Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman have been great friends for nearly 25 years. Their debut novel, GIRLS WITH BRIGHT FUTURES, is a dark, suspenseful journey into the cutthroat world of college admissions. Earning starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and Library Journal, it’s currently in development as a limited TV series with Discovery+. Tracy and Wendy both live in Seattle and between them they have two husbands, four kids (three of whom have survived the college admissions process without a single parent landing in jail), two dogs, and a cat. Connect with Tracy and Wendy on Instagram at @katzndobs.
TRACY DOBMEIER
Tracy Dobmeier graduated from Princeton University undergrad and UC Berkeley School of Law. She practiced biotechnology law for several years in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle. Following the birth of her second son, she decided to push pause on her legal career for a few years, at which point she unwittingly entered a time machine and emerged 15 years older.
This is Tracy’s first novel. The writing process has been challenging, insightful, and hilarious. And writing this novel with Wendy, her friend of 20 years? Soul salvation. Tracy grew up in Los Angeles, left as soon as she could, and happily raised her family in Seattle. She lives in the best city on earth with her beloved husband, Eric, and their chocolate lab, Zoey. Tracy also savors the occasional brief, wondrous and messy visits made by her sons, Ben and Matt.
WENDY KATZMAN
“She’s small, but she packs a big wallop.” So began the first newspaper article featuring Wendy’s youth tennis career. She was 10 and tiny, though she assumed she would someday be tall. She also thought she’d win Wimbledon. While Wendy did go on to play Division I college tennis at the University of Michigan, she remained petite. And the closest she got to Wimbledon was taking a tour with her son several years ago, a son who followed in his mom’s footsteps as a tennis player, thus forcing Wendy into the role of tennis mom, to her own mom’s karmic delight.
In between stints as tennis player and tennis mom, Wendy had a career marketing medical technologies. She eventually co-led the Philips Healthcare’s HeartStart Home Defibrillator business, which ultimately made it possible for you to buy a home defibrillator without a prescription.
Wendy grew up in Ann Arbor, MI, and headed to Chicago the week after she graduated from college. She and her husband, Van, picked Seattle for a two-year adventure on the West Coast, but they loved it so much it’s been 27 years and counting. Their son, Jack, is playing college tennis, while their youngest, Carly, just started high school, so Wendy gets to go through the college admissions process one more time. Thank goodness for their mini Goldendoodle, Josie, and cat, Max.