Marissa chats with Adiba Jaigirdar about her new YA contemporary romance - HANI AND ISHU'S GUIDE TO FAKE DATING - as well as bringing the beloved "fake relationship" romantic trope into sapphic love stories and how publishers are finally picking up on this need in the market; using specific accents and lilts to influence your character voices; one super clever social media strategy that makes use of cross-promotion with other authors; and the little-talked-about phenomenon of the "second book depression" (not to be confused with the sophomore slump), which is probably more common than we think and might be exacerbated by pandemic book releases. (Note: if you're feeling it, you are not alone!)
Books discussed in this episode can be purchased from your local independent bookstore or buy them online from the Happy Writer bookshop.org store (that benefits indie bookstores) at https://bookshop.org/shop/marissameyer
Find out more and follow The Happy Writer on social media: https://www.marissameyer.com/podcast/
Marissa chats with Adiba Jaigirdar about her new YA contemporary romance - HANI AND ISHU'S GUIDE TO FAKE DATING - as well as bringing the beloved "fake relationship" romantic trope into sapphic love stories and how publishers are finally picking up on this need in the market; using specific accents and lilts to influence your character voices; one super clever social media strategy that makes use of cross-promotion with other authors; and the little-talked-about phenomenon of the "second book depression" (not to be confused with the sophomore slump), which is probably more common than we think and might be exacerbated by pandemic book releases. (Note: if you're feeling it, you are not alone!)
Books discussed in this episode can be purchased from your local independent bookstore or buy them online from the Happy Writer bookshop.org store (that benefits indie bookstores) at https://bookshop.org/shop/marissameyer
Find out more and follow The Happy Writer on social media: https://www.marissameyer.com/podcast/
[inaudible]
Speaker 2:The happy writer. This is a podcast that aims to bring readers, more books to enjoy and to help authors find more joy in their writing. I'm your host, Marissa Meyer. Thank you so much for joining me today. A quick little bit of housekeeping to get through. First of all, we are adding a new feature to this podcast where at the end of each episode, I will be teasing next week's guest. So for those of you who like to familiarize yourself with an author or their books, before you listened to an interview, stay tuned after the ukulele plays again at the end. And I will let you know who's coming up. Also, we are nearing the end of another monthly contest. This month on Instagram, we are asking you the question that I ask every guest on the show. What book makes you happy? You can share your responses on Instagram tag, happy Raider podcast, and use the hashtag happy writer contest. And you'll be entered to win a free book. This contest runs through the end of the month, and all of the details can be found on our Instagram page on a related note. Our awesome administrator, Joanne has compiled all of our guests answers to that question. What book makes them happy? And it is now available as a list on our affiliate shop at bookshop.org/shop/marissa Meyer. If you want to go check it out and find some really awesome book recommendations as for me, I'll go ahead and use that prompt for my happy thing today. What book makes me happy? It's actually a series of books. I'm going to say my sailor moon, manga, that I've had since I was a teenager, and some of them are falling apart from how often they have been opened and read. And how often when I was a teenager, I would try to sketch out the scenes and going back to that moment when stellar, moon and tuxedo, mass meet each other again and again and again. And I just love them and they bring me so much Mr. Hologic joy from that time of my life. So Santa moon forever. And I can't wait to hear what books make you guys happy too. And of course I am so happy to be talking to today's guest. She is the author of the henna Wars and has contributions in the end. Theologies keep faith and the upcoming allies, which will be out this fall, her newest novel honey, and issue's guide to fake dating comes out next on May 25th. Please welcome a Deba Jager Dar.
Speaker 3:Hi, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2:Thank you for being here and for staying up late, you were located in Ireland. Um, are you in Dublin? Yeah, I'm in Dublin. So what time is it for you? 10 o'clock. 10:00 PM. 10 o'clock. Are you normally a night owl or are you just because you have to stay up and do podcast interviews, you're making yourself do this. Um, and honestly it depends. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Um, so Ramadan just ended and during Ramadan I stay up quite late because we, we break our fast at around 9:00 PM and then we have to eat our breakfast at like three or 4:00 PM. Um, so usually that is the time when I have energy. And so, you know, I break my fast, I pray. Um, and that I like work on my writing or revisions or answering emails or whatever. Um, so now, now that Ramadan just ended, I need to figure out my, my sleep schedule again and get back to normal.
Speaker 2:Okay. And what is normal? What time would you normally go to bed? Yeah, normally I would go
Speaker 3:To bed like 11, 12, probably.
Speaker 2:Okay. Okay. That's I am not a night owl. I try to go to bed like around nine. So the idea of staying up until 10 o'clock to do interviews is like, wow, you are really dedicated, but I am very, very glad to have you here. So thanks for joining us today. Yeah, of course. Thank you so much for inviting me
Speaker 3:On to the happy writer podcast.
Speaker 2:My pleasure. Why don't we start with you telling listeners about your new book, honey, and issues guide to fake dating. Yeah. So her name is shoes
Speaker 3:To fake dating is about these tube and golly girls, honey, and issue. And they decide to fig date honey, because she feels like she needs to validate her bisexuality to our friends and issue because she wants to become head girl and impress our parents. But as their fake dating turns into something real, they need to figure out if they're willing to make a few sacrifices in order to achieve their happily ever after.
Speaker 2:So it is of course a fake relationship, contemporary romance. Um, and I, I love that. I love this trope of the fake relationship, and I love that you put it right there in the title so that we know exactly what we're getting for those of us who just like live for these romantic tropes. Like me. Why do you think this trope, the fake relationship where two have to pretend to be into each other and pretend for everyone around them that they're in love. And oops, I actually developed real feelings that wasn't supposed to happen. Why is that so popular? Why do us romantics continue to enjoy that particular storyline? Do you think?
Speaker 3:So I think that, um, this trope is so popular because you get everything that comes with an actual relationship, but it's not an actual relationship. So, you know, when you're reading a romance novel, a lot of the time, um, you get to the end and that's when you know, the two characters get together and you're like, Oh, now they're going to ha they're going to have their happily ever after, but you don't really get to see what that looks like and what their, what all of their romantic moments look like. But with a big dating trope, you get all of those romantic moments. You get what their happily ever after could look like, but it's all fake, you know? So it feels like you kind of get the best of both worlds. You get to see, um, these, these characters being like cute and being romantic and, um, you know, getting to fall in love, but it's also not real. So you kind of get that like pining, you get that, um, like these characters having crushes on each other and the will, they won't, they it's like all of the great things about romance all mixed up together.
Speaker 2:That was such a brilliant answer. And I think you were so right. I'd never really thought of it, but yeah, you get to see the relationship develop, even though it's, there's still all of that drama and conflict because they're not really supposed to be together. The feelings aren't supposed to be real. And it's just such a natural fit for building that tension in the relationship.
Speaker 3:And it's, it's also one of my favorite, favorite tropes. Like I, I love the fake data prep so much, so I am just really excited that I got the chance to write it.
Speaker 2:Well, I loved what you did, what you did with it. I am also a big fan of this trope as is probably obvious. Did you feel in choosing to do this trope that's of course it's been around forever. We've all seen it done in probably a thousand different ways when you were approaching this story. Were you nervous about that? Like, did you feel like there was any pressure that like, Oh, I really have to, whatever, give my own spin on this or were you just like, this is a classic for a reason and I love it. So I just really want to tell this story.
Speaker 3:So for me, one of the things that I have always set out to do is take these tropes and these moments that have existed in romance for a long time, um, like fake dating, um, among other things and give them to a Sophic couple. Because even though, you know, we have so many books, movies, TV shows, um, that utilize these tropes, it's rare to see them for AF couples and honestly like even for mm couples, um, it, it is quite rare. Um, so when I was writing this book, that is really what I was thinking about. I was thinking about the fact that I had only seen the fig dating trope, um, in a SOFIC book once. And this was a book from like years ago. And I'm sure like other books exist. I know that there's, I think there's three SOFIC books out in 2021, which is amazing. And I love that and I've only read one of them and it's amazing and I'm excited for the other one, but when I was writing it, you know, there were almost none. And that is kind of the space that I was trying to fill. And so I, I don't think I was really feeling that much pressure because for me it was that I was thinking there's a gap. And I, I, as a reader, want to read books, um, that have the fake trope, but there are Sophic they're AF AF so I was really writing, um, I guess for myself, I was writing because that's just what I wanted to read.
Speaker 2:No, I think that's a great point. And yes, I agree that there is a need in this market and I'm so happy that publishers are finally starting to recognize that, and these books are finally coming to the market. Do you happen to remember what the titles were of the other two or three that you've mentioned just for people who hear this and love your book and really want more of this?
Speaker 3:Yes. So one of them is she drives me crazy by Kelly Quinlan. Um, and Kelly is actually a friend of mine and, um, I'm a big fan of her books. They're all, SOFIC, they're all amazing. And she drives me crazy. It's like a romcom it's enemies to lovers and it is fantastic. So I highly recommend it. And I think the other one is by us, Sarah, I'm not sure exactly how you pronounce her name. Um, it's called love and other natural disasters, I believe.
Speaker 2:Oh, good title. So your book is written from dueling point of views. We get some chapters from honey's point of view and some chapters from issues, point of view, which is great because they are such different characters and they have such unique perspectives on what's happening in their school. What's happening in their own lives, what's happening in their fake relationship. And I always love that. I love seeing a relationship develop when we get to see both perspectives and you can kind of see what one girl is thinking, and then we switch over. And now what's her reaction to this for you? What is your, your strategy or your method when it comes to developing these characters and their voices and making sure that their chapters kind of stand on their own as a whole story? That's a double question. Really? That was kind of a vaguely, vaguely stated too. That wasn't the best question. How do you develop their voices to keep them distinct, I guess is what I'm asking.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's it? I think this is one of the most difficult things that you face as a writer trying to develop very distinct voices for your characters. Um, not just in dual POB, but even from book to book, uh, you want your practice to stand out on their own. So for me, I think I have the characters voice in my head, and I'm not sure exactly how it comes to me, but I often think about, I don't know if you've met a lot of Irish people, but, um, the Irish accent, um, for me, they have, they have like a specific lilt to their voice, um, and different accents in Ireland have like specific littles. And so this, for some reason when I think of the Irish accent, it really helps me find a voice for my character. Um, because then when I'm writing, I specifically think about their accent and the limits that their voice has when they're speaking. Um, I know this is kind of a weird answer, but this really helps me get into my character's head. Um, like when I, when I can just target exactly how they're speaking, what their accent is, um, you know, where they're enunciating words or how they're saying certain things, um, it helps me get into their head and figure out who they are as a character. Um, and yeah, and then once I get that voice in my head, I, I just have to write it down. Um, and so once I had even just a chapter written in that, in the voice of that character, I can go back to it every time I get stuck, I'll read over it. It'll help me get back to the boys when I start writing again. I don't know if that made any sense, cause in my head, when I'm writing the voice of the characters, this makes a lot of sense, but I don't know if saying out loud, it makes sense.
Speaker 2:I love that. I love slightly strange answers to questions like this because I completely agree that it is hard to pinpoint these elements of craft. And where does a character's voice come from? Who the heck knows, but I love your answer and this idea that you can tie it to a specific accent and a specific, a lilt of the voice. And that makes me want to move somewhere where people have really interesting in a variety of accents that I could draw from.
Speaker 3:I, I think you can do it with like American accents. I'm sure that if I were to write an American character, I would also think about like the bride gift, American accents that exist. So I should, I should, I guess, preface by saying that, um, I, I used to be an ESL teacher, so I often think a lot about like pronunciation and why different people speak the way that they do. Um, because, um, it's affected by, you know, your culture affected by your class. It's affected by a lot of things. Um, so voice and, you know, the way you speak, obviously they're very, very linked. And so it's linked to your background. And I think when I tried to ride the voice of my characters, this is what I go back to.
Speaker 2:No, I think that's interesting. And I, another thing that I wanted to talk to you about was your secondary characters. Um, and now I'm wondering, having heard that answer about, you know, riding the voices of the two protagonists, if it's similar for you when you're developing and getting to know your secondary characters, because all of them, particularly the families of these two girls were so well-developed and you know, it was a great book on a writing craft level for how well things were balanced between, you know, this relationship developing this romance in the center of the book. But then there were also so many subplots with their family members developing and changing over the course of this story. And everyone just felt so fully realized, and yet it never detracted. It never took away from, you know, the story at the heart. And so again, I mean, is that, do you also feel like you're like hearing each of their voices in a really unique way as you're developing the secondary characters?
Speaker 3:Yes. I think I am maybe not as strongly as the main characters, because obviously writing in first person, you want to be buried deep in their head. Um, but with the second year characters yeah, for sure. They're also very strong voice in my head when I'm writing them. And actually like, I think for different characters, I actually think of, um, different people in my life because I have to have touchstones that I can kind of go back to, um, not that I'm like replicating who they are or their lives. Um, but for example, often when I write like parental characters, I think about the way that my mom might speak, just because, you know, she is a Bangladeshi and she lives in Ireland and she has like specific ways of saying same things, specific rhythms to the way that she says things. Um, so yeah, definitely. They're also a very strong voice in my head
Speaker 2:If somebody is listening to this interview and they're like, okay, this is brilliant. I love this idea of like really digging into etymology and language and the different ways that people speak, the different choices of words that we use. How are there any tips that you would recommend an aspiring writer or even doesn't have to be aspiring any writer who wants to further develop their, their ability to create unique character voices? What are some things that we could do? So maybe practical tips there.
Speaker 3:So I would recommend, um, listening and, you know, not like going to a cafe and listening to people, um, which I guess you can do, but actually
Speaker 2:Yeah, writing test and just keeps dropping
Speaker 3:Sometimes that does really work and you could do this, but I think like really paying close attention to the way that people speak, um, the rhythms to what they say, because everybody has a different rhythm to speaking. Um, and you know, the, like people develop different rhythms, um, depending on who they're speaking to as well. Um, obviously like with a lot of people of color as well, you would see code switching, which also happens in my book. Um, so, you know, paying attention to all of these different things, how do people speak? What are their rhythms, what are their little, what are the specific things in their voice that make them them? Um, and I would also recommend, um, just trying to listen to people from like different cultures from different backgrounds, because you will notice, um, different patterns. Um, I mean, some very strong ones is that different people from different cultures have different pronunciations. There are certain things that people, certain things that people can't pronounce or it's very difficult for them to pronounce. Um, so yeah, just listen to people from different cultures, pay attention to the rhythms, just make note of all of these things. And I think the more you listen, the more you pay attention, the better you will be at developing that character voice.
Speaker 2:I think that is excellent. Excellent advice. Did you, in writing these two characters, honey, and issue, was there one that felt easier or more natural for you?
Speaker 3:So it's a difficult question to answer because I think for me, honey was easier to write because her voice is more similar to mine, I guess, and her experience, um, in life and who she is, is also quite similar to me. So when I was writing her character, um, it did come more naturally, but with issue, she is very different from me, but she has such a strong voice that it's so easy to fall into her chapters. And it's so easy to like have fun when I, when I'm writing her. Um, so even like, I don't know if you follow me on Instagram, but on my Instagram, um, I'm doing this, um, advice column, this fake advice column where honey issue give advice to fictional characters from other books. And one of the main reasons why I did this was because I like love issues, voice so much. And I pot it would be really funny for her to be giving advice. Um, and when I started writing my advice from honey, an issue for honey, like it was, yeah, it was natural for me, but for issue, it was just like just, I could just fall into her voice, despite it being so different from me. And I just had so much fun writing those. So yeah, like honey's boys definitely more natural, but issues, voice a lot more fun to write.
Speaker 2:I can so see that as a reader, I loved both characters, but I particularly enjoyed issue because of just how unapologetic she was sometimes. And I love characters like that. I think because they're so different from me. And I'm like constantly second guessing things that I say and like how I'm interacting with people and like always that, those doubts and like, what are they thinking? And does this person like me, et cetera, et cetera. And of course she does have doubts, but I just love a character who feels like they can be Frank and, you know, willing to give their opinion, willing to stand up for things without any hesitation. And I just loved reading her.
Speaker 3:Thank you. I'm really glad to hear that.
Speaker 2:And I did see your fake advice columns on your Instagram and since you brought it up, I totally want to talk about it because I think it is such a clever promotion idea and I think it fits this book so great. I love the idea. Uh, so you obviously touched on it a little bit, this idea that you're having, uh, these two girls relationship advice to fictional characters, what's the story behind that? How did it come up?
Speaker 3:So I was kind of thinking about, um, what fun promotional things I could do for this book. And it was kind of difficult because with my debut that had awards, it's like, Hannah is so visual. Um, so, you know, you could do things like giveaway, um, uh, temporary henna stickers, which my publisher did, but with something that is so focused on fake dating, I was like, well, there's, there's literally nothing I can do. Um, and then I thought, Oh, like, what if these characters could give advice, um, to someone, um, about like romance, especially because they're both like so bad at it. Especially like at the beginning, the book, they really, they really like, they don't know much about romance. Um, so I just thought it'd be quite funny. Um, and then one of my friends actually suggested like, Oh, wouldn't would it not be cool if instead of just giving random advice, they gave advice to like fictional characters that exist. And I was like, yes, that would be, that would be amazing. So that's how that came about.
Speaker 2:And didn't you actually work with the authors behind those fictional characters?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so yeah, there are six authors. Um, and I think two of them are still not revealed. Um, cause we still have two to go and yeah, they're all my friends. I just reached out to them and I was like, Hey guys, um, would you like to do this kind of weird ping? And they're all super excited to write their letter. So each of the authors wrote their, um, anonymous letters and send them to me. And then I wrote the, I wrote honey, she was reply. I sent it to them. Um, asked if it was all okay. And that's how we came up with it.
Speaker 2:That is so clever. And it's like so much awesome cross-promotion happening there. It's brilliant.
Speaker 3:Thank you. It's been, it's been really fun and I'm super grateful to the other six authors who agreed to do it for me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I really good idea. I can totally see it as like an ongoing thing, like a monthly Instagram post for whatever book is coming out that month. I think it'd be so funny. Not that I need to like make more work for you. I'm sure you have lots of other things going on. Um, so come back to the book a little bit. One thing that I want to talk about is this theme, um, that definitely came across really strongly for me as I was reading, is this, uh, idea of wanting to fit in, um, and how both honey and issue at different points, they're just craving approval from the people around them. Um, sometimes it's friends, sometimes it's family. And I just feel that that is so universally relatable. Um, especially when we're looking at teen years and high school and of course we've all been there. It's such a human instinct to feel like you need to belong and you need to have your, the respect of your family and your peers and all of it. And so it just came across so clearly in this story. So I guess my question is, I mean, is there a message that you're hoping readers will take away after reading about these characters and how, you know, both of them are very much kind of emboldened over the course of the story?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think, I think it's tough because as you said, all of us do seek approval approval from people or, you know, we try to fit in and definitely, you know, in our teen years, but I think even as adults, um, we might be seeking approval from certain people. And I think it's just a natural human thing, but I guess the message that I want people to take away is that the most important thing at the end of the day is that you are happy with yourself and that you have self-love, um, even if the approval doesn't always come through because you know, people are nuanced, um, there might be different reasons. Um, not always like 100% positive or 100% negative, but there might be different reasons why they can't accept you fully or why you can't be open with them fully about who you are. But the most important thing is all always about that, true to yourself and that you have self love.
Speaker 2:This is such a such an important message. And whenever anyone talks about loving yourself and, you know, being good to yourself first, um, I think that's a message that not everybody hears on a regular basis. So, and it does come across in these two characters, especially by the end of the book.
Speaker 3:I'm glad to hear that. So you wrote,
Speaker 2:I wrote a blog post recently that I really wanted to talk about because it's a wonderfully poignant host and it's on a topic that doesn't really get talked about a lot in the writing it's fear. Uh, of course we're, most of us are familiar with the idea of the sophomore slump, which is for so many published writers. The second book is the hardest one to write. Um, but in your blog post, you had kind of a different experience of writing this book, your sophomore book. Um, and yet you've been experiencing what you called second book depression, and I don't think you're alone there. I think it's actually probably a pretty common thing. And again, it doesn't really get talked about that much. Um, so I'd love if you could talk a little bit about your experience and what that means to you. Second book depression.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I actually came across the term second book, depression from Alexa done. So, you know, I guess, I don't know if she coined the term or if she saw it somewhere else, but I can't take credit for that great term. Um, but essentially, um, while promoting this book, I've just felt very different to how I felt when I was debuting. And I couldn't quite put my finger on it, I think probably because, um, obviously, you know, there's this pandemic, um, and during my debut it was still a pandemic, but we had just like started the pandemic. Uh, but now in Ireland we just kind started lifting from our second lockdown and we've been in this lockdown since January. Um, so, you know, it's been tough. Um, I've been mostly at home. Um, so you know, there's a pandemic there's, you know, I've lost family members. Um, so I was, I was trying to figure out if it was like grief or if there was something else or if it was like everything combined. Um, and then I watched this video by Alexa done, um, which was called things in publishing that make you cry or something like that. And she got to the point where she was talking about the technical depression and I was like, wow, this is me. Like, nobody's talked about this before, but this is definitely what I'm feeling. And I remember, um, messaging a friend of mine, as soon as I watched the video. And I was like, I was watching lots of Dunn's video and she mentioned second book depression. And I think I have that. And my friend said, yeah, I was watching that video too. And as soon as she said it, I popped a few. Um, so obviously like it wasn't just me inside my own head. Other people were noticing this as well. And you know, like I said, in my blog post, I think it's a combination of a lot of different things. I think it's the pandemic it's locked down, it's grief from, you know, losing people it's, you know, personal things. But it's also the fact that, um, your first book is something very unique. Your debut is something very unique. It has so much like mystery around it. And then once you kind of get rid of all the mystery, I think it just makes you kind of depressed. Um, and right now I think, I feel like I know everything that is going to happen with my book. Um, and again, like it might be different, you know, um, everything that happened with my debut might not happen with my second book. It probably won't, things will be different, but I feel like I've already lived it. I've already had all of the excitement. So I don't, I don't know like what exactly to kind of look forward to. And, you know, as I said, in my blog posts, this is probably irrational. This is probably not true, but it's also very difficult to convince myself of that fact. So yeah, it's, it's a lot of different things. Um, maybe with my third book, I will feel completely different. I hope that I do because, um, I want to be excited for my books. You know, I really loved writing this book. Um, and I love this work and I hope that other people do too, but it's just been difficult to feel excitement, um, while trying to promote it while trying to bring it out into the world.
Speaker 2:No, I think you're right. And I do think that authors who are having books come out during the pandemic, it is different and it is hard. And I know for me personally, um, when my book instant karma came out last November and it's by no means my second book, and I know we're 12 or 13 or something at this, but the experience of releasing that book was so different and so difficult to, like you're saying to be excited to hold onto that enthusiasm when you're still stuck at home in the world is the way that it is. Um, so I, I agree. I think that's a huge part of it, but I also think that like when you release your debut novel and things are so exciting and so new, and then to go from that to the second book, it's like, almost like you're chasing that feeling again. Like you want that newness in that excitement and it's just not there. Um, and I think that that's probably really, really common among authors. And so I'm glad that you brought it up and I'm glad that you're talking about it. Cause I I'd never heard the term second book depression, but as soon as I saw it, I was like, Oh yeah, that is totally a thing.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I, I, I'm glad to hear that. Oh, not glad to hear that you have had the same experience, but you know, glad to hear that, um, I'm not the only person experiencing it. And a few people, a few authors did, um, reach out to me after I wrote that post. And they said that they were experiencing something similar with their second book and, you know, they were glad that, um, they were glad to read this blog post and not feel so alone. So, um, I'm glad that we're talking about it more because I think, I think with publishing, um, I don't know why, but so many things are just like big secrets and they really don't need to be like, why does having second book, depression need to be like a big secret? Um, and so I'm glad that, you know, were slowly becoming more and more transparent about these things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, definitely. And I think for a lot of authors, like, there's that idea that once you get published, cool, you're set. Life is good. You will never have any book or writing related problems ever again. But if you do experience things like this, like there's almost a guilt that comes with talking about it. Like, you don't want to sound like you're complaining or whining or, you know, I think there's that element of like, feeling like we need to always show, Oh, I'm so grateful. I'm so happy. And I, you know, of course we are all great. We are grateful and we are happy and those aren't bad things, but it is also important of course, to talk about the other things, because you're never the only one experiencing it. It's always something that other writers can be like, Oh yeah, I totally know what you're saying.
Speaker 3:Yeah, definitely. And you know, I hope that we keep, you know, opening up about these things. Um, I don't, like I said, I don't know what my third book is going to be. Like. Maybe there's also a third book, depression and it's somehow different. I hope not. I hope that somebody speaks about it before I get there. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I honestly don't really remember, you know, how everybody books. Um, but I do know that pandemic lunches are totally different from non pandemic launches. So I look forward to talking to yourself and to other writers who have like only released books during the pandemic, after all of this is said and done, um, because it will just be such a different experience. And, um, I think a lot of us are just kind of like waiting to come out into the light on the other side and see, Oh, the world is better. Um, on that note, we are going to now wrap this up with our happy writer bonus round, first question of the month, what book makes you happy?
Speaker 3:So I was thinking about this when you were, um, talking about at the beginning. Um, I think the book that makes me incredibly happy is to all the boys I've loved before by Jenny Han. Um, because it's, it's honestly the book that kind of mobilize me to start writing romcoms because I thought like before I read that book, um, I didn't, I didn't know that I was allowed to write romcoms about like people of color. And then I read that and I kind of saw its popularity. And I was like, wow, like I'm, I'm allowed to do this. I'm allowed to write about this. Um, so, you know, it's, it's an inspirational book for me. It's a motivational book for me, but also is just such a happy book. Um, it's so like adorable. Um, it's just an amazing book. Um, and yeah, so to all the boys I've loved before and if they did it, which is my favorite Trump. So that makes sense.
Speaker 2:As you were saying it, it was like kind of the perfect choice for you. I love that book. That one makes me very happy as well. What is one small thing that brings you a lot of joy,
Speaker 3:Difficult questions? Um, let me think about this.
Speaker 2:You are also welcome to skip any of these, if you would like to I've got a button.
Speaker 3:I mean, I shouldn't be able to think about something that brings me a lot of joy, one small thing. That would be a lot of joy. Um, I think what brings me a lot of joy is, um, when, when, like when your friends, um, send you something like from like Twitter or Instagram or whatever, or tag you in something, and it's not related to you in any way, but obviously it made them think of you in some way. And I think that's a really, really nice feeling,
Speaker 2:Good answer. It was a really thoughtful for just coming up with that on the fly. How do you feel the creative? Well,
Speaker 3:So I failed the creative while by consuming any and all kinds of media that I can. So obviously by reading, watching movies, watching TV, um, playing video games and just in a, in like vastly different genres. So just consuming as much media that can,
Speaker 2:Do you have a favorite writing snack or beverage? What is the best writing advice you've ever received?
Speaker 3:The best writing advice? Well, I can say the best publishing advice, uh, more than writing advice is that you can only control your own writing. Um, and you can't control like the rest of it. So you should focus on your own writing.
Speaker 2:What are you working on next? And I'm just going to say that I have seen your website. So I have spoilers to this answer and I am so excited.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I'm working on, um, currently my historical novel called a million to one, which is about four girls who get on the Titanic, um, in order to, in order to steal a Juul and crusted book called the robots. Um, and I'm also working on my third romcom called donut fall in love, which is about Shirin. Um, this like Bangladeshi Irish girl who, uh, enters this great British bake-off style competition, where she has to compete against her, ex-girlfriend who she still has feelings for, but also a new competitor that she is developing feelings for.
Speaker 2:Those both sound so good. It wasn't that exciting for both of them. Last question, where can people find you?
Speaker 3:So my website is[inaudible] dot com on Twitter. I am at VBA underscore J and on Instagram. I'm at D I B S underscore J
Speaker 2:Diva. Thank you so so much for joining me and staying up late for this tonight.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for having me
Speaker 2:Readers. Be sure to check out honey and issues, guide to fake dating, which will be out on May 25th and is currently available for pre-order. Of course, we always encourage you to support your local indie bookstore if you can, but if you don't have a local envy, you can check out our affiliate store at bookshop.org/shop/marissa Meyer. If you're enjoying these conversations, please subscribe and tell your writer and reader friends. You can follow us on Instagram at Marissa Meyer author and at happy writer podcast until next time stay healthy, stay cozy and whatever life throws at you today. I do hope that now you're feeling a little bit happier.
Speaker 1:Yeah,
Speaker 2:I'm still here. Thanks for listening. Turns out that ukulele music is kind of stuck at the very end of our episode as per our editing software. So that's fine. I'll just tease our next episode here. Instead, next week, I will be talking with debut author, our Naif Lorez about her middle grade fantasy. The Firebird song. This book comes out on June 8th and is currently available for pre-order. In the meantime, please, don't forget to enter our monthly Instagram contest and let us know what book makes you happy. And we will see you next week.
Speaker 1:[inaudible].