We chat with author Mazey Eddings about her sparkling YA debut Tilly in Technicolor, which follows two neurodivergent teens who form a connection over the course of a summer.
Hi, Mazey! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi! My name is Mazey Eddings and I am a neurodivergent author, dentist, and (most importantly) stage mom to my cats, Yaya and Zadie. I can most often be found reading romance novels under my weighted blanket and asking my fiancé to bring me snacks. It’s my personal life mission to destigmatize mental health issues and write love stories for every brain.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I am very lucky to have been raised by parents with a love for stories. I have such clear memories of being a little kid, my mom lying next to me in my tiny bed reading to me, and I would watch her mouth form the words. I was always so fascinated by the fact that what she was reading to me somehow created such a vivid image in my head. Every Friday night, she’d take me to Borders, each of us finding our own corner to explore books and find something new to read. My dad is a natural storyteller, one of those people that can captivate an entire room with a hilarious anecdote, and I always wanted to be able to do that too.
Being the only child of divorced parents, I spent a lot of my time entertaining myself with reading or creating my own stories. I’d spend entire summers sitting in my childhood backyard with a stack of books next to me, devouring one right after the other while my parents worked. As someone with sensory processing disorders from ADHD and ASD, life can often be overwhelming and overstimulating, but something about losing myself in books or my own imagination made it seem safe—like I could explore every inch of this world and others in a way that was comfortable and exciting.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
*mind goes completely blank for a full minute*
I was a Junie B. Jones girly through and through. I particularly remember reading Junie B. Jones is a Party Animal over and over again way past my bedtime. Honestly, now thinking about it, Tilly is kind of like an eighteen-year-old Junie B. ha!
I don’t know that one specific book made me want to become an author. Honestly, I’ve always placed authors and storytellers on such high pedestals, I never really imagined I could become one. But there are particular authors that made me a voracious reader, particularly in romance. I read Phillipa Gregory’s Tudor-era novels way too young, and it really started this obsession in me with historical fiction that snowballed to historical romance when I discovered Tessa Dare’s books. I then got into contemporary romance through Christina Lauren. But it wasn’t until I read books by Talia Hibbert and Helen Hoang that I realized these stories in my head about disabled characters falling madly in love would actually have an audience of readers. I thank them and many others for pioneering a space for neurodivergent love stories (longest lightning round answer, I’m so sorry).
The book I can’t stop thinking about is the last I read called Ne’re Duke Well by Alexandra Vasti. It’s a historical romance that doesn’t release until 2024 but it is so freaking incredible. She also has three novellas that are SENSATIONAL and at this point in time are free through her newsletter.
Your latest novel, Tilly in Technicolor, is out August 15th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Chaotic, joyful, bright, honest, unapologetic
What can readers expect?
I had so much fun writing this book, and it’s my love letter to neurodivergent brains finding profound joy and love in a world not built for them.
Tilly Twomley has just graduated high school after white knuckling her way through with unmanaged ADHD, and she has no idea what she wants out of life, but one thing is certain: she does not want to go to college. Her parents ship her off to Europe for a summer of interning at her perfect sister’s start-up. On the flight from Cleveland to London, Tilly and her seatmate, Oliver, experience a series of disasters, and both exit the plane glad to never ever see each other again.
But, wouldn’t you know, Tilly’s co-intern for the summer is none other than serious, stuffy Oliver Clark.
Oliver knows exactly what he wants out of life. He’s autistic and has a passion for color theory. He doesn’t form friendships or relationships easily, but seeing life through his unique understanding of color and sharing that on his successful Instagram page lets him feel connected to others.
As the two opposites clash at every stop of the summer, their neurodivergent connection grows, and they realize they might not be as different as they once thought…
Where did the inspiration for Tilly in Technicolor come from?
I think a lot about the pressure we place on young people to have their life path figured out. We don’t know anything at eighteen, yet we expect people at that age to easily step into adulthood by picking a new place to live and study and a career goal that will pay off all the debt they accumulate along the way. Through Tilly’s perspective, I wanted to explore that feeling of cluelessness, the fear and excitement of not knowing exactly what you want out of life besides for it to be happy. Oliver, on the other hand, thinks he has a perfect plan for his life and that everything will fall into place. Unfortunately, (or maybe fortunately, because life would be incredibly boring if everything went how we expected it to) he has to face that maybe all his planning and control may be hindering him from achieving an even better life than he could have thought of.
Growing up, I didn’t see a lot of media with autistic and/or ADHD characters, and what was out there often villainized and infantilized those characters. I wanted to create a story of unfettered neurodivergent joy. I wanted to show special interests and hyperfocus and inattention and stimming on the page, in a beautiful light. I wanted to create a story of happiness for these two goofballs as they are unabashedly themselves, even when the world tells them they don’t fit in how they should.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Every moment with Tilly and Oliver was a treat! Looking back on any writing process usually has a rosey tinge to it, but these two really were a joy to discover from start to finish. I was a little intimidated at first, to get into the head of a teenage boy, but Oliver quickly became one of my favorite characters I’ve written. He’s autistic and has a passion for color theory and the way colors influence the world. I wish I knew what inspired his love and special interest in Pantone and color theory, but he just started telling me about it and I was thrilled to listen. Learning more about the influence and psychology of color was so fun to research, and it had me seeing my world in brighter colors too. Tilly, on the other hand, had me cracking up with her antics. Their neurodivergent bond was such a gift to explore, and I hope that comes through for readers.
This is your first YA novel! Was there anything in particular that led you to dabbling in the YA genre?
It all started with a tweet (RIP Twitter). I posted a mood/aesthetic collage for this dark fantasy YA idea I was playing with. Not long after, my lovely editor for my adult novels approached me about what I was working on next, and said she saw me mention in a tweet I wanted to write YA. I subsequently dumped an exceptionally long description of my fantasy idea and she very lovingly asked if contemporary was an option, particularly with a heroine with ADHD. I’m nothing if not a pivoter, so I brainstormed some ideas and started playing, and Tilly—voicey, lovely Tilly—popped into my head and wouldn’t stop talking. The story kind of poured out of me from there.
Your next novel, Late Bloomer, is out in April! Can you give us a little teaser?
What happens when Opal, a chaotic bisexual artist, wins the lottery and it ruins her life? She buys a failing flower farm from Facebook Marketplace to escape to and paint shoes (??), of course! But when Opal gets to the flower farm, she’s confronted by a grumpy, gorgeous woman named Pepper who claims she is the rightful owner of the Thistle and Bloom flower farm. These two opposites are forced to work together to save the farm and make enough money to part ways… but love takes root along the way!
This sapphic rom-com is filled with grumpy x sunshine hijinks and as many flower puns as they’d let me get away with (because every garden needs a hoe, right?)
Are you working on anything else?
I have a few secrets I can’t share quite yet 😉
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
If you’re looking for some absolutely amazing YA novels, I highly recommend picking up The Name Drop by Susan Lee and Long Story Short by Serena Kaylor. If adult romance is more your thing, you can’t go wrong with any Talia Hibbert novels, but Take a Hint, Dani Brown has some truly incredibly ADHD rep.
