short stories with this kind of dormant creativity that I had just let fall away for so many years, and sparking it back up gave me the ability and the drive to get the book started and just see it through to the end, I guess.

SPEAKER_00:

That's cool. Do you feel like because you hear authors talk about, you know, there's some authors who kind of have an idea of the whole book, and then others, it's more like they start and then they don't know where it's going to lead them. And you know, it just kind of as it goes as they continue to go, it's like the story tells itself almost. Is that how you are? Or do you kind of have a plan and you know what the ending is, and you know, you have to move through it that way?

SPEAKER_01:

That's so funny. I'm actually going through kind of that contrast right now. When I wrote The Sweetest Getaway, I knew that I wanted to write a high story. I kind of knew Jennifer and Nari a little bit, the outlines of who they were going to be, but the story just kind of evolved on its own as I wrote. You know, it it went in a million different directions. I had to cut a lot. I changed the plot many times until I was able to streamline it and get it into something that was suspenseful and exciting and made sense. And now this time around, I'm working on the third book in the series. Um, and it I'm starting with more of an outline just to save myself some time and be a little bit more efficient. Okay. I'm remaining open because I know that I have to just let it evolve and it's going to grow and change. So it's it's kind of like a loose outline to help myself stay on track, but knowing that it could go in any direction and I'm open and flexible to that happening as well.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. And do you have someone you work with? I mean, I know you said your mom is a writer as well. Um, and then you have a lot of friends who are writers. Do you have people to kind of edit it? Or do you have an editor, or are you going through and just kind of figuring it out for yourself?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, totally. I I there's no way I could have done it by myself, especially my first book, but even now I still wouldn't want to. Um, so I worked with a lot of beta readers who were so helpful throughout the process in terms of helping me understand when my storytelling wasn't being effective, when something was missing, they had questions, or they needed to feel an emotion more, something needed to be developed a little bit more. Their feedback was so helpful. And then I also worked with a couple of different editors that were also incredible. Um, so yeah, I I think even though at times the feedback was really hard, like I'd I'd work on a passage, I'd be excited about it, and then I'd read the feedback and it would, it would kind of hurt a little bit. Like I'd be like, oh my gosh, I is that really true? But if I if I took a step back and thought about it, I'd realize, you know, they they absolutely have a point. Feel my feelings, take a step back and then dive in and work on the feedback that they have. And so it was an incredible growth process. And I think it helped my story be so much better with outsiders' perspectives as well.

SPEAKER_00:

And do you find, um, when looking at this book, The Sweetest Getaway, do you find that you are portrayed in any of the characters? Or are these like people that you know, or are you taking snippets from different people? How do you come up with your characters?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, for sure. Yeah, I think I think most of the characters are bits and pieces from multiple people and definitely some inspiration taken from my own life as well. In particular for Nari and Jennifer, I really wanted to show the contrast that they have between each other, but the fact that they're still able to be really close friends. And I think that they push each other to grow in a lot of different ways because they're so different. And I think that's a really special thing with female friendships that if you can maintain a bond with someone who's so different from you, you can really add a lot to each other's lives. You can really push each other a lot to grow. And so that's something that I really wanted to portray. And then also, you know, women's entrepreneurship is a huge theme throughout the book. All of the main core women are entrepreneurial in some way, even Jennifer, and she does get to get closer to starting her business eventually in the book. Um, and that I took inspiration from a lot of women in my life who are awesome entrepreneurs, who do innovative projects, who start new things, who experiment, iterate, and you know, take risks. So I wanted to show that in these characters as well and show that that power and what it can help them to accomplish.

SPEAKER_00:

And when you mentioned taking risks, it makes me think about kind of like where we started the conversation about living more in our life and doing things for ourselves. Is there anything that you feel like kind of from the book that you would recommend people do to kind of experience more in their life?

SPEAKER_01:

That's such a good prompt. And I love that so much. And the thing that you said that kind of that resonated with me strongly is that I think that novelty is extremely important in terms of personal growth, excitement, joy, happiness, playfulness, all of those things that make your life more special and um grow more and uh push you more to be a happier person. I think seeking new and different experiences, trying new things, whether it's on a small scale or you know, whether it's taking a big risk to, you know, apply for a job in a completely new field or take a training that's totally outside of your comfort zone or something like that, whether it's small or big, I think finding ways to bring that novelty in your life, not only does it add excitement, I also think it slows your life down in a good way. You know, I think that as you get older, there's so much repetition and it kind of starts to blur together and your days start to become a little bit more similar, and you need that novelty to kind of take a step back and slow down time and experience things more. So I think seeking out novelty is huge. I also think another theme that's written throughout the book is just the importance of female friendships as a source of adventure and joy and doing fun and interesting things together. I think that bond between women is something that is just so special. And you can't necessarily find that in other places. And I think it's really important to preserve that and to nurture those friendships and do awesome things together and use that to build your friendship as well.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Well, and like you had mentioned that you did this writing prompt with a friend of yours, even if because I always think, you know, we're in a point in time where sometimes there's a pushback against these experiences because people feel like they don't have the money. But it doesn't have to even be that. It can be something as simple as getting together with a friend and coming up with a prompt and then writing back and forth with each other. You know, like experiences don't have to be costly, they can be something more from the heart, like cooking and writing and doing things like that.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. And sometimes those things are actually more meaningful because you can easily do them in your everyday life, and you're also finding special ways to regularly connect with people. You know, skydiving, for example, is awesome, but it's not something that you're going to be doing. You're like never. Never. It's not something that you're going to be doing, you know, three times a week. So if you want something sustainable that you can bring into your everyday life, you've got to find those smaller scale ways to be creative and to push yourself and to try new things, like, you know, get friends together, go to a cafe and paint pumpkins for Halloween or something like that. You know, you're you're doing something different, you're being creative. I actually think what you kind of touched on that creative aspect of of cooking together, of writing together, doing those projects, I think is a really fulfilling way to bond with your friends and to try new things, also.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Okay. I have a question for you. What type of books do you like to read?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. Um, so I recently I kind of rediscovered rom-com books. And I feel like I really enjoy the fact that the genre kind of just gives you permission just to be entertained. You know, it doesn't have to be serious, it can be fun, it can be joyful, playful. And those themes are have been really exciting for me to re-discover and um kind of bring that into my own writing of just fun, humorousness, um, just being entertaining and beach read type of vibe. Um, so that's been really fun for me. And I've also read some kind of heist rom-com books in a similar vein to mine, which is just it's fun seeing what other people are doing, um, in particular women on this topic. And so I kind of that whole vein of like action adventure, rom-com. I, you know, I enjoy tons of different genres. That's those aren't the only things that I read, but um lately that bringing that playfulness into my spare time has been really fun.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. And is there a five-star book that you've read recently that you'd recommend?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, absolutely. So I read um the mostly true story of Tanner and Louise by Colleen Oakley. Okay, so it's a super fun heist story with kind of an odd couple. It's an older woman who has a criminal past and a younger woman who's working for her, and they just completely they're at odds, they're not getting along. And then the woman needs to kind of escape and go across the country um to run from the cops. And the younger woman um accompanies her, and they just kind of go on this adventure and seeing their interactions and the adventures that they go through is so entertaining. It's so well written and witty, um, adventurous. So I definitely recommend it.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, perfect. Uh yeah, that's one thing I would definitely say about yours as well. It's very witty. There's lots of little moments where you're like, you know, you kind of giggle. So oh, that's awesome. Thank you. Yeah. And what is a favorite go-to snack or recipe that you enjoy?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So, okay, so this is really simple, but I have a smoothie that I eat. Um, that is basically you choose different fruits that you like. I like to stick with like two so that's not too overwhelming, uh, plus a banana for sweetness. And then the secret ingredient is half a block of silken tofu, believe it or not.

SPEAKER_00:

Um that probably just adds a lot of creaminess, right? And protein.

SPEAKER_01:

It adds the protein and it makes it kind of like a custardy, yogurt y type of vibe. And it's so delicious. And you can vary it by using frozen fruits if you want to make it a little bit thicker, um, depending on the vibe that you're going for. But yeah, it's it's super refreshing and good. And I I found it somewhere on YouTube. I don't remember who it was exactly, but it stuck with me.

SPEAKER_00:

No, that's great. I love that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's it's innovative, it's different.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Okay. Can you tell the listeners where they can find you, where they can find your book, the sweetest getaway?

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, absolutely. So the sweetest getaway and then the prequel, a sweet scheme, are both available on Amazon. Um, the sweetest getaway is currently in ebook paperback and hardcover format. Hardcover just came out, so it's okay. And then a sweet scheme is currently available in ebook format. Um, but it's going to soon be available in paperback within the next couple of weeks. And um, if you would like to read the sweetest getaway, the first chapter for free, head to my website, sashapreston.com slash newsletter. Just sign up for the newsletter, you'll get the first chapter, and then you'll get fun little goodies from me as well from the newsletter.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. And that's I noticed there was a QR code in the back.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. If you want to, actually, that's for another that's for the bonus chapter that comes after the sweetest getaway. So Oh, oh that's okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, yes, yes, yes. And then the sweet scheme. You said that's a prequel. Yes. Did you write that before this?

SPEAKER_01:

No, I actually I wrote the sweetest getaway first. Okay. And then I wrote um a sweet scheme, which is the backstory of Martha, um, which kind of shows how she got so tough, how she first stuck up for herself. Um, it's another crime caper with her and her business partner. So you get to enjoy kind of a spin-off in the same world, but it's a standalone. So you don't have to read it first. You can read them in order, um, but they both have their own satisfying ending.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. And then the one that you're working on now that is also going to be in the series.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, that one's going to be book number three, and that's going to include our core heist members from the Sweetest Getaway. And they've got a new heist, a new bad guy to go up against. And this one's going to be a lot more international. Um, they're going to be going to a few different countries. So that's something I look forward to.

SPEAKER_00:

And do you believe this will be a three-part series or do you a trilogy, I guess, or is it are you going to continue on? Do you think?

SPEAKER_01:

I think it could definitely reach beyond three books. I feel like this crew has a lot more heist left in them.

SPEAKER_00:

Perfect. Well, thank you so much for joining me.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you so much for having me. I had such a great time talking to you.

SPEAKER_00:

Again, head to sashapreston.com for more information.