We chat to Alexandria Bellefleur, author of Written in the Stars and the recently released Hang the Moon, two funny, sweet and saucy romantic comedies that will have readers’ hearts bursting with joy! We got to ask Alexandria about her experience writing during the pandemic, her favorite romcoms and what’s next for her!
Hi, Alexandria! Thanks for joining us! Tell our readers a bit about yourself!
Thanks so much for having me! Obviously, I’m a writer and therefore also an avid reader of romance. When I’m not reading or writing, I enjoy baking, crafting, and staring longingly out of car windows pretending I’m in a music video. Kidding. Mostly.
Lightning round: tell us the last song you heard, the last movie you watched and the last book you read and your thoughts on them!
Last song: Traitor by Olivia Rodrigo. Every song on her album Sour is amazing and captures teenage angst so achingly well, but there’s something about Traitor that feels like such a punch to the gut. But in a great way.
Last movie: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was a rewatch for me for the…third? Fourth time? I’m constantly recommending it to my friends and practically begging them to watch it. It has Lily James and Michiel Huisman in it. What more could you want?
Last book: Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare. I’ve been on a bit of a historical romance kick for the last few weeks, rereading a few of my favorites. The banter in this one is top notch.
Now, tell us about Hang the Moon! What can readers expect?
Hang the Moon is an adult romantic comedy about a hopeless romantic who vows to show his childhood crush that romance isn’t dead by recreating iconic dates from his favorite films.
Brendon Lowell is a dating app creator who loves love, even though he himself has never been in love. When his sister’s best friend and his childhood crush, Annie, turns up in town unexpectedly, Brendon jumps at the chance to show her around. Then, when he learns that she’s given up on dating, he decides to take a page from his favorite romantic movies in order to prove to her that romance isn’t dead.
Obviously, it’s not smooth sailing. Annie’s only in town for two weeks before she plans to move across the globe for a job offer. Brendon’s many plans to woo her end up going awry. But Annie and Brendon have off-the-charts chemistry and along the way, they each learn from one another and their ideas regarding romance evolve.
Readers can expect tropes like best friend’s sibling, childhood crush, cinnamon roll hero, found family, and one of my personal favorites—only one bed. The book also deals with late twenties/early thirties career indecision and loneliness. I hope readers will find Hang the Moon swoony, funny, and steamy!
Without spoiling too much, was there a scene you particularly enjoyed writing in Hang the Moon?
The Ferris wheel and karaoke scenes were two of my favorites to write. I’m one of those people that runs out of the room during embarrassing moments in movies, but I don’t have the same problem with books. I love putting my characters into awkward situations and making them squirm a little. I think, in a romance especially, awkward situations provide not only great fodder for laughs but also an opportunity for two characters to bond. Without spoiling too much, the Ferris wheel and karaoke scenes do that.
If Hang the Moon were to be adapted into a movie, which three songs would have to be on the soundtrack and what scenes would you pair them with?
I love this question! I can’t listen to music and actively write at the same time, but music is a huge source of inspiration for me, and creating playlists is part of my plotting process. I don’t want to spoil too much, but I definitely think What a Man Gotta Do by the Jonas Brothers would play when Brendon is considering how to go about convincing Annie that romance isn’t dead. In a movie, I feel like several of those scenes would get the montage treatment so that would be nifty to see.
I Think He Knows by Taylor Swift would pair perfectly with the scene where Brendon and Annie are in the kitchen during game night and he invites her to a wedding. Again, I don’t want to say too much, but there’s a lot of tension in that scene and the song is spot on for how Annie’s feeling in that moment.
Cruel Summer also by Taylor Swift would be the perfect song for the opening credits and for a reprisal during the super swoony fireworks scene at the end.
I also have a whole Spotify playlist for Hang the Moon if anyone wants to give it a listen.
Hang the Moon is such a feel-good romcom! What elements make a good romcom in your opinion?
I feel like the rom and the com are both critical. In terms of novels, a romcom must follow the genre conventions of a romance (central love story and happy ending for the couple), and it also needs to deliver on the laughs. Humor is subjective, but I think the best romcoms incorporate situations wherein the opposite of what is expected occurs to comedic effect.
Speaking of romcoms, share your favorites with us! Which ones inspire you and which ones could you rewatch forever?
Gosh, how much time do you have? I have so many favorites! The Proposal, Sweet Home Alabama, The Ugly Truth, She’s All That, Two Weeks Notice, and Bridget Jones’s Diary are a few that I could watch over and over again without ever getting sick of them. I love the premise of each, the chemistry between the main characters, and the reliance on situational humor to bring the leads closer together. Each of these films, in my opinion, provides a masterclass on adhesion and conflict in romance.
What has your experience been like, writing and releasing books during the pandemic? Any advantages and disadvantages you’d like to share?
It’s been interesting! I debuted in 2020, so in many ways I don’t have any other experience to compare it to when it comes to releasing books. As for writing, I didn’t have any weekend plans with friends to turn down because of deadlines since we all spent most of 2020 locked down. So, in a way that was an advantage. Deadlines also provided a sort of distraction from much of what was going on with the pandemic and gave me something else to focus on that I felt like I could control.
In terms of releasing during the pandemic, I was a bit disappointed that I wasn’t able to have an in-person launch, but the benefits of virtual events really can’t be overstated. The ability to connect with bookstores and readers across the country via Zoom and IG Lives has been wonderful. I really hope these virtual events will continue even once in-person events return.
What’s the best and worst writing advice you’ve ever received?
By far, the best writing advice I’ve ever received is to treat drafting like shoveling sand into a sandbox. Drafting is definitely the part of the process that stresses me the most and when quickly shifting from one project to another, I can fall prey to comparing the quality of my first drafts to that of my polished work. When it comes to drafting, done is better than perfect. I like to remind myself that I can’t fix a blank page, but I can make sandcastles during revisions.
The worst advice I’ve ever received isn’t so much a particular tip, but any advice given as an absolute. There’s no one way to write that works for everyone.
With Hang the Moon releasing soon, are you already working on another project? If so, can you share a bit with us?
I recently wrapped up revisions on Count Your Lucky Stars, the third book in the Written in the Stars series. For those familiar with the first two books in the series, Count Your Lucky Stars will follow Margot as one of the main characters. It comes out February 1, 2022 and I’m very excited!
Last but not least, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
A few books I’ve read recently and loved are The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan, Satisfaction Guaranteed by Karelia Stetz-Waters, and How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole. All amazing reads that I can’t recommend highly enough!
