We had the pleasure of sitting down with Sarah Hogle, author of the fantastic romcom You Deserve Each Other and the upcoming Twice Shy [April 6th 2021], which features an inherited manor, a secretly cinnamon roll hero and a heroine whose head is stuck in the clouds. We got to ask Sarah all our questions about her upcoming projects, writing process and favourite romance tropes!
Hi, Sarah! Thanks so much for joining us! Why don’t you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hello, and thank you so much for this interview! A little bit about me: I’m a stay at home mom of three kids in rural Ohio, and I’ve been writing since I was five. All I’ve ever wanted is to be an author. These days, whenever I’m not working on a book, I am probably reading something from my ridiculously tall TBR pile, binge-watching TV shows (going to start WandaVision next), and hiding my snacks from my two youngest, who are bloodhounds and love to share only when they’re sharing something of mine.
Let’s start with a lightning round! What was the last book you read, show or movie you watched and sweet treat you ate?
I’m currently reading two books, If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane and Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas (I’m enjoying both!). The last movie I watched was You’ve Got Mail, which is one of my all-time favorite romcoms. This movie was mentioned several times in Waiting For Tom Hanks, a book by Kerry Winfrey I read last week, so a re-watch was essential. I ate chocolate croissants and coffee for breakfast a few hours ago. (I could eat chocolate croissants and coffee for every meal.)
Now tell us about Twice Shy! What can readers expect when picking up this saucy romance?
Twice Shy is about Maybell Parrish, a woman who spends most of her time in a daydream world fantasizing about a more satisfying life (especially romantically). When she inherits Falling Stars, a large estate in the Smokies from her great-aunt Violet, she thinks that this is just the life overhaul she needs, and quits her thankless job to start fresh in a new town. But when she arrives, she discovers that not only is the house practically falling apart, she isn’t the only one who inherited it. Maybell has to share the estate with Wesley Koehler, Violet’s groundskeeper, who’s tight-lipped, grouchy, and seems to want nothing to do with her. Maybell and Wesley bicker about what they want to do with the house, but gradually start to become friendly and Maybell realizes that Wesley isn’t at all who he appears to be on the surface. This is a very soft, sweet love story, and I love it so, so much. I would say that Twice Shy is the book of my heart.
Take us through your writing process! Are you planner or a pantser? Do you write like you’re running out of time or with a fixed schedule? Any tips and tricks for fellow writers?
I’m a mix of planner and pantser. I write the first half of the book with a vague bullet list of details in mind, more or less seeing where the journey takes me. The second half of a book is way more structured, and I write chapter by chapter outlines for it. I try to write as quickly as I can because my memory isn’t great and if I go too long between writing sessions, I forget everything about the book and feel detached from it. So I tend to marathon-write whenever I’m working on a book, as much as my schedule allows. I aim for 10k words a week, minimum, hoping to have a first draft finished in under two months. My advice for fellow writers is to just do what feels right! Plot it, pants it, write 100 words or 10,000 words a day, whatever feels right for you personally. Some writers embrace the messy first draft and some edit as they go, and any way you go about it is valid. Personally, I prefer to edit as I go because, for me, it produces a stronger draft.
I absolutely adored Wesley and Maybell’s differing visions for the inherited manor. If you were to inherit a property like that, what would you want to do with it?
I would get a huge swimming pool, and a trampoline because in my heart I’m ten years old. I would explore the woods for hours, play hide and seek with my family in the manor, and turn one of the rooms into a beautiful writing room with antique furniture, an old world globe, heavy red velvet curtains, and vintage wallpaper. Also, books. There would be books everywhere. Falling Stars is really isolated, which speaks to my hermit soul, so honestly that would be the dream life for me. No neighbors, just me and my family and the trees and my books. I’d invite a bunch of author friends to come visit and have a book-writing marathon with me, giving them their pick of any bedroom. I’m getting all dreamy just imagining this. Why must I be part of society?? I just want to be in the woods. (But with high-speed internet.)
Wesley has my whole heart! He was such a shy, complex and endearing hero! Especially the representation of social anxiety really resonated with me. How did you come up with his character and backstory?
Eventually, I want to be able to look back at my body of work and to see that I’ve written a wide variety of characters—charming, confident, lonely, friendly, dark, fun, shy, any and every type of human. I felt like the time was right for me to put out my Shy Hero. I mined myself for a few of Wesley’s qualities: I have social anxiety that bounces around from very manageable to occasionally debilitating, and I tend to clam up around new people and/or panic. I also sometimes have difficulty expressing myself verbally, extracting just the right words whenever I’m trying to communicate out loud. This is especially the case in settings in which my social anxiety has been triggered. I’m an anxious person who panics sometimes over things that might not always make sense, but I’m married to someone who loves me and I wanted to write about a character with these traits who also finds someone who loves them, just the way they are. Another inspiration for Wesley is Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, who seems taciturn and rude, but on the inside he’s quite soft.
There are so many sweet gestures within the book, for example, something related to a coffeeshop AU that is now one of my all-time favourite romantic gestures. Where did the inspiration for these heartfelt ideas come from? Are you a fan of the big romantic gestures in movies and books and if so, can you share a few of your faves with us?
I’m a VERY big fan of the big romantic gesture! Swoony moments are my favorite, so one of my major goals with this book was providing plenty of swoony moments. Maybell has been dreaming of being properly romanced for so long, and I wanted to give her a romance that was better than anything she’d imagined.
I’m particularly influenced by movies. Like the scene at the end of You’ve Got Mail, when Kathleen is standing in the park and Joe comes around the corner. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is playing, Joe’s dog Brinkley is running up, which indicates to Kathleen that yes, this means her online friend really is her real-life nemesis. They look at each other, and their expressions get me every time. His “well, this is me. Hope you’re not disappointed” expression, and Kathleen! The range of emotions playing over her face—realization, shock, disbelief, relief. They’re surrounded by flowers, kissing at last while the camera slowly pans out, and it’s wonderful.
Another big gesture I love is from Ten Things I Hate About You, when Patrick dances in the bleachers and lip-syncs (I think? Or did he actually sing?) to Kat.
Oh! And in Fifty First Dates, when Henry makes a video for Lucy that tells her about them, and what her life is like, so that every morning when she wakes up she can digest who she is and what’s happened to her (because of her memory loss).
I can’t recall any one specific scene from the other romcoms I love, but a few of my favorites are: The Proposal, How To Lose a Guy In Ten Days, The Wedding Date, Sweet Home Alabama, Just Friends, and Isn’t it Romantic.
You definitely know how to write a slow-burn with the sunshine/grumpy dynamic! I was hooked on Maybell’s and Wesley’s love story from the beginning! What are your favourite tropes in romances?
I love a good enemies-to-lovers, fated mates, second chance romance, one of them works in a bookshop, there’s only one bed, snowed-in together, bodyguard-and-the-client-they’re-protecting, brother’s best friend, and forced proximity. Torturously-slow burns preferred.
With Twice Shy releasing soon, are you already working on other projects and can you maybe share a few deets with us?
I’m writing another book right now! It’s early yet, so no promises that it’ll go anywhere, but I’ll say that it’s very, very, very bonkers. I’m having a ball with it, and I don’t think I’ve read any romcoms like this one before. I’m extremely excited about this book, though, and I very much hope it goes out into the world someday!
Last but not least, do you have any bookish recommendations for our readers?
Another book that publishes on the same day as Twice Shy that readers should be sure to pick up is To Love and to Loathe by Martha Waters. This book is a regency romcom, frenemies-to-lovers, and it’s steamy and HILARIOUS. I love this book to pieces and from the first chapter I knew it was going to be one of my all-time favorite romances (Martha’s first novel, To Have and to Hoax, is also excellent). The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton is a historical fantasy romcom that publishes on June 15, 2021 that I adore. If you’re a fan of The Princess Bride, you’ll enjoy this novel. It’s just super, super fun. Talia Hibbert is such a talented author and I know I’m late to the Take a Hint, Dani Brown party, but if by chance you haven’t read it yet, you should! Also put A Brush with Love on your watchlist. This romance by Mazey Eddings has great anxiety rep and the hero is SO SWEET; it comes out in 2022. I’m trying not to ramble on forever here, so before I go, a couple more recs of great books: the Bergman Brothers novels by Chloe Liese, Love Songs for Skeptics by Christina Pishiris, and The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon. (Also anything and everything by Tessa Bailey).
