Riley Costello

Riley Costello, an Oregon native, graduated with a degree in psychology from Santa Clara University. But like most things in her life, Costello didn’t do it like everyone else. After her freshman year, she took a year off to move to Charleston, South Carolina, in the hopes that the setting of many of Nicholas Sparks’ books would inspire her to write a love story of her own, Waiting at Hayden’s. Working on the book post graduation was rewarding, but Costello found it a solitary effort so began collaborating with other creatives to produce her blog, Sincerely, Riley. Photos feature fashions that readers can shop and blog posts address many of the frustrations her generation faces in today’s dating world. It only seemed natural for Costello to then apply that same strategy to publishing her book. She remembers watching Sex and the City and wishing she could buy Carrie Bradshaw’s outfits. Thanks to filmed highlights from her novel, readers of Waiting at Hayden’s will be able to do what Costello could not—shop the characters’ clothes through links in the digital versions and web addresses in the print. She’s excited to be collaborating with other female entrepreneurs like Brittany Brown of Winston White, and Andrea Van De Vort with Van De Vort in the hopes of raising the profile of all of their brands. Being the innovator that she is, the ideas keep coming and Costello is already many drafts in on her next novel, Map of Us which she plans to release in the same way.