Abdi Nazemian + Busy Philipps: Desert Echoes

Join us for an in-person event with Stonewall and Lambda Award-winning author Abdi Nazemian for the release of his new book Desert Echoes. Joining Abdi in conversation is actress and New York Times best-selling author Busy Philipps. This event will be hosted in the Strand Book Store's 3rd floor Rare Book Room at 828 Broadway on 12th Street.

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From the award-winning author of Like a Love Story and Only This Beautiful Moment comes a suspenseful contemporary YA novel about loss, love, and the mysteries of the desert.

Fifteen-year-old Kam is head over heels for Ash, the boy who swept him off his feet. But his family and best friend, Bodie, are worried. Something seems off about Ash. He also has a habit of disappearing, at times for days. When Ash asks Kam to join him on a trip to Joshua Tree, the two of them walk off into the sunset . . .but only Kam returns.

Two years later, Kam is still left with a hole in his heart and too many unanswered questions. So it feels like fate when a school trip takes him back to Joshua Tree. On the trip, Kam wants to find closure about what happened to Ash, but instead finds himself in danger of facing a similar fate. In the desert, Kam must reckon with the truth of his past relationship—and the possibility of opening himself up to love once again.

Desert Echoes is a propulsive, moving story about human resilience and connection.

Photo credit: Mandy Vahabzadeh

Abdi Nazemian is the author of Only This Beautiful Moment—winner of the 2024 Stonewall Award and 2024 Lambda Literary Award—and Like a Love Story, a Stonewall Honor Book and one of Time Magazine’s Best YA Books Of All Time. He is also the author of the young adult novels Desert Echoes, The Chandler Legacies, and The Authentics. His novel The Walk-In Closet won the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Debut Fiction. His screenwriting credits include the films The Artist’s Wife, The Quiet, and Menendez: Blood Brothers and the television series Ordinary Joe and The Village. He has been an executive producer and associate producer on numerous films, including Call Me by Your Name, Little Woods, and The House of Tomorrow. He lives in Los Angeles with his husband, their two children, and their dog, Disco. Find him online at abdinazemian.com.

Busy Philipps is a New York Times best-selling author, actor, activist and writer, and host of the new series, Busy This Week, which she executive produces with Caissie St. Onge and Michael Gleason.

Philipps is best known from her series of iconic television roles such as "Kim Kelly" on the beloved series, Freaks and Geeks, from Judd Apatow and Paul Feig; "Audrey Liddell" on Dawson’s Creek; and "Dr. Hope Bobeck" on ER. Philipps spent six seasons starring opposite Courteney Cox on the hit comedy Cougar Town for which she won the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Philipps can currently be seen on the critically acclaimed Netflix comedy series Girls5Eva, executive produced by Tina Fey and starring opposite Sara Bareilles, Renée Elise Goldsberry and Paula Pell.

Philipps will be returning as a late-night talk show host on the new series Busy This Week. Season 1 will premiere on May 8th on QVC+, with new episodes released weekly. The show will feature celebrity guest interviews and laugh-out-loud moments, in addition to personal stories and Philipps’ favorite curated shopping finds. This marks her return to late-night following her previous series, Busy Tonight, which ran on E! from 2018-2019, and was executive produced by Philipps with Tina Fey, and Caissie St. Onge.

In 2018, Philipps released a collection of humorous autobiographical essays in her book This Will Only Hurt A Little which was a New York Times best seller in its first week. The book offers unfiltered and candid stories and was published by Simon and Schuster’s Touchstone division.

In 2020, Philipps launched a podcast called Busy Philipps is Doing Her Best, with her creative partner, Caissie St. Onge. The show features conversations between the duo and their guests, who reflect on times in their lives when a setback led to better opportunities.

On the big screen, Philipps was most recently seen in Paramount’s feature adaptation of the Broadway hit Mean Girls: The Musical, in the iconic role of “Mrs. George” alongside Renee Rapp, Tina Fey and Jenna Fischer. She can be seen in the STX romantic comedy, I Feel Pretty, opposite Amy Schumer and Michelle Williams, and directed by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein. She appeared in Joel Edgerton’s thriller The Gift, alongside Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall. Additional film credits include: Kat Coiro’s A Case of You opposite Justin Long, Peter Dinklage and Sam Rockwell; Douglas McGrath’s, I Don’t Know How She Does It alongside Sarah Jessica Parker; Ken Kwapis’s He’s Just Not That Into You; Paul Weiland’s Made of Honor with Patrick Dempsey and Michelle Monaghan and the cult classic White Chicks with the Wayans Brothers.

In January 2024, Philipps was announced as the newest Artist Ambassador for the American Civil Liberties Union to advocate for reproductive freedom. This follows years of on-the-ground advocacy, from testifying before congress in 2019 on behalf of Planned Parenthood to working with the ACLU in states like Ohio in the successful ballot measure to protect reproductive freedom in the state’s constitution and calling on other artists and entertainers to join her in actions to protect bodily autonomy.

Philipps was born in Oak Park, Illinois and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona. She attended Loyola Marymount University and lived in Los Angeles until 2020. Philipps currently resides in New York City with her two daughters and her golden doodle Gina.

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