The Nerd Daily contributor Mimi recently had the chance to chat to Rachel Lynn Solomon, author of heartfelt, laugh-out-loud and immersive novels such as Today Tonight Tomorrow, The Ex Talk and the upcoming We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This. We got to ask Rachel Lynn all about her newest release, favourite rom-com tropes and all things weddings!
Hi, Rachel! Thanks for taking the time to chat with us! Why don’t you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Thank you for having me! We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This is my fifth book, and I’m so excited for it to be out in the world. Until last month, I’d spent my whole life in Seattle, but I recently relocated with my husband to Amsterdam. I’ve loved exploring the city and trying as many new things as the pandemic will allow.
Now tell us about We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This! What can readers expect from Quinn’s story?
We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This is a YA romantic comedy about a harpist and a cater-waiter who fall in love over a series of summer weddings. Quinn comes from a family of wedding planners and Tarek’s parents own a catering company, so the two of them have been friends since they were kids. Last year, though, Quinn confessed her crush on him over email—and he left for college without a response. It’s a Jewish #ownvoices book that also deals with mental illness and big questions about what to do after high school.
Quinn’s parents are wedding planners and expect Quinn to take over the business at some point – what inspired this premise for you? Are you a fan of weddings (or the planning process)? What did the research process for this book look like? Pinterest boards for wedding décor? Tell us everything!
This book grew out of my love for two different pieces of media: the TV show Party Down, which is about a group of caterers in LA, and Nora Roberts’s Bride Quartet series, which follows four friends who run a wedding planning business together. I’d always wanted to write something that had Party Down energy, with the characters getting sucked into the drama at whatever event they happened to be working that week.
Funnily enough, I actually eloped! There was a lot of wedding research that went into this book because I’d never experienced it firsthand. The best part was that I went to a wedding expo in Seattle before everything shut down, and I had an absurd amount of cake samples. I also had the opportunity to talk to vendors and get a sense of what it’s really like to work in the wedding industry.
Quinn and Tarek appear to be polar opposites when it comes to love – Tarek is a total romantic while Quinn has learned to be a cynic when it comes to love, which makes for a great dynamic between them. Where do you land on the debate?
I think I’m somewhere in the middle! I was very, very cynical as a teen, so I drew from some of that for Quinn’s character, but as I fell more in love with romance as a genre, I softened quite a bit.
And speaking of the romantic and the cynic trope – what are some of your favorite tropes to read and write about?
Enemies-to-lovers will always be at the top of my list. I also love anything with forced proximity, which will likely find its way into all my books. And recently, Emily Henry’s People We Meet on Vacation reminded me how brilliant friends-to-lovers can be!
I loved all the different kinds of love you explored in this novel – from platonic love between Quinn and her best friend, her own complicated relationship with Tarek and her parents’ marriage. What do you want readers to take away from Quinn’s “evolution” of her stance on love in the novel?
Quinn starts the book deeply set in her ways. So much of this book is about change, which is tied closely to the end of high school—everything is in flux, and Quinn’s trying so hard to cling to her worldview. I hope readers realize that people can change their minds, whether it’s because they’re standing in their own way, or because there’s something in their past they’re still processing, or because they meet someone worth taking a risk on.
There are so many scenes between Quinn and Tarek that I absolutely adored – did you have a scene that was your favorite while writing? And one that was the most challenging to get right?
Thank you! First kisses are always a joy to write, so without spoiling too much, I will just say: the first kiss scene! There’s also a scene where Quinn and Tarek watch Sleepless in Seattle and argue about whether Meg Ryan’s behaviour is creepy or romantic, something I have often wondered, despite my love for Nora Ephron.
The climactic scene was tough to get right. In a romantic comedy, that’s usually when the couple is breaking up (or if not breaking up, having a significant fight), and sometimes it’s a struggle to make sure that scene feels authentic and not too heavily manipulated by the author. I never want it to read as though I have too strong a grip on the puppet strings. My first drafts of those scenes definitely feel that way—so they often require a lot of editing!
Quinn is torn between what her parents expect from her and what she wants her future to look like – where do you imagine Quinn after the events of We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This?
That’s a great question. I love thinking about Quinn letting herself have fun in college and taking any class that piques her interest. Even as the author, I’m not sure what she’d major in—and I think she might end up surprising herself, too!
We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This is your second release for this year (The Ex Talk being the first). You must be a writing machine! Do you have any tips for aspiring writers on how to keep writing?
I’m very lucky (and very grateful) in that 2021 is the first year I’ve been able to write full-time. One of the things that keeps me going, though, is finding a new way to challenge myself with each book. With Today Tonight Tomorrow, it was a 24-hour timeline. With The Ex Talk, it was my first adult book. With We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This, it was my first time writing an #ownvoices portrayal of OCD, anxiety, and depression. Pinpointing something challenging and maybe a little bit scary—that’s a key part of my process when I’m brainstorming a new idea.
With We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This releasing soon, what are you working on at the moment? Can you share a little sneak peek of what’s to come for you?
I have two books scheduled for 2022 as well! First up will be Weather Girl, an adult romantic comedy about a TV meteorologist and a sports reporter scheming to reunite their divorced bosses—sort of like The Parent Trap or Set it Up at a TV station.
And later in 2022: my first (slightly) speculative YA! See You Yesterday is about a girl forced to relieve her disastrous first day of college, only to discover that the physics nerd who humiliated her in her 101 class is stuck in the time loop with her.
Last but not least, do you have any bookish recommendations for our readers?
In YA, Made in Korea by Sarah Suk, Once Upon a Quinceañera by Monica Gomez-Hira, and Last Chance Books by Kelsey Rodkey are all recent favorites!
In adult, lately I’ve loved Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle, The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan, and The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun, which isn’t out until September but I’m OBSESSED—a queer romcom about the lead of a Bachelor-esque show who falls for his producer.
