We chat with author Addie Woolridge about The Homecoming War, which sees two rival high schools merge and two class presidents must work together to make the schools unite.
Hi, Addie! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hello! I often joke that I’ve only had jobs exist on TV or something. My resume before becoming a writer included planning events at non-profits and being an opera singer. I was born and raised in Seattle, Washington, but I currently live in Northern California. Currently, I have four rom coms out–three adult books plus my YA debut, The Homecoming War!
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
It’s funny, I don’t really remember not loving stories. My Great Aunt Patty was an elementary school teacher and she would give my siblings and me all kinds of books when we were little. I didn’t read well as a kid so I would just make up stories based on the pictures. My parents didn’t want to discourage me, so they let me be creative until reading got easier. In some ways, I guess I’ve always been telling stories!
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: With my parents, Are You My Mother?. By myself, Lord of the Rings (I bought the trilogy at the Scholastic Book Fair in the fifth grade but couldn’t really read it until the seventh!)
- The one that made you want to become an author: Probably something by Meg Cabot!
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: This is so difficult for me—I think about all of the books all the time. For fiction, Alyssa Cole’s entire Reluctant Royals Series. For nonfiction, I have a tie between, A Libertarian Walks into a Bear, by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling (no spoilers but if you’ve read it: that llama really got me, y’all! I laugh every time I think about it.) and Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings (if everyone read this book, we’d all be better off. It details the history and racial origins of fat phobia and it is excellent!)
Your latest novel, The Homecoming War, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Rivals turned lovers – with pranks!
What can readers expect?
I won’t lie, I loved writing this book! It was so much fun. If anyone has read my adult rom coms, then just know that it has all my hallmarks: a kick butt main character who is trying to figure herself out and a swoony crush (with golden retriever energy). I always weave family into each of my books so that is there too. Plus, this one also has prank wars, a vintage car, and of course, banter for days.
Where did the inspiration for The Homecoming War come from?
Oddly enough, I was all set to write a different story for my publisher and right before they were set to announce it, they moved my book launch date and asked if I could do something for the fall instead. The Homecoming War literally just popped into my head! No joke, it took me all of five minutes to write up a paragraph about it for my editor. The change happened so fast that I had to brainstorm the title with friends over email since there wasn’t time for us to meet-up in person. So in this case, time-pressure gave me the idea. Ha!
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
So many! I had so much fun writing Meg’s grandma, particularly her feud with her church nemesis. I also loved writing anything with Warm Fuzzy and some of Russ’s antics. (I based Russ on a friend of mine from high school, so it gave me a good excuse to laugh at some of the silly stuff he did!)
What’s next for you?
I’m sworn to secrecy for a little while longer, so I can’t say much. But I will share that there is another Young Adult rom com somewhere in my future…and it might have warring grannies and Las Vegas in it. (No spoilers, I promise!). I’m also polishing up another adult rom com that I hope to have out next year.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
If romantasy is your jam, the Scepter Series by Anne Zoelle is AMAZING! Seriously, I stayed up until 2am to finish the first book.
