Robby Weber, IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND
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[1:13]Robbie Weber is the author of If You Change Your Mind
[1:16]Robbie is a Florida-based writer who loves sunshine, summer, and strong-willed characters
[1:20]He can normally be found as close to the ocean as possible with his dog Arthur and a novel from Reese's Book Club
[1:26]He is also known by the way on Instagram as Robbie Reeds at Robbie Reeds where he has fabulous books to
[1:33]Gram account that you should definitely check out
[1:34]Welcome Robbie. Thank you so much for coming on moms. Don't have time to read books to discuss if you change your mind
[1:41]Thank you so much for having me and thrilled to be here
[1:44]Every time I like pick up your book or think about it in my head. I want to start singing
[1:49]Right
[1:52]Like one of the first
[1:54]When we put the title and good read someone commented like do you think of Abba or are you normal or something?
[1:58]It's like the most like comment. I'm like so glad people got it
[2:01]It's like it could have gone either way, but I think a lot of people get it, which I love. That's pretty awesome
[2:07]So first of all, I was so excited
[2:09]That you had a book coming out after being like a fan of how you do your awesome books to Gram
[2:14]And of course now there's like more books coming out
[2:16]So why don't we start with what let's talk about this book and then I want to hear about your whole book ish journey
[2:21]So okay, yeah, can you tell everybody what if you change your mind as a bat?
[2:26]Yes, so if you change your mind is a young adult
[2:29]Romcom. It's a it's a beach read
[2:31]It's basically about the 17 year old boy who wants to be a screenwriter and he's had his heart broken before and
[2:37]He has his heart set on winning a competition so that he can get into
[2:41]USC film school and he's you know going to be free of
[2:45]Distractions, which for him includes you know cute boys and of course
[2:49]His first heartbreak his first ex comes back to town and he kind of wants to win him back
[2:54]And then there's also this new cute boy and town is really sweet
[2:58]So it's kind of like this, you know classic love triangle with some twists along the way
[3:03]I mean
[3:03]I don't know if this was just in my version like in an arc or whatever
[3:07]But you said in your author's note that you love a good romcom
[3:10]But you hadn't seen enough with with men falling in love with each other and decided to sort of rewrite the narrative
[3:17]Which is awesome. Yeah, exactly. I think like I really wanted it to be
[3:21]Not an issue book because I feel like we want to give readers
[3:25]Especially young readers that the chance and the choice to have both right like to have those important kind of conversational
[3:32]Books about like those those issues about coming out and discrimination things like that
[3:36]But also kind of let's have a happy
[3:39]You know romcom space for them too to kind of escape, you know when they want you
[3:43]Did you read playing the palace by Paul redneck? I haven't yet. I have that one on my list though
[3:47]Okay, I interviewed him
[3:49]I guess was it last summer
[3:50]But that was like a similar mission that he had. Yeah, just like why not tell a love story like why does it have to be
[3:56]Yeah, anything else right?
[3:58]This doesn't have to be like I feel like they're all important like it's equally important to have
[4:03]Kind of the tough conversations and things that comfort you through maybe hard times or answer questions for you
[4:07]But also kind of to have an escape and to have something a little bit more maybe lighthearted
[4:11]You know, so yes, also I feel like the best way to
[4:15]Teach anybody or show anybody anything is through a story anyway
[4:19]Yeah, no for sure, you know, it's so funny because like with the shits creek
[4:22]I don't know if you're a shits creeks man. My daughter is so I hear about it all
[4:26]But I don't watch that much TV. Well, it's just funny because like I loved the show
[4:31]I watched it really late like I watched it during the pandemic, but I didn't really
[4:35]Even as a writer who's writing these kinds of stories realize
[4:38]There's no homophobia on the show and I heard Dan Levy talking about it
[4:43]And then I was like oh like you don't even notice that it's
[4:46]Missing because it's just such a nice environment
[4:49]And I kind of wanted that to be the same thing, you know, with my books
[4:52]It's like you just I don't want anyone to even think about it or miss it or anything
[4:56]The great part about your but well, there are many great parts
[4:59]But your voice is so awesome and funny and relatable that you just like dive right in and
[5:07]It's like
[5:09]You know, we're in the narrator's head and feeling all of his crushes and his anger and
[5:14]You know when he pushes Grant back into the pool when he shows up it seems grant right grant candy
[5:19]So when his old sort of
[5:21]Paramore comes back to town and he just like doesn't know what to do with himself
[5:24]And then just just like I'm just gonna push him in the pool and doesn't even think about it
[5:28]And then he's like what was I doing and it's sort of like the ongoing interior monologue that
[5:33]I guess not everybody has but you know
[5:35]I especially like a teenager. I feel like right. I mean, I don't know
[5:38]I feel like I still have one sometimes
[5:41]Especially in that those teen years where you're like wait. I maybe did not think this through at all
[5:46]Yes
[5:47]So I totally related to the like crush
[5:51]New person, you know
[5:52]Just all of that like in the love affair space
[5:54]But also the character of his mom and there you have a passage
[5:59]That I actually I like screenshot it to save and now of course I don't have an infront of me
[6:03]But it's been haunting me because there was a passage about Harry's on the beach with his mom and his two little sisters
[6:08]And and he describes his mom as someone who like comes to the beach
[6:12]but only to like peak up from her phone and like off of zoom or not you didn't say zoom
[6:18]But something like that and I was like oh my gosh is that how I am as a mom like is that what my kids are thinking
[6:24]That I'm there at the beach, but all I'm doing is like peeking up for my phone
[6:27]And then I'm like flashing back to like going to the beach club with them the other night
[6:30]And I was literally on an Instagram live for like half an hour on the staircase and I was like oh my gosh
[6:34]I am like her old nightmare mom in fiction like oh no
[6:39]No, but you know what it's actually funny because I think and I know like that was just a word
[6:44]You just said it passing but like the nightmare mom thing
[6:46]I think it's funny because I actually really want
[6:49]Readers and just anyone in general to really respect working moms, you know
[6:53]Especially from that because it's like even though she is a working mom and she's a single mom providing for her three kids
[6:59]Like she's present and she's a big part of their lives and I think that like I just have so much respect
[7:04]You know obviously a lot of the family is based on my family and my experiences and so I I think you know
[7:10]There's no shame in that I think and I bet your kids probably have the best thing to say about you
[7:14]You know whether you're on your phone or not
[7:15]So that was a really really important part of the book for me
[7:18]Actually, I'm really glad that like he kind of picked up on it and yeah
[7:21]I think there's no shame in like having to work and balance it and I think you know it's all good
[7:27]Thank you. It was nice to see a version of myself reflect to me
[7:32]You could just imagine me sitting there in horror like reading this not horror
[7:35]No, yeah, no, no, but it's good, you know
[7:38]I'm sure again
[7:39]I'm sure your kids only have great things to say
[7:41]But you honestly, so I wouldn't have been completely public
[7:45]And you also you had a summer reading thing
[7:47]Which is great because like we are in the midst. I'm in the midst of forcing them to do summer reading
[7:51]Which are completely behind on but I'm not gonna admit that and do we are like you know
[7:55]I'm like reading it during summer reading time for all of us and you have the summer reading game
[7:59]Which is so great that whoever can think of a book whichever the kids can think of a summer reading book from their list first got to choose dinner
[8:07]And yes, brilliant. So now I'm like
[8:10]He all try that. That's amazing. I literally just so my 11 year old sister
[8:15]She's with me over the summer and I really I was just like what are you reading for summer reading?
[8:19]She's like oh
[8:21]Like okay that we need to go back to the list
[8:24]Summer's almost over
[8:26]Yes, I know my daughter one of my kids is educated was on the list
[8:30]And I was like I actually never ended up reading educated and I was like
[8:34]Why did I read it out loud to you and I'm like this is ridiculous
[8:36]It's gonna take a hundred years to do that and she's supposed to be reading it. So anyway
[8:41]Well, that's a that's a really good list. I feel like I know
[8:46]But anyway, we started it's very it's much more literary than I thought right that's why I'm like it's I mean
[8:51]That's good. That's yeah, we might have to put it aside. But anyway, I might finish it without her
[8:56]Anyway, so there's that whole mom angle, which I related to a lot and then of course this
[9:02]The the misfit angle so it's Logan the new lifeguard is like shoved into a locker
[9:07]Which is so sad and he makes some joke about how like his friends do this all the time and and Harold's like really
[9:13]I don't think I have friends who like stuff me in a locker at least my clothes soaking wet in the shower and you know
[9:19]Put my iPhone on top of the lockers and all that he's like what kind of friends are these?
[9:23]But I also really you know
[9:25]There's also a piece of Logan that everyone can I'm sorry not Logan
[9:27]Yes, Logan there's a piece of Logan everyone can relate to and like you're feeling like picked on or you're in a new place
[9:33]And you're just you're trying to play it off
[9:35]But like how do you do that? I just feel like there's something for everybody no matter who they are or what
[9:41]Stage of life that there's that there's just so much relatability in this and I of course like
[9:46]The beginning like wanted to see like okay is grant really so great like what's like what's beneath the cool exterior here
[9:53]Like is he really like the JFK junior type that I had him in my head, you know
[9:57]So where did you cut? Where did you get this hole?
[10:00]Well, sort of, I can't really call it a love triangle,
[10:02]but you know, all of the plot and the love piece
[10:06]and even the cheating, like the cheating friend,
[10:09]that was another thing, do you tell?
[10:10]Do you not tell?
[10:11]Oh my gosh, there's so much.
[10:12]No, I know.
[10:13]It's funny because like, it's so,
[10:15]like when you do the log line,
[10:17]it's just like the love triangle, right?
[10:18]But there are kind of like a lot of different threads
[10:20]that he's navigating.
[10:22]So that was a really important part to me
[10:24]is I wanted it to feel very much
[10:25]like the all-consuming things when you're a teenager,
[10:28]that when you're 17, it's like the end of the world,
[10:31]but like in two years Harry's not gonna remember
[10:32]like any of this stuff, which is,
[10:35]I really wanted that to be part of it.
[10:36]Like I really wanted it to feel like
[10:39]why, like at some points like,
[10:41]why are you so stressed about this?
[10:42]Because that's just how we are over teenagers, you know?
[10:44]And so that was all very conscious.
[10:47]And I think the love triangle or just kind of,
[10:49]the premise was very much, you know,
[10:52]kind of getting over that first love
[10:55]and like not being sure if that first love,
[10:57]maybe you guys were meant to be
[10:58]and maybe like you came back to each other
[11:00]or maybe you weren't.
[11:00]And like all of those questions that you just have
[11:02]that there's no right answer for
[11:03]and you just have to figure out, you know?
[11:05]And I liked the idea of like a falling out of love falling
[11:09]in love kind of juxtaposition and a story.
[11:12]So that was kind of just where, I don't know,
[11:15]it came from.
[11:17]Well, I'm interested to hear your process of writing this
[11:20]because in reading it, it feels like effortless.
[11:22]Like it just must have come right out
[11:24]because it's so like the tone is conversational
[11:27]in the best possible way.
[11:28]I mean, that is the highest compliment.
[11:29]And just so fun.
[11:31]Like it felt very escapist and, you know,
[11:34]your whole branding of the book too.
[11:36]I feel like, please really well into that.
[11:38]But what was it like writing it?
[11:40]Did it just come out of you like that?
[11:42]Did it, like what was it like?
[11:44]Yeah, no, well, thank you.
[11:45]It's easy to write, like it's easy to draft.
[11:48]The YA rom-coms I just like feel like I love getting
[11:51]into that voice of that main character
[11:52]and just going with it, you know?
[11:54]And I'm in my life, I'm very much a plotter,
[11:57]but when I'm writing, I'm kind of more of like that pencil.
[12:00]Like I just want to get in their head
[12:01]and like see where the story goes.
[12:03]Obviously the more like of a professional endeavor
[12:06]this becomes the less you can do that.
[12:08]I don't know, I don't know.
[12:10]As you like, so as I sell books,
[12:13]like I've sold two additional books
[12:14]and those we kind of sell on a synopsis
[12:16]so like we have to plan those out, you know?
[12:18]But like with if you change your mind,
[12:20]I was able to literally like pants the first two drafts
[12:23]and then by the time I had really revised it,
[12:26]that's when I got an agent and that's when I sold it.
[12:27]So I was really able to really be like super just
[12:31]in Harry's brain, like what's gonna happen?
[12:34]We're gonna see how we feel about this thing.
[12:36]But the process is, I mean, it's really all about
[12:38]characters for me.
[12:39]And it sometimes is a little bit of a struggle
[12:41]because like, you know, everyone has weaknesses
[12:44]and my weakness sometimes is plot.
[12:45]Like it's like, okay, everybody can't just be happy
[12:48]and everybody can't just fall in love and get along
[12:50]and, you know, hang on on the beach
[12:51]because that's not a compelling story.
[12:54]So yeah, and I think also one thing that's interesting
[12:56]is I know like a lot of writers can write like out of order
[13:00]or write, you know, like, kakasin and just like write it,
[13:02]I cannot do that because I have to like know
[13:05]how exactly is Harry feeling in this scene
[13:08]because of everything that happened before.
[13:10]So that's really important to me too.
[13:12]Yeah, I feel like that's hot.
[13:14]I don't know how that seems incredibly hard to do.
[13:17]Yeah, I mean, maybe if it's third person,
[13:19]I don't know if it'd be easier.
[13:20]Like I can't imagine writing starts person
[13:23]and like being like, you know, because the smallest thing
[13:26]someone said in the previous chapter
[13:28]could just change everything in their brain.
[13:30]So I don't know.
[13:31]Yeah, unless it's like a full-on-time travel.
[13:34]Yeah, exactly.
[13:35]Then you can get it a little bit.
[13:36]And you can do it.
[13:37]Then you can get it, yeah.
[13:38]Can you take me back to like where you grew up?
[13:40]Like who you are as a person
[13:42]and how you got into this whole thing
[13:43]and when the books to Gramming started
[13:45]and when your whole writing career, like just tell me
[13:47]the whole story.
[13:48]And say you're at Rob, wait, hold on.
[13:50]Robby reads at Robby reads R-O-B-B-Y-R-E-A-D-S.
[13:54]So anyone listening, go check that out
[13:56]because I am such a fan of this book's
[13:58]to Gram page and like, oh my gosh.
[14:01]Anyway, okay.
[14:02]No, thank you, thank you.
[14:03]Yeah, so I grew up in Florida.
[14:05]You know, grew up at the beach.
[14:06]It's why I basically, all my books are like beach books
[14:08]and I studied y'all.
[14:10]Where in Florida?
[14:12]Jacksonville.
[14:13]Okay. Yeah, so Northeast Florida.
[14:15]So like Jacksonville Beach Atlantic Beach
[14:17]was where I grew up and went to the high school
[14:19]and all that and I studied PR
[14:21]and I always like wanted to work in fashion PR.
[14:26]So I did that in New York and then I ended up moving home
[14:29]because I like for plenty of reasons,
[14:31]like it's expensive.
[14:32]It's whatever, but also because once it got cold,
[14:35]Florida boy, I was like, I don't think I can actually,
[14:38]I'm not gonna work.
[14:39]I should talk to my husband who grew up in Florida
[14:41]who's just like, you know, you don't have to do this
[14:43]with the weather.
[14:44]Yeah, I'm like, I can't work.
[14:45]I have to make it through.
[14:46]There are options here.
[14:47]Exactly. Exactly.
[14:49]Yeah, so when I moved home, I actually,
[14:51]like I've always written stories like in middle school
[14:54]and high school and middle school I feel like was when I first
[14:57]wrote like a novel, like a over 50 something thousand words,
[15:01]you know, when I kind of always kept doing that.
[15:03]And then I remember I wrote one when I was in New York
[15:05]and then when I got home, I was like,
[15:07]I don't know what I'm gonna do with my life
[15:09]because I don't wanna work in fashion,
[15:11]but I know I love writing
[15:13]and I actually was inspired to write Harry's story at first
[15:17]where he was like 21 and trying to figure out his life.
[15:20]So Adam Silvera actually gave me some really great advice
[15:24]to kind of make it why I just based on the market
[15:26]at the time and based on like the voice
[15:28]and the actual story I wanted to tell.
[15:30]So I was writing that and then at the same time,
[15:33]I realized like nobody cared on my Instagram
[15:35]when I posted pictures of books.
[15:36]Like, you know, love my friends and family,
[15:38]but they're not like engaging on it
[15:40]and being like, oh my God, I love this book too.
[15:42]And I had like, you know, I love interior design
[15:45]and I love like trying to, you know, find a aesthetic
[15:49]and all that stuff.
[15:50]So I just started taking pictures of like my bookshelves
[15:51]and made a little Instagram account
[15:53]and it just became like this whole thing
[15:56]and it's just been amazing ever since.
[15:57]It's been a great platform to kind of market my books
[16:01]and to, you know, reach readers and other authors.
[16:04]That's been really amazing too
[16:05]is like to have friends and the industry before
[16:07]I'm even starting out.
[16:08]So yeah.
[16:10]So cool. So when did that start?
[16:12]That was summer of 2017, I think.
[16:15]Okay. Yeah.
[16:16]So it's been, and the book's the grand thing is like
[16:20]one of those where sometimes I'll have like a quarter life
[16:23]crisis where I'm like, what am I gonna do with this?
[16:25]Because it's like, it was so much of like
[16:28]a really personal creative outlet for so long.
[16:31]And then, you know, as you know,
[16:33]as you start to make something a little bit more professional
[16:35]or you start to market like products and things like that,
[16:38]you have to think about it a little bit differently.
[16:40]And so I'm trying to kind of figure out how to keep it fun
[16:43]and keep it like engaging.
[16:44]But also, you know, I'm getting older
[16:46]and I want to keep certain things private.
[16:47]And like it's just very, it's an interesting thing
[16:49]to navigate, but it's been a lot of fun.
[16:52]How old are you?
[16:52]Can I ask my laptop?
[16:53]Yeah, no, I'm 27.
[16:54]So I mean, I say I'm getting older,
[16:56]but like when you're 22 and you start something
[16:58]versus like you get, you know, I don't know.
[17:00]I feel like these years, you start to quickly like
[17:02]find yourself in who you are and what's important
[17:05]to you and all that stuff.
[17:05]So that's a big difference
[17:07]about thinking about me being 22.
[17:09]Honestly, do not think I could have lived my life
[17:12]with so much flux all the time on Instagram
[17:15]the way everybody does.
[17:16]All the young people now, not that I'm so old.
[17:18]No, it's well though.
[17:19]Even like I feel like my life,
[17:21]until my life was fully set, so to speak,
[17:25]again, the second time, I guess.
[17:27]I don't know, I mean, I can't even imagine
[17:29]going through some of the stuff I went through.
[17:30]And even if I'd gone through my divorce
[17:33]while I was on Instagram, which I wasn't,
[17:34]like how would I have even handled that?
[17:36]So anyway, it is, it is crazy.
[17:37]It's kind of expect, I think, I mean, it's too sighted,
[17:41]but like people kind of expect certain access
[17:43]to certain things about you.
[17:45]And like, you know, because they feel like your friends
[17:47]and in a lot of cases, maybe you are
[17:49]and you have a community, but it's also like,
[17:51]how do you determine what the boundaries are?
[17:53]And yeah, it's very interesting.
[17:56]Yeah.
[17:57]So what do you wanna do?
[17:58]So you have this book, obviously, which is fantastic.
[18:02]And by the way, I guess I don't even,
[18:04]the YA distinction for me is so murky
[18:07]because it's just as much a book for grown-ups
[18:12]as it is, just because it has a teenage character.
[18:16]I mean, like Jennifer Weiner's books have teenage characters.
[18:19]They're not YA.
[18:20]Like what makes something YA?
[18:21]I wouldn't even necessarily put this in a YA,
[18:24]because it's also so clever.
[18:26]And there's so many like references to older things,
[18:28]which I don't know, you know?
[18:29]I know that it's hit or miss if that goes over.
[18:33]Oh, I got it.
[18:34]Well, no, I think like the teens,
[18:36]I think a lot of times they're like,
[18:37]what is Casablanca as well?
[18:39]Oh, we gotta hit that in schools or something.
[18:42]Yeah, exactly.
[18:43]Pop culture class.
[18:44]I don't know.
[18:45]I think it might be like content.
[18:46]I don't know.
[18:47]I mean, there's not like sex.
[18:49]I mean, there is swearing, but it's not like,
[18:51]I think there's only like one F bomb in the whole,
[18:53]like things like that, I think start to become factors.
[18:55]And if it's, you know, young adult or if it's adult,
[18:58]I think it's like if it, if there were a lot more mature themes,
[19:02]I think then it would start to push them to there,
[19:05]but okay, all right, fine, whatever.
[19:08]Okay.
[19:09]What is your, you have another book coming out
[19:10]in summer of 23?
[19:11]What is that about?
[19:12]And what's that called?
[19:13]And all that stuff.
[19:14]So that is called, I like me better.
[19:15]I'm actually finishing up edits for that now.
[19:17]It is about another 17 year old named Zach who,
[19:21]so it's actually in the same town.
[19:23]It's like the year younger than Harry.
[19:25]So it's kind of like we're going to the next generation
[19:27]or not generation, I guess, but like, yeah, the next class.
[19:30]So he's like the soccer star.
[19:32]He's the captain.
[19:34]He's homecoming prince.
[19:35]He is, you know, ready to have a really fun summer,
[19:37]but he ends up getting in some trouble
[19:39]and gets community service at the Marine Institute,
[19:43]which is like a conservation center and aquarium
[19:46]at the beach and he kind of has to navigate a summer.
[19:49]He did not expect.
[19:50]And there's a poor, secure boy who, you know,
[19:53]is kind of different because he doesn't really
[19:56]give Zach the like your popular.
[19:57]I'm going to give you the time of day treatment
[19:59]that he's used to.
[20:00]So it's just kind of all about the summer of things
[20:03]that are, you know, unexpected.
[20:05]Very cool.
[20:06]And what's after that?
[20:08]After that is summer, so what are we at with 23?
[20:11]So 24, God I can't believe we're talking about 24.
[20:14]My next book is called What Is This Feeling,
[20:15]which is about, so the next class.
[20:18]And it is a teenage boy named Teddy
[20:20]who is going on his senior trip
[20:23]with the Theater Department to New York City.
[20:25]And they have like a scavenger hunt.
[20:26]He wants to meet his Broadway idol
[20:28]and he's going to share a room with his best friend.
[20:30]But at the last minute, she can't go.
[20:32]And he gets stuck rooming with this boy
[20:34]who's like a kind of a loner, kind of quiet.
[20:37]And yeah, you know what's going to happen from there?
[20:40]Awesome.
[20:42]It's great.
[20:43]So you're doing like Sweet Valley High for,
[20:45]I'm trying.
[20:46]For today.
[20:47]Did you read those books?
[20:48]Do you know what I'm talking about?
[20:49]Yeah, yeah.
[20:50]I'd love Sweet Valley High, yeah.
[20:52]I'm like the last of, because you seem
[20:53]like to be like a 45-year-old trapped in the bottom of 2017.
[20:57]I'd be.
[20:57]It's kind of a running joke.
[20:58]Sometimes I do think that, I think that like one thing is,
[21:04]like, and if you change your mind, Harry's so influenced
[21:07]by his mom, like there's a part where they talk about
[21:11]like favorite books and songs.
[21:12]And he loves when Harry met Sally, because his name's Harry.
[21:16]And he likes Cindy Lauper, because his mom and those
[21:18]are things that are very much pulled from my life.
[21:20]Like I think growing up with my mom with my best friend,
[21:22]a lot of things that I learned and appreciate
[21:26]are maybe from like when she was younger or, you know,
[21:30]passed on or whatever.
[21:31]So I think maybe I am in my 40s in my brain.
[21:33]How old is your mom?
[21:34]I feel like maybe you're mom.
[21:35]47, 47.
[21:37]Yeah, she had me when she was young.
[21:38]So she was like, oh my gosh.
[21:39]When do you think, yeah.
[21:40]Is she in the writing world at all?
[21:41]No, she is not at all.
[21:43]I feel like she loves books, though.
[21:45]I got the book.
[21:46]You know, it might be friends.
[21:47]Yeah, yeah, you totally could be.
[21:49]I think 100%.
[21:50]I got my love reading for her for sure, but that's amazing.
[21:55]So where I know you said you're rethinking,
[21:58]you're not rethinking, but you know,
[21:59]pondering direction strategically of your whole thing
[22:02]with all these books coming out and everything.
[22:04]Like what are you trying to achieve that you've not achieved?
[22:07]Like where do you want to take this?
[22:08]Do you want to be like a brand yourself
[22:11]and like recommending books?
[22:12]Like are you involved, by the way, with Reese's Book Club at all?
[22:15]Or do you just like a huge fan?
[22:16]Because I know that's all over.
[22:17]Yeah, I was just like a huge, I think I've just been
[22:20]like a fan for so long that now they like are so nice
[22:23]and more like send me their PR packages or like send me things
[22:26]or include me in like helping to push things out,
[22:29]which is really fun because it's like my favorite.
[22:31]That actually, I think Reese's Book Club
[22:33]kind of revitalized like my love for Robbie Reeds
[22:36]when it was kind of like, you know,
[22:37]what do I want to do with this?
[22:38]It's kind of became like, this is a really fun,
[22:40]new community to be part of.
[22:42]But yeah, no, I'm not part of it already.
[22:45]I wish.
[22:48]Okay, so what about like film stuff?
[22:51]There's all this screenwriting
[22:52]and you interspersed all the chapters
[22:53]with actually a screenplay, which is cool.
[22:55]So I'm like, wow, he's actually running a screenplay
[22:57]and putting it in this book at the same time,
[22:59]which is actually like two and one.
[23:00]If you were thinking about it, are you interested in doing that?
[23:03]Is this gonna be a movie?
[23:04]Did I miss some news?
[23:05]And you actually are already making this a movie?
[23:07]No, no, no news yet about a thing movie.
[23:10]I hope so, that would be great.
[23:11]Never know.
[23:12]But I do really want to get into screenwriting.
[23:15]I just got, he's called Final Draft.
[23:17]I'd like just downloaded the trial.
[23:19]I'm gonna, once I finish the edits,
[23:20]I'm gonna start playing around with it.
[23:22]The funny thing is like the screenplay
[23:23]and if you change your mind is met with some mixed reviews,
[23:26]which I totally knew what's gonna happen
[23:28]because I knew it's pretty like,
[23:30]you're either gonna like it or you're not.
[23:31]And one of the things that is funny to me is like people
[23:34]are like, this is like a certain by a teenager
[23:36]and it's actually like consciously
[23:38]yeah, not my best screenwriting
[23:40]because it's supposed to be Harry at 17, you know?
[23:42]So it's kind of funny because I do think some people
[23:44]probably are like, this guy does not know
[23:46]how to write a screenplay, which, but I mean,
[23:48]to be fair, I actually don't, but I do think
[23:52]like I have some stories and like some ideas
[23:54]in my head where I'm like, this is definitely not
[23:56]like a first person and this is definitely not a novel.
[23:58]Like I would love to write like a domestic thriller
[24:01]or like something like that.
[24:02]Like I would love, I mean, you know, I love book club books.
[24:04]So I would love to do that.
[24:05]I don't know if it'd be a book or screenplay or what,
[24:07]but yeah, I would love to get into screenwriting at some point
[24:10]or at least attempt it, you know, see what happens.
[24:13]And is, did the same publisher by all your books?
[24:15]Yes.
[24:16]Yes.
[24:18]No, it's in charge.
[24:19]So with Harper, I don't know if Berkeley's Harper
[24:22]or Penguin actually, or they might be even separate,
[24:25]but Berkeley is so I have written an adult rom-com
[24:29]and we're currently editing it.
[24:31]Breaking the news here first.
[24:32]But I mean, hopefully, hopefully that will sell
[24:34]and become something you never know.
[24:35]But yeah, I would love to, you know,
[24:38]start kind of getting into that space as well.
[24:40]Well, send it to Zippy Bex if you have,
[24:43]you're allowed to do that.
[24:44]And that's why I was sort of going,
[24:46]if you have like a non-exclusive or whatever, but.
[24:48]Yeah, yeah, definitely.
[24:49]We'll talk.
[24:51]Yeah, stay in touch.
[24:52]Yeah.
[24:53]I do think there's some, I don't know.
[24:55]I feel like there's some fun stuff we could do together.
[24:57]Yeah.
[24:58]You just love of books and color and yes.
[25:01]Yeah.
[25:02]Oh, I know I've been looking at your bookshelves
[25:03]and I'm like, not here, not so much.
[25:05]No, I love, I try to do the color coordinated,
[25:08]but I end up getting like, I get like stress
[25:10]because I'll add a book to it.
[25:11]And then I'm like, okay, I gotta redo everything.
[25:14]Maybe I need to stop getting so many books.
[25:16]My, so I'm not in my full-time house right now,
[25:19]I'm here for the summer, but every summer I stick more,
[25:21]so around, well, I'm pointing,
[25:23]but you can't really see, but around the corner
[25:24]is like this walk-in closet and there are no clothes.
[25:27]It is full on that.
[25:28]That's how my guest, that's how my guest closet is.
[25:31]Literally, I show people, I'm like, you're gonna die.
[25:32]Come look at this.
[25:33]And it's literally like my crafting chest
[25:36]or whatever you call it, like random stuff.
[25:37]And then books just piled up against them all.
[25:40]Yeah, I even gave away so many
[25:43]to a local library, like twice.
[25:45]And there's, it's still full.
[25:47]And now I'm like, well, I don't, I don't know.
[25:50]I don't know.
[25:51]Although I saw somewhere who was doing this,
[25:54]somebody was a Jewish book council
[25:57]because for their Jewish book awards,
[25:59]they get so many submissions.
[26:00]And I just saw it in together having like an open house
[26:02]from like three to six for anybody to like come
[26:04]and get books or something.
[26:05]They're like, please.
[26:06]Yeah, they're like, please just take my books
[26:08]and I was like, oh, that's interesting.
[26:09]I could do like, one of my libraries wouldn't take books.
[26:12]They're like, we have too many.
[26:12]And I was like, okay, I mean, I guess that's good.
[26:15]I don't know.
[26:15]Oh, I literally just like filled some tote bags.
[26:17]I'm just like, bye bye.
[26:19]Here you go.
[26:22]Have fun.
[26:23]Okay, so what advice do you have for aspiring authors?
[26:27]Okay, I have one thing that I always say
[26:30]so if anyone's listened to anything that I've ever done,
[26:32]they're like, okay, do you have anything else?
[26:33]But I think really like writing what's true to you
[26:37]just makes all the difference in the world.
[26:38]You know, like there were times when maybe other agents
[26:42]and other editors who I didn't end up working with
[26:46]maybe wanted to make it more of like a hooky novel.
[26:50]You know, like adding that kind of element,
[26:52]like I always reference things like
[26:54]who's the anonymous person on the other side of the email
[26:56]or like who's, you know, like those kinds of things
[26:59]where it's kind of an obvious like sell of a hook.
[27:02]And I kind of just always knew like that wasn't the story
[27:04]I wanted to tell like I wanted to be like a quiet
[27:06]character driven story.
[27:07]And I think that just like adding those elements
[27:11]of things that maybe aren't like you might not see them
[27:15]in the market or you might think that they would make
[27:17]your book less of a sale or things like that.
[27:19]If you stick to that, I think you end up
[27:21]with a more authentic and more true story
[27:24]when they're proud of.
[27:24]At the end of the day, like even if your book,
[27:28]I don't know if I haven't hit the New York Times
[27:29]bestseller list, but I would just assume
[27:30]even if your book hit the New York Times bestseller list
[27:32]but you didn't love it.
[27:33]Like I can't imagine that's a really as gratifying
[27:36]because it's like you were true to yourself
[27:38]your entire career and you were proud
[27:40]of all of the books that you put out, you know?
[27:41]So I think that's what I always just want to say.
[27:43]It's just like keep writing things that feel like you feel true
[27:46]and that you are proud of and like have your heart in.
[27:50]I need a team in that today, do you think you're Robbie?
[27:52]I will have to tell myself that like even with,
[27:55]I like me better.
[27:56]Like it's been really like fully rewritten
[27:59]I think two or three times at this point.
[28:01]And this iteration is the most like me
[28:06]version where it feels like it's like a Robbie Weber book.
[28:08]Like it feels like it's, you know,
[28:10]it's not like a companion if you change your mind
[28:12]but it's kind of like I know readers
[28:13]who liked that will like this.
[28:14]And I don't know.
[28:16]I think that it takes a minute sometimes to get there
[28:18]but it's also like along the way I was fighting things
[28:20]being like I need to make it like this
[28:22]so that the market likes it.
[28:23]And it's like at some point you've got to stop doing that
[28:25]because you know what you bring to the table
[28:28]that someone else can't or I mean maybe they can
[28:30]but you know what I mean.
[28:32]There's only one you, right?
[28:32]I know what you mean and I totally agree.
[28:34]And you know, not every writer can provide everything
[28:37]the market needs.
[28:38]I mean you have to know, you know,
[28:39]it's like Jay Crew.
[28:40]Now they're like making the weirdest stuff.
[28:42]And I'm like, well maybe you're appealing to more people
[28:44]but like you lost me.
[28:46]I know.
[28:46]I know.
[28:47]I'm always like God.
[28:48]Don't even get me started on Jay.
[28:49]Cause I love Jay Crew but I'm always like,
[28:51]okay, where's like the stuff I'm gonna like?
[28:53]Right.
[28:54]I used to only wear Jay Crew.
[28:55]Now I'm like, well, now what?
[28:56]You know, anyway.
[28:57]I'm wearing Jay Crew right now there you go.
[28:59]But it's like you have to like find the pieces
[29:00]like you're like, I don't know.
[29:02]I don't think I'm cool enough for this.
[29:04]Right?
[29:05]I know.
[29:06]I'm like, okay, I'm a member.
[29:08]But that's what happens when you deviate from like your brand
[29:10]and your core audience and you try something new,
[29:13]you'll get new people but then you'll hurt people's feelings.
[29:16]It's actually like our loyal and come to you for you
[29:18]or come to what your brand was supposed to represent.
[29:20]So it's always a risk.
[29:21]But then again, you have to innovate.
[29:23]But you know, I think you need to bring your.
[29:26]I feel like you follow your gut.
[29:28]Like I don't know.
[29:28]I've shared some to you innovate, right?
[29:30]And it's like you kind of know like you're like,
[29:32]this is like, this is right.
[29:33]Or there's sometimes we're like,
[29:35]and I'm not even saying like don't,
[29:36]if you know, if you're scared of something, don't do it.
[29:38]But more like, if your gut is like,
[29:39]this just doesn't feel like it's right.
[29:41]That's a different story.
[29:42]You know?
[29:43]I wrote a prose poem.
[29:44]I was like, I should not be doing this.
[29:45]Anyway, all right, Robby, thank you so much.
[29:48]This is so fun.
[29:49]Can we please stay in touch?
[29:50]I feel like there's so much cool stuff we could do together.
[29:52]Oh my gosh, yes.
[29:52]Please.
[29:53]This has been so much fun.
[29:54]It's been so great.
[29:55]Thank you so much.
[29:56]Okay, bye.
[29:57]Bye.
[29:59]Thanks for listening.
[30:00]This episode of Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books.
[30:02]Don't forget to follow me on Instagram,
[30:04]at Zebi Owens, and at Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books.
[30:07]Also sign up for my newsletter at zebiowens.com
[30:10]and sign up for my virtual book club
[30:12]and meet lots of authors on Zoom every other week.
[30:14]Thanks so much to Steve and Ryan
[30:16]in fact, Texture Sound for the Sound Editing.
[30:18]And thank you to Morning Moon Productions
[30:20]for providing this fantastic intro and out trim music.