Q&A: Meredith Tate, Author of ‘Shipped’

Get ready for Shipped by Meredith Tate, a swoonworthy and hilarious rom-com! Some of you might have already realised from the name alone: yes, it is absolutely nerdy. It’s a book about fandom and everything that comes with it, and the geekiness is highlighted by the delightful protagonists Stella and Wesley, who might have an intense enemies-to-lovers situation going on IRL, but online they are having a soft online-friends-to-lovers moment going on. Be sure to get Shipped as soon as it releases on May 18th because it is utterly delightful. Before the big release, we were lucky enough to talk to Meredith Tate herself about all things Shipped, nerdiness, and BOOKS!

There is a lot of nerdiness in Shipped! Are you a Nerd yourself or Comic Con Enthusiast?

I am definitely a huge nerd, which was part of my inspiration for writing this book! Like Stella and Wesley, I, too, have had my heart broken by beloved shows canceled too soon (or shows that crash-landed their endings). I’ve been so invested in certain fandoms that it starts to feel personal to me, and that’s what I wanted to show with Stella and Wesley’s story. They feel a deep connection to these fictional characters and their story, which mirrors the personal connection I have felt to so many shows, books, and movies over the years. Cons are so much fun, and I can’t wait until we can all attend them again! I’m dying to put together a Captain Marvel cosplay!

Since both main characters in Shipped are very much invested in it, what are your thoughts on fanfiction and fanart?

I LOVE fanfiction and fanart! Fanfiction is a great place to explore different tropes, ask “what if?”, and give your favorite characters the endings and subplots they deserve. It can be so fun to look at a fandom and ask, what if this minor character got their moment in the spotlight? What if these two characters I ship actually ended up together? What if this show wasn’t in outer space, but took place in my home town? How would the story have changed if this one element had been different? What would have happened in the story if this show I love had had one more season? It’s also just genuinely good fiction and often a great read! I’ve definitely turned to fanfiction while mourning an end to a series I love. Fanart is also a great way to make a tribute to a fandom you love, and while I have no artistic talent whatsoever, I always enjoy browsing fanart other people draw of my favorite characters.

Stella and Wesley come from a different social and financial backgrounds, was there a reason for that?

I really wanted to examine the role that financial and class privilege plays in academic success. Getting top grades in high school is so hard, no matter who you are, but it’s definitely harder when you live in a tiny apartment and have to work at an after-school job and worry about your family’s ability to pay rent, medical bills, etc. While upper-middle-class Wesley certainly has a lot to deal with at home, and his life is far from perfect, there are certain struggles related to poverty that Stella has to work through every day in addition to her schoolwork that he is completely oblivious to. If Stella had the same advantages as Wesley, would their paths look different? I wanted to explore this on the page.

What was your favourite thing about writing Shipped?

This is such a hard question! For starters, I’ve always wanted to write an enemies-to-lovers romcom, and I had so much fun writing the banter and prank war between Stella and Wesley. I also really enjoyed coming up with the plotline for Warship Seven and having the relationship in the show mirror Stella and Wesley’s relationship IRL—it was almost like a puzzle for me, fitting the two storylines together. Finally, I had it in my head from the beginning that I really wanted to write a cosplay masquerade scene, and a big prom night scene, so I had so much fun writing both of those!

What are you hoping will readers take away from Stella and Wesley’s story?

More than anything, I hope it makes readers smile and think fondly of their favorite fandom!

Shipped is your fifth book and the first one that comes without a list of content warnings. What made you want to write this book?

It was an interesting tonal shift for me for sure! I think usually as an author I gravitate toward darker, grittier stories—Shipped is my first “lighter” book. But I feel like there’s been so much darkness in the real world the last few years, with Shipped, I really just wanted to write a fun escape that could hopefully make readers smile.

How was your writing experience different than when you were writing YA thrillers?

I think in Shipped, I was able to explore my sense of humor a bit more on the page. With a thriller, I map out the whole plot ahead of time to make sure all the plot points line up at the end, and I am very focused on what I am revealing when. With a romcom, the plot hinges on developing the relationship between the two main characters, so I had a bit more flexibility to focus on learning about them and exploring their world. I let Stella and Wesley show me where they wanted their story to go. Halfway through writing it I thought, “you know what would be funny? If Stella was working at the ice cream parlor and Wesley showed up to troll her and she messes with him a bit.” And so I wrote that scene! It was fun to take a different, less stringent approach to outlining. Both thrillers and romcoms have their own challenges, and it’s been fun to challenge myself as an author to expand my craft and try different things.

Are there any 2021 releases that you are personally looking forward to?

So many! I loved Rosaria Munda’s FIREBORNE so I’m super excited for the next book in her trilogy, FLAMEFALL. I am also super psyched for Erin Craig’s SMALL FAVORS, Lauren Blackwood’s WITHIN THESE WICKED WALLS, Joan He’s THE ONES WE’RE MEANT TO FIND, and Leah Johnson’s RISE TO THE SUN. I also need to read THE HAWTHORNE LEGACY immediately after that cliffhanger in THE INHERITANCE GAMES so if September could get here ASAP that would be great.

Are you working on anything new that you can already tell us about?

I’m between books at the moment, so I’ve been dabbling with a few different stories. Nothing close to finished at the moment, so I’ve just been enjoying writing!

Will you be picking up Shipped? Tell us in the comments below!