Author Lilliam Rivera focuses on final threads of new thriller - and two new projects - at MacDowell.

Late last fall in MacDowell’s Calderwood Studio, Lilliam Rivera (23) finished her adult debut novel, Tiny Threads (Del Rey Books) – a “harrowing haute couture thriller” (Publishers Weekly). Now finding its way to readers and critics everywhere, the "wildly imaginative new novel” is living “up to its genre,” declared author, critic, and MacDowell Fellow Meredith Maran (12, 15) in her review for the L.A. Times. “It is a horror novel, its supernatural and real elements interwoven so seamlessly that the reader begins to question reality," Maran wrote.

In addition to finishing Tiny Threads during her MacDowell residency, Rivera also wrote a one-hour television pilot based on of her young adult novel Dealing in Dreams and began research on an untitled horror novel set in the Bronx with the help of MacDowell librarians Fiona Johnson and Colette Lucas.

“I can’t stress enough what a luxury it was to be able to concentrate solely on research, working through an idea of a possible novel,” Rivera wrote at the close of her residency. “The librarians were indispensable in this, pulling a massive amount of medical science books for me to read. During my last week, I focused on completing my novel Tiny Threads and being able to do so without worrying about meals and space was a gift. I also really enjoyed the presentations [of my fellow artists-in-residence]. They were very inspiring.”

Read about other new works supported by MacDowell Fellowships.

Search for the #MadeAtMacDowell tag on social media to see a history of MacDowell-supported works.