NYT Bestseller Kristy Woodson Harvey Live from Zibby's Bookshop!
[0:00]I'm so glad to be on the West Coast.
[0:02]And big thanks to Jonathan.
[0:04]He's my manager over here.
[0:05]He got me out here for other things.
[0:06]And so this worked out really well that we were able to come here tonight and see y'all.
[0:11]I've been dying to come to Zibby's Books.
[0:13]I've been seeing it online forever.
[0:14]And I'm just so thrilled to be here.
[0:16]It's so beautiful.
[0:17]It's such a perfect little corner of the world.
[0:19]So I'm thrilled to be here.
[0:21]To launch, on the launch, this is actually the three-week anniversary of Falling for a Peachtree Bluff.
[0:27]It's been on a very long time.
[0:29]And this is my 14th novel, which just blows my mind.
[0:35]I did not ever really even imagine doing this.
[0:38]I actually grew up thinking I wanted to be a doctor, which I don't know if you can have a job that's the opposite of something, but I think probably
[0:44]being a doctor is the opposite of being a writer, if you can be the opposite.
[0:47]But I am a very type A sort of person, and so I was 12 years old, and I went to the hospital.
[0:54]I was like, I want to be a doctor.
[0:55]Can I come work at the hospital?
[0:57]And they were like...
[0:58]No, you are 12 years old.
[0:59]You cannot come work at the hospital.
[1:01]So I found a radiologist who let me intern with him.
[1:04]And I went in to his office, and he had a film up on the screen.
[1:08]And he said, can you diagnose this patient for me?
[1:11]And I was panicking because, again, I like to be prepared and studied.
[1:17]And I was like, it looks like he swallowed one of those little toy soldiers.
[1:23]And he was like, you're right.
[1:24]He swallowed one of those little toy soldiers.
[1:25]You're going to be really good at this.
[1:26]And I was like, this is This is supposed to be hard.
[1:29]This isn't hard.
[1:30]Anybody can do this.
[1:31]It's so easy.
[1:33]So I kept going through high school.
[1:36]I went to UNC Chapel Hill, knew I was going to do that.
[1:39]I thought I was going to be a biology major.
[1:42]And hi.
[1:44]Come on in.
[1:45]No, don't be sorry.
[1:46]Come in.
[1:47]No, we're just being very casual over here.
[1:51]Yeah, come sit right here.
[2:00]Anyway, sorry, that probably made her feel really awkward.
[2:02]I shouldn't have done that.
[2:04]But thought I was going to major in biology at UNC and got an internship in my local newspaper, the Salisbury Post in I'm in Ellsbury, North Carolina, my senior year of high school.
[2:15]And the first day of that internship, they sent me out on a story, and I was so excited, because I was like, oh my gosh, I'm going to have a real byline and a real newspaper.
[2:24]And they said, you're going to go out and cover a giant squash that looks like Elvis Presley.
[2:30]And I was like, how does one write an article about a squash that looks like Elvis Presley?
[2:34]And when I tell these stories outside the South, people are like, you're making that up.
[2:37]And I'm like, no, it's true.
[2:37]And you can Google it.
[2:38]It exists on Google.
[2:40]In fact, my mom has all my old stories laminated.
[2:42]And we were going through them.
[2:43]And I was like, oh my gosh, the squash.
[2:46]But I got inside the Garden Games series that year and I wrote about a 12-foot tall sunflower and a jar of pickled asparagus that had a film on it that looked like Jesus' face and just some really hard-hitting journalistic things.
[2:59]But they also gave me a column and I got to talk about whatever I wanted to and it was so exciting.
[3:04]For me to get to really kind of find my voice and share my stories in this
[3:08]brand new way.
[3:09]So much so that it really ended up changing my life.
[3:11]So I went home one night, we're having, we're sitting around our family dinner table and I was like, mom, dad, I have decided that I am not going to go, I'm not going to major in biology.
[3:21]I am going to major in journalism.
[3:24]And my mom was like, that's so great.
[3:25]You've always loved to read.
[3:26]You've always loved to write.
[3:27]This is the perfect path for you.
[3:29]And my dad was like, have you lost your mind?
[3:33]This is a terrible idea.
[3:35]And magazines were shutting down and newspapers were closing.
[3:37]This was like 2003.
[3:38]And we couldn't even imagine that we would be reading on our phones.
[3:42]The future was very uncertain.
[3:45]But I went to journalism school.
[3:47]Absolutely loved it, but probably had enough.
[3:50]I mean, I had learned enough in those four years that I thought, maybe my dad's right.
[3:53]Maybe I need a backup plan.
[3:55]So I went to go talk to professors of mine and said, what do you think I should do?
[3:59]And pretty much across the board, they were like, you should go to law school.
[4:02]I really loved media law.
[4:03]It's like the dreaded class.
[4:04]Everyone hates it.
[4:05]And I loved it.
[4:06]So this is perfect for you.
[4:07]And I was like, yes, law school.
[4:09]I love to argue.
[4:10]And I have seen Legally Blonde more than anyone that you know.
[4:13]This is going to be the perfect path for me.
[4:16]So I'm studying for the LSAT, getting my letters of recommendation, doing all the things to get ready for law school.
[4:22]And I'm reading the New York Times one morning, and I come across this article about this new program that is the second one in the country.
[4:29]It's starting in North Carolina.
[4:31]And I go home, and I'm like, Mom and Dad, I have decided that I'm not going to go to law school.
[4:36]I have found something new that I want to do.
[4:38]And they're like, great.
[4:40]And I was like, I'm going to get a master's in multicultural and transnational literature.
[4:46]And my mom was like, great, you're really going to love that.
[4:49]That sounds fantastic.
[4:50]And my dad was like, that's not a job.
[4:53]There's no job for a master's in
[4:55]multicultural and transnational literature.
[4:58]I'm not sure what you're going to do with that.
[5:01]But I did.
[5:02]I went and got the master's.
[5:03]I graduated.
[5:06]Moved to a little Eastern North Carolina town and realized that my dad was right.
[5:10]I could not get a job.
[5:11]I was super qualified for a job in New York or maybe LA.
[5:15]I was not qualified for really anything anywhere else in the country.
[5:19]So I went out and just started looking.
[5:22]I was like, I just need a 401k and like health insurance.
[5:24]So I'll just started interviewing for jobs.
[5:27]And I got a really good job offer in finance.
[5:30]The only thing I ever hated in school was math.
[5:32]So that's irony there for you.
[5:35]And it was 2008, which some of you might remember.
[5:39]Not a good time in the economy.
[5:40]So you would have to be 22 to be like, I'm going to take a job in finance.
[5:45]But you know what?
[5:46]I think I was just dumb enough that I just said yes.
[5:49]And I was like, this will be great.
[5:50]And oh my gosh, y'all.
[5:52]This is like a side note, but I have to tell you all this because this is one of those things that you just cannot even make up.
[5:57]So we did this thing.
[5:58]We've done it a few times, but we did it
[6:00]last week or Two weekends ago, where the town of Beaufort, North Carolina, where I live, is Peachtree Bluff.
[6:05]It's like the inspiration for it.
[6:07]And so we take over the town.
[6:09]And everywhere in the town has this sign.
[6:11]And there are bus tours and dinners and luncheons.
[6:13]And everybody has a menu and a drink.
[6:15]And it's like a whole production.
[6:16]The whole town gets involved.
[6:17]And it's so fun.
[6:18]So I'm telling this story about working in finance.
[6:20]And I'm like, yeah, I've been to six years of college.
[6:22]And the Series 7 is the only test I ever cried in.
[6:25]It was like, I was awful.
[6:26]And this sweet little woman comes up to me after.
[6:27]And she was like, I write the questions for the Series 7 exam.
[6:31]And I was like, you need to leave.
[6:32]You need to leave.
[6:33]This is the worst test I've ever taken.
[6:35]But I learned so much in that job.
[6:37]I really loved it.
[6:37]It was basically a sales job.
[6:40]And sales is a really good experience for everyone, I think.
[6:43]You learn a lot about rejection.
[6:44]You learn a lot about you've got to have some no's before you get to the yeses and all of
[6:48]those things.
[6:50]And I really kind of thought This is probably something I'm
[6:53]going to do for a career.
[6:55]I really think this is something I'm going to do for a long, long time.
[6:58]So I was driving around North Carolina and calling on clients.
[7:01]And I had a lot of solo time in the car.
[7:04]And I started getting all of these story ideas.
[7:06]And I knew from my creative
[7:07]writing classes that they were longer than a short story.
[7:10]And there was this one idea that just would not let me go.
[7:13]So I thought, OK, I am going to just see if I can write a novel.
[7:18]I don't know if I can write a novel.
[7:20]Read a lot of them, but I have no idea.
[7:23]So I wasn't thinking I want to get published or I want to be an author.
[7:26]I was thinking like, wow, it would be really cool if one day I could look back on my life and tell my grandkids that I wrote a book one time.
[7:31]That was it.
[7:32]That was as far as I had gotten.
[7:33]So I sat down and I started writing, and I just fell in love with the way that the characters came to life on the page and the way that they would take over in these ways that I couldn't have imagined.
[7:42]And it was just really special.
[7:45]So I finished a manuscript, and I think this is
[7:47]normal because this still happens to me, and I think it happens to, I'll ask the writers over here, but I think it happens to all of us, where you're writing something, and you're almost finished, and you have this new idea, and it's the best idea you've ever had in your whole life, and it's so much better than your old idea, and your old idea is so terrible, and you just are so excited to get to this new project.
[8:05]So that happened to me several times.
[8:07]And so finally, by the time I finished my third manuscript, my husband was like, Are you going to try to get published?
[8:13]Or are you just going to keep doing this?
[8:14]And I was like, you know, it's such a fun hobby for me right now.
[8:20]And I really enjoy it.
[8:21]And it's this thing I do for myself.
[8:23]And if I try to get published, there's going to be a lot of Rejection, and it's going to be really hard.
[8:29]And he was like, honey, no offense, but you sell life insurance?
[8:32]You can handle people telling you no.
[8:34]And I was like, okay.
[8:35]So that gave me the little push I needed, and I started submitting to literary agents and was very fortunate to sign with one.
[8:41]It felt like it took forever at the time, and now looking back, I'm like, oh, that was pretty quick.
[8:46]But I think life is like that, especially when you're young.
[8:48]Everything feels long.
[8:51]And I...
[8:53]It was just very green.
[8:55]I didn't know anything about this business.
[8:56]I didn't know anything about,
[8:58]I mean, really anything.
[8:59]I didn't know any authors.
[9:00]I just didn't know anyone in this world at all.
[9:06]I submitted this novel to him, and he was over here trying to sell it,
[9:09]and I finished something else, and I submitted it to a writing contest, just like a little writing contest in Tampa, Florida.
[9:15]It was nothing huge, but I thought this will be a good way for me to get some feedback on my work from some real writers, and I ended up winning this contest, and there was an editor at Penguin Random House that was the final round judge, and she bought my debut novel out of this contest.
[9:28]So it's very exciting and very magical, and so I had this first book coming out, and I went to go do my first publicity and marketing meeting, and I was so excited about all the things that were happening.
[9:41]They're telling me what they're going to do, and I'm like, what about my tour?
[9:44]And they were like, well, we're not sending you on tour.
[9:48]And I was like, no, no, but I really want to go on book tour.
[9:50]And they were like, okay, well, we don't really have a budget for a book tour, but we'll give you $1,000.
[9:55]And I was like, yes, this is awesome, $1,000, which...
[9:59]It's not a lot of money to go on a book tour.
[10:02]So my husband and my parents and I sat down and we were making all these lists of people that we knew like everywhere in the country that would, you know, let me stay at their house, but then also make their friends come to my book signings.
[10:13]Like my cousin wrote a book.
[10:15]I was like, remember when I wrote your college essay and I wrote your resume and I did your cover letter.
[10:20]This is all coming back around now, you know.
[10:24]And so we thought, okay, well, this is going to be great.
[10:27]We put together this, like, three-week book tour, which still kind of blows my mind.
[10:31]And at the time, I have a three-year-old son.
[10:33]And I, of course, know intellectually that I'm leaving him,
[10:36]and I've planned for it meticulously, but we get to about two weeks before the tour.
[10:42]And I call my mom one day, and I'm like, I can't go.
[10:46]And she was like, well, you made a real big deal about it, so you're going to have to go.
[10:52]So my mom and my dad and my three-year-old son and I packed up and
[10:57]all went on book tour for three weeks.
[11:00]And I guess it went really well and we had so much fun because we get home and I'm like, guys, let's do this again next year for the next book.
[11:07]This is going to be so fantastic.
[11:10]So the next book is about to come out on like maybe April 20th.
[11:13]I've turned in another book called Feels Like Falling and I'm not even really worried about it.
[11:17]I'm like, you know, the first book did pretty well and I think they're really, this manuscript feels really on brand and this is going to be good.
[11:24]And I get a call like maybe a week before I'm leaving for this book tour that the publishing house does not want the book and that they want me to write something darker.
[11:35]And I know what this means because a lot of people
[11:39]don't ever get a third book.
[11:40]This happens often.
[11:42]And so I'm like, okay, well, this is it.
[11:44]My career is over and I'm never going to write again.
[11:46]And that's all she wrote.
[11:48]And I got to write these two books and that was great.
[11:52]And my agent was like, it's not over.
[11:54]We're going to submit other places.
[11:57]And I'm like, yeah, but I mean, I know what this means.
[11:59]I know what this means.
[12:00]So I go out on this book tour and...
[12:04]I'm trying to really savor it because I'm like, this is it.
[12:06]I'm never going to get to do this again.
[12:08]This is my last time.
[12:09]And I've loved this so much, and it's been such a great experience.
[12:12]And then, of course, everywhere you go, the first thing people ask you is, what's coming next?
[12:16]What's coming next?
[12:17]And so I have to be real quick.
[12:18]I'm like, oh, it's a secret.
[12:20]You know, the secret being my career is over, and I'm never going to write
[12:24]anything else ever again.
[12:26]But so I'm on this tour, and I get this email from an editor whose name I recognize because he In the weirdest turn of events, she kind of had made a name for herself publishing Sex and the City, and I wrote my master's thesis on Jane Austen and Sex and the City, so I knew who she was from that.
[12:45]And she reached out to me and said, I really like your book Feels Like Falling, and I'd like to talk to you about it, but I think you should write a series.
[12:52]And so I called my agent, and I was panicking.
[12:54]And I was like, oh my gosh, I'm going to have to have a real phone call with her.
[12:57]What do I say?
[12:57]And he said, it doesn't matter what you say.
[12:59]Just talk to her and be nice.
[13:00]But whatever you do, don't pitch her the idea for the series.
[13:04]I'm like, I don't have an idea for a series.
[13:06]So I can't pitch her an idea for a series.
[13:08]So that's completely fine.
[13:09]So she calls me the next day and, you know, we hit it off over the whole sex in the city thing.
[13:15]And she's from Florida, which is like arguably the South, depending on who you ask.
[13:21]And we kind of got to talk about that for a while.
[13:23]But she was really lovely.
[13:25]And I'm like, okay, this has been a great conversation.
[13:26]I'm going to wrap it up.
[13:28]And before I can do that, she says, I love the way you write about sisters.
[13:33]And I say, that is so great.
[13:34]I want to write a series about sisters, which is not much to say, right?
[13:38]That's just a little thing.
[13:39]I can still backtrack.
[13:40]And she says, well, tell me more about that.
[13:43]And I don't know, I guess because I'm just a people pleaser or maybe sometimes this is just how fate works.
[13:49]I don't know.
[13:50]But I hear myself saying, as if from like outside of my, like I still remember it.
[13:54]I'm like, what are you doing?
[13:55]Stop talking.
[13:56]But I'm like, I want to write a series about three grand sisters
[14:00]who come back home to live with their mother for a summer.
[14:03]And she says, well, that sounds like chaos.
[14:04]Tell me about the mother.
[14:05]And that's when I start panicking because I'm like, oh, my God.
[14:07]Like, I don't know.
[14:08]I have no idea.
[14:09]So my mom and I have written a design blog for
[14:11]13 years now.
[14:13]But at the time, we had written it for however many, I don't know, six or seven.
[14:17]And so I'm like, she's a decorator because I know I can write a character who's a decorator.
[14:21]I write about decorators every day.
[14:23]And then I'm going through this like laundry list in my head.
[14:25]I need a secret.
[14:26]I need a love story.
[14:28]Let's give mom a great love story.
[14:30]So I said that the same time all these sisters come back, a man from the mother's past comes back and he has a big secret.
[14:37]So she asked me the next logical question.
[14:39]What's the secret?
[14:40]And I don't know the secret because I'm making this up.
[14:44]So a few months earlier, the strangest thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life had happened to me where a woman who I...
[14:53]What she vaguely knew was having
[14:56]people come tell her goodbye.
[14:59]She wasn't dying or anything, but she was older, and she was like, I want to have an audience with people before the end of my life.
[15:06]And I was like, okay, this is bizarre, and I love it, and I'm totally here for it.
[15:10]But she calls me, and I'm very honored, because it's a small town, so you want to be asked, but also we don't really know each other, so I can't think of any reason why she would be calling me.
[15:20]So she calls me, and I go up to her room, and I have this whole audience with her, and she says, I brought you here today because I want to tell you a story.
[15:28]And she's like, I'm the last living person that knows this secret, and I think you should write a book about it.
[15:34]Yes.
[15:34]And I'm not going to tell y'all what it is.
[15:35]Because if you don't know anything about this series and you've never read any of the books, I don't want to just totally ruin it for you.
[15:39]But if you've read any of them or you do, the secret at the core of this story is the story that she told me that day.
[15:45]So in that moment when this editor says, what's the secret?
[15:49]It's the only secret I can think of.
[15:51]So I pile out with it.
[15:53]So I hang up the phone being like,
[15:54]I've blown it.
[15:55]Like I had this one chance where I could have like really done something amazing.
[15:59]I could have written her this gorgeous proposal.
[16:01]I could have done all these things.
[16:02]And I just, I blew it.
[16:04]Like why would I have done this?
[16:06]So a couple days passed, and we had decided, I mean, she said, you know, write me a proposal when you get home.
[16:11]I know you're on tour.
[16:12]I know things are crazy.
[16:13]I'm not in any hurry, blah, blah, blah.
[16:15]So three days later, I'm on tour still, and I'm in this little town, little beach town in South Carolina where I grew up going, and it was really fun.
[16:24]It was my biggest speaking engagement I'd ever done.
[16:26]I'm so excited.
[16:28]And this woman came up to me after and said, I'm so excited that I got to hear your story today because I feel like it's about to change so much.
[16:34]And I remember, I'm kind of woo-woo, but I remember having this feeling when she said that to me, like, oh, that's really weird that she said that.
[16:40]So I leave that event and I am pumping gas at the gas station on the side of the highway.
[16:46]And my agent called me and was like, I don't know what you said on that phone call, but you just got a series deal from Simon & Schuster.
[16:54]And I was like, oh my God.
[16:56]And I thought about that woman because I was like, my life changed at
[16:59]the gas station on the side of the highway.
[17:01]Like I wish it was somewhere slightly more glamorous, but we take these moments where we can
[17:05]get them, right?
[17:06]And so it was just a really kind of auspicious beginning to this Peachtree Bluff series.
[17:12]I pitched it as three novels.
[17:14]I always thought it would be three novels.
[17:16]And then in 2020, readers started writing to me and saying, we're rereading the series.
[17:22]Would you please write more in the series?
[17:23]Would you please write more in the series?
[17:25]So I did something kind of sneaky because, I mean, it was partly for myself because I was trying to gauge, like, are there enough people that really
[17:33]want this that this will be worth my time?
[17:35]And so I went on Facebook and I just said, would anybody want to go back to Peachtree Bluff for Christmas?
[17:40]And it was the most popular post I
[17:41]had ever had.
[17:43]And I sent it to my editor and was like, what do you think about me writing a Christmas book set in Peachtree Bluff?
[17:48]And she said, well, I think you had better do that now that you've basically announced it on the internet.
[17:54]So I wrote Christmas in Peachtree Bluff.
[17:57]Felt very sort of nostalgic the whole time, thinking, this is going to be it, it'll be over, and I've loved this family so much, and wasn't it so fun to get to go back to them?
[18:06]And I got finished with that book, and I knew what happened next.
[18:08]And again, it's 2020, I've already written my next book, I've written this Peachtree Bluff book, and I'm like, I'm just going to keep writing, because I know what happens next.
[18:16]So I kept writing the story, and I never told anybody.
[18:19]I never told anybody at my publishing house,
[18:22]I just wrote the story for fun.
[18:24]And two years ago, I had a new editor that started working and she was going back through my backlist and she called me one day and said, you know, I was looking back
[18:33]and I really feel like this Peachtree Bluff series, like this is still kind of a thing.
[18:37]Would you write another book in this series?
[18:39]And I was like, Consider that.
[18:43]And I turned it in like three weeks later.
[18:44]And she was like, I really hope you had that written or you have not slept at all in three weeks.
[18:49]And I was like, no, no, I definitely had it written.
[18:51]So it was very exciting for this book to come out, for me to feel
[18:58]like I got to kind of revisit these characters in this new part of their life and go back to this family that I really loved so much.
[19:04]And I remember saying from the very beginning that I didn't care if people remember this family or this story, but I wanted Peachtree Bluff to kind of feel like a place where everybody belonged and a place where they could, you know, kind of come home to.
[19:15]And there was a producer that I was working with on this, and she always calls Peachtree Bluff my heart's hometown.
[19:21]And I feel like that's the absolute best way that I could possibly describe it, because it really is my heart's hometown.
[19:26]So whether this is your first visit or your fifth visit or your 25th visit
[19:31]to my heart's hometown, I hope this season finds you falling for Peachtree Bluff.
[19:36]Thank you so much.
[19:43]Do you have a question you want to talk about?
[19:46]Yes, ma'am.
[19:48]Well, so your process, the first time you wrote, did you just jump in?
[19:53]Or do you both like your stories from beginning to end and character?
[19:56]Like, what's your process?
[19:58]Seeing as you're so organized and stuff,
[20:00]So my process has changed a lot.
[20:03]So the thing about me is I am organized and I'm a disaster.
[20:07]So I have both sides, which I think a lot of us do.
[20:10]There's some things that I am so like this and there's some things that are like, woo!
[20:14]But I always knew, so even in high school, when you'd have to do that thing where you would Write the topic sentence, and then you'd do the first paragraph, and then you'd do the outline, and then you'd write the essay.
[20:26]Well, I had to write the essay.
[20:27]And then I would go back and make up the outline because I couldn't, my brain didn't structurally organize in that fashion.
[20:34]I had to know where I was going to be able to figure out how to get there.
[20:39]So I read some books when I was first starting about things that you're supposed to do and things that you're not supposed to do.
[20:45]So all the things that I was reading were saying, absolutely, Only write in the third person if it's your first time novel and you can't get inside the character's head and all these things.
[20:57]So the first two manuscripts that I wrote, I followed every rule.
[21:00]I tried to outline and I tried to do all the things.
[21:04]And then I was like, this just isn't working.
[21:07]And so the very bizarre thing is my debut novel was actually written in second person, which I think everyone would universally agree
[21:16]you should never write.
[21:18]Ever do.
[21:20]And that one, I just, I had a
[21:22]brand new baby.
[21:23]I was writing in these like weird fits and starts in the middle of the night.
[21:26]And I would think about this story all the time.
[21:28]Like it was always going through my head.
[21:30]Like, you know, who are these characters and what are they doing and what are they conversing about?
[21:33]And so when I had these little snippets of time,
[21:38]I would just write whatever was the next part that I knew.
[21:42]And then at the end, I kind of went and put it all together.
[21:44]And I thought, I don't know why, but that somehow worked, and then it ended up being the first novel I sold.
[21:50]So I just think, you know, John Truby's having a small heart attack, I bet, right now.
[21:55]He's really king of craft over here and has really amazing books, but I'm sorry.
[22:01]I'm sorry, but this is just true.
[22:04]This is just true.
[22:07]But yeah, so it's a little crazy.
[22:09]So I've tried to get...
[22:11]A little more organized with my process but I don't think I've ever written a book from beginning to end.
[22:16]And in fact, so Beach House Rules was a book It came out a couple years ago.
[22:22]And I'd actually pitched and sold something else and then got this idea to write about a Momune in a small southern town and what would be, oh, we talked about, we talked about
[22:30]BTS rules earlier today.
[22:32]You know BTS rules, yeah.
[22:34]And I had a, and because I had sold something else, and this was the first thing I was writing for this editor, she said, well, can you write me 100 pages?
[22:41]Because I don't really get this.
[22:43]And I was like, oh, God, I'm going to have to write 100 straight pages.
[22:46]Like, how am I going to do this?
[22:47]But I did, so I wrote 100 pages.
[22:49]And then I wrote the end of the book and then I came back and wrote in the middle.
[22:52]But that was probably the most organized I've ever been.
[22:54]I mean, it always, it always ends up a completely different animal than it begins.
[23:00]So those first hundred pages are probably not even, you know, they probably don't even resemble what they did when I turned them into her.
[23:05]But it's a hot mess.
[23:07]And I don't know.
[23:08]And I wish it wasn't.
[23:09]Like, I really wish that I could do an outline and then stick with it and then It would save me so much time because I have to edit forever because none of the timelines are right and everything's like, oh, it was Tuesday and it's Tuesday again and it's only been two days, stuff like that.
[23:24]I've gotten a little bit better.
[23:26]I just finished a manuscript and I really worked on it.
[23:30]It was a little easier because
[23:32]it's a Christmas book.
[23:33]So everything was centered around holidays.
[23:36]So it was easier for me to keep the timeline straight.
[23:38]But I'm kind of patting myself on the back.
[23:40]I'm not saying it's right, but I labeled everything.
[23:43]What I thought it was as I was going along.
[23:45]So I think it will be, I'm like, 16 manuscripts in.
[23:50]Good for me.
[23:51]I wrote a date on the top of a page.
[23:53]I know.
[23:53]Well, yes, follow me for all of your organizing tips.
[23:57]Who, I'm curious,
[24:03]in your journey, is there someone that...
[24:07]Is the answer to this question going to be you?
[24:09]No.
[24:15]Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.
[24:17]But looking where you are today, and looking from where you have come from in your journey, is there someone, a professor, a friend, or someone that kind of, that you look back and has had a deep impact on your life?
[24:32]Oh gosh, yeah, so many people.
[24:34]So many people.
[24:34]And I look back even, Even from elementary school, I went to Catholic school for elementary school and we had nuns and the whole thing.
[24:42]I remember the nuns always being like, you're a good writer, you should try to do this.
[24:50]I don't know.
[24:50]I think I never really thought about that as a career necessarily, but I always had really incredible English teachers.
[24:56]I also had a really impactful history teacher when I was in high school who was also my tennis coach.
[25:04]And he very much encouraged me sort of journalistically.
[25:09]He was like, I really think this could kind of be a good path for you.
[25:12]And it's funny because he actually Always thought that broadcast would be a good spot for me.
[25:18]And that was actually what I was recruited to journalism school for and where I started in journalism school.
[25:22]And then I was like, I think I just like to write.
[25:24]So, yeah, I mean, oh, my gosh, I could.
[25:27]Yeah, they're just so, so, so, so many people.
[25:30]But was it you?
[25:34]Who did you want me to say?
[25:36]Who's that one person, if you really were to look back in that name, that you could think, like, if you were ever sitting across today, you would say thank you to that?
[25:45]Well, I mean, it would be my parents, because they were always like, you can do whatever you want, until it came down to brass tacks.
[25:49]And my dad was like, great, I'm going to be supporting her for the rest of her life, because she has a master's in transnational literature.
[25:56]But for real, my parents, they really were always like,
[25:59]Follow your dreams.
[26:01]Do what you need to do.
[26:02]Obviously, you have to probably be able to eat at some point.
[26:06]But really, they always gave me space to kind of figure all that out and really explore.
[26:12]But beyond that, I think because I came to this I didn't come to it later, but it wasn't like I was in college and thought I want to be a writer.
[26:21]And I mean, I did.
[26:22]I had some great creative writing professors that were always challenging me and encouraging me and wanted me to do bigger projects and wanted to work with me outside of class and things like that.
[26:32]I really thought in college that I wasn't good at it.
[26:35]I was like, this isn't, all these people are like, and I'm not saying I am now.
[26:39]This is not me being like, I'm such a good writer.
[26:41]That's not what I mean.
[26:42]But I think I didn't feel like there was room for the types of stories I wanted to tell.
[26:47]We would read our things and everybody had these really dark, And I was writing these short stories about four best friends who, I don't
[26:57]know, I'm making that up.
[26:59]But I was writing lighter things.
[27:02]So even though they were saying to me, this is something that you should pursue, I thought, well, this isn't what real writers do.
[27:08]This isn't a real writer.
[27:11]But then I looked back and I'm like, well, I was reading Emily Giffen and Ellen Hildebrand and all of these stories.
[27:17]I don't know.
[27:17]It's a weird thing to even say.
[27:19]But yeah, but I mean, it was a journey.
[27:22]I mean, I think to be able to kind of really, I didn't even, I mean, it took me four or five books to when people would say, what do you do, to be like, oh, I'm a writer.
[27:29]Like, I mean, yeah, I would never, I mean, it was a hard, like a long journey to even being able to kind of say that was my job.
[27:39]So I don't know.
[27:40]The whole thing's very, you know, very strange.
[27:43]But yeah.
[27:46]Yes.
[27:47]I have a good follow-up question.
[27:48]Okay, good.
[27:49]How did you find a niche and what your voice is and what kind of stories you want to be telling?
[27:56]And second to that, do you ever feel pigeonholed because now that you've had so many successful books that they only want you for that?
[28:05]So I've been really, really fortunate in that my publisher has really like gone down some paths with me.
[28:11]I mean, I've really like I think that tonally all my books are similar, but I wrote a book called The Wedding Veil that's about Edith and Cornelia Vanderbilt.
[28:20]It is a historical novel about real women.
[28:24]I really thought I was going to have to go to bat for that book, and they were automatically like, no, we love it.
[28:30]Do it.
[28:33]I mean, Beach House Rules in some ways was like a little strange for me.
[28:36]It was like a little darker.
[28:37]It was plottier than anything I've written.
[28:39]I mean, it still had a lot of the similar themes, but it was.
[28:44]Well, thank you.
[28:44]Well, I appreciate that.
[28:45]Well, I appreciate that.
[28:46]And so that's what I always hope to achieve is like that the heart is the same, but I do really.
[28:52]I think I've been lucky in that my thing that I thought I was going to publish next is more like a happier life where it's sort of a historical storyline and a contemporary storyline, but it's not real people, but it's real events.
[29:09]And I thought that's what I was going to do next and then decided I kind of wanted to write this like Christmas rom-com.
[29:14]And they've just said, they just say yes.
[29:16]They're like, sure, yes, sure, great, yes.
[29:18]So I think that's amazing.
[29:20]And I give them like a ton of credit for not being like, no, you know, we really want this to be your brand or this to be like, no one has ever said that to me ever.
[29:28]So I think that's kind of amazing.
[29:30]But then sometimes I think like, am I doing myself a disservice?
[29:33]But I think readers are, I think sometimes we, We undercomplicate readers.
[29:41]I don't think there are a ton of readers that are like, I only read this.
[29:47]And if there are, good for them, that's fine too.
[29:50]So yeah, but I think about it.
[29:52]Like I think about like, oh, am I jumping around too much?
[29:55]But I appreciate that because I do hope that the heart is
[29:57]always the same.
[30:00]Thank you.
[30:00]Yeah, the relationships.
[30:01]I'm always there for the characters.
[30:03]The characters.
[30:04]I appreciate that very much.
[30:06]But yeah, so we'll see.
[30:06]I mean, and who knows?
[30:07]And I do really enjoy writing historical fiction about real women.
[30:12]And so that is something that I want to do more of.
[30:14]And I have some things like, oh my gosh, like I have My poor husband, y'all.
[30:19]I have this one person that I've been researching.
[30:21]I have like 5,000 of her personal letters and like an unpublished autobiography that I had to like go to bat with this trust to even get like, I mean, I have people that I've been researching and that I feel very much like I want to tell their stories, but I do feel like, um, It might be a little bit of a shift for me when I do decide to do that, even though the wedding bell was very well received.
[30:40]So I don't know.
[30:40]I don't really know what the future holds, but I just love it, and I'm just kind of trying to follow.
[30:47]I always try to follow the thing that just won't let me sleep at night and hope for the best.
[30:53]Hope for the best.
[30:55]We've got to get the wall.
[30:55]Hope for the best.
[30:57]Yes, sir.
[30:58]I love the idea that you wrote your master's thesis on Jane Austen and sex in the city.
[31:05]That's brilliant.
[31:06]I love that.
[31:06]And I totally agree with that.
[31:08]Have you thought of, well, first of all, can you just give us a real short rundown of what your main point was on that?
[31:16]And have you ever thought of doing sex in the city and a small town as opposed to that?
[31:22]Oh, that is a really good idea.
[31:24]Oh my god, look, and he would just go like this.
[31:28]Film manager likes that idea.
[31:30]John Truby, that should be what you write.
[31:32]So this is terrible.
[31:34]It was so long ago that I don't 100% remember all the comparisons, but I do
[31:40]know that I drilled down on Emma and then like these very specific seasons of Sex and the City and I was comparing It seems so wildly different, but at their core, the rituals were the same, which was so interesting to me.
[31:54]Even though, obviously, Emma is like a very, it's a very chaste time period.
[31:58]You can't even be alone with a man.
[32:00]You can't, you know, kiss a man and, you know, all these things.
[32:03]But there were so many comparisons and it was kind of, I mean, I won't say it was by accident.
[32:08]I obviously, like, it was a thesis.
[32:10]I had to really plan it out.
[32:12]I mean, that was not an example where I was like, let me just see what happens.
[32:15]Like, no.
[32:17]But it came to me kind of just because we were all sitting after class and watching reruns of Sex and the City, and I was taking a Jane Austen class at the same time, and I was like, this is so interesting.
[32:28]The mating rituals of humans in these very different generations and how they are different, but they were very similar too.
[32:35]What was the other thing?
[32:38]Oh, Sex and the City in a
[32:39]Small Town.
[32:41]That would be great.
[32:42]That would be great.
[32:43]I know, and there's so much scandal all the time.
[32:45]I mean, there really is.
[32:47]My group text was just absolutely going nuts.
[32:49]I was trying to explain this to Jonathan, and I have these two different group texts, and there's a story that connects the two.
[32:55]We were all losing our minds.
[32:57]It's like these two groups of friends, and we were like, how is this possible?
[33:00]There's just always so much good scandal going on.
[33:02]How big is this town?
[33:05]Beaufort is 3,000 people.
[33:08]But this scandal did not happen in Beaufort.
[33:10]This happened in another town.
[33:11]I always try to comprehend how big people are.
[33:15]3,000 people.
[33:16]Fewer people than, yeah, I'll be places and I'll be like, wow, my whole town is smaller than where I'm standing right now.
[33:23]Yeah, exactly.
[33:25]I just did the convocation speech at UNC and I was like, the number of freshmen students in the Dean Dome right now is double my town.
[33:33]Yeah.
[33:34]So when I was like looking at that, I was like, huh, that's really, really interesting.
[33:39]So it's very small, but I will say the community is probably more around like 30,000 people.
[33:45]And in the summer, it's more like 75,000 people.
[33:48]And that's about, I grew up in a town of about 30,000 people.
[33:52]So I grew up in a small town too.
[33:55]But anyway, well, I won't go into all that, but yeah.
[34:00]Oh, thank you.
[34:00]But I do, I really do.
[34:02]I mean, I moved to Beaufort while I was writing Peachtree Bluff because I just really fell in love with the town while I was writing it.
[34:11]It was very strange.
[34:14]It totally changed our lives.
[34:20]Oh, Friends in Fiction.
[34:21]Okay, so Friends in Fiction is a web show and podcast with Patti Callahan Henry and Kristen Harmel and Mary Kay Andrews.
[34:28]And I love them so much.
[34:30]And we started during the pandemic.
[34:32]We all had books coming out and we kind of had a twofold goal at the beginning.
[34:38]One, we had books coming out and all our tours were canceled and we were like, how do we reach our readers?
[34:42]How do we talk to them?
[34:43]How do we interact with them?
[34:45]And then how do we help kind of these independent bookstores who, you know, we're planning on Having tours and doing all these things, and they were all shut down.
[34:53]And so we're like, we're going to go on Facebook.
[34:56]In fact, it's really funny
[34:58]to look back on this.
[34:59]Mary Kay had a professional Zoom account, and we were like, wow, you can talk for more than 40 minutes?
[35:06]I mean, it wasn't that long ago, and our lives have changed so drastically.
[35:10]But I had done maybe four Zooms in my entire life.
[35:13]I mean, we just weren't really doing that.
[35:15]And she was like, let's go on Zoom, and then we'll go on Facebook, and we'll tell people about our books, and we'll remind them to support their independent bookstores.
[35:21]And that was that.
[35:23]We were like, okay, this will be great.
[35:24]So we go on.
[35:25]We didn't think anyone would come.
[35:26]Mary Kay wore her pajamas.
[35:27]We were a hot mess.
[35:29]We had no script.
[35:31]We had no idea what we were going to say.
[35:33]And like a thousand people showed up live and we were like, people are so bored.
[35:37]Like, let's capitalize on this.
[35:38]This is fantastic.
[35:39]So we decided to keep it going for seven weeks.
[35:42]And then of course the world would be completely back to normal.
[35:45]And it was not, spoiler, so six and a half years later, here we are.
[35:50]Oh, how did I meet them?
[35:50]Okay.
[35:52]Well, so Kristen and I have this same publishing house.
[35:57]And so we had met just at like, Like we had breakfast together.
[36:01]She lives in Orlando.
[36:02]We had breakfast together in Orlando, but truly that was the only time we had ever met.
[36:05]But I mean, I loved her, you know.
[36:07]And Patty and I met at an event called the Pulpwood Queens in Texas.
[36:14]Oh, that's where I met Patty.
[36:17]Okay.
[36:17]Oh, no, that's where I met Patty, too.
[36:19]At Pulpwood Queens, too?
[36:20]Yeah, I met so many people at Pulpwood.
[36:21]It's so funny.
[36:22]So, Pulpwood, Queens, y'all, is this huge book club, and the authors come, and we have to dress up in costumes and, like, wait on the attendees.
[36:31]So, we would, like, serve them barbecue in, like, a Tinkerbell costume.
[36:34]It was nuts.
[36:35]But you bond.
[36:36]It's like trauma bonding, you know?
[36:39]Yeah, yeah.
[36:40]That's so fun.
[36:41]I did it twice.
[36:43]Okay, I only, I think, I might have done it twice.
[36:45]No, I think I only did it once, but I met Patty there.
[36:47]I met Mary Alice there.
[36:48]Mary Kay and I Had only met super briefly one time at the Decatur Book Festival, like in the green room.
[36:56]And I think I had asked her to blurb my book.
[36:59]I remember being so nervous.
[37:00]And now I look back on that and I'm like, it's so funny because she's the nicest person in the world.
[37:04]And I was like, oh my God, I have to email Mary and Kate Andrews
[37:07]and ask her for a blurb.
[37:07]And I was so nervous.
[37:09]And of course she said yes and she's so nice about it.
[37:11]But yeah, so we didn't even know each other that well.
[37:13]But I think we all kind of I don't exactly know what the dominoes were, but we all just got on a Zoom together.
[37:21]We were like, what do we do?
[37:22]We all have books coming out.
[37:23]Let's help each other.
[37:24]It was basically kind of the bottom line.
[37:27]And yeah, no one expected that six and a half years later we would still be doing this.
[37:32]It seems like everyone has books coming out all the time.
[37:35]It's such a great support group.
[37:37]That's great.
[37:38]It really is.
[37:38]It's like really nice to have that.
[37:40]And I, you know, like I said, I didn't really know any authors.
[37:43]So it was a while before I really kind of had that like tribe.
[37:46]And I mean, I will say that is part, you know, when you do live somewhere smaller and, you know, you go to book festivals and you meet people and, but, but for those relationships to really stick, you know, it's kind of cool.
[37:56]So yeah.
[37:57]Yes.
[37:58]I know you don't want to give anything away, but Of this very beloved series, I was wondering if you had a favorite part or a favorite part you'd like to share
[38:09]to talk about it?
[38:11]Like of this specific book or the whole series?
[38:14]Yes.
[38:15]So this book in particular, yeah, I'm like, can I share that I loved about it?
[38:20]That's not a spoiler.
[38:24]I think one of the things that I really enjoyed in this one I feel like Caroline, she's the eldest sister in the series, and I think
[38:34]she has the biggest character arc in this series, and I feel like in a lot of ways, Falling for Peachtree Bluff is really Caroline's happy ending and her character arc where she changes the most of these women from the first book to the last, and she goes from being in a really Tough, bad place in her life to being in a really great place in her life.
[38:54]And I really loved that for her.
[38:55]Like I loved kind of getting to give her that story where she really kind of changes in a lot of ways.
[39:02]And I mean, that's always the hope, but I think, I don't know, there was something about it that I really enjoyed.
[39:06]I also really liked writing Vivi, who's the teenage daughter in this book.
[39:11]I really liked just kind of getting into that.
[39:13]And I have a teenage son and I'm with his friends a lot and just kind of like the, especially just like I love sitting in my kitchen and like talking to the girls especially because I'll tell you everything, you know.
[39:23]The boys are always like, I don't know, I don't know, you know.
[39:26]Y'all homecomings this weekend, I'm sorry, sad note, but I'm like, Y'all, like, you gotta get the plans together.
[39:33]You gotta get
[39:33]the plan.
[39:34]And I'm trying so hard to not do it, you know?
[39:36]I'm like, don't control.
[39:38]Let them make their plans.
[39:39]Let them decide what they want to do.
[39:41]But you know who they're gonna be calling.
[39:42]I'm gonna be at the airport on Friday morning.
[39:44]And they're gonna be like, we don't have a dinner reservation for 27 people.
[39:48]Could you get us a dinner reservation for 27 people tonight?
[39:51]Because that's what's gonna happen.
[39:52]So it's okay.
[39:54]But I really enjoy writing.
[39:56]I've enjoyed writing a teenager.
[39:57]Just, I think, being at that point where I don't know, they're just so funny.
[40:01]And I mean this, I don't mean
[40:04]this as, it's going to sound like a slight, and I don't mean it.
[40:06]And we've all been teenagers, so we've all lived this point in our lives.
[40:09]But I think what I really like about teenagers that I think is so interesting is like real stuff can be going on in their lives, outside their lives.
[40:16]But they have this unique ability to be able to compartmentalize and really only be worried about the fight they're having with their best friend.
[40:23]And I think it's a protective mechanism.
[40:25]It's how we grow up.
[40:26]It's how we learn empathy and all of these things.
[40:29]But it's really fun to write, especially when you have a lot of bigger things going on in a narrative to have a teenager that's just really worried about her boyfriend.
[40:39]And none of this other stuff really matters all that much because she's mad at her boyfriend.
[40:44]And everyone should be thinking about that all the time.
[40:47]And I just, you know, I mean, I'm sure I was that person too.
[40:51]You know, I think probably we all were for like a minute in there somewhere.
[40:56]Anybody else have one?
[40:58]That's a lot of good questions.
[41:00]What's the plans to take the tutorial from?
[41:03]Well, you're going to have to ask these people.
[41:05]We're working hard.
[41:06]That's why I'm here.
[41:07]I will say, so we actually did sell this series in 2020.
[41:13]Was it that long ago?
[41:15]We weren't working together then.
[41:16]I don't know what I'm looking at.
[41:18]But yeah, I guess 2020, and it was great.
[41:23]I got to co-write the pilot, and that was really fun.
[41:25]And we worked on the second episode, and then the writer's strike happened, and everything kind of fell apart.
[41:31]So we always knew we would start over, but I don't know if y'all know, but it takes a little while.
[41:36]It takes a little time.
[41:37]So fingers crossed.
[41:38]We've had some really good meetings.
[41:41]I mean, I would love to see this adapted just because there's so much story there.
[41:44]Like, I just feel like it would be really fun to just kind of, you know, keep it going.
[41:48]But we'll see.
[41:50]Fingers crossed.
[41:51]So I have a few other things that are in development.
[41:53]But it's, you know, getting them over the finish line is the trick, right?
[41:57]But we're working hard.
[41:59]Working hard.
[42:00]We're going to get there.
[42:01]Stay tuned.
[42:03]Stay tuned.
[42:05]Yes, ma'am?
[42:05]When you're writing, do you, how do you envision your, do you imagine, like, Lauren Graham, is this what's going to look like?
[42:12]Do you have certain people that you think of when you're writing?
[42:16]Do you know what's weird is that I don't, and you would think that you would.
[42:19]You would think that you would be picturing someone, but here's the other thing that I've realized about myself.
[42:22]We'll be like dream casting, and I'll say something like, you know, So-and-so would be perfect for this role.
[42:29]And then that person is like 55 and the actor is like, I mean, the person in the book is like 31.
[42:35]Like it's like all of my like cultural references are just wrong.
[42:38]Like I'm like, oh, like I'm picturing like, you know, people when I was in high school.
[42:43]I don't know.
[42:44]It's like a weird thing.
[42:46]And the even funnier thing is I was talking about this.
[42:48]Somebody asked me about, it's like a certain casting thing at an event.
[42:51]And then she, and I was telling her this and everyone was laughing about it.
[42:54]And then she messaged me and then I was like, oh my God, I just finished this book.
[42:56]And so and so it would be so perfect for Chase Aarons.
[42:58]And I went to go look at who it was.
[42:59]And I was like, well, yeah, but, and I didn't say this, but I was like, this is exactly what I'm talking about.
[43:03]Chase Aarons is 29 and this actor is 46.
[43:06]You know, so you, like, I think when you're like, I'm 40, so I'm like picturing people the wrong ages or something.
[43:12]Like, I don't know, but.
[43:13]Well, if you watch me,
[43:17]Right.
[43:19]Or you still think Reese Witherspoon is 27, right?
[43:23]You know, and she still
[43:24]looks 27, but she probably wouldn't want to
[43:27]play a 27-year-old character right now.
[43:29]So, yes, thank you.
[43:30]Yes, that's exactly what I mean.
[43:31]I'm just always wrong.
[43:33]But it's the other way, too.
[43:33]People will be like, oh, you know, Jennifer Aniston.
[43:35]And I'm like, well, she's 25.
[43:36]What do you mean?
[43:37]You know, and then she's like, oh, no, she's not.
[43:39]You know, but it's like they're stuck.
[43:41]Exactly.
[43:42]Like they're stuck.
[43:42]She's Rachel Green.
[43:43]She's Rachel Green.
[43:47]Right, right, right.
[43:48]That's exactly right.
[43:49]That's exactly right.
[43:52]Well, thank y'all.
[43:52]This was so fun.
[43:55]Thank you.
[43:56]Thanks for coming tonight.
[43:57]Thank you so much.
[43:59]Thank you for coming in.
[44:01]It was so fun.