Vow of Celibacy

Natalie has made a promise: a vow of celibacy, signed and witnessed by her best friend. After a string of sexual conquests, she is determined to figure out why the intense connections she’s spent her life chasing have left her emotionally high and dry. As Natalie sifts through her past and present, she confronts her complicated feelings about her plus-size figure, her bisexuality, and her thwarted career in fashion design.

Piecing together toxic relationship patterns from her past, Natalie finds herself strutting down fashion runways and rekindling her passion for clothing design in the present. All the while, her best friend, Anastaze, struggles with her own secret—whether or not to reveal her true identity to the thousands of fans of her popular blog and her potential first sexual partner.

Clever, sexy, and hilarious, Vow of Celibacy delves into the perilous terrain of love and relationships, the uncertainty of early adulthood, and the sustaining force of friendship. This is an irresistible novel about the stories we can’t help but tell ourselves about others, and it captures in perfect pitch what it’s like to be a young woman coming of age in America today.

"A smart, funny, and fast-paced book about sex, love, body image, and friendship." Kirkus Reviews

"Like an updated and more grounded Perks of Being A Wallflower, Vow of Celibacy cuts to the bone. The struggle has never been more real, and no writer understands it better than Erin Judge. There is a dearth of literature with bisexual characters at the center—Vow of Celibacy stands out because it captures the experience honestly and in a way that is so relatable. Equal parts witty and devastating, Vow of Celibacy understands the struggle to find footing in this difficult world better than anything else currently on the shelves." Catie Disabato, author of The Ghost Network

"Erin Judge's compulsively readable debut is the rare novel that contains equal parts heart and wit. And yes, it's sexy as hell, too." Maris Kreizman, author of Slaughterhouse 90210

Erin Judge spent half her childhood in Brooklyn and the other half in Plano, Texas, and somehow grew up to be a plus-size bisexual nightclub entertainer who also writes literary fiction.

Erin’s first stand-up comedy CD, So Many Choices, was released by Rooftop Comedy Productions in 2012. She tours nationally with the Crush Comedy Tour (formerly the Pink Collar Comedy Tour), has headlined the Women in Comedy Festival, and has appeared on Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham and NBC's Last Comic Standing. Her comedy has been written about in LA Weekly, Time Out New York, and The Boston Globe, and many more. Her own writing has been featured in publications including VanityFair.com, Salon, and Thought Catalog.

Erin lives in Los Angeles and performs all over the world.