Lucy Score says she can't spell restaurant and refuses to learn

Hi angels, it is Olivia Pontton and welcome to Booked and Busy

This is my podcast series for the girlies who love to read. [music] I'm so excited for today because we have an incredible special guest on and her name is Lucy Score

She's a number one New York Times bestseller and the mind behind some of the most loved small town romance books. from the Knockamount series to her newest book, Mistakes Were Made, Lucy has created these stories that feel like home

Really quick, before Lucy arrives, we are going to do the beverage of the day

In the things we never got over book by her, one of the opening scenes is when Naomi goes into the cafe to order a coffee and everyone is really mean to her and she has no idea why

Then we find out she's a twin and her twin is evil

Duh

Why didn't I think about that? So, for the beverage of the day, I got just a regular iced coffee because that's what Naomi would order

I cannot wait for you guys to hear all about Lucy's story and get into everything from character development to writing routines

So, without further ado, Lucy Score, welcome to Booked and Busy

Thank you

Thank you for having me. >> I'm so excited for you to be on today

And for people that don't know, we are pre-recording this way in advance

This is coming out in March and it is currently >> December 3rd. [laughter] December 3rd

So, she is actually my second author on Booked Timbusy, which I'm a little nervous but a little excited about because I love your writing style

We're going to get into all things bookreated

But I want to start off with talking about you as a human being because being an author in my opinion is quite honestly one of the most impressive things to sit down and to be able to spew off

How long is this book? 600 >> I think it's 150,000 words

Like >> that's insane. >> It's a lot

It's insane. [laughter] >> Yeah. >> I want to start off with you on a personal level

What is something that is shocking that you learned about yourself while becoming an author? >> I honestly this is this is kind of silly to say, but the fact that I could sit down and write a book and complete it was the biggest shock to me

I was I was looking for a challenge

Um, you know, I was working regular jobs and I've always been a huge reader and every time I would read a book that kind of like touched me

I would get this thought like, "Oh gosh, what if I could do that someday?" But like we were just talking, it's like a marathon

And it's it's intimidating

The idea of dedicating that much time to something and maybe not completing it was really intimidating to me

So, the fact that I ever sat down and finished writing an entire novel, let alone 35, is >> I thought it was only 30. >> It's so many

It's so many

But I'm just I am so proud of myself because I've I've struggled a lot um academically and in real life

Like, I just never found my thing

You know how some people like >> they have that thing and they know >> your best friend in high school is great on the soccer field and she's getting A's in every subject and then there you are just like floundering and that was my that's been my entire life

I've been looking for my thing and failing failing failing floundering floundering floundering and the first time that I sat down to write I felt like I came home. >> Wait, you're really cute. >> Thank you

How old were you? >> I was Okay, let me think

So, it came out in 2015, but I started it in like 2013

I was 33

Yeah

So, I mean, like everybody around me at that age, everybody was married, they had kids, they were doing these great jobs and advancing, they were getting promotions, they were traveling, and I was just a mess

I I don't think at that point I didn't have health insurance

I >> That's important

I didn't have a place to live for a while

You know, it was it was really rough

But as soon as I started writing stories, I found me and I found my home

That's so inspiring because I've always said I cannot wait until I'm in my 30s and people look at me like I'm crazy and I'm like I just know once I hit my 30s I'm going to be thriving cuz I feel like at that point in your life you have a little bit more of a grip on who you are as an individual and what you kind of want out of life >> rather than in your 20s where I'm at right now

I feel like everyone's being like you need to figure out what you want

You need this. >> No, the 20s are for experimenting

The 20s are you need to try as many things so you know exactly what you like and what you don't like

Like don't try to settle down into something, you know, don't try to like pigeon hole yourself into some career or whatever in your 20s

No, >> try everything because >> your 20s are all about revealing who you are as an adult or who you're going to become. >> Well, couldn't have said that better. [laughter] Thanks. >> I'm good with words. [clears throat] >> Yeah

Oh, sure

Um, I want to know on a personal level, what has been the thing that you are the most proud of besides writing the book? Cuz I know we just talked about that. >> Oh boy

Okay. >> Could be something small, it could be something not small. >> There there's just there have been a couple of things that have happened like especially in the past few years, I think Mr

Lucy and I, we work together, so we get to travel together

He's he's he's in the back, folks

He's back there

You can't see him, but he's super handsome. um we've we've been able to be on this journey together and I think we just keep finding these little pockets of wow look what we've accomplished together like we you know where we were in September we were in New Zealand and Australia because I wrote books and the people in New Zealand and Australia wanted to celebrate that and I like I was basically crying the whole flight there because I was so excited that this was happening

I never imagined that I would be able to contribute something to the world that would make people feel seen or or you know the way other books have made me feel like I could recognize myself on the pages. >> And just for that to happen with one person, let alone two entire countries was incredible

Um I did an event in Concord

Uh >> where's that? Is that >> Where was that? New Hampshire, Massachusetts

Dang it. [laughter] >> Massachusetts. >> Uh, yeah

So, I did an event in Concord, >> Massachusetts. [laughter] Now, we know. [gasps] >> And it was um the biggest event I've ever done and it sold out and it was in a theater and there were 700 readers there

And I just remember walking out on stage just feeling like the luckiest person on earth because writing is very solitary, which I love

I love being a hermit

I love being home alone in my office, just being there with these fictional characters

Um, but to remind yourself that there are readers out there who are falling in love with these stories the way you did was just >> so cool. >> Mhm

I feel like this stage like and I was like, who do I think I am? [laughter] >> I have my um TRA Taylor Swift moment

I'm like, I know

I know. [laughter] >> Well, that's incredible

Okay

So now for more so the writing aspect when you're creating a story or a scene, what is the most important thing that you are focusing on? Is it like your emotion? Is it the dialogue? Is it the world building? >> I think it's a little bit of everything, but it all boils down to the emotion

So >> your books are incredibly >> Do they give you the feels? >> Yes. [laughter] I was reading this to set the scene

I was in Los Angeles for a few months and I was all I was doing was horseback riding and tanning

It was great life >> and I was reading this and just by the pool and I was just like >> going through all these emotions and I was like what is going on? What is going on? But the book is so pretty and that's why I got it in the first place. >> Oh, so it's pretty and then you open it and it delivers all the feels. >> Oh yeah, >> that that's my goal

Like when I sit down, I I think about and you know, I don't want to scare you off with too much woo woo hippie manifestation stuff, but >> Oh, I'm a manifesttor. >> Oh, thank God

Okay

All right

So, you know, with manifest manifestation, like one of the biggest, most important things is to be able to actually feel like you have the thing that you want

Like, >> oh, you have to speak it into existence

The things that I manifest right now, I'm like, I >> am going to like there's in no world that that doesn't happen, >> right? So, I think I approach writing a little bit like that

I'm like, what is the feeling that I want to deliver here? And I get into that feeling and then I write the scene. >> That's a great I've never heard that's [laughter] that's that's smart cuz I've always been so curious on how people just like, you know, go into their office and just they're like, "Okay, I'm going to write this incredible book." >> I'm like, "How how does one feel those emotions?" Because I'm feeling it because I'm reading it

How are you feeling it and then reading it or writing it? It's the craziest form of communication, I think

Like, it's I write this and I feel this. >> Mhm. >> And then you read it and you feel the same thing

Like that's that's mind-blowing

Okay

So, this book specifically, >> Things We Never Got Over. >> Yes

Heartwrenching. >> It does

It has, in my opinion, a perfect balance of like humor and heartache

How do you balance the two without like leaning too far on one but keeping it still I don't want to use the word light enough but still like okay I'm still going to get through this

How do you balance them the two? >> I feel like I want it to reflect real life and I'm I'm the kind of person that if I go to a funeral I'm going to cry and I'm going to laugh. like, you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna have these memories that are heartbreaking, but I am also going to be thinking about these stories of connection with this person that made me laugh. >> That is such an interesting way of explaining. >> And I I think life is like that, you know, like we're all going to experience heartache, heartbreak, we're going to experience loss, but we need to come back to the love and the light and the humor because otherwise we're not going to make it through all the rest. >> Yeah

Cuz if you're focusing on the negative, all you're ever going to feel is negative. >> Exactly

If you could give advice to someone or maybe even just yourself when you were first starting to write professionally cuz I'm assuming Wait, did you write for fun before you started publishing? >> Yeah, I just I would like write little scenes and notebooks that nobody ever saw. [laughter] >> But okay, so advice when you first started publishing, what would you give yourself or that person? I would say one of the most important things is write the story that you want to read because one of the best things about sitting down to write your first book is you're doing it in a vacuum. >> Mhm. >> You don't have an audience with expectations

You don't have an agent trying to sell something

You don't have a publisher with a deadline

You are writing this story just for you

And that is the magic

You have to work so hard to get back to that spot after you're published and you have the agent and you have the publisher and you have the publicist. >> It's crazy how it's like rose reverse

It's like you're in that moment and you just you want everything and then you get everything and you're like you're like I didn't know it was going to be like this

I'm not prepared. [laughter] So I I think it's just really important to write the story that you want to read

That's why you're sitting down to write

Don't worry about anybody else, you know? Don't worry if it's absolute garbage

You can fix garbage

That's what editing is for. >> But yeah, just write the story that you want to read

I like that. >> Are you going to write a book? >> Well, Megan asked me today and [laughter] I was like, uh, I don't think so

But it it has always been something that I'm interested in, but I think for me, like the most daunting thing is like sitting down and writing

I don't know if that's in me

I unfortunately cannot sit still for more than like 10 minutes at a time

M um so the idea of like writing like a 400page book is a little scary to me

Um >> well let me tell you what I do cuz I have a similar issue

So I sit down and I put my headphones on queue up my playlist >> um and then I set a timer for 20 minutes >> and all I'm allowed to do in that 20 minutes is write

Wait, that's actually really smart. >> It's I mean it's honestly how I get a lot of stuff done

Like I'm like oh laundry 20 minute timer

I do feel that I will give myself like increments of time up from like okay this time to this time I'm going to clean my apartment from this time to this time I'm going to etc etc

So that's actually very smart. >> Yeah

And for me like oh I guess it's 25 minutes

Yeah

For me 25 minutes I can do anything for 25 minutes

I mean maybe not like burpees or something like that but normal things. [laughter] I can do anything normal for 25 minutes

And that is just enough of an entry to get me into the writing space

So I want to stay there

But every sprint is 25 minutes and then I get a break

But it's a really good way to it's called a pomodoro, but it's it's a really great way to get things done because you know the end is like right there. [laughter] >> Honestly, love

So I want to talk about covers

We see like the most beautiful polished version of this. >> Yeah

What is a mistake that you made while in the publishing process or in the editing process or process of it that you kind of like are able to laugh back on? But you were like in the beginning. >> Yeah

This this is in that book. >> I I learned a lesson

Actually, I didn't learn it this time

I learned it the next time. >> When my editor says, "This name is awfully similar to this other character's name

Can you change one?" I thought if I said, "Okay, change it." I thought they would change it

They thought I would change it. >> So you So in this book, there's a scene where a character introduces another character

It's literally they're on the page for like two sentences and the character introduces this person with this name

And in the next sentence, another character says, "Nice to meet you

Different name." And I I cannot tell you how many >> how many thousands of emails I've gotten over that >> of just people being confused or will you? >> Yeah

They were like, "What? What is this?" Cuz I mean, it was back to back

It was I really >> I feel like I would remember that. >> And then I did it again. >> No. >> In the in the next book, Things We Hide from the Light, did it again cuz it was the same thing

They're like, "We don't like that this name is so close to this other character's name." >> They do that. >> They do

They They want everything to be as non-confusing as possible

So, um, same exact thing happened

I said, "Go ahead, change it." And then >> changed it in one place, not the rest

So, um, after that, every time they say this name is too close, I say too bad. [laughter] >> I'm sorry. >> And they're like, you know what? It's okay

It's fine. >> It's not going to get done. >> Every everyone will they'll understand that the names are similar, but they'll they'll understand that they're at least consistent. >> Yeah

So, there's something like that in every there is no perfection in writing and publishing

I mean, and if there were, I wouldn't be allowed to be part of the industry. [laughter] >> Okay

So I want to know what is your favorite part while writing like drafting revising editing. >> I love to do my edits

So I will sit down, I will write the first draft. >> Okay. >> Okay

And >> and how long does that take you? >> It depends

I used to write so much faster

Um but [sighs and gasps] I want to say that a whole book will take me six months

So that's first draft and then my edit

So, it's 6 months to start it and turn it into an editor. >> I don't want to jinx anything, but the book I'm working on now is going extremely well. [laughter] >> We're going to manifest that that's going to keep >> Yes, we're manifesting that this is just the way it is from now on. >> Mhm. >> But my favorite part is when I finish that first draft and I go back and I get to polish it

I get to fix everything

I get to deepen the themes and like make sure the arcs for each character are there and like really visible

I love doing that and then I hate getting edits from other people. >> So [laughter] I'm curious on that aspect

So you send like your polished version to someone then they go through it and how do they send you the edits? Is it just like a ginormous email or do they like anecdote on it? >> This is this is crazy

So thankfully my editor now she will go through I write in Scriber which is a a word processing tool for writers

I export to Microsoft Word. >> Okay. >> The editor reads it in Word and then she will do comments and then she'll also do a letter to me like okay this these are the areas blah blah blah

This is like a developmental edit

This is the one that always kills my soul because they're basically like, "Well, you obviously can't use a calendar because the timeline's a mess and and [laughter] we feel like this didn't work." So, it's it's one of those moments where like this book has belonged to only you >> and you had to turn it over to somebody else and it's their job to tell you everything that's wrong with it

And it is crushing. >> That would be pretty devastating

It's And so like basically I'm just uh very sad after I turn a book in [laughter] >> cuz you're like I know what's coming. >> I know what's coming. >> I know it's coming >> because after they tell me all the developmental things that I screwed up, then the proof readers get it and they tell me you don't know how to use commas

I know I don't. [laughter] >> Just I don't know how to do them either. >> I just if it weren't for that editorial team, >> it would not make sense. >> These books would not be legible. [laughter] I feel like that is um me with my text messages and [laughter] audio messages and emails

I text and I'm like I look back at it and I'm like that didn't make grammatical sense

I didn't spell it right

What is I can't with it

But it's good to know that publish author also does that

It makes me feel a little better. >> Yeah, I make a lot of mistakes

Mr

Lucy has an entire list of it's basically things Lucy refuses to learn

So it's like is cell phone one word or two? I don't know

I always I one word is backseat

One word or two. >> How do you spell restaurant? >> I don't know. [laughter] >> There's a one thing that I cannot for I could I could probably sit down right now and actually learn how to spell it

Every time I always spell wrong and I'm just like let the phone audio correct it

And if it doesn't, you have to know what I'm saying. >> Yeah. [laughter] >> I want to know what a typical writing day

So, in these six months that you are locking in and writing this book, are you writing in the morning? Are you writing at night? Walk me through the day. >> I would love to be a morning writer

I feel like my life would be so much better, but I'm not a morning person

So, my my day usually starts I get up around like 8:30, maybe 9 depending on how I slept

And I have a slow morning

So, I do breakfast, I putter around the house, like clean things up, do some laundry, basically procrastinate. [laughter] And then I sit down to write probably around 11 p.m. >> AM

Okay. >> It was like, [laughter] whoa. >> I do my best writing >> at night, but I want to be a normal person

I want to have a life. >> Yeah. >> I want to spend time with Mr

Lucy

I want to spend time with friends

I want to go out to dinner

So, I have shifted from nighttime to late morning, early afternoon. >> And then how many hours are you writing a day? >> Um, I would say probably 3 to four. >> Okay. see like that manageable. >> Yes

I was kind of visioning that people sit sat down and wrote for like 12 hours a day. >> I think some do. >> Oh, >> yeah

And then they write 10,000 words and their book is done in 10 days and I hate them

I'm just kidding

I love you

I'm so impressed by you. [laughter] >> I'm secretly really so jealous. >> I feel that in my industry sometimes things just come so natural to people and I'm like and I always want to know like do you appreciate that? Do you appreciate how easily this is coming to you? >> Yeah. >> Because >> I don't think you should. [laughter] >> No, you should though. >> Damn it. >> Okay

So, I want to ask questions as a reader from reading this book because I had a lot of questions starting with did you always plan for Naomi and Knox to have such or I guess in your brain were you always like they were going to be a slowburn and kind of have a redemption arc at the end or like did you always know that or was that kind of something that as you were writing you figured out? >> Yeah, I have a sickness for slowburn

I love >> Oh, this is a slow burn. >> Yeah, I slow burn. >> When I'm reading a romance novel and they get together and the first 20% I'm like I I feel like I I [snorts] don't know

I feel like I didn't get my value. >> Really? [laughter] >> I feel like and I want the conflict

I want that to build. >> You So you like enemies lovers? >> It's my fave. >> Yeah

Okay

That was one of my questions was like what's your favorite trope to write? >> My favorite

Yeah

I just love the conflict

I love the buildup. >> Mhm. >> Um I really like that, you know, these two can't be together because this this this and oh no, but they have all these sparks

Oh no, what are we going to do? Like that's my favorite. [laughter] >> Gosh, Buzz

Okay, so my next question is the kidnapping scene, which was I so caught off guard

I was like everything, you know, was so cute

They're in this cute little town and it's like bam, let's just have this be thrown in there

Was that a part of the writing process or was that just something you were in the middle of writing of just like, "Hey, I'm going to throw in this crazy plot twist really quick." >> Oh, listen

The thing about the Knock Them Out series is >> it was just going to be one book

I didn't know it was going to be three books until I was writing the first book

And I didn't know that there was a suspense storyline when I started writing

Something I should have known, something I should have figured out ahead of time

This series was so difficult and challenging for me to write because I didn't do my job before I sat down to write

I got excited. >> Yeah. >> About Knox and Naomi and the slow burn and I was like, "Let's dive in

I have enough information." >> So, in this first one, >> Mhm. >> when Knox and his brother Nash get into that fist fight in the driveway, I was like, "Oh, Nash is getting a book now." And I was like, "Okay, all right." All right

That was literally my next question is like, how do you figure out the side characters? >> Yeah

So, I was like, he's getting a book

He's a cop

There should be some suspense because I'm immediately thinking, what can this man bring to this situation that's unique to somebody else? >> If he's a cop, there's got to be danger

And I'm like, well, I can't just have this happy, fluffy, small town romcom for the first book and with no suspense and then bam, suspense. >> So, then I was like, I don't know what it's going to be

Um, so it slowly as I was working through book one, a story line took shape

Lucian, the third hero, came

He showed up

I didn't know he existed. >> Oh, so that was just like a >> Oh my god, >> you added that one in. >> I added him in

Like he walks on the page, I'm like, "Oh, now it's a trilogy." >> And >> I love that's how your brain works

That would so be me as a person

It's like, well, that started, so I just have to keep going with it. >> You know, and a normal author would be like, "Hey, I planned this from the beginning." Yeah

No, I'm like, "Oh, I met him

He just showed up

I have no control over the things that my fingers type on the page." So, [laughter] I think the hardest thing for me with this series is I was building up the third book, Sloan and Lucian

They have been enemies through all of the other books, and no one knows why

You know, I won't do any spoilers or anything, but I also didn't know why

I'm building this up

Building this up

Book one is done

I have no idea

I start book two

I'm writing it

I'm like, I need to like start adding things in that I can pay off in book three

No idea

No idea

I got >> idea. >> I got to almost the end of book two

I was just brainstorming constantly at this point >> and I finally an idea hit me and I I just stopped

I just froze

I was like, that is it

Cuz it had the feeling. >> I had built it up so much

It couldn't be something like he left her at prom or he broke up with her blah blah blah

It had to be something that you felt huge and monumental that affected both of them. >> Um and that's >> Wait, I'm like I want to know. >> I was I need to read it. >> Just know I really suffered with it. [laughter] >> Gosh

Buzz

Okay

In any of your other series, has that been the same process if you're figuring out if some another character is getting a book? Like people are really obsessed with your side characters obviously. >> Obviously my favorite was Wayle

Is that how you pronounce it? >> Her

Yes

She I was so emotionally invested in her just because of her story and like her mom obviously and just the whole situation going on and she just was like this light throughout the entire book and >> she was so grounded and so humbled and I'm like you're going through the craziest thing right now and you're just like I'm happy to be here and I'm happy with my makeshift family

So, how do you has that happen in any other books? >> It definitely does

I get I get very attached to the secondary characters, too. >> Like, why? >> I think the problem is I want them to feel as real as possible

So, I spend a lot of time building them up and then I'm like, well, they need a little arc, you know? So, Way comes into this series literally abandoned

She has nobody to depend on

And through the series, she gets to grow into a family, like a found family. >> Um, so it's it's things like I get very attached to these secondary characters and you know, sometimes readers do too

Um, I but since Knock them Out, I have tried to be a lot more um cognizant of okay, this book that I'm starting, is it a standalone or is it a series? Like let's let's figure that out first. >> Interesting

So then with characters, are you ever shocked that some of them take bigger roles than they're intended to? Like when you're writing, you're like, "Okay, this person comes onto the page

Oh, I got to have a third book now." How are you ever shocked? Like when you first started writing this book, which character were you shocked that had the biggest impact? >> I think um Steph, Naomi's best friend, I just wanted him to be the best friend that every girl deserves, you know? I just wanted him to be that guy

I just wanted him to be that guy that we all deserve to have in our lives. >> And that's all that was in my head

And by the time I was done with him, he has a whole entire love story himself in these books

And >> it's I just I want everybody to end up happy

And I want to show readers how many different ways you can end up happy

It doesn't have to be like you're all straight and you get married and make babies

Like that's that's not that's not the only path. >> Mhm. >> So >> Oh, well I love that

So in by a thread, the opening scene is quite insane. [laughter] >> I love their meat cute. >> I was reading this on the plane and I was a little taken back

I was like, what [laughter] is going on? They're fighting

I was like, the girlies are fighting right now. >> And yeah, they don't know each other

And I was like, what a like grumpy

He's a grump

I think that's my favorite kind of trope is like when he's just like this angry mean person and then she's just like, "Well, what's wrong with you?" Like she's like, "Leave me alone." So, what do you think makes a good like first spark with characters in the first like chapter or two? >> You know, for me, because I love enemies to lovers, I love when their initial reaction is, "This is what I don't like about you." because they're having a strong reaction to somebody and it's not the true reaction

It's underneath that is >> layers

I am uncomfortably attracted to you and I don't know why

So, let me like immediately look for all your flaws

Let me catalog them. >> That's insane. >> It's I know my brain is a wild place to live

But yeah, it's you know, they look at each other and they don't hate each other immediately

M >> they have a connection that they're uncomfortable with and how they choose to approach that connection is what determines how their relationship starts. >> Well, I love the mom

So, [laughter] I'm reading I don't know how I'm rooting for the mom, but she's my favorite

So, yay. >> That's what I was feeling

Okay, so now we're going to talk about what's next because we have mistakes were made. >> I know

I feel like it could be the title of my autobiography

It's not

It's a fiction book [laughter] >> and it's coming out on March 10th. >> Yes

And so I know we can't talk that much about it because obviously I don't want to spoil anything, but are there any like tropes that are being introduced that you haven't played around with before or what can you kind of give us as a quick synopsis for it? >> I don't know if I'm like going horribly wrong with this. >> I [laughter] don't know

Great way to sell this book, right? Okay

So, I always struggle a little bit with writing the good guy

I think what happens is they show up and they're already fully formed and I don't have anything to work with

It's like he's the good guy

He makes the right choice

Blah blah blah

With Gage, >> um he's nice to everybody but Zoe >> the heroine

And I'm like, oh no, I'm really into this

And I'm like, I don't know if anybody else is going to be into this cuz like you know how it's in dark romance, he hates everyone but her, which is super hot

And I'm like, what if so unrealistic? What if he's nice to everyone but her because he's so attracted to her and he's uncomfortable with it. >> I feel like that's more common >> in the real life world, but not in reading. which I'm really interested to read it because that's more realistic to me because sometimes when I read like the he hates everyone but her I'm like that's just never gonna happen in real life because >> well and then like do you would you really want him coming to Thanksgiving dinner with your whole family if he's going to be horrible to your mom and and your uncle and your little brother and like and you just it's okay guys he really loves me [laughter] having to be like wait I promise he's a good guy I promise I promise listen it's he's really great to me behind closed doors behind closed doors And normally it's vice versa where they're bad

So I >> don't get me wrong, I will read the crap out of that for sure

But yeah, it's living it would be a different question

I think >> this is always my favorite question because if I not that I am an author obviously, but if I ever was I feel like this would be my favorite thing to do is like the Easter eggs like have you are there any Easter eggs in any other books? >> Yes

Especially so the story lake series story of my life and mistakes were made

These were actually, this series was inspired a little bit by Taylor Swift's era tour

I went to her show

Yeah, exactly

The mother of Easter eggs

I went to her show and, you know, I was just in a in a funny place creatively

I was getting ready to start a book and I was really facing a lot of like fear about doing something I'd already done

Okay? >> Like, oh, I've I've already written Enemies to lovers or I've already written Small Town

I >> I was feeling like pressure that I needed to keep it fresh or or completely change it. >> And I went to the Aerys tour and I watched how Taylor treated her early albums with such love and respect and appreciation. >> So she wasn't like trying to distance herself from early work

She wasn't trying to pretend the evolution didn't happen. she was savoring it and showing it off, you know, like this is how far I've come and this is how proud I am of myself and where I was then and >> where I am now

And I I thought, what if I do that in this series? What if I go back to my favorites and I pull little bits and pieces? >> That was a perfect question to ask you. >> I know

Oh my gosh. >> I know

Good job. [laughter] >> Thank you. >> So, you know, I took the Three Brothers, which is how my Blue Moon series started

Um, I took a small town with their own little system of justice, which was from Bootleg Springs

I I took all of these little bits and pieces, even kind of hints at grand gestures, >> and I made them new again, and I put them into these stories, and they feel fresh to me

So, it's things that I've done before, but because it's new characters in a new setting, it was just a reminder to myself that I can keep doing this

I can keep the same stuff fresh. >> They can still fall in love

They can still be funny

They can still break up horrifically. [gasps] >> We can [laughter] still have all of these things. >> Um, so that was a big focus for this series

So, I'm actually writing the third one right now. >> And that's one that you were talking about a little bit earlier. >> Yeah. >> I'm manifesting that it's going amazing because we just keep keep it going

Keep going

But so now I want to talk a little bit about the TV adaptation because myself I'm very excited about this because I have interesting thoughts about movie adaptations because I have it all in my head like this whole world is I have I have what Naomi looks like and how I have their house that they live in or I guess more so cabin situation

I don't know like I have it

So I'm really curious to see how it lays out

What are you the most excited about from this book that is going to be in the film or what do you hope to see there? >> I So I'm really excited that so I'm working with Amazon MGM Studios which was my ideal partner for this because it's Amazon these they know exactly how well the books did

They know exactly how readers feel about them. >> So they're they're very respectful of that audience that's already there

Um, and they decided they wanted TV series, >> which I was at first I was like, really? And then I got very excited because I started thinking if you tried to put all of this into a movie, it wouldn't it would be the longest movie ever or it just wouldn't make sense

So, I really like that they were thinking about how can we take this material and deliver what the books did but on screen

You know, I'm turning this over to professional storytellers in that medium

I don't know anything about TV production

I don't know anything about like behind the scenes and on camera and and script writing

So, I'm to me this is like such a huge thrill to take this book and give it to another artist, several other artists, and say make this into your thing

Cuz you know, the book stopped belonging to me the day it was published. it belonged to the readers and now somebody else is going to take it and they're going to create something new out of it >> and it's gonna belong to a whole new audience and I'm I'm really excited to see what >> these books inspire. >> Are you nervous about >> Yeah

Are you nervous about like the screen writers cuz obviously they have to condense them into Yeah

I mean these are huge books. >> Yeah

And that's always been my one thing with like movie adaptations or TV adaptations is like there is so much information in these books and so much detail, attention to detail and I'm like how do you even have enough time >> to capture all of them, >> right? >> That's my only thought. >> Yeah

But I I think you know if we focus on the feeling that the books gave us, if we can replicate that feeling >> with TV, I think it's going to be a win. >> What was your first reaction when you heard about the email or >> dumbfounded? I was dumbfound because I have an amazing lawyer

He's like, "Listen, 95% of these things never get made." So from day one, he was like, "Don't go into this thinking this is going to happen

This is going to happen. you know, he's like, "It is a million baby steps between here and a green light." >> I just went into it thinking, "Oh, that's nice

They're paying me for an option." And and then but we had that first initial call with Amazon MGM where they told us everything that they loved about the series and what their hopes were

And I'm not going to say anything, but if you're a fan of Wayle, I they have some very cool plans for her in the TV show

Is it going to be different? >> She's going to be older

We love because she's going to have a little sass to her. >> Yes

And just Okay, just I don't I'm just going to like hypothetically say like just imagine adding a high school story line >> to everything that already exists. >> Oh, I like that

I feel like that fits more cuz way is so young and like she's just very like like la da in my opinion

She's just very much like go with the flow like honored to just be with a family

So I feel like having that aspect >> explore so much more

And that was the thing like I loved Wayle but I didn't have room on the page >> to go deeper. >> So that's where adaptations come in

They can give her >> a bigger more important story. >> I >> She's like my favorite character

She's the best

She's >> Oh god

Okay

Now we're going to do some like more fun things that I personally love

So we're going to start off with this or that

So, the first one I already know your answer

Um, enemies to lovers or friends to lovers? >> Enemies to lovers

Hands down times a million. >> Which one do you prefer to write? >> Enemies lovers

Yeah

Valid

Naomi or Noox? >> Naomi

Writing Naomi was special to me because I too have been a people pleaser in my life

And exploring that on the page and watching her grow out of that was really gratifying and it was like therapy for me

Do you listen to music, like ambiance music or silence when you're writing? >> I usually do music

With this book that I'm working on, I've been doing a lot of uh ambiance stuff, like cozy. >> I always do a cozy French cafe music. >> Yes

I love that. >> It's a nice little background. >> Yes

And I love it cuz YouTube you can type in cozy pomodoro and it'll give you the 25 minute sprints with >> Oh, that's really nice. >> Yeah

So, like, for some reason, my brain has not been I blame Taylor Swift because I've just been listening to The Life of a Showgirl since it came out

So, I couldn't like just turn on my normal playlist cuz then it would just be like, >> "Yeah, >> but I couldn't listen to The Life of the Showgirl while I was writing because it would I would not write." Um, so yeah, I've been doing the ambiance ones for this book and it's it's going really well

We're going to do plot twist or cliffhers. >> Plot twist

I love a plot twist. me to love something that I'm like, "Oh my god, I didn't see that cover." >> It's just like, "Oh, if I had to choose, I don't know." Cuz I love a cliffhanger at the end of the book because I'm quite literally sprinting to the Union Square, Barnes & Noble, and I'm like, "I need to get the second book." Oh, and I get really frustrated if the second book is out. >> That happened to me recently and I was like "No." >> Do you watch The Diplomat on Netflix? >> No

Uh, I watched the first like four episodes or five

I did start watching it though

Deborah Khan, the showrunner, is the most magnificent genius when it comes to cliffhers

Every season ends with this mega huge twist that you never see coming. >> I love that. >> Like, I don't I I don't want to spoil anything for you, but the season 2 twist was so wild

Mr

Lucy and I were watching it and we jumped off the couch screaming. >> That's how you know it's good. >> Yeah, it takes a lot to get me off the couch in the evening. [laughter] >> Usually snacks

We'll do the Christmas fix and then the mistletoe kisser. >> Oh gosh, I love both of those

Um, I'll go with the Christmas fix

Cat is a very feisty heroine and I I love that

I I love that she's just very aggressive. [laughter] You know what? I I too like reading books where the main character is a little bit like a little me. >> See, I know what I want and like get out of my way

Yeah

Yeah

Okay

So, now we're going to do would you rathers

So, we'll do would you rather write a book in 30 days or take 6 months to edit it? >> I would rather write a book in 30 days. >> Could you write a book in 30 days? >> No. [laughter] >> I wish I could. >> Could you write like a 100 page like a 100page book? >> Well, let me tell you

Okay

So, I started this book that I'm working on mid October and I am 85,000 words into it

So, >> that is incomp

So, it's going really well

However, my books are like 150,000 to 160,000 words usually. >> Half fish. [laughter] >> If I were a normal author, I would be done

I would This would the book would be done

Yay. [laughter] >> What was there? What was there? Okay

So, we'll we'll do would you rather live in Namount or Story Lake? >> Story Lake. >> Why? >> I want the lake. >> Okay. [laughter] Me, too

I feel that

Me, too

Okay

I like I like the lake life and um I like the idea of being able to throw potatoes at people you don't like. >> Oh, >> it's it's a social justice system there

Yeah

Like, oh, you wronged the town

People get to hit you with baked potatoes. >> And you know, maybe we should bring that into reality. >> I do

That's kind of what I was thinking

I mean, and they're baked potatoes, so they're soft

They're not going to do any damage, but it would be so satisfying to hit a few people >> with some baked potatoes

Would you rather your book be turned into a TV show or a movie? >> Well, I'm going to say TV show because >> But that's for this book

What about for this? By a thread. >> For that, I think by a thread would be a movie. >> Yeah, I agree as well

We're going to do a few quickfire. >> Oh, okay. >> So, we'll do character that you would grab coffee with out of any book that you've ever written. >> Marley from Rock Bottom Girl. >> Why? >> I just love her. [laughter] >> Just first thing that you do when you're stuck with writing a scene? Oh

Um, I start typing a note to myself. >> Um, so I keep my fingers moving

Okay

So it like my brain thinks I'm still writing, but I do like a double asterric and I'll be like, "This scene is boring

What am I doing wrong here? Do I need to do this?" And I'll ask myself a series of questions like typing >> and usually that jogs something loose

So I'll be like halfway through a paragraph where, you know, X was going to happen and I'm like, "This isn't working

I am bored

If I'm bored, nobody's going to read me." So, I'll start the note and I'll be like, "Should so and so do this instead." And then I if I like it, I start to write that

That's my way to like sneak over. >> Yeah

Mini writer's block or I leave it for future Lucy and I'm like, "Hey, sorry

I couldn't come up with anything here, so good luck." [laughter] >> What are you doing on a weekend that you're not writing anything? >> Oh, I'm super lazy

I like I I love being cuddled up on the couch with Mr

Lucy with a movie we haven't seen, you know, like I I love that

Um I am trying to be more social

So I also enjoy going out with friends. >> Really? >> Really? >> No, [laughter] sure about that. >> I'm trying

I'm trying

I try to >> I to a degree I definitely understand that cuz there's something just so comforting about just like putting on a really like intense movie and just locking into it for like two and a half hours to escape and then like come out the other side

And you know as as an author >> I'm constantly looking at everything for the storytelling

I'm constantly breaking it down and examining it or mining it for inspiration. >> So I'm never off duty, I guess

But it's really nice to lose myself in something, some piece of art that somebody else has made

So, it's really fun to >> um be the reader or be the viewer or, you know, >> kind of see it from their perspective. >> So, a hobby that you do outside of reading. >> I need more hobbies

This is an ongoing conversation with me and Tim

Mr

Lucy has several hobbies that he's really good at and he's good at maintaining

I am not good at maintaining hobbies [clears throat] because I feel like I'm barely getting through the day with the bare minimum of adult productivity

So, I do yoga

I love yoga

Um, so I found a yoga studio that I really love and I go there a couple times a week

Yeah, that's about all I've got

I mean, I like to read obviously I read

I also have a microscope and I like to look at stuff under the microscope. anything or is there anything in specific that that's >> well okay so first I bought a child's microscope off of Amazon and I use that for like splinter removal but also like hey that freckle looks weird >> but I also have a bigger microscope and I bought a dish of slides >> Mhm. >> that already have things on it

It's all nature stuff

And I just love looking at tiny beautiful things

There's a willow stem and it's like the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. just the symmetry of the cells

And I know this is so nerdy

I'm so sorry

Oh my god. >> Beautiful

And >> but it's it's like >> it's so important to have those hobbies that are outside of like the cultural norm in my opinion that you can kind of just be like, "Okay, this is my thing that I'm going to just weirdly be obsessed with and no one really needs to like it or not." >> And and for me, it's like a statement on it's a reminder to me that joy doesn't come from these big huge massive shifts that are happening in our world. that doesn't come from big events

It it comes from these tiny micro pockets of time that you find. >> And so that's literally me looking at these tiny beautiful things that exist

Even when I'm upset, even when the world is going to hell, there's still beauty and and fun and something novel to explore. >> Your microscope is my reading

So whenever I'm like, "Oh my god, everything." I'm like, let me just read five pages and I'll be okay

And normally after the five pages, I am okay

And that panic attack I was having, I'm okay. >> You know, it works

So, my last question I'm going to ask is, what's a book that you wish that you could reread for the first time? >> Um, The Husband's Secret by Leanne Morardi. >> Really? You You're obsessed

Obsessed

It's so good

It's basically this woman finds an envelope with her name on it in the attic that her husband left her

He is traveling and he calls her for the day and she's like, "Hey, it's so weird

I found this like don't open this until I die and he's like, "Don't open it

Please swear to me you won't open it." Right? And then it switches the scene to another character who's going through something

It touches on several characters and their stories all end up interweaving and you eventually find out what was in the husband's letter. >> Is it a thriller? >> No, it's more like uh women's fiction like But it's >> But it's not scary. >> It's not scary

Oh, but it breaks all like something is pretty insane. >> It was pretty It was pretty insane

Not going to lie

I love love books

Highly recommend that. >> Okay

Well, noted

Well, thank you so much for coming on Books and Busy

This is so cute. >> Thank you for having me

This was so much fun. >> March 10th, babes. >> Mistakes were made

Make sure to pick it up. >> Pre-order now. >> Yeah, pre-order now

Right now >> or buy it now, depending on when this comes out. >> Yeah

Okay. [laughter] Thank you so much

I appreciate it

Thank you. [music] >> [music]