Q&A: Kevin Van Whye, Author of ‘Date Me, Bryson Keller’

We chat to Kevin van Whye, author of the laugh-out-loud, heartfelt and delightfully cute debut Date Me, Bryson Keller! We got to ask him all about his debut, favorite romcoms and his dream cast for Kai and his peers!

Hi, Kevin! So glad you’re joining us! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

Hi Everyone. So great to be here. I hope you’re all safe and well! I’m Kevin van Whye the author of Date Me, Bryson Keller. I was born and raised in South Africa, and currently call Johannesburg home.

Since this is The Nerd Daily, are there any nerdy things you’re enjoying at the moment and would like to share with us?

I’ve been binging watching a lot of Netflix lately, I just finished Kingdom season 2 and am working my way through Money Heist at the moment. I’ve also been playing Uncharted remastered on Ps4. So that’s been fun.

Now about your upbeat and heart-stopping debut Date Me, Bryson Keller! Tell us a bit about Kai’s story!

Date Me, Bryson Keller is a love letter to the 90’s/early 2000 Rom-Coms that I grew up on. It’s the story of seventeen-year-old, gay-but-not-out Kai Sheridan, who asks popular Bryson Keller out on a date as part of a dare, which changes both their lives forever.  The book is best described as a coming out story but with a rom-com sensibility. Readers can expect a tale of first love. There will be trials and tribulations, you may cry but you will also laugh, and I promise that this gay love story has a happy ending.

Date Me, Bryson Keller feels nostalgic for the 80s/90s romantic comedies but with a very needed queer twist. I couldn’t put it down! What inspired this fun story? And do you have a favorite romcom?

I’m so happy to hear that! Date Me, Bryson Keller had many inspirations. Aside from my own lived experience, the ’90s rom-com She’s All That played a major role in inspiring this story. Just like the movie, I wanted to center a romance around a dare. Another great source of inspiration was the manga Seven Days: Monday-Sunday by author Venio Tachibana and illustrator Rihito Takarai. Overall, I wished to tell a story with gay characters that were fully immersed in the LGBTQ+ narrative. Date Me, Bryson Keller is a story for the LGBTQ+ reader that reflects the world we live in. Other inspirations were the Norwegian web series Skam (particularly season 3), To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (as well as the film adaptation, Love, Simon). All of these things are woven into the tapestry of my novel Date Me, Bryson Keller.

In no particular order, some of my all-time fave Rom-Coms are: The Prince and Me, The Wedding Date, 10 Things I Hate about You, A Cinderella Story, The Proposal, How to lose a Guy in 10 Days, 13 Going on Thirty. I could go on and on, seriously as a 90’s kid I grew up on a steady diet of rom-coms. I’m so happy they’re making a comeback and more diverse than ever!

Kai was an absolute treasure! From his relatable anxiety to his crush on a fellow classmate and fear of performing Romeo and Juliet, he just absolutely stole my heart! What was your favorite scene to write from his perspective? Which one was the hardest?

Without giving away any spoilers, my favorite scene was their date. I had so much fun writing about two boys just being able to have fun and date freely. It was a dream date experience which was so fun to create.

I think the hardest scenes for me to write were the family scenes after they find out Kai is gay. They were such emotional scenes, but I wanted to keep the feeling that this is still a rom-com book. So, finding that balance was tricky, but from the off-set I knew that this was a coming out story and everything else was background to that fact.

One of the things I loved most about this story was the healthy way in which Bryson explores his sexuality. There are a lot of stories out there that detail the scarier parts of discovering yourself (and we need those, of course) but it was such a refreshing thing to read about a boy who never really thought about being attracted to boys until he spent more time around Kai and then he went all in! What was writing Bryson’s character like? Did you have a set plan for how he and Kai would spend their week together?

The Bryson that appears in the finished draft is vastly different from the one who first showed up in my earlier drafts. I really have my editor to thank for that. She pushed me to make him as developed as Kai.

I did not know how Bryson and Kai would spend their week together. I let the story carry me there. I had little events that I hoped to include and built the story around them. What I did know from the get-go was that this story went beyond the week of the dare. Because I wanted to explore the after and the fallout of it all.

Kai’s sister, Yazz, was a total show stealer for me! She’s supportive and funny and spot-on in the way she sees people. Any chance you would ever return to her character – or maybe anyone else from this charming story (I’m sorry, I’m a bit obsessed with this cast of characters)?

Never say never, but as of right now no. Date Me, Bryson Keller was always intended to be a standalone. That being said there might be a story with Yazz in a few years’ time because I’d love to see her when she’s Kai’s age.

Date Me, Bryson Keller livens up the fake-dating and friends-to-lovers trope. It showed so well that a well-loved concept can be given a new and gripping spin! What are some of your favorite tropes to encounter in literature?

I love a good trope, and have spent countless hours on tvtropes.org. Three of my faves are first and foremost the fake-dating trope. I also love “Oh no! There’s only one bed.” Another trope that I adore is ‘enemies-to-lovers’. I love it in all its shapes and forms.

Your debut novel had a very cinematic feel to it! If Date Me, Bryson Keller were to get the big screen treatment, who would be your dream cast for Kai and Bryson?

Thank you for saying that. Being an ex-film student that makes me happy! I don’t exactly have a dream cast but I did use certain actors for visual reference. When I was drafting the late Cameron Boyce was my Kai and for Bryson it was a French model/actor Maxence Danet-Fauvel. I also think actor Brandon Flynn gives off some Bryson Keller vibes.

With Date Me, Bryson Keller releasing in May, what’s next for you? Are you working on another project already? If so, can you spare a few tidbits with us?

Yes! My second book, Nate Plus One, was just recently announced and it’ll be out Spring 2022. High school senior Nate Hargreaves is not looking forward to his wealthy aunt’s wedding retreat in South Africa—until his crush Jai Patel, an indie rock musician, volunteers to be his plus-one. This gay love story, pitched as What if It’s Us meets Crazy Rich Asians, is set in South Africa. So I’m excited to share my part of the world with readers.

Last but not least, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?

On the adult side, if you have not picked up The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid please do. I am obsessed.

For YA, recent books that I finished and loved were Wilder Girls by Rory Power and The Ivies by Alexa Donne which is a book coming out in 2021. I know it seems a long way away but definitely keep your eyes out for that one. It is so so, good! I devoured it!

Will you be picking up Date Me, Bryson Keller? Tell us in the comments below!