Carley Fortune says best friends should never tell your fiancé they love you the night before your wedding

Jul 13, 2026 · 37:02

Summary

The author of Our Perfect Storm defends her hero's most destructive moment and explains why readers forgive him anyway.

Carley Fortune has written the most defensible unforgivable act in recent romance: a best friend drunkenly tells his lifelong crush's fiancé, the night before the wedding, that he will always love her more. The wedding collapses. The reader forgives him anyway.

Fortune admits she workshopped multiple versions of the inciting incident in Our Perfect Storm before landing on the one that made it to print. The stakes: Frankie wakes up on her wedding day to a note from Nate saying he can't go through with it. No explanation. No warning. Then George, her best friend since they were eight, reappears from wherever he's been doing Peacecorps work and offers to take her on the honeymoon she's already paid for. What Frankie doesn't know yet is that George is the reason Nate left.

"George was not intending to throw a wrench in the plans at all. And it was never his aim. And it really like the decision to um not get married was Nate's decision. And uh he used the information that he had to make a choice." Carley Fortune

How Fortune wrote George so readers wouldn't hate him

Ponton pressed Fortune on the mechanics of forgiveness. If this happened in real life, most people would not let their best friend off the hook for tanking a wedding. Fortune's answer hinges on two things: George's history of restraint, and the fact that Nate made his own choice.

Fortune says George has spent his whole adult life not crossing the line with Frankie. He is patient to a fault. He would never have said anything unless Frankie was ready. But he got drunk the night before the wedding, and in that state he told Nate the truth: I will love her and know her in a way you never will. Nate heard that, sat with it, and decided on his own that he couldn't marry someone who belonged to someone else.

"By the time we find that out, we know how well he cares for Frankie and what a good friend he is," Fortune says. "So I think we really do have like a lot of space for him to make mistakes cuz he tries so hard not to make mistakes."

Ponton, for her part, said she forgave George immediately. She also said if someone told her fiancé that in real life, she would probably agree the wedding should be called off.

The breakup plan and 20 years of history on paper

Fortune structured Our Perfect Storm around a honeymoon in Tofino, a remote surf town on Vancouver Island where the rainforest meets the beach. George gives Frankie a seven-day "breakup plan" with a theme for each day: healing activities, surf lessons, whale watching. At the end of each day, the book flashes back to a pivotal moment in their friendship, starting at age eight.

Fortune says the prologue, where Frankie and George meet through a backyard fence, came to her years before she wrote the book. She was watching her kids chase rabbits and had a vision of two children meeting through a hedge, one pair of blue eyes on each side. She knew Frankie immediately: adventure-seeking, competitive, big-hearted, a little weird. George came into focus as her mirror image, just as stubborn and just as loyal.

Ponton called the breakup plan "transparently something I might copy and paste for my sister," who is currently going through a breakup. Fortune laughed and said her sister doesn't have a George, but she could always fall in love with the character.

"I love writing about characters with history and I love seeing the way that we as women evolve over time but also how our friendships and our relationships with our parents with you know romantic interests with our siblings change over time." Carley Fortune

Why Frankie's mom isn't the villain

One of the through-lines in Our Perfect Storm is Frankie's relationship with her mother, who left for a year when Frankie was eight. Fortune was adamant that the mother not be a villain. She's a marine biologist who studies whales, and she left because she felt she had given up everything to be a wife and mother and needed to reclaim part of herself.

Fortune says the whale theme came full circle when she went whale watching in Tofino with her husband and saw three grey whales up close. The sound one made when it surfaced, the mist from the blowhole, felt like standing in front of a dinosaur. She knew she wanted that moment in the book, and she knew Frankie's mom had to work with whales.

Ponton said the mother subplot didn't make her hate the character because it felt real. "She gave up everything to be a mom and to be with the husband and to do the whole nine yards of what society expects you to do. And then her getting to this age of like I have this calling."

Fortune nodded. Frankie spends most of the book judging her mother for leaving, just as she judges George for being perfect and Nate for being safe. What she has to learn is that everyone has their own story, and the narrative she's constructed is not the same as the one they're living.

Every Year After is streaming now, and Fortune was in the room

Fortune is an executive producer on Every Year After, the Prime Video adaptation of Every Summer After. The series premiered June 10. She says her job is to make sure the adaptation keeps "the heart and soul of the book," even as it opens up the story for a multi-episode arc.

"A series needs to like open all of that up," Fortune says. "And there are changes that are made to the benefit of a TV show. And I am so cool with that." She credits showrunner Amy B. Harris with preserving the emotional core while giving the show its own life.

Fortune also insisted on shooting in Canada and keeping specific lines from the book in the script. She wants fans to feel like they're getting little winks, moments that only readers will catch. Walking onto the set and seeing Barry's Bay, the town where she grew up, recreated in Vancouver was surreal. They built Steman's General Store, the Tavern, the Dairy Bar. They built Percy's bedroom with the posters from the book.

Ponton asked what it was like to see her characters cast as real people. Fortune said it was surreal, then corrected herself: it was an out-of-body experience. She wrote Every Summer After during the pandemic, never intending to publish it. Now it's a TV show set in a town of 1,200 people, and everyone back home is asking what's going on.

The breakup taxonomy

Ponton and Fortune spent the last ten minutes of the episode ranking the best and worst ways to break up with someone. The scenarios:

  • Phone call after 2.5 months, non-exclusive: fine.
  • Text after three years, a week before moving in together: terrible.
  • Voice note after three years: Ponton says yes, because you can replay it for your friends. Fortune is concerned.
  • In person after six months: depends. If they bring your favorite drink and try to comfort you, Ponton says no thanks. "Then why are we breaking up?"
  • In person after six years, living together: mandatory.
  • On the last day of vacation: Ponton wants it done in person so she can throw a drink.
  • Telling the front desk to pass along the message: Ponton invented this one. Fortune is speechless.

Ponton's take is that she'd rather the person be a little heinous so she has a reason to hate them. She has a friend going through a breakup right now who has to make herself hate the guy even though he didn't do anything wrong. "She's got to hate you for a little part of the process. She'll get over it eventually."

Fortune is not sure she wants a voice memo. Ponton is certain she does.

Full Transcript

But there's sometimes when I read [music] read enemies to lovers where I'm just like that didn't really hit the mark. >> That's toxic. >> That they [laughter] just hate each other

We're actually just really mean. >> It's just enemies. >> Like okay

What about like if [music] you're on a trip with them? >> They're breaking up with you on a vacation. >> Yeah

It's like your last day on [music] the vacation and they're like, "Hey, actually after this I don't want to be together anymore." >> Oh, I want that done in person so I can like throw a drink. [music] >> Oh my gosh

You want to replay a voice note of somebody breaking up with you? You could show your [music] friend. >> I'm worried about you. >> Hi angels

Welcome back to Bucked Blonde and Busy

I am Olivia Pontton and today we are joined by Miss Karly Fortune aka the CEO of a beach read

Today we're going to be talking about Our Perfect Storm and the whole Carly Fortune universe, which I'm really excited about

So Carly, welcome to Booked Blonde and Busy

Okay

So, we're gonna do the beverage of the day because I do a beverage every episode

So, instead of our perfect storm, I'm doing our dark and stormy

Our dark and stormy beverage

This is ginger beer

And you're supposed to put rum in it, but like it's 11:48 on like a Tuesday

We're like not drinking. >> We've got 12 minutes before we can have like we're just not doing that

So, cheers

I'm going to try it. >> Yeah

It just tastes like ginger beer

Honestly, pretty fire

But that's her dark and stormy

So, this book comes out May 5th. >> So, if you haven't read it, a little synopsis

Frankie and George best friends for 20 plus years

And Frankie gets engaged, you know, like the stereotypical nice guy named Nate

And the night before their wedding, he well the morning of the wedding, she wakes up to a letter on the bed just being like, "We can't do this anymore." You know what? I'm I I can't Oh my gosh

It Well, first of all, I want to ask like where did that come from? Is that inspiration from something? Did this happen to you? >> I I fortunately um was not dumped just before my wedding. [laughter] >> I did did marry my fiance

Um I well I just wanted him out out quickly and mysteriously

And so he leaves her a note that is just like I'm I'm sorry I can't do this

And she has no idea why

Like there was nothing that really set it off. >> Yeah. >> So there's a mystery there to to solve

When I finished the last page I stared at the wall and I was like, "Holy crap, if I got broken up like that." So, going back to the little synopsis, that happens

Then there's this honeymoon that Nate, for some reason, is like, "Go on my dime, babe

Just go enjoy yourself." And George out of the blue comes back from whatever Peacecore thing he's going comes back and attends the attends the trip with her

That in itself has a lot of questions about that

Anyways, I think the thing with George and Frankie is like, like you said, they've been friends forever since they were eight, but they're 30 now and they've kind of been drifting apart

They had a very, very big fight recently

And Frankie's not even sure if he's going to turn up to the wedding as her best man

And so this trip when George proposes, they go on the honeymoon

He wants to help her heal after this breakup, but she sees this as a chance to kind of fix their friendship

And um I think that's kind of you know they both have different goals that it's setting out and that's that's where we kind of start off with them. >> Did you I almost like I feel like these people are real humans

So my thing is likead >> did [clears throat] George >> know that he was going to confess his love to Frankie before he was doing this whole the breakup plan? >> No

You okay? So this was like okay cuz that's what I was kind of understanding from while reading but I was like but maybe >> I don't think so to me um like George has kind of spent his whole life um loving Frankie in different ways and he I believe in the way that I was thinking about him writing this just truly wanted to help his friend

He has been holding back his feelings for a very long time

So I like you know my take on George is he is very patient and wouldn't have like crossed that line unless Frank like you know Frankie had to be in the right place

So I don't think that's what he set out to do

Um no. >> Okay

Short answer

No. >> Yeah

Okay

Gorgeous

Okay

So Nate leaves her with this Mhm

George ends up telling well we end up finding out why

And that was the gut punch of it is figuring out that George told Nate I'll love her and I'll know her in a way that you will never be able to amount

And as a human if someone told that to me like the person that I was dating I would also probably you know >> take myself out of the equation because I'd be like these people are meant to be together

How did you write George in a way that was it was the gut punch but it was still forgivable >> because if that would happen in a real life I don't know how many people would be forgiving of like I am supposed to get to marry tomorrow I have a whole wedding planned >> and then it just f it fell apart completely >> how did you write him in because I forgave him I was like you know what to each yeah like it's okay how did you write him from that perspective >> I had different kind of versions of what happened with George and the wedding

And what I think was really important in the end is that George was not intending to throw a wrench in the plans at all

And it was never his aim

And it really like the decision to um not get married was Nate's decision

And uh he like used the information that he had to make a choice

And you know that's um that came from him

And I think George, we just have so much empathy for George in his situation

And um I think if he had been a different kind of character or if he like he by the time we find that out, we know how how well he cares for Frankie and what a good friend he is

So I think we really do have like a lot of space for him to make mistakes cuz he tries so hard not to make mistakes. >> I know

Then he gets drunk the night before the wedding and yeah, it's like that's okay

That is a great explanation of it because I was curious on, you know, when when I brought up, you know, trying to figure out the themes for this, I was like, wait, if this happened in real life, that's so selfish

Like, I don't know if I would be able to overlook a friend or a significant other or a best friend or in some some capacity that

So, that's really interesting

And then for Frankie and George, their chemistry

Yeah. you somehow created 20 years of chemistry on paper

Like how do you how do you write that? >> I you know I u love writing about characters with history and I love seeing the way that we as women evolve over time but also how our friendships and our relationships with our parents with you know romantic interests with our siblings change over time

And I think the first thing I wrote in the book was the prologue

It's the first part that you read in the book and it's where the characters are 8 years old and where when they meet for the first time and I had had this vision years ago um of of these characters. was I was watching my I have two children and I was watching them chase rabbits in our backyard and the rabbit dove under the cedar hedge and I just had this vision of two children meeting through a fence where this girl sees a pair of blue eyes on the other side of the fence and I was wondering about who these children were for years before they became George and Frankie

And then when I wrote that first chapter, I felt like I knew, and this rarely happens, but I felt like I knew everything about Frankie writing that chapter, that she was this um adventure seeking girl, very very bored in living in the country, um very competitive, was, you know, always trying to keep up with her older brothers

Um and but big big-hearted and a little little weird

And I just like had this sense of her and then George together from the beginning

And what I wanted to do with the book is just show little glimpses of their relationship through time so that you get an understanding of where they are at different kind of pivotal moments in in >> I really like that you did that because you know the story would be going along and then we'd get a chapter from you know when they were 16 years old or 14 or so forth and so forth and I really felt like that helped >> curate the understanding of the characters

Okay, that's very interesting that you see whenever I talk to authors I'm like, "Oh, it makes sense why you do this." No, you know what I mean? >> It makes sense after it's written

It doesn't always make sense while we're writing [laughter] >> that. >> I had a lot of um this is the first time I put stuff on Q cards because there were, you know, there's seven days where they're in in Tofino

Each day of the honeymoon has a theme where George is like having a theme for how to repair her broken heart

And they do activities each day

And then at the end of each day, there's a flashback to the to the past

And trying to figure out what they did each day, what the theme of each day was, and then what moment from the past you're going to get after that was a bit of a puzzle for me

So there was a definitely like a mind map on the floor of my office trying to piece it together

Also, the breakup plan, as one would call it, I really thought that was cute. >> Oh, good

I've never read any book that's had that kind of placement in it and I thought it was really cute

I was like a transparently my sister's going through a breakup

I don't know if I can put this in, but she's going through a breakup right now

And I almost was like, should I copy and paste this? Should I like give her this like plan of like, okay, day one, this is what we're going to focus on

Day two, we're going to And honestly, I might give her this book and be like, maybe you should wait

She doesn't have a guy best friend that she can fall in love with. [laughter] >> So, at least she could find something. >> She could fall in love with George

Yeah, I knew that words

So, >> torino tofino. >> What? Why there? >> Why Tofino? So, Tofino is this very remote town on Vancouver Island off the west coast of Canada

It's about as far west as you can go in Canada

And I lived on Vancouver Island for a year when um I was in my early 20s after I graduated from university. >> Why? >> Um good question

And so I studied journalism

Okay

Um with and my boyfriend studied journalism

We met there and he got an internship at a newspaper on Vancouver Island in the city of Victoria

Um and I didn't have a job and he was like why don't you come to Victoria with me for the summer and I said sure

But then in the you know once I said yes I got a job out there

So I ended up living on Vancouver Island for a year after university

And twice while I was there, I visited Tofino

And it's um was one of the most incredible places I've ever been

It is it's where the rainforest and the beach collide

So there are these >> trees, these ancient hundreds of year year old trees, rainforest, and then it kind of smashes right up into the beach. >> When you were writing that, cuz I'm a beach girl till I die

I've never like the way you were writing that

I was like, "Wait, forest?" Great

What? >> Yes. >> Interesting. >> And the the beaches are this very very pale white sand with um these rocks and a lot of evergreen trees and it's very the mist kind of comes in in the evening and the fog and it feels very otherworldly and it really when I was there I felt like I was standing on the edge of the world >> and you kind of are

You kind of are

There's no one there's nothing really

I mean there's Hawaii but that's for ages. >> Yeah

So it and it really stayed with me and when I started writing fiction I knew I wanted to revisit Tofino in a story and I was waiting for a story that had the same kind of drama as the place and um I went I visit my husband and I that boyfriend I married um we went back and I didn't have an idea for a story then I just wanted to like familiarize myself with the place again and then after I had written a first draft of our perfect storm we went back again so I could really like fill in the holes that I knew I had with the with the draft. >> Did you guys go surfing? >> We did go surfing

Yeah. >> Yeah

I'm such a surf girl. >> Yeah

When I was reading it, I love when books have like little >> things that I'm already familiar with and when you were talking about the surfing cuz they did two surf sessions or two over two different days

And I thought that it's like just the way that you embodied like catching away

It was just like really cute to read. >> Oh my gosh

I'm so glad

I'm so glad we did

Yeah, we did uh two two surf lessons and um it was so much fun. >> Is the water cold up there though? >> Oh, it is so cold

Like you are you are head to toe covered in a wet suit and then you're still kind of cold by the end. >> What about the whales as well? Because obviously well whales are a huge huge theme in this book and also >> I mean on top of the love romance that's going on she's also fixing the relationship with her mother which was very incredible to read

And I think you embodied those emotions perfectly as someone who's like gone, me and my mom, she's my best friend, but like we have gone through it

We have had a very stormlike relationship. >> Yeah. >> So what did the whales where did that come from? [laughter] >> Such a good question

Um, I knew that I wanted them to go whale watching into that that would be one of the activities because I had on my third trip my husband and I went whale watching and it was unlike anything I could have imagined

We saw um three grey whales which are enormous and one was came up quite close and the sound that it made when the mist kind of came from the blow hole it was it really was like being in front of a dinosaur

Um and that stuck with me and I because I had lived on the west coast I had seen a lot of advertisements for whale watching in my time and I I just didn't think I was like that seems very touristy

Um, but then it had this profound impact on me

And when I I knew with Our Perfect Storm that Frankie's mom would have left for a period of time and that the day that she left was going to be the day Frankie met George

And I didn't know why she left

And it was really important to me that her mom wasn't a villain

Like we, you know, I'm a parent. >> We make a lot of sacrifices. we make choices um that we're not always proud of, but we feel like we need to make

And I wanted I wanted Frankie and her mom to really like have a relationship that was imperfect but repable

And so figuring out why her mom left was so important

And then the idea came to me that it would be for her job

And I thought I I thought what if she worked with whales and it will bring like whales kind of full circle into the book

Like Frankie, it's so funny to me that Frankie hates whales

Like who hates whales? >> That's what when I was reading cuz as someone who I've gone whale watching like from a boat, but I've never been in the water with them

And every like you're saying, every time people have this like profound moment where it's just like you really are the tiniest creature on earth and seeing them up close is like >> Yeah

It's just like no other emotion that you've ever felt. >> Yeah

Also similar with the whales

I was like, why I feel like I haven't read a book that's had this theme, I one would say

And same thing with the mother like you're talking about

It didn't make me hate her cuz I was like, I almost feel for you in a way where it's like she gave up everything to be a mom and to be with the husband and to the to do the whole nine yards of what society expects you to do

And then her getting to this age of like I have this calling

I need to fulfill this calling and she did only leave for a year

I mean that's still bad, but like at least she came back

You know what I mean? >> Yeah

I think it's I think it's something that we can see both sides of

Um, and I with Frankie, one of the things I wanted her to learn in this book is that um, we are telling ourselves these stories about the people in our lives and who they are is who they are, why they do the things that they do

She um, really judges her mother for what she's done

And that is obviously, of course, she does

And it's really, you know, it was a trauma for Frankie

She also has this idea of George being perfect and flawless and she as they've gotten older and older she's really put him on this pedestal and what she kind of learns throughout the book is that everybody has their own experiences and the narrative that we have constructed is not the same as what we're telling our tell telling ourselves

It's not that's not George's story

It's not her mom's story and she really has to start listening to people >> to other people >> to other people

Yeah, >> that's a be that's also a beautiful lesson

If one might I might take as >> it's not easy

That's not easy >> cuz sometimes you make these, you know, visions of people in your brain and then you get upset when they don't act the way that you expect them to act. >> For sure. >> That's a hard lesson. >> Especially people who are close with us because we kind of see, you know, our parents, our siblings, our partners as part of us. >> Yeah

So we, you know, we we stop kind of considering their own agency and like no, you are a part of this. >> Yeah

Yeah, [laughter] >> it's true. >> I have a question

So obviously you have so many incredible books

This was a funny question I was thinking about

What comes first, the trope or the story line? Do you figure out like is it going to be a slowburn? It's going to be friends, lovers, enemies to lovers, like how does that work? >> Um neither comes first

The setting always comes first for me

Yes, it's the setting >> 100%. >> Then the protagonist, like the the female character, >> and then like the relationship, the emotions, the kind of arc that I want to tell

I don't think about tropes until I am like, oh, therefore, it would be this kind of trope

It's not what I go to when I'm brainstorming

Like I don't think, oh, I'm gonna write a this is a I want to write a friends to lovers, a childhood friends to lovers

That's not what I um think about when I'm brainstorming. >> Interesting. >> Cuz I feel like all your books have such they all have the same DNA, but they're all very different within like the love dynamics that are happening. >> Yeah

Yeah

I hope so

I mean, that's like one of the things that I'm thinking about with George and Frankie

I really wanted characters who were similar to each other because I hadn't written about two people who were almost like mirror images and they I I really wanted Frankie to be hotheaded and um because I tried to write the character I'd written about previously in one golden summer Alice is very soft

She is like a caregiver and I wanted to to not write another Alice and so I was like I want Frankie to be fiery

I want her to be argumentative and stubborn and I want her best friend and her the hero of this story to be this similar

And when I thought when I was thinking about that, I was like, "Wow, that makes them like Lori and Joe from Little Women who I was a major Lori and Joe shipper, >> which you referenced many, many, many times." >> Totally

Like it's not a retelling of Little Women, but there if you are a Little Women fan, there's a lot of little Easter eggs and references, >> which I thought was really cute that you had its >> cuz I I enjoy when books kind of cross over and bring things from your personal life like the surfing or the whales or they have other things where it makes you think like, oh, like I could it makes the book feel more realistic >> to yourself as a reader and you can actually see your >> see yourself embodying that character, which I find you

So, what's a book? Well, I guess if you don't write tropes, but what's something that you haven't written yet? Like in a trope? That's where I was going

If you don't write tropes, but like a friendship dynamic or like two main characters, what's something that you haven't written yet? >> Okay

Something that I haven't written

So, I like I am so once I have a story, I know what the tropes are, right? And tropes can be applied to any kind of genre of story, any kind of song even

Um, and so when I look back at what I've done, I've never I have not done like an enemies to lovers or like a nemesis to lovers. >> Um, that's like the the one I haven't done any kind of fake dating. >> Um, >> would you ever do those either of those? >> I mean, maybe like it if it if it felt right in the story, I totally would

Um, I love reading like an enemies to lovers story

Love it

Um, I for those I think it entirely depends on the author and their writing style cuz I've read some enemies to lovers and I'm like like I just read Binding 13 by Chloe Walsh and they're they weren't really enemies to lovers

It was more friends but like obsessed with that

Like I like the writing style I was like wow that was incredibly done

But there's sometimes when I've read read Enemies to lovers where I'm just like that didn't really hit the mark. >> It's toxic. >> That they just [laughter] hate each other. you're actually just really mean. >> It's just enemies. >> Like they're just bullying. >> No, it hits a fine line

And I find myself like sometimes I set out one Golden Summer um with Charlie and Alice

There was a bit of like friction there at the beginning, but then like I it's always my I'm like, but I just kind of want them to be friends. [laughter] >> So I very like quickly like now they're friends. >> That's what I felt about when starting that book

I was like, "Okay, I was getting enemies to lovers, but it was more so just like he was kind of like messing with her

It wasn't like actually such he loves his he's such a teaser

Like he loves teasing, >> which I thought that was like a cute way to bring it over from like enemies to them just like cuz I feel like that's more realistic

Like you mess around with your guy sometimes or like you know that's very realistic if you're going on dates

Like sometimes you guys like make fun of each other a little bit

Not everyone does that, but that is something that people do

I do I am I am it's like something that the fortune family does is we tease the people we love and not everybody likes being teased

I have learned the hard [laughter] way that is very similar in my family

My father likes to make fun of us and I take it like a champ

I'm like whatever you think I look stupid okay who cares

My sister on the other hand gets really offended

Like you cannot be >> like even if we're just joking we can't be mean to her cuz she'll take it very seriously

And I'm like no no no we love you

We love you. >> But it hurts. >> Yeah

And I'm like, I'm sorry

Okay

You have so many adaptations going on

We're switching up a little bit

You have so many book adaptations going on and you're an executive producer on Every Summer After. >> Mhm. >> Why was it so important that you were in those rooms? >> Yeah. >> I'm going to start with that

That's the first question

Um, I want to make sure that any adaptation of my work really um, ha keeps the heart and soul of the book. >> And adaptation is not taking a book and putting it on the screen

I mean, particularly um, Every Summer After is going to be a series

It's called Every Year After

It's on It's on Prime June 10th. >> Um, that and the casting for that is >> Oh, it's perfect

It's so good. >> I'm so happy with it

But, you know, it's a it's a series and so Every Summer After is a book with a clear beginning, middle, end

And it's centered very closely on two maybe three or four characters at the like the the the story really is quite tight, but a series needs to like open all of that up

And there are changes that are made to the benefit of a TV show

And I am so cool with that. >> And I think what our showrunner Amy B Harris has done is preserved the emotional core of the book, the heart of the book

She's like found moments that fans will want to see

They're there, but it's it's also its own project, but it feels like it's really in conversation with the book

And that's that's so important to me

It's also really important to me as a Canadian author who's writing about Canadian places that we are shooting in Canada that we are like showing like how these places are so beautiful that we're able to show that

And I want to make sure that um a reader of the book, a fan is getting what they what they want out of it

And it's like I try to look at the projects from in two ways

One is as an adaptation of like a Carly Fortune work and what are the kind of elements that people expect and the other is just as like a you know a film or a TV in and of itself and is this like is this working for me and separate of it being an adaptation of mine. >> Interesting

I also saw somewhere that you like to keep specific lines from the books in the script. >> Oh yeah

How does that like do you go into the I was just on my first movie set a few weeks ago and it was crazy

And like do you go into like the scripting room? I don't not sure what the rooms are, but the writer room

Okay

Do you go into that and like you tell them these is this is like my non-negotiable

This is what has to say in or is it more of like a collaborative decision? >> Every every project is different

Um, you know, I think the best case is where you have a writer, writers who are either so aware of like the fan culture around the book that they already know like >> what the main lines are or you have a discussion where it's like this is what people really want to see

This is this is key

Um, and then when you're then when you're reading the scripts, you're like, oh, in this moment we want to see this

It's just a little note like and you know ideally they're like, "Oh my gosh, thank you so much." Because you just want to it's you don't want to just um appeal to fans, right? You're you're looking for a broader audience for sure, but you want to have those moments that feel like a little wink, a little gift to the fans of the book. >> I agree

When I'm watching book adaptations, I really appreciate when they keep like >> niche things that like only if you read the book, you would understand

And then that way when you're reading or when you're watching it with someone else who hasn't read the book, you're like that's from the book

Like that's you kind of have that like insider club kind of feeling. >> You get what's it like to see your characters get casted as real humans? You said you love the cast

I love the cast. >> I do

I love the cast

How is it to see them embody those hair? Is that like nostalgic? Like is that trippy to see? >> Surreal

It was surreal

Um when I saw the t the audition tapes, I was really excited because I thought >> everyone was incredible

Everyone was so incredible

And then going on set and watching that was mind-blowing

It it was both because you're seeing your characters come to life and in with every year you're After it's in a way that I think is so beautifully done

I think that the cast is just so talented

Um but then you're also seeing the places come to life and Barry's Bay, the setting of the book, it's where I grew up and you know we shot in Vancouver, not in Ontario

Um, so they built this kind of um, Barry's Bay out of out of a a little community that where we shot

And it was walking onto that set and seeing, oh, there's Steman's General Store and there's the Tavern and there's the Dairy Bar

It was just so un It It really was like I couldn't get my head around it

It was kind of an outof body experience

And it was also seeing how many people bring that together

Like the how many artists and crafts people go into making a show

It's um very very cool and um touching and so special. >> I I do think about that when you go on to sets

It's like you don't even process how many people are behind

Like one time I was shooting for VS and we were doing um >> their like holiday campaign and they built a cabin inside of the studio like a fullon set design and I was like how many weeks did this take you guys? And they're like oh like two and I was like two weeks for us to shoot one day at this

I was like it's it's it's incredible. >> It's so cool

Like all the sets that they constructed like they constructed Percy's cottage bedroom

And walking into that bedroom which I write about in the book and they've got the posters that are in the book

They've got it's just um just jaw-dropping. >> It's kind of almost like walking through your imagination >> like that's crazy

Like that would be crazy emotion in my opinion. >> Especially there's a set they constructed for the basement of uh Sam and Charlie's house growing up which has this red plaid couch and it's um so of an era and that really did feel like walking into the real >> place for my mind

Yeah. >> Um, >> be so crazy. >> It was. [laughter] >> Wow

What a peculiar feeling that I feel like most people will never be able to >> Yeah. >> experience. >> It's so wild for so many reasons, but one of them is because when I wrote that book, it was the pandemic

I'd never written a book before

I was a journalist, but I really wanted to write something, but I didn't intend to publish it

I was just trying to write it for myself

I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it

And so to have that book like then it was published then it became this big hit and now it's becoming a TV show and it's all set in this town of 1,200 people where I grew up is >> people there are like what is going on? [laughter] Why is there is this is this play about us? What's going on? >> So now we're going to play a little game

Okay

So, I'm going to read off a few ways to break up with someone

I just want like your opinion on like yes, no, yeah, I would do that

No, I wouldn't do that

Yeah, that's respectful

Yeah

So, start off with a phone call. >> How long have you been in a relationship for? I think we should >> Let me give you a scenario. >> Yeah

Yeah

Yeah

Yeah. >> Let's do that

So, you've been dating like like you're you've been seeing each other for like 2 and 1/2 months. serious but like non-exclusive, but the girl's like really in love with him and he's kind of like uh he's calling her to tell her like we're I think that's fine. >> Okay, I would agree

What about a text me? Okay, I got to go more into this

So, you've been dating for 3 years. >> Yeah. >> And you're about to move in with each other

Yeah. >> Next week. >> And you get a text message saying that they don't want to move in anymore and they actually want to break up. >> No

Obviously, that's absolutely terrible

Like tbh

I'd rather a text than a phone call. >> But do you think a phone call is acceptable then too? >> Like Yeah. >> 3 years. >> Yeah. >> Like you could call me

You could also just send me a voice note and I'd be like "Okay >> a voice note >> cuz you can replay the voice note." You know what I mean? >> I think that's funny. >> Oh my gosh

You want to replay a voice note of somebody breaking up with you >> cuz then you can show your friends. >> I'm worried about you. [laughter] But like there's nothing worse than when you're like telling your friends a story and you're like trying to recap what they said

Like I wish I just had it with [laughter] you

You know what I mean? Like a voice note would be really nice. >> Yeah

You just want to back up and like that's what happened and then they could like we could debrief it. >> You okay? Do you prefer that it be heinous so that you can feel >> I' about Yeah

I'd rather you be like a little >> terrible. >> Yeah

Because you have a reason to hate

But I feel like everyone's like that

Like you if someone breaks up with you, you kind of have to flip the narrative and like >> like my one friend's going through a breakup right now and she has to make herself hate him even though he really didn't do anything wrong

It's just like they didn't work out, but she's in the process

And I'm friends with the guy, too

And he's like, "I didn't do anything wrong

Like, we just aren't working out." And I'm like, "Yeah, but she's got to hate you for a little part of the process

She'll get over it eventually." Okay, next one

Um, let me think

You're in high school. >> Okay. >> You've been dating maybe like a year and they text you on Snapchat. >> No

That's so bad. >> You're like absolutely not. >> Like I one high school year is like I don't know 20 adults years >> honestly

Yeah. >> Like that is that is so emotional. >> Okay

What about you've been dating like 3 weeks? No

Actually, let's do this

Like you've been dating for 6 months. >> Okay. >> And they break up with you in person

Mhm

That's fine. >> You're fine

But wouldn't you like save yourself the humility and just like send me a text? >> Wow. >> That's how I think

Like I'm in a full glam

I'm going to put hair and makeup on to come meet you for a date night and you're going to break up with me

That's what I feel. >> Okay

What if they came over to your apartment with your favorite warm beverage and had a very like short >> Mhm. but kind conversation. >> There's nothing kind about breaking up with me. >> That's my thought process. >> Yeah

I don't know. >> Like >> a war. [laughter] >> I'm like, if they brought me something, I'd be like, then why are we breaking up? You know what I mean? >> It's such a good question

You know, do you want to be able to be alone and go through your experience, like your emotional process >> because then they're trying to be there for you? >> I think like >> Yeah

And it's like I don't want you to be here like >> you just rocked my world. >> Okay

But okay

Okay

So 6 months maybe we're sending a text

What if it's six years? If you're like >> you're living together >> the best way like in person I feel like you got to do that in person

There's no other >> then it just becomes a thing about respect in my opinion like how much you respect the person. >> Okay

What about like if you're on a trip with them? >> They're breaking up with you on a vacation. >> Yeah. >> It's like your last day on the vacation and they're like, "Hey, actually after this I don't want to be together anymore." >> Oh, I want that done in person so I can like throw a drink

What if they're on a vacation like [clears throat] checking you guys out and you're like packing up in the room and he's like, "Oh, let me go check out really quick

Can you just grab the bags >> and then they just leave?" >> What are you talking about? >> What if he told the front desk and was like, "Can you bring them with her for me?" That's okay

Anyway, out of all those, what do you [laughter] think? Out of all this, what do you think is the worst? the front desk like pretty that's I I don't know if I want a voice memo though I think Olivia that's >> I don't know >> well fortune thank you so much for coming on booked blonde and busy >> oh my gosh this was so fun >> I know I feel like we got to talk our crap about the breakups but [laughter] it was fine thank you so much angels for watching this please do not forget to share it with your friends if you have any other Carly fortune lovers don't forget to like comment and subscribe cribe

I love you guys

Bye. [music] >> [music]