The Nerd Daily contributor Mimi recently sat down with Joya Goffney, debut author of the upcoming YA romcom Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry, a story all about an enthusiastic list maker who is blackmailed into completing a to-do list of all her worst fears. We got to ask Joya about her favourite romance tropes, challenging scenes and a dream soundtrack for her novel!
Hi, Joya! Thanks or joining us! Why don’t you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I currently live in Austin, Texas, but I was raised in a very conservative, tiny town in East Texas. I was a sheltered kid, and I grew up pretty poor, so there’s still a lot I haven’t experienced—for instance, I’ve never been on a plane, and I’ve only ever been out of Texas once in my twenty-seven years (to Colorado, and it was freaking amazing to see real mountains!!!). I love writing, obviously, but I also love making music. I’m a Sagittarius, Capricorn rising—still not quite sure what that means, but I’m curious to learn. I have social anxiety. Yes, I’m self-diagnosed, but I also have a B.A. in psychology… so clearly, I’m an expert. Also, I love road trips and having dance parties with my friends!
Now onto Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry! What can readers expect?
While Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry is swoony and sweet and cute, my book also examines the formation of Black identity and discusses what it means to be Black—the ideas of such within the Black community and outside of it. Also, my book talks about chronic illness and grief and the fragility of memories. Expect sweet moments, but also tough moments. And of course, there’s lots of ugly crying! But there’s also long glances, soft kisses, and borderline-raunchy late-night conversations.
What inspired you to write Quinn’s story?
My current romance started out a lot like Quinn’s. During high school, Blake was my nemesis. He was the other Black kid gunning for a top spot in the class ranks. We were often pit against each other, and it resulted in a lot of resentment and anger and sheer hatred. I told anyone who would listen how much I despised Blake, mostly because he was something of a bully to me. But even though he said and did mean things sometimes, there would also be these random moments when he’d make me laugh like no one else could. He was my exact brand of humor. And when I was laughing, it was hard for me to remember why I hated him so much. My feelings bounced back and forth for this guy a lot.
Blake was a lot like me—smart Black kid often referred to as an Oreo (white on the inside, Black on the outside). Because of this, I knew he could understand me on a level no one else could. And I knew I could trust him. During our senior year, I wrote a list of personal challenges for myself, because that was something I did every year. And he was the only person I felt comfortable sharing my fears and secrets with. And like Carter in Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry, Blake helped me to face my fears. We dropped a ton of resentment for each other, and gained a ton of love, and this July we’ll be celebrating nine years together. He is still my exact brand of humor.
You mention in your author’s note that you yourself loved to write lists when you were in high school – what type of list was your favorite to write and why? Did you ever write one you wish you hadn’t?
I wasn’t a compulsive list writer, like Quinn. When I was in high school, I would write a single list of social challenges every year. In my earlier years, the lists consisted of items like go a day not speaking, or go a day only singing—meaningless little tasks. It wasn’t until my senior year that I added serious, life-changing items to my list. Particularly, to finally get my first kiss and to find a new group of friends—neither of which went smoothly—but I did it.
I don’t regret writing those two items on my list, and I don’t regret going after them, but the way I went about it, I definitely wished I’d done it differently. Like… I wish my first kiss had been with Blake, instead of a racist white guy. You know? Sometimes, we’re in too big of a hurry for our own good.
Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry has the beloved enemies-to-lovers romance arc. What are some tropes you can never get enough of and what are ones you’d love to put your own spin on in the future?
There was a period of time before I started querying Ugly Cry that I was reading all of Kasie West’s books, one after another. Kasie West is undoubtedly the queen of romance tropes in YA. Each book she puts her own spin on a new one. I would love to be able to do that, but I don’t think I could ever pump out as many books as she does.
I can never get enough of the enemies-to-lovers arc—I think my favorite book right now with this arc is Charming as a Verb by Ben Philippe. Love triangles are also classic—Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant, for sure. And fake relationships! Can’t wait to read Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee, which centers around a fake relationship.
A few tropes that I can’t wait to put my own spin on: love triangle, for sure, and forced proximity—cannot wait to do this one. And friends to lovers. Oh! And secret admirer. All of them—I want to do all of the tropes!
I loved how you discussed difficult topics like race, parents’ expectations and toxic friendships in this novel. What was the most challenging aspect of the book to get right?
I don’t know that I got any of it right, but the most challenging aspect of writing this book was actually Quinn and Carter’s relationship. I think that’s probably the hard part for most enemy-to-lover arcs, because the writer has to establish some amount of pain and resentment in order for the lovers to first be enemies. That resentment has to be believable, and then you have to turn around and make the reader fall for the enemy. It was difficult keeping that balance, and not making Carter unforgivable.
I also struggled with giving Quinn enough space/time to figure out her feelings at the end, and not rushing her into Carter’s arms. I don’t know if I got it right, but I’m proud of how it came out—that instead of a single grand gesture, Carter puts in works to earn her trust, and that she’s given the space to come to him on her own time.
Quinn and Carter have sizzling chemistry – what was your favorite scene to write between the two lovebirds?
This is tough! I love the scene of them driving to Auden’s house together, near the beginning—it’s funny and so, so cute. And the first kiss scene. And the club scene! Okay, okay, okay, but my favorite scene to write was definitely the late night phone call. It’s kind of the first time where they’re overtly flirting with each other. While at the same time, they share personal stories about their experiences with racism and find that they can relate to each other on a level they hadn’t realized before. It’s intimate and sweet and a huge turning point in their romance.
It definitely hasn’t been an easy time for (debut) authors with the pandemic – what has helped you to keep spirits up and encouraged you to keep on writing?
Honestly, my day job is a huge factor in my sanity. I lost my job in the very beginning of the pandemic. It’s crazy, because all I wanted to do beforehand was quit, but I hadn’t realized how much the structure and the distraction contributed to my writing. When the only thing I had to do in a day was write, I couldn’t. I lost my words. There was no pressure—no I only have thirty minutes to write this scene before I have to get ready for work. I had all the time in the world. My mental health took a dive, as did my writing.
But now that I have a job again, I have a place to be for nine hours—that’s nine hours to be away from my stories, nine hours to miss my characters and to get ideas. It’s been the best thing for my mental health and my writing, even though I still sometimes dream of quitting. I’ll figure it out eventually.
Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry made me feel like I was watching a Netflix romcom! If your debut was to be turned into a movie, what three songs would you insist are on the soundtrack?
This is such a fun question! Of course, How You Gonna Act Like That by Tyrese, only because Quinn and Carter sing to this song, and it’s a super sweet scene.
Also, F.U.B.U. by Solange (“for us, by us”) because it’s such a strong statement against the white kids in the club who say the ‘N’ word while reciting rap music. Some stuff is just for us—us being the Black community—and sometimes that’s all the explanation you’re going to get as to why you can’t say the ‘N’ word too.
Without giving too much away, Lyin King by Jhene Aiko for that painful scene near the end, because I will always recommend Jhene for any and everything.
With Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry releasing soon, are you already working on other projects? If so, can you share a sneak peek at what’s coming with us?
I am, yes! My second book recently got approved, and I am so excited to share this story. Although I can’t say much about it right now, just know that this story is very, very close to my heart—maybe even more so than Ugly Cry. It’s based on an experience… er, a condition I had in my early twenties—a psychosomatic condition that I only learned the name of by chance, because there’s hardly any information about it anywhere. I’m so excited to bring awareness to and shed light on this top-secret condition. So stay tuned to learn all about it!
Last but not least, do you have any bookish recommendations for our readers?
If you haven’t read Happily Ever Afters by Elise Bryant, definitely do that. If you like Ugly Cry, try any of Kristina Forest’s books—super sweet love stories about Black couples. I also recently read All the Things We Never Knew by Liara Tamani—perfect for fans of the movie, Love and Basketball. Quinn would have been all over this book. I’m currently reading Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett—I am absolutely loving it. She has a new book, Off the Record, that’s coming out May 18th, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it!
You can find Joya on Instagram and Twitter and also at her website.
