Myah Ariel, No Ordinary Love and Jelly Pies

You know how books are often advertised as "swoony" and it's a word that gets tossed around so much that it's perhaps lost it's meaning? I couldn't tell you before reading No Ordinary Love what it meant for a book to be "swoony."  

Enter - No Ordinary Love and in particular Miles. And... I get it now. Swoony, for me, has everything to do with the hero. And Miles is a hell of a hero.  So, grab yourself a Jelly Pie (not a drink) #iykyk and read this gorgeous romance that straddles the line between romance and women's fictions with such grace. 

Myah and I talk about how hard it is to create romance when you're going to through heartbreak and what it's like to work with legendary Editor Esi Sogah. 

Follow Myah here

Buy the book here

A PR partnership between a pop superstar and a pro-athlete bad boy turns into so much more in this swoony romance from the acclaimed author of When I Think of You.

Ella Simone’s popstar life is what dreams are made of. Her eight year marriage to renowned music producer, Elliot Majors, has helped garner the hits, awards, and adoring fans to prove it. But when Ella tires of Elliot's many infidelities, she decides to fight for her independence despite the ironclad prenup that threatens her career. 

To help her case, Ella is under strict orders to stick to The Plan: no headlines, no rumors, no rocking the boat. But this strategy is thrown a curveball after an awards show wardrobe snafu and quick rescue by Miles Westbrook, MLB’s most eligible player, sends the tabloids into a frenzy. Amid tricky divorce proceedings, Ella’s magnetic connection with the charismatic pitcher might just be her downfall.

Now the pressure is on to turn a scandal into an opportunity and give their teams what they want: a picture-perfect performance that will shore up both Ella and Miles' reputations. But as the lines between reality and PR begin to blur, Ella will either stick to the choreographed life she knows so well, or surrender to a love that could set her free.

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Transcript

Molly Fader (00:29):

Hello day drinkers. Welcome to Day Drinking With Authors, the podcast series where I pick a book, the author picks a drink, and we discuss both. And I am so excited to talk to Maya Ariel about her beautiful romance novel. No Ordinary Love Swee is a word that gets thrown around a lot lately when talking about romance novels. And it's kind of one of those words that I've used and I pretend I know what Sweeny means as it pertains to romance novels. But in the past as I've read books called Swee and I have in turn called them Swee, it has just sort of felt vague. And there was something about this book that really put its finger on what exactly the word SW means when it comes to romance novels. And I don't want to give it away. And in the interview I'm going to ask Maya what she thinks it is, but I have very strong feelings about what exactly makes this beautiful romance swee.
(01:29)
And I'll see if I get it right in her estimation. But I'm going to read the back cover copy. This is a really beautiful book, guys. It's one that I went to bed every night and I was just so excited to be able to read it. It's a really fascinating love story, but it's really also very much a woman's fiction novel. It's her story, and I dug that about it. A PR partnership between a pop superstar and a pro athlete Bad boy turns into so much more in this Sweeny romance from the acclaimed author of, when I think of You, Elli, Simone's Pop Star Life is what Dreams are made of Her eight year marriage to renowned music producer, Elliot Majors has helped garner the Hits awards and adoring fans to prove it. But when Ella Tyres of Elliot's many infidelities, she decides to fight for her independence despite the ironclad prenup that threatens her career to help her case.
(02:18)
Ella is under strict orders to stick to the plan that's in caps, no headlines, no rumours, no rocking the boat, but this strategy is thrown a curve ball when after an award show wardrobe snafu and a quick rescue by Miles Westbrook, ML B's, most eligible player sends the tabloids into a frenzy amid tricky divorce proceedings. Ella's magnetic connection with this charismatic pitcher might just be her downfall. Now the pressure is on to turn a scandal into an opportunity and give their teams what they want, A pitcher, perfect performance that will shore both Ella and Miles' reputations. But as the lines between reality and PR begin to blur, Ella will either stick to the choreographed life she knows so well, or surrender to a love that could set her free. Sounds so good, doesn't it? Oh, I'm so excited to talk to Maya. Ariel, thank you so much for joining us today, day Drinking with Authors. Myah Ariel (03:10):

Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to chat with you. Molly Fader (03:13):

So we're going to be talking about no ordinary love, but before we get to it, we're going to change it up a little bit. And usually we talk about a drink. And I know that you have your writing tea sitting beside you. Are you a tea drinker while you write? Myah Ariel (03:29):

I drink tea. I drink coffee, but coffee in the morning just to, I need my caffeine. But tea for me is very calming throughout the day and even into the night. And when I'm writing, I tend to have a hot cup of tea with me. So it's like my comfort beverage. Molly Fader (03:45):

I feel like when your days are long and you're writing the process of making a cup of tea or reheating, the cup of tea gives you the break you need. Myah Ariel (03:56):

Exactly. It's like a ritual thing. And then I always end up adding lemon to my tea, and so it gives me that little zest and zing of, yeah, I don't know, something. And then also just having that warm mug in your hands, just when you're thinking about plots and characters, Molly Fader (04:11):

This is truly how desperate it can be sometimes. Yeah, exactly. Myah Ariel (04:16):

Something to, I don't know, it's like a handout Molly Fader (04:21):

Type and you're not eating. That's the other danger zone. Which actually brings me to what we are going to talk about, which is a very specific sandwich that you talk about in the book that Ellen makes for Miles. Can you tell us what the sandwich is? Myah Ariel (04:36):

So my grandmother made these for me as a child, I grew up in a multi-generational household with my mom, my sister, and my grandparents. And my grandmother would make these, she called them jelly pies. And for me, it always just felt like the most sort of her making this for me was just a sign of her endearment. It was a love a caregiving thing that she did because she knew that I loved them so much. And so it's basically like you make a grilled cheese sandwich, so you butter both sides of the bread, you get a skillet, you're pressing it into the skillet, but instead of cheese between the bread, you pick any type of preserve that you like, whether it's jelly, I mean strawberry or blueberry. This morning I actually made it for breakfast for myself. I did apricot preserves. And so you just get this gooey warm with the buttery toasted brown bread, and it's just the tastiest just most nostalgic thing.
(05:37)
And so at the part, without giving a spoiler at the part of the book where Ella is making breakfast for miles, it just felt like a sweet gesture because she's not a cook by any means, and it does not take a lot of right big deal. She doesn't exactly, she has people who cook for her, but at the same time, she is at this point where she's falling for this guy and she wants to do something that is, she wants to show a gesture of how she cares about him. And so I just thought that it would be a nice sort of homage to my grandmother. And also they're delicious and they're so easy to make. Molly Fader (06:11):

Yeah, I've made promises this weekend to make it for my kids. Do you ever put cream cheese in the middle with the jam? Myah Ariel (06:16):

I haven't. So that reminds me of toaster strudels. I don't know if when I was a kid growing up, those were all the rage toast. It was like the new Pop-Tart, but it was the flaky, buttery crust with cream cheese and a strawberry or something. And so that would probably taste like a toaster strudel, Molly Fader (06:33):

The packet of frosting Myah Ariel (06:35):

Where you could do your own design. That was on the commercial. It was like make a star design on the top and you could add peanut butter, make it like a grilled pb and j. You could add bananas, you could add whatever. But I've always just loved that really simple two slices of bread butter on each side, the preserves in the middle, and it's just simple old school. And it just reminds me of my childhood. Molly Fader (07:00):

Well, I'm excited to try it and I will report back. Everybody out there listening, you should also try it, I feel like, and let us know what you think. So in the introduction I talk about, not only did I talk about how this was one of those books that every night at around nine o'clock, I was like, oh, I get to go to bed soon and read this great book, which is such a treat, right? There's not a lot of books that you get to read that you look forward to getting to anyway. But one of the words that's used to describe this romance, and I feel like it's a word that we hear a lot about. Maybe it's coming from TikTok, that it's one of those words that I couldn't totally tell you what it means, but I feel like this book really defines it, and the word is swee. Okay. Myah Ariel (07:47):

I had a feeling you were going to go with that Molly Fader (07:50):

Before reading your book. Really. I couldn't tell you what Swee meant. And in your opinion, is your book Swee and what makes it swee? And then I want to tell you what I think makes it Sweeny and see if I'm right. Myah Ariel (08:04):

So I do feel like this book is Swee. And it's funny because when I sent this to my editor, ATY Soga, one of the first, I sent her the first draught of it, and I was fortunate enough to get to have breakfast with her. I flew out to New York for an event for my first book when I think of you. And we met for breakfast, and she had just read the first draught of this one. And her first response to me was that it's so romantic. And I was just like, that's sort of odd for something like a romance editor to say about a romance book. It's supposed to be romantic. But I feel like she was sort of picking up on that same element, that swee element. And for me, what swee, it's more of a feeling when you're, when you're on a date with someone and you get those butterflies and you get, whether it's the way the person smells or the tone of their voice or the eye contact, something like all of a sudden there's a heaviness in your chest and your arms feel heavy and just you feel kind of anchored in the space where you are, and you just feel impacted by the presence of what's happening around you.
(09:17)
And I feel like there were moments when I was writing this book where I just wanted there to be Miles and Ella, whether it's backstage in the wings or on the baseball field when they're supposed to be teaching her how to pitch, or when he texts her out of the blue from an unknown number. And it's just like you're in it with them and you feel the heaviness of the vibe between them. And to me, that's sort of what the swoons are. It's just this heavy presence of chemistry. And it kind of makes you kind of feel that sort of stomach swoop where you're like, Molly Fader (09:55):

Oh, the elusive stomach swoop, you read as Micro Romance, as we probably read the Stomach Swoop iss hard to get, but we provide it. And so for me reading this book, I really think the Swee is all about the depiction of the hero. Myah Ariel (10:12):

I Molly Fader (10:12):

Feel like Miles, there's something that is so real and grounded about him, and at the same time that's like, I mean, he's perfect. He's perfectly flawed and he's perfectly human, but he's also just kind of perfect, right? I feel like, and the way that you're never in his point of view, which is such a fun Speaker 4 (10:34):

Choice, Molly Fader (10:35):

But the way that he sees her is freaking Myah Ariel (10:40):

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he calls her his dream girl. Yeah. And I think it's an intentional choice too, because what she's had before, I mean, we opened the book and she's ending a marriage to her producer, her record producer, who is the opposite of when she first met him, she was young and naive and inexperienced in this romantic department. So we have that sort of first flashback where she's sort of under the charm of this genius, this musical genius. She's under the charm and she feels like she's being swooned by him, but as the third party, we're seeing it and we're like, girl, Molly Fader (11:23):

Yeah, it's a love bomb. Right, exactly. It's a manipulative love bomb for Myah Ariel (11:28):

Sure. Exactly. And so we see those signs, but 19-year-old, 20-year-old Ella is not, she feels like this is love. And so Miles is a complete foil to that. And so 10 years later, eight years into a marriage and coming out of that marriage, she's now ready for the real thing. And so Miles is presenting what it's like to have a real passion and real vibes when there's no sort of facade, there aren't layers. He's not presenting something to her that this is just who he is, Molly Fader (12:03):

And he's an adult. He's an adult approaching her as an adult. Whereas I feel like in her marriage, it felt very a little groomy. It felt a little Myah Ariel (12:14):

Elliot was aware of the imbalance there. He was aware that she was impressionable and that she wanted and needed things from him, and he was there to provide them. And at the same time, she didn't know exactly who she was or what she wanted or what she needed. And so she kind of just followed. And I think the other thing that makes Miles so right for Ella at the time that they meet is that he's been through heartbreak too. He's been betrayed, and it helps that he's a little bit farther removed from it than she is, and which means he's a little bit on down the road in his healing journey, so he can sort of look back and say, it gets better without even knowing at that point that he's, the better it gets me. Yeah, exactly. Molly Fader (13:03):

You can have me talk a little bit about, because we read a lot of first person, no hero point of view, first person with hero point of view, third person, talk a little bit about creating a character, whose point of view we never get into, and Miles has. Was it difficult to resist the urge to go into his point of view? Because you gave him a rich backstory and you gave him, there was a lot going on with Miles and as a writer where you were, you like, no, I'd like to go in and show a couple scenes with him and his grandparents because he was so rich. So can you talk a little bit about, Myah Ariel (13:50):

In both my debut and this novel, I've done single POV romance, and for me, it feels the most natural in the way that I like to tell these stories because that's how we experience romance in real life. We don't get to go into that other perspective. And what I love, and I always say this when I talk about my writing, is my favourite element of romance stories is the angst. It's the not knowing, it's the questioning, it's the misunderstanding. And he hates me. But no, he actually really likes you. And the reason he's acting this way is because he doesn't know how to deal with those feelings. Or Ella being sort of just combusting with her attraction to this man and not really knowing if he feels the same way, but he does. So I feel like when you're in a single POV, you can draw that angst out so much more than when you're in dual because you're going back. And with both POVs, we know that how these two people see each other, whereas in a single POV, we're only getting that one perspective. Molly Fader (15:02):

You get to put the reader on the hook too, Myah Ariel (15:05):

And you have to sort of breadcrumb it a little bit. And so I like that we really are experiencing this from Ella's perspective. And Ella, it is Ella's story, in essence. This is Ella's story, and Miles is, he is a big, big, beautiful part of that. But this is her story. And I felt that strongly that this was a story about her falling in love, but it's also a story about her overcoming. And so I felt like it just made sense for it to sit in her voice. Molly Fader (15:39):

Yeah. I will say that one of the things that I really liked about it was in every romance you have the moments where the character kind of flinches, they're kind of looking right at the thing they want and sort of messes up a little bit. Ella has a couple of those moments and another romance, I'd be like, oh my God, come on, whatever. But she's really in it. She is really in it. Her life is tough right now. And it's not just the divorce. It's like she has recorded a new album. She's about to go out on tour. She's got some fights with the record label. This is not an easy time for her to fall in love. Myah Ariel (16:24):

And I mean, conventional wisdom would say, what are you doing? You're coming out of a marriage. You need to take some time. You need to go to therapy. You need to be on your own. You've been in a relationship since you were 19. Come on, girl. Take some time. That's what conventional wisdom would probably say. And so I was fighting with myself while writing this, and I was like, do I need to do a time jump? Do I need to? And then I was Molly Fader (16:46):

Like, no, that's part of the romance's. Wisdom says no. Myah Ariel (16:51):

And then I was like, that's not going to work for this story. Molly Fader (16:53):

We're going, Myah Ariel (16:56):

Going for the swoons. And sometimes love shows up and it's not at the logical or practical right time, but that doesn't mean that you're not ready. And also, this was a good piece of advice that I heard recently was that we sometimes feel like we have to be completely healed before we start a new relationship, but sometimes that healing happens in the process of a new relationship. Sometimes being with someone is part of the healing, getting to know what you need in a partner. And so sometimes we kind of hold ourselves up in these little boxes and it's like I have to be perfect until before I start putting myself out there again. Molly Fader (17:37):

Yeah, actualized and yeah. Yeah. I have Myah Ariel (17:40):

To be this whole perfect spotless being. And it's like you may not get there until you actually throw yourself out there again. And maybe it's in the doing of that, you actually become whole. And so I think that's sort of what happens with both Ella and Miles here. Molly Fader (17:54):

See, that's the kind of sage wisdom in the pages of these books is romance matters. I mean, exactly. This is the sort of thing that romance provides sw me and Wise Sage soul. Yes. Talk a little bit about Ella's career and your decision there. She's a massive pop star. Did you ever go, oh, have I bitten off more than I can chew with this? Because that's a tough heroine to write. It's a very niche world to write. What were your thoughts going in? Myah Ariel (18:34):

I mean, I'm not a pop star, Molly Fader (18:37):

Spoiler, everybody, spoiler. Myah Ariel (18:40):

But as you can see behind me, I'm a huge music fan and I've got even more records in front of me on the shelf. And I am just such a lover of particularly r and b pop music. I'm such a pop culture like encyclopaedia. I grew up in 89, raised through the nineties, and there's so many artists that I've mentioned throughout this book, and I'm so glad I was able, the publisher allowed me to mention and have quotes from amazing trailblazing women artists in this book. And for me, it was a no brainer that this book needed to be a celebration particularly of black music and how black women in the industry have been such a cornerstone of culture for so long. And also for me, with my debut entertainment, it's an industry that I've been either working in or adjacent to for most of my career. And so it does feel natural for me to talk about that industry. At the same time, recorded music and how that works was, I mean, it was actually a bigger stretch for me to write about baseball, which is Molly Fader (19:54):

The scene at the Grammys, and then the scene where they go to meet at the baseball field, both of those, I was like, wow, these are, the details are really real. Myah Ariel (20:05):

Well, so fortunately in my previous line of work, I've worked at award shows before, so I've been, and I actually have stumbled upon a red carpet or two. So I've actually been a part of that frenzy before I was able to really channel those experiences for the chaos that those carpets are in the screaming from the photographers and the press people and everyone just milling about trying to get their moment in front of the lights. I've been to a couple Dodgers games in my day. I am based in la. Molly Fader (20:39):

There was a lot of love for the hot dogs. Yeah, Myah Ariel (20:41):

Exactly. Dodger dogs are, if that's your thing, they're definitely, they're what they claim to be. And also just like a person who loves the city of la, I had to put in all of those references, but I would say it was a lot more difficult for me to sort of get the baseball element than it was for the entertainment element. And that's possibly another reason why we are not in Danny's, POV. Sorry, not Danny Miles. Danny is my hero from my first book. Oh, well, Molly Fader (21:17):

They start to run together a little bit. They Myah Ariel (21:19):

Start to blend. Molly Fader (21:22):

Another thing that I really loved is the glam squad, her glam squad. And I feel like you're setting up some future books. Perhaps Myah Ariel (21:33):

I say this about my secondary characters is that I always want them to feel three dimensional and fully realise people and not just set pieces or props that are just placed in a scene. Because you can't just have people doing monologues and soliloquies in a book. I want them to feel like with Rodney and Jamie, I want them to feel like at any given moment, they're living out their own story where they are the main character. And if we just sort of switch the perspective, we would be reading Rodney's story and maybe one day we, maybe one day we'll be reading about Jamie. And I want it to truly feel that way. And so I feel like that just makes the world that we're dipping the readers into feel just so much more colourful and fully more fully realised and richer. And so I have a really fun time kind of coming up with the people that are surrounding. And even with her attorney, Janet, she is someone that I had so much fun writing, sort of crafting these personalities and what are they wearing? What do they look like? What does their voice sound like? What kind of jokes do they make? How do they bounce off of each other? Molly Fader (22:45):

And I got to say, completely mission accomplished. They were very three dimensional characters that felt very much like they had lives outside of just the conversations that they were having with Ella. But how tricky was it to balance them taking over? You had big personalities, right? They were really interesting. I would like to read more about them. Did you have to do a lot of cutting? Were you, Myah Ariel (23:13):

No, honestly, I think it felt really natural with this just because the plot in this instance, it dictated when they would show up. She's getting ready to have an appearance. She's going to be in, she's Molly Fader (23:25):

Going to need the glam squad. Myah Ariel (23:26):

She's going to need the glam squad. She has a night of passion. She's going to want to talk to her friends. It's just, it felt like the natural. And even though I'm writing celebrity romance, there's still people. And so if you go out on a date the next morning or even that night, you're going to come home and get in the group chat and be like, oh my God, that was a dud. Or you guys won't believe it. But it was amazing. So the next day, who is she going to reach out to after she finally has her night of passion with the person that she's been waiting to have it with? So it felt like there was this natural cadence for the glam squad to be popping in and out. And definitely I will say that there was some intentional setting up for a potential I secondary book for a second. Good. Molly Fader (24:24):

Do you have a playlist anywhere? Because you do talk a lot about music in here, and it's really varied, and it's really, she's often thinking about Ella's often thinking about music as things are happening, and so it feels very relevant. So do you have a playlist somewhere? Myah Ariel (24:42):

Yeah, I do have a playlist on Spotify. It's no Ordinary Love. I posted it on my Instagram. I'll probably try to embed it on my website so it has a permanent place. I can post it again too. Maybe I'll put it in my link and bio. Molly Fader (24:56):

Yeah, and please send me the link and I'll share it with the listeners because I do think I want to listen to it for sure, because it felt very pointed, not pointed relevant. It felt very Myah Ariel (25:10):

Relevant. So the playlist has absolutely, every song that's mentioned in the book is on the playlist. But then also beyond that, just the songs that I was listening to as I was writing it, songs that remind me of elements of the story, some of the characters I like that I, like I said, nineties, r and b specifically the Butterfly Album, which is Behind Me by Mariah Carey, is what really inspired this book. Those of you who don't know, Mariah Carey divorced her music mogul husband, Tommy Mottola, who is credited with sort of launching her career. And around the time she left Tommy, she had this sort of hot, fast and steamy love affair with Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees. And so that romance in the late nineties, it was like a flash in the night. It didn't last long, but it inspired one of her most romantic and swanny, I should say, albums of all time.
(26:03)
The song, my All I Give My All To Have One More Night With You comes from that album, and that is inspired by Derek Jeter. So this is kind of where the seed of this book came from. And so I have songs from that album on this playlist. I have throwbacks to Roberta Flack and Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin and like me, although Ella has talent, she is obsessed with music and she has inspiration. She's been inspired deeply by the likes of Nina Simone and even Beyonce. And so they're all on this playlist. And so I will absolutely send you the link. Molly Fader (26:39):

Please do one more question before we start talking about the process. And editorial is another scene that I really, really liked that I just want to highlight and talk to about why you included it is she gets invited or not invited. She's told that she needs to go and help audition dancers for the tour coming up. And the choreographer is somebody that she's worked with before, but the vibe of the dance has changed, and the choreographer has gotten an email saying, we're changing up. Let's make everything sexier, basically. And the girls have this conversation that I thought was so indicative of what, I mean, I can't even imagine with pop music. I can't even imagine pop music or acting or any of the things. But what we feel like as a woman in regular life is that they wanted her to be one thing. They really wanted her to be just this one thing and how emotionally upsetting it was to try to be that one thing. Can you talk a little bit about that scene? Myah Ariel (27:50):

Yeah. I really wanted this to be a multifaceted kind of the only word that's coming to me is assault on her creative agency. It's not only her ex who is threatening her with the prenup that she signed, the record contract where he's got his fingers on the scale of all of the executives at the label, because they value him over her, but also the label themselves. They have invested money and time into this image that they've crafted for her. But now that, and I kind of hinted this, the industry is changing too. It's like streaming happened and then they have to adjust, and then TikTok happens and you have to adjust, and everyone's reacting to music in these little sound bites. And if it's not going to go viral, it's not going to do us any good. And so now it's like the artistry starts to become subject to the way that, how can we make this go viral?
(28:52)
And anyone who pays attention to artists who have started to speak out about this, some artists have actually said, my record label, their strategy for me is to go on TikTok. And so I wanted to really pull from some of those frustrations that people have voiced lately and make it really feel real and grounded into Ella's story. So she's having pressures from tabloids who are saying, she's the one who cheated on her ex, but he's the really one who cheated. She's having stress and pressure from her ex and his lawyer, and now she's having pressure from the label that is totally trying to usurp her creative, any sort of creative agency that she's been able to wrestle from them. And they're doing it behind her back by going to her longtime collaborator, her choreographer, who is also dealing with, she's an artist. Speaker 4 (29:47):

Yeah. Myah Ariel (29:49):

And so there's a little bit of lany in that. But at the same time, like you said, it's really upsetting for her. And then for Ella, and Molly Fader (29:55):

I think it was funny, I like I told, I was really kind of moved by it, Myah Ariel (30:03):

And it's like that scene is in the scheme of the whole book. It's a relatively small scene, but I'm glad that you've reacted to that. I haven't even been asked about that scene yet. But yeah, I mean, that was a moment where I wanted to show all of the facets of ways that women, but I'm sure male artists are treated the same way, Molly Fader (30:25):

Flat every nuance taken out. And just one note. Yeah. Well, I really liked it. I hope you could ask more about it. So your editor is a real icon in the business. I have a slew of rejection letters from her. Can you talk about working with EE a little bit? Myah Ariel (30:47):

EE is amazing and specifically mean with my debut novel. I had a dream editing experience with ee with what I think of you. I feel like that book is the best version of what it could be from when she bought it to where it became both her and ER Cater, who was the assistant editor at the time. Now she's been promoted at Berkeley. They er assistant sie in editing my debut. And with this book, I just appreciate that se trusted me with this book because my second book was supposed to be something else entirely. Molly Fader (31:25):

Second book Curse. It's Real. Myah Ariel (31:27):

Yes. No, she had approved an entirely different proposal for my second book. And I just remember having this feeling that I can't write this book. There is this other concept that is speaking to me again. I was listening to the Butterfly album and there was this one song, the Roof from that album, it's called, the song is called The Roof. And these characters, miles and Ella just came to me out of the blue and I was like, this is the book I need to write. So what I appreciate about Essie is that we went on Zoom for like 45 minutes and I just kind of fangirled to her about my love for music nineties r and b, and how I have this story about two people who had suffered heartbreaks and how they find themselves in these impossible circumstances where they've got this public scrutiny happening. It's the worst time to be falling in love, but they just can't deny it. And we just geeked out over the pop culture lore of the nineties. And Mariah and I even toyed with potentially setting this back the nineties. But then we were like, we want to be able to have text messages and voice notes. Molly Fader (32:45):

We're not ready to give up cell phones. Myah Ariel (32:47):

Yeah, we're not ready to do that yet. And that to me is the mark of a beautiful collaboration where you can just sit and have that kind of creative conversation and have an editor who's really excited about your ideas. And so I really love that she trusted me to be like, alright, scrap that other idea. This is what you're passionate about writing. Go off and write it. And so that's sort of what, it was a totally different experience in the first book, which was bought as a full manuscript. And then this time it was like, go forth and prosper. Good Molly Fader (33:22):

Luck. Well then you mentioned in the author's note that you were actually going through some real life heartbreak at the same time. And how hard is it to write hopeful, happily ever afters when you're in the process of having your own life turned upside down? Myah Ariel (33:43):

Yeah, I don't necessarily recommend it. What I do think is that it makes the product feel so real because there were parts of this story where I found myself writing from experience, writing from emotions and thoughts and realisations that I'd come to as I was processing my own feelings and my own sort of resentment or thoughts about betrayal or thoughts about expectations or thoughts about the things that I thought about love when I was younger. And now that I'm older and being able to kind of infuse them into Ella's story, it just felt so much more grounded and not me having to sit and imagine what things would be like if I had gone through X, Y, Z. Because it's like, no, you're going through X, Y, Z. And so in a sense, it's a catharsis, it's therapeutic, but at the same time, creatively, it's also, I feel like it kind of just sharpens your creativity because you have just a very clear idea of what it is you want to say. Molly Fader (35:01):

Yeah. And what that character's going through. You have a line in there where she's just thinks or says somebody should apologise. And I was like, that was another one of those moments that I was just like, oh, this is really so much more than your average romance. Myah Ariel (35:18):

Yeah. That was one of, and then I think it's Jamie who says back to her an apology apology is worth nothing. If there's no change, if he was sorry, he would've changed. And so that's one of those feelings where it's like you feel like an apology would make it better, but it's like at the end of the day, those are just words. A change in action would be Molly Fader (35:40):

Even better. Even better. And I think, I mean, I'm so sorry anybody's going through heartbreak, but it led you to Miles. Myah Ariel (35:50):

Yeah. I mean, when that's the payoff, it's like I will walk through fire. Molly Fader (35:56):

I mean, you nailed sw. You got Swee. I as a 40 year romance reader finally understand what Swee means, thanks to this incredible book. So thank you for that. Myah Ariel (36:09):

That means a lot. I'm so glad I could deliver on the Swoons. I easy to do more than, and I think my first book was, it was doing something else with the romance with this book. I am seeing a lot of people saying they felt it was swoony. And I love that I was able to deliver that for people because in a sense, I mean, that's what Ella deserved. After you go through what she's been through, you deserve, I think you said it, a soft place to land. She deserves to have all of those things that she didn't have before. Molly Fader (36:45):

Some miles, for sure. Myah Ariel (36:46):

Yes, yes. Molly Fader (36:48):

Thank you so much for coming out and chatting with us today and for bringing the sandwich into our lives. We Myah Ariel (36:53):

Can't wait. Yes. That sandwich just blesses everyone because like I said, I had it for breakfast today. I probably will throw some eggs on the side and get your sweet and savoury together. Molly Fader (37:06):

Perfect. Thank you so much for stopping by and for this beautiful book. Everybody out there, please pick up a copy of No Ordinary Love, make Yourself a toasted Jam sandwich. What do you call 'em? A jam Myah Ariel (37:17):

Jelly pie. Molly Fader (37:18):

Jelly Pie. Myah Ariel (37:21):

I mean, we're from the South, so Molly Fader (37:24):

Makes sense. Makes total sense. Everybody out there have a drink, read a book. Stay safe. Myah Ariel (37:29):

Thank you. Molly Fader (37:32):

Day Speaker 1 (37:32):

Drinking Molly Fader (37:33): 

With.