SATA
ENTRY TYPE: new
WORK TITLE: Love in 280 Characters or Less
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://ravynnkstringfield.com/
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
LAST VOLUME:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born c. 1994, in Suffolk, VA.
EDUCATION:University of Virginia, bachelor’s degree (French language and literature and comparative literature), 2016; College of William & Mary, M.A. (American studies), 2018, Ph.D. (American studies), 2022.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, editor, educator, and artist. College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, graduate teaching assistant, 2019, graduate teaching fellow, 2021; University of Richmond, Richmond, VA, visiting assistant professor, 2022-24; midnight & indigo (journal and publisher), nonfiction editor. Dreaming in the Dark (podcast), cocreator, 2020; amateur artist, @ravynncreates.
AVOCATIONS:Making art, growing sunflowers.
AWARDS:First Chapters Contest runner-up, Voyage: A Young Adult Literary Journal.
WRITINGS
Black Girl Does Grad School blog author, 2016-22; Reign of Ravynn blogger, Substack. Flow, University of Texas–Austin Department of Radio-Television-Film, columnist, 2021-22; Catapult, “Superhero Girlfriends Anonymous” columnist, 2021-22. Contributor to periodicals and websites, including Alternative Histories of the Digital Humanities, Digital Humanities Quarterly, Greatest, INKS: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society, midnight & indigo, Shondaland, and ZORA.
SIDELIGHTS
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2024, review of Love Requires Chocolate; March 15, 2025, review of Love in 280 Characters or Less.
Publishers Weekly, May 20, 2024, review of Love Requires Chocolate, p. 71.
ONLINE
Publishers Weekly, https://www.publishersweekly.com/ (April 16, 2025), review of Love in 280 Characters or Less.
Ravynn K. Stringfield website, https://ravynnkstringfield.com (December 17, 2025).
School Library Journal, https://www.slj.com/ (August 1, 2024), Jennifer Rummel, review of Love Requires Chocolate.
YA Books Central, https://yabookscentral.com/ (August 22, 2024), Cherokee Crum, “Author Chat with Ravynn K. Stringfield (Love Requires Chocolate).”
Dr. Ravynn K. Stringfield is an author, editor and artist based in Virginia.
Ravynn’s debut young adult novel LOVE REQUIRES CHOCOLATE was published by JoyRevolution on August 20, 2024. Her second young adult novel, LOVE IN 280 CHARACTERS OR LESS, from Feiwel & Friends, will release on April 15, 2025. Her book length fiction is represented by Leah Pierre of Ladderbird Agency. For more about Ravynn’s books, click here.
Her writing practice also includes scholarship, blogging, crafting essays and short stories. Ravynn’s scholarly work (articles, short pieces and reviews) has appeared in Digital Humanities Quarterly, Alternative Histories of the Digital Humanities and INKS: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society. Her freelance writing has appeared in ZORA, Shondaland, Greatist and Catapult. She was a columnist at Catapult, writing the column “Superhero Girlfriends Anonymous,“ from 2021-2022 and penned a column for University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Radio-Television-Film’s FLOW Journal from 2021-2022. Ravynn’s short fiction has appeared in midnight & indigo‘s speculative fiction special issue and she was awarded second place in the Voyage YA Journal First Chapters Contest, judged by NYT Bestselling Author, Dhonielle Clayton. She wrote the weekly blog, Black Girl Does Grad School, from 2016-2022, and now blogs at Reign of Ravynn on Substack.
Currently, Ravynn serves as a non-fiction editor for midnight & indigo, a magazine and publishing company dedicated to amplifying the voices of Black women. For more information about the magazine, click here, and for more about her editorial work and how to contact her, click here.
Ravynn is also an amateur artist and enjoys making illustrations of Black girls being happy and their magical selves. If you are interested in following her art practice, you can visit her art instagram page.
When she’s not writing or making art, she can be found posted up in local coffeeshops, tending her sunflowers or telling her dog, Genghis, all about her Lois Lane obsession.
Author Chat with Ravynn K. Stringfield (LOVE REQUIRES CHOCOLATE ), Plus Giveaway~ US/CAN ONLY!
August 22, 2024No Comments
Written by Cherokee Crum, Blog Manager and Staff Reviewer
Posted in Authors, Giveaways, Interviews, News & Updates
Today we are very excited to share an interview with author Ravynn K. Stringfield!
Read on to learn more about the author, the book, and a giveaway!
Meet the Author: Ravynn K. Stringfield
Ravynn K. Stringfield is a writer and professor originally from Suffolk, Virginia. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in publications such as Shondaland, ZORA, and Catapult Magazine. Love Requires Chocolate is her debut novel. She can often be found haunting coffee shops in search of the perfect hazelnut latte, knee deep in art supplies, or curled up with her dog, Genghis, telling him about her Lois Lane obsession.
Website * Instagram * X
About the Book: Love Requires Chocolate
A new romance series that’s Emily In Paris meets A Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants! In this first book, budding theatre nerd Whitney Curry studies abroad in Paris, France, where she meets her match in a cute, aloof footballer.
Whitney Curry is primed to have an epic semester abroad. She’s created the perfect itinerary and many, many to-do lists after collecting every detail possible about Paris, France. Thus, she anticipates a grand adventure filled with vintage boutiques, her idol Josephine Baker’s old stomping grounds, and endless plays sure to inspire the ones she writes and—ahem—directs!
But all is not as she imagined when she’s dropped off at her prestigious new Parisian lycée. A fish out of water, Whitney struggles to juggle schoolwork, homesickness, and mastering the French language. Luckily, she lives for the drama. Literally.
Cue French tutor Thierry Magnon, a grumpy yet très handsome soccer star, who’s determined to show Whitney the real Paris. Is this type-A theater nerd ready to see how lessons on the City of Lights can turn into lessons on love?
Purchase
~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
I was a huge Francophile growing up. I started learning French in 7th grade and went on to become a French major in college. I lived in the French House at the University of Virginia for three years and did two study abroad trips to France. Those experiences are a big part of why I was so excited to work on Love Requires Chocolate. The book is even dedicated to my friends from La Maison Française and my favorite French professor at UVA. My other love is Black artists and writers, and so naturally, I’ve always been interested in Black American writers who expatriated to France, like James Baldwin and, of course, Josephine Baker. When I got the opportunity to do a project that combined those two interests, I jumped at the chance.
YABC: Who is your favorite character in the book?
Whitney Curry, obviously. Whit’s so important to me because even though she’s clear on who she is and what she wants, she is still figuring out how to navigate the world while being authentically herself. It was exciting to me that I got to write a Black girl who I knew would hit readers viscerally: you either love Whitney or she grates on you, but at the end of the day, you’re still rooting for her growth. She’s imperfect, but content with herself, and she still gets to experience the fairytale romance. Whitney has such a big heart and has the best intentions, so you forgive her for being over the top. I think most folks would call that the Whitney Curry charm.
YABC: What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?
I adore Whitney’s relationship with her grandmother, so probably when she and Thierry run into Nana Curry outside of Shakespeare and Company. It’s such a small moment that’s a huge turning point for Whitney. Her Paris life and home are colliding; it’s where Whitney and Thierry are prompted to define their relationship; Whitney’s French has dramatically improved; and she’s about to do something that was important on her list, but when she wrote it, Whitney never imagined someone like Thierry would be part of that experience. It’s also a big moment for Thierry; we gradually see him coming out of his surly shell and we see him shine somewhere other than with football. Finally, I love that we get the cameo from Nana because the fact that her grandmother just shows up in Europe simply because she wants to, helps readers understand where Whitney gets some of her tenacity. It’s my favorite scene.
YABC: If you could only write one genre for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
This is hard! I love to write all over the place. If I must choose, I would probably pick speculative generally, fantasy specifically…but only if I could have the assurance I would do the genre justice in my writing. It was the genre that made me a reader, what I did most of my academic work on, and what I wrote first. Plus, you can always incorporate romance into a fantasy, but it’s a little harder to explain dragons and mermaids in what is supposed to be a contemporary romance, I think.
YABC: What can readers expect to find in your books?
In all of my books, you can always find that I’m trying to create homes for Black girls to be their fullest selves. I want to always write characters with sharp edges, who don’t fit in neatly, but who love and who are loved spectacularly, nonetheless.
YABC: What is your favorite snack when writing?
I am a popcorn fiend. I must have a bowl of popcorn and a cup of coffee when drafting.
YABC: If you were able to meet them, would you be friends with your main character?
Oof. If I were to meet Whitney and I was also 17 years old, probably not. I hadn’t figured out how to be friends with people who also had big personalities. It takes some growing up to realize there’s plenty of space for everyone, and the space someone else occupies has nothing to do with you and yours. She and I likely would have clashed. But if I could meet her now, I think we’d be good pals.
YABC: What fandom would you write for if you had time?
RKS: DC Comics! I’m a huge superhero comics fan and have been since I was in high school. I especially love superhero girlfriends; I think they’re the most interesting characters. A dream project would be writing a young Lois Lane graphic novel or mini monthly series.
YABC: What’s up next for you?
RKS: My sophomore novel, Love in 280 Characters or Less, will be out from Feiwel & Friends on April 15, 2025. The story follows Sydney Ciara Warren through her first semester of college and is told through text messages, tweets, DM’s, emails, etc. She has a hard time putting herself out there when she goes to off to college but finds a friend in (or develops a crush on?) an anonymous Twitter/X user. The book leans more toward the coming-of-age genre but there is still lots of romance for folks who loved Love Requires Chocolate.
Title: LOVE REQUIRES CHOCOLATE
Author: Ravynn K. Stringfield
Release Date: August 20, 2024
Publisher: Joy Revolution
ISBN-10: 0593571541
ISBN-13: 9780593571545
Genre: YA Romance
Age Range: 12 and up
Stringfield, Ravynn K. LOVE IN 280 CHARACTERS OR LESS Feiwel & Friends (Teen None) $19.99 4, 15 ISBN: 9781250899385
A teen embarks on a journey of self-discovery and new love in college.
Eighteen-year-old Sydney Ciara Warren is a Black girl who's just started her first year at Coastal Virginia University. She loves fashion and writing and has her own blog where she shares her opinions and style tips. Syd left everything familiar from back home behind in Chesapeake, Virginia, including her best friend, Malcolm, who's attending Piedmont University. Now she has to make new friends and choose her major; her lawyer mom wants her to choose a prelaw track, but Syd is considering other paths, like English, sociology, and fashion writing. She takes to Twitter, where she finds potential friends who attend CVU--and even a new crush. But while browsing graphic novels and manga, she meets Xavier, a Black guy from Washington, D.C., who becomes her first boyfriend. Syd navigates both the real and the digital worlds as she tries to figure out her own path in life. Stringfield pulls readers in through Syd's engaging first-person voice and her interactions with the diverse supporting characters. The story is told through varied formats--including blog posts, texts, news stories, and tweets--helping to sustain readers' interest. Syd comes across as a fully formed character with concerns, anxieties, doubts, and desires that many readers will find relatable.
A charming and romantic coming-of-age story that speaks to both contemporary and evergreen issues.(Romance. 14-18)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2025 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Stringfield, Ravynn K.: LOVE IN 280 CHARACTERS OR LESS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Mar. 2025. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A830532431/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4c0023c6. Accessed 18 Sept. 2025.
Love Requires Chocolate
Ravynn K. Stringfield
Joy Revolution c/o Random House Children's Books https://www.rhcbooks.com
9780593571545, $12.99, PB, 288pp https://www.amazon.com/Love-Requires-Chocolate-Translation/dp/0593571541
Synopsis: Whitney Curry is primed to have an epic semester abroad. She's created the perfect itinerary and many, many to-do lists after collecting every detail possible about Paris, France. Thus, she anticipates a grand adventure filled with vintage boutiques, her idol Josephine Baker's old stomping grounds, and endless plays sure to inspire the ones she writes and (ahem) directs!
But all is not as she imagined when she's dropped off at her prestigious new Parisian lycee. A fish out of water, Whitney struggles to juggle schoolwork, homesickness, and mastering the French language. Luckily, she lives for the drama. Literally.
Cue French tutor Thierry Magnon, a grumpy yet tres handsome soccer star, who's determined to show Whitney the real Paris. Is this type-A theater nerd ready to see how lessons on the City of Lights can turn into lessons on love?
Critique: A fun and finely crafted read from first page to last, "Love Requires Chocolate" by Ravynn K. Stringfield" is a wonderfully entertaining and is specifically commended to the attention of young readers ages 12-17. While also available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $8.99), and to librarians in a Library Binding edition (9780593571552, $15.99), "Love Requires Chocolate" is an ideal pick for middle school, highschool, and community library YA Romance Fiction collections.
Editorial Note: Ravynn K. Stringfield (http://ravynnkstringfield.com) is a writer and professor originally from Suffolk, Virginia. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in publications such as Shondaland, ZORA, and Catapult Magazine. Love Requires Chocolate is her debut novel.
Please Note: Illustration(s) are not available due to copyright restrictions.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com/cbw/index.htm
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Love Requires Chocolate." Children's Bookwatch, Sept. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A812309192/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=7a449d36. Accessed 18 Sept. 2025.
Love Requires Chocolate (Love in Translation #1)
Ravynn K. Stringfield. Joy Revolution, $12.99 paper (288p) ISBN 978-0-593-57154-5
In a devourable debut, Stringfield cooks up a decadent romance between an ambitious Black American drama student and the pragmatic son of a Parisian chocolatier. Whitney Curry arrives in Paris for her semester at an international arts high school with a plan: complete her onewoman musical about legendary vaudeville performer and activist Josephine Baker and check off every item on her "Epic Parisian Bucket List." Unfortunately, Whitney's French tutor, "grouchy smart-ass" Thierry Magnon, proves distracting. Thierry reluctantly agrees to help her navigate the city, but his perspective of Paris challenges both Whitney's list of essential experiences and her idealized version of the place that offered Baker and other Black American artists refuge. As she warms to Thierry, Whitney must decide whether to cling to her plans or embrace the real Paris--and the complicated boy introducing her to it. Conversational first-person narration and sometimes reckless yet entertaining antics from Whitney form the bedrock of this rom-com, which incorporates expected genre tropes without relying on them for sustained interest. Though romance drives the plot, Stringfield enriches the novel via Whitney's broadening experience of global Black culture. Ages 12-up. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary. (Aug.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Love Requires Chocolate (Love in Translation #1)." Publishers Weekly, vol. 271, no. 20, 20 May 2024, p. 71. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A799270723/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9ae426a7. Accessed 18 Sept. 2025.