This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link!<\/p>\n
Exclusive In Conversation with Sloan Harlow<\/h2>\n\n![\"Exclusive](\"https:\/\/heyitscarlyrae.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SloanHarlow_-1024x536.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nWelcome Sloan! We are so excited to have you join us! Tell us more about your new anthology inspired by Taylor Swift\u2019s songs titled 13 Little Love Stories<\/em>.<\/h4>\nI\u2019m the excited one, here \u2013 thank YOU for having me! Oh my gosh, what can I say about 13 Little Love Stories<\/em> besides the fact that it\u2019s a dream come true? <\/em>To know my work is going to be alongside love stories written by twelve of the most brilliant<\/em> authors out there, each inspired by a different Taylor Swift song?? It came out better than I could have dreamed: the anthology is this beautiful, emotional mosaic masterpiece. It\u2019s an extraordinary honor to be a little part of it. Swifties, romance readers, everyone in between: you\u2019re all gonna love it.<\/p>\nTell us more about your love story in 13 Little Love Stories<\/em>.<\/h4>\nFive Summers<\/em> is a love letter to all my fellow open-hearted souls who fall painfully hard<\/em> for the most inconvenient people. It\u2019s about Alex Reyes, who struggles with big feelings for her best friend, Will Gray, told over the course of the five summers between the beginning of freshman year of college to when they graduate.<\/p>\nI really loved having Alex and Will\u2019s story span their college years. College was such an intense emotional experience for me; it\u2019s like, all of a sudden, you\u2019re sharing every moment of your life with these strangers, you\u2019re all homesick and scrambling for familiarity, you become each other\u2019s lifelines. That immediate intimacy was a little overwhelming for me, but also kind of irresistible? I enjoyed revisiting that emotional experience through Five Summers all these years later. It\u2019s a story that\u2019s very close to my heart, and I\u2019ll be the first to admit, totally self-indulgent.<\/p>\n
How did you go about crafting your story? Did you instantly know which song you had in mind to inspire your story?<\/h4>\n
So, I had a therapist who once told me, \u201cIn a relationship, there is always a chaser, and there is a runner. You\u2019re a chaser.\u201d Which, I didn\u2019t need her to tell me that: of course, I knew I was a chaser. I was usually the one falling first and hardest, and man, I hated it. I hated being a chaser. It\u2019s painful, vulnerable, and humiliating. Now, I look back on it, and I feel a kind of admiration for my younger self. I feel an admiration for all chasers, honestly: it takes a lot of bravery to open yourself up to love despite the risk of all that pain and rejection. Shout out to all my fellow chasers!<\/p>\n
I think that\u2019s why I\u2019ve always loved the song Cruel Summer.<\/em> It\u2019s a chaser\u2019s anthem. It captures that feeling of being at the mercy of your feelings for someone else, against all your better judgment. The song\u2019s also a little reassuring. Like, hey, even Taylor Herself has been there too, you know?\u00a0<\/p>\nBecause of all that, pretty quickly, I knew I wanted to use Cruel Summer as the inspiration for my story. Five Summers is, of course, total fiction, but I definitely drew a lot of inspiration for Alex\u2019s emotional experience from things I\u2019d personally experienced.<\/p>\n
Talk us through the writing process! Did you listen to the Swiftie song on repeat while writing your story for 13 Little Love Stories?<\/em><\/h4>\nI did! I had both the regular and instrumental version of Cruel Summer<\/em> on repeat \u2013 that\u2019s pretty on par for how I listen to music in general, though. I\u2019ll find a song I love and listen to only that one song for weeks.<\/p>\nI also made a playlist of the songs I had on heavy rotation during my freshman year of college. My college roommate used to play the album Talkie Walkie by Air all the time, and it inadvertently became the soundtrack of that era of my life. I hadn\u2019t listened to it in all these years, so playing certain songs from that album really brought me back. Have you ever done that? It\u2019s like an emotional time machine.<\/p>\n
What is your favorite part of your story in 13 Little Love Stories?<\/em><\/h4>\nI love a good \u201cromantic tension breaking point.\u201d I love reading it, I love writing it, and I had a lot of fun writing the cathartic \u201call hell breaks loose\u201d romance moment in Five Summers.<\/em> I don\u2019t want to give away too much \u2013 a woman must have her secrets<\/em> \u2013 so I might leave it at that.<\/p>\nWhat was it like writing a story for an anthology with 13 different authors? Did you have a group chat? Writing meetings?<\/h4>\n
The experience of writing for this anthology was more solitary than folks might expect \u2013 but I think it\u2019s sort of beautiful. As I said above, I\u2019m in awe of every other author in this anthology. Each one is an absolute legend \u2013 a magician! They\u2019re off in their individual corners, weaving their magic into their personal stories. It\u2019s been so cool to see the stories come together. I\u2019ve been blown away to see how, while we were all listening to Taylor as inspiration, everyone went in thirteen brilliant, unique directions.<\/p>\n
That said, if any of them ever wanted to start a group chat, I would join with absolutely zero chill.<\/p>\n
The biggest question I have is: will there be a Taylor Swift Easter egg in your story?<\/h4>\n
Oooh, if you go looking for it, and you know Cruel Summer<\/em> well enough, you might catch some little eggs here and there in Five Summers.<\/em> I\u2019ll leave it at that, y\u2019all don\u2019t need hints. Readers, I want a report!<\/p>\nBefore writing in the anthology, you wrote the bestselling novels Everything We Never Said <\/em>and All We Lost Was Everything<\/em>. Can you share your writing process for a full-length novel compared to an anthology?<\/h4>\nWriting a short story feels like planning a weekend getaway, while writing a novel feels like unfurling a huge map of Middle-earth and being like, \u201cCool, so I need to figure out how to get from The Shire to Mount Doom\u2026\u201d Both are intimidating in their own way! (Take a wild guess as to which one I find more daunting.)<\/p>\n
With a short story, you\u2019ve only got a certain amount of words allotted to tell your tale. I\u2019m wordy. My drafts are way too long, so that was one of my challenges. My editor and I are just constantly shaving off the excess. With a short story, you have the luxury (and agony) of really zooming in, polishing words and punctuation.<\/p>\n
Are you an outliner or do you forge ahead and write, then go back and edit?<\/h4>\n
I have such a deep admiration for the writers who can say, \u201cI\u2019m just winging it, we\u2019ll see where this story takes me.\u201d That takes a lot of trust in the process, a lot of trust in yourself<\/em>. I\u2019d love to get there someday.<\/p>\nAs of right now, I do need a general outline before starting a story: I want to know where I\u2019m going before I start my journey. Here\u2019s the thing: nine times out of ten, that outline\u2019s gonna change \u2013 it\u2019ll evolve in ways it needs to, in ways that are impossible to see when you\u2019re at the very beginning, looking from a bird\u2019s eye view of the story. To go back to the \u201croad map\u201d metaphor, it\u2019s just like any trip: you show up to a stream that\u2019s on the map but dried up in real life. You were counting on it for a water source, now you have to figure out something new. Fallen trees block a path. Things you thought would work just can\u2019t<\/em> now that you\u2019ve arrived at the chapter, are seeing it from the ground.<\/p>\nSome of my favorite creators know that and embrace it. They\u2019re comfortable writing and pitching their story without any idea of how it might end. They just know that whatever corner they write themselves into, they can write themselves out. That\u2019s sort of terrifying for me, which is no good because fear is like my creative pesticide. Creativecide?<\/p>\n
Did you always want to be an author?<\/h4>\n
Oh, definitely: I was interested in writing from a very young age. Did I ever think it could be anything more than a joyous hobby? No way. No way did I ever think I\u2019d get that lucky.<\/p>\n
How was the process of finding an agent? Can you share a bit about your writing journey to becoming a bestselling author for writers who want to publish traditionally?<\/h4>\n
My path is not a traditional one. I\u2019ll be the first to admit that I got super lucky and am grateful for it every day. I came to this through connections I\u2019d made doing other writing work. If I were to give any advice, it would be: above all, be kind. It takes a big team of very talented people to make any book successful. This is just my inexpert opinion, so take this with that ole grain o\u2019 salt, but I think sometimes being a good teammate and collaborator takes you further than being the most talented person in the room.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nWelcome Sloan! We are so excited to have you join us! Tell us more about your new anthology inspired by Taylor Swift\u2019s songs titled 13 Little Love Stories<\/em>.<\/h4>\nI\u2019m the excited one, here \u2013 thank YOU for having me! Oh my gosh, what can I say about 13 Little Love Stories<\/em> besides the fact that it\u2019s a dream come true? <\/em>To know my work is going to be alongside love stories written by twelve of the most brilliant<\/em> authors out there, each inspired by a different Taylor Swift song?? It came out better than I could have dreamed: the anthology is this beautiful, emotional mosaic masterpiece. It\u2019s an extraordinary honor to be a little part of it. Swifties, romance readers, everyone in between: you\u2019re all gonna love it.<\/p>\nTell us more about your love story in 13 Little Love Stories<\/em>.<\/h4>\nFive Summers<\/em> is a love letter to all my fellow open-hearted souls who fall painfully hard<\/em> for the most inconvenient people. It\u2019s about Alex Reyes, who struggles with big feelings for her best friend, Will Gray, told over the course of the five summers between the beginning of freshman year of college to when they graduate.<\/p>\nI really loved having Alex and Will\u2019s story span their college years. College was such an intense emotional experience for me; it\u2019s like, all of a sudden, you\u2019re sharing every moment of your life with these strangers, you\u2019re all homesick and scrambling for familiarity, you become each other\u2019s lifelines. That immediate intimacy was a little overwhelming for me, but also kind of irresistible? I enjoyed revisiting that emotional experience through Five Summers all these years later. It\u2019s a story that\u2019s very close to my heart, and I\u2019ll be the first to admit, totally self-indulgent.<\/p>\n
How did you go about crafting your story? Did you instantly know which song you had in mind to inspire your story?<\/h4>\n
So, I had a therapist who once told me, \u201cIn a relationship, there is always a chaser, and there is a runner. You\u2019re a chaser.\u201d Which, I didn\u2019t need her to tell me that: of course, I knew I was a chaser. I was usually the one falling first and hardest, and man, I hated it. I hated being a chaser. It\u2019s painful, vulnerable, and humiliating. Now, I look back on it, and I feel a kind of admiration for my younger self. I feel an admiration for all chasers, honestly: it takes a lot of bravery to open yourself up to love despite the risk of all that pain and rejection. Shout out to all my fellow chasers!<\/p>\n
I think that\u2019s why I\u2019ve always loved the song Cruel Summer.<\/em> It\u2019s a chaser\u2019s anthem. It captures that feeling of being at the mercy of your feelings for someone else, against all your better judgment. The song\u2019s also a little reassuring. Like, hey, even Taylor Herself has been there too, you know?\u00a0<\/p>\nBecause of all that, pretty quickly, I knew I wanted to use Cruel Summer as the inspiration for my story. Five Summers is, of course, total fiction, but I definitely drew a lot of inspiration for Alex\u2019s emotional experience from things I\u2019d personally experienced.<\/p>\n
Talk us through the writing process! Did you listen to the Swiftie song on repeat while writing your story for 13 Little Love Stories?<\/em><\/h4>\nI did! I had both the regular and instrumental version of Cruel Summer<\/em> on repeat \u2013 that\u2019s pretty on par for how I listen to music in general, though. I\u2019ll find a song I love and listen to only that one song for weeks.<\/p>\nI also made a playlist of the songs I had on heavy rotation during my freshman year of college. My college roommate used to play the album Talkie Walkie by Air all the time, and it inadvertently became the soundtrack of that era of my life. I hadn\u2019t listened to it in all these years, so playing certain songs from that album really brought me back. Have you ever done that? It\u2019s like an emotional time machine.<\/p>\n
What is your favorite part of your story in 13 Little Love Stories?<\/em><\/h4>\nI love a good \u201cromantic tension breaking point.\u201d I love reading it, I love writing it, and I had a lot of fun writing the cathartic \u201call hell breaks loose\u201d romance moment in Five Summers.<\/em> I don\u2019t want to give away too much \u2013 a woman must have her secrets<\/em> \u2013 so I might leave it at that.<\/p>\nWhat was it like writing a story for an anthology with 13 different authors? Did you have a group chat? Writing meetings?<\/h4>\n
The experience of writing for this anthology was more solitary than folks might expect \u2013 but I think it\u2019s sort of beautiful. As I said above, I\u2019m in awe of every other author in this anthology. Each one is an absolute legend \u2013 a magician! They\u2019re off in their individual corners, weaving their magic into their personal stories. It\u2019s been so cool to see the stories come together. I\u2019ve been blown away to see how, while we were all listening to Taylor as inspiration, everyone went in thirteen brilliant, unique directions.<\/p>\n
That said, if any of them ever wanted to start a group chat, I would join with absolutely zero chill.<\/p>\n
The biggest question I have is: will there be a Taylor Swift Easter egg in your story?<\/h4>\n
Oooh, if you go looking for it, and you know Cruel Summer<\/em> well enough, you might catch some little eggs here and there in Five Summers.<\/em> I\u2019ll leave it at that, y\u2019all don\u2019t need hints. Readers, I want a report!<\/p>\nBefore writing in the anthology, you wrote the bestselling novels Everything We Never Said <\/em>and All We Lost Was Everything<\/em>. Can you share your writing process for a full-length novel compared to an anthology?<\/h4>\nWriting a short story feels like planning a weekend getaway, while writing a novel feels like unfurling a huge map of Middle-earth and being like, \u201cCool, so I need to figure out how to get from The Shire to Mount Doom\u2026\u201d Both are intimidating in their own way! (Take a wild guess as to which one I find more daunting.)<\/p>\n
With a short story, you\u2019ve only got a certain amount of words allotted to tell your tale. I\u2019m wordy. My drafts are way too long, so that was one of my challenges. My editor and I are just constantly shaving off the excess. With a short story, you have the luxury (and agony) of really zooming in, polishing words and punctuation.<\/p>\n
Are you an outliner or do you forge ahead and write, then go back and edit?<\/h4>\n
I have such a deep admiration for the writers who can say, \u201cI\u2019m just winging it, we\u2019ll see where this story takes me.\u201d That takes a lot of trust in the process, a lot of trust in yourself<\/em>. I\u2019d love to get there someday.<\/p>\nAs of right now, I do need a general outline before starting a story: I want to know where I\u2019m going before I start my journey. Here\u2019s the thing: nine times out of ten, that outline\u2019s gonna change \u2013 it\u2019ll evolve in ways it needs to, in ways that are impossible to see when you\u2019re at the very beginning, looking from a bird\u2019s eye view of the story. To go back to the \u201croad map\u201d metaphor, it\u2019s just like any trip: you show up to a stream that\u2019s on the map but dried up in real life. You were counting on it for a water source, now you have to figure out something new. Fallen trees block a path. Things you thought would work just can\u2019t<\/em> now that you\u2019ve arrived at the chapter, are seeing it from the ground.<\/p>\nSome of my favorite creators know that and embrace it. They\u2019re comfortable writing and pitching their story without any idea of how it might end. They just know that whatever corner they write themselves into, they can write themselves out. That\u2019s sort of terrifying for me, which is no good because fear is like my creative pesticide. Creativecide?<\/p>\n
Did you always want to be an author?<\/h4>\n
Oh, definitely: I was interested in writing from a very young age. Did I ever think it could be anything more than a joyous hobby? No way. No way did I ever think I\u2019d get that lucky.<\/p>\n
How was the process of finding an agent? Can you share a bit about your writing journey to becoming a bestselling author for writers who want to publish traditionally?<\/h4>\n
My path is not a traditional one. I\u2019ll be the first to admit that I got super lucky and am grateful for it every day. I came to this through connections I\u2019d made doing other writing work. If I were to give any advice, it would be: above all, be kind. It takes a big team of very talented people to make any book successful. This is just my inexpert opinion, so take this with that ole grain o\u2019 salt, but I think sometimes being a good teammate and collaborator takes you further than being the most talented person in the room.<\/p>\n
Tell us more about your love story in 13 Little Love Stories<\/em>.<\/h4>\nFive Summers<\/em> is a love letter to all my fellow open-hearted souls who fall painfully hard<\/em> for the most inconvenient people. It\u2019s about Alex Reyes, who struggles with big feelings for her best friend, Will Gray, told over the course of the five summers between the beginning of freshman year of college to when they graduate.<\/p>\nI really loved having Alex and Will\u2019s story span their college years. College was such an intense emotional experience for me; it\u2019s like, all of a sudden, you\u2019re sharing every moment of your life with these strangers, you\u2019re all homesick and scrambling for familiarity, you become each other\u2019s lifelines. That immediate intimacy was a little overwhelming for me, but also kind of irresistible? I enjoyed revisiting that emotional experience through Five Summers all these years later. It\u2019s a story that\u2019s very close to my heart, and I\u2019ll be the first to admit, totally self-indulgent.<\/p>\n
How did you go about crafting your story? Did you instantly know which song you had in mind to inspire your story?<\/h4>\n
So, I had a therapist who once told me, \u201cIn a relationship, there is always a chaser, and there is a runner. You\u2019re a chaser.\u201d Which, I didn\u2019t need her to tell me that: of course, I knew I was a chaser. I was usually the one falling first and hardest, and man, I hated it. I hated being a chaser. It\u2019s painful, vulnerable, and humiliating. Now, I look back on it, and I feel a kind of admiration for my younger self. I feel an admiration for all chasers, honestly: it takes a lot of bravery to open yourself up to love despite the risk of all that pain and rejection. Shout out to all my fellow chasers!<\/p>\n
I think that\u2019s why I\u2019ve always loved the song Cruel Summer.<\/em> It\u2019s a chaser\u2019s anthem. It captures that feeling of being at the mercy of your feelings for someone else, against all your better judgment. The song\u2019s also a little reassuring. Like, hey, even Taylor Herself has been there too, you know?\u00a0<\/p>\nBecause of all that, pretty quickly, I knew I wanted to use Cruel Summer as the inspiration for my story. Five Summers is, of course, total fiction, but I definitely drew a lot of inspiration for Alex\u2019s emotional experience from things I\u2019d personally experienced.<\/p>\n
Talk us through the writing process! Did you listen to the Swiftie song on repeat while writing your story for 13 Little Love Stories?<\/em><\/h4>\nI did! I had both the regular and instrumental version of Cruel Summer<\/em> on repeat \u2013 that\u2019s pretty on par for how I listen to music in general, though. I\u2019ll find a song I love and listen to only that one song for weeks.<\/p>\nI also made a playlist of the songs I had on heavy rotation during my freshman year of college. My college roommate used to play the album Talkie Walkie by Air all the time, and it inadvertently became the soundtrack of that era of my life. I hadn\u2019t listened to it in all these years, so playing certain songs from that album really brought me back. Have you ever done that? It\u2019s like an emotional time machine.<\/p>\n
What is your favorite part of your story in 13 Little Love Stories?<\/em><\/h4>\nI love a good \u201cromantic tension breaking point.\u201d I love reading it, I love writing it, and I had a lot of fun writing the cathartic \u201call hell breaks loose\u201d romance moment in Five Summers.<\/em> I don\u2019t want to give away too much \u2013 a woman must have her secrets<\/em> \u2013 so I might leave it at that.<\/p>\nWhat was it like writing a story for an anthology with 13 different authors? Did you have a group chat? Writing meetings?<\/h4>\n
The experience of writing for this anthology was more solitary than folks might expect \u2013 but I think it\u2019s sort of beautiful. As I said above, I\u2019m in awe of every other author in this anthology. Each one is an absolute legend \u2013 a magician! They\u2019re off in their individual corners, weaving their magic into their personal stories. It\u2019s been so cool to see the stories come together. I\u2019ve been blown away to see how, while we were all listening to Taylor as inspiration, everyone went in thirteen brilliant, unique directions.<\/p>\n
That said, if any of them ever wanted to start a group chat, I would join with absolutely zero chill.<\/p>\n
The biggest question I have is: will there be a Taylor Swift Easter egg in your story?<\/h4>\n
Oooh, if you go looking for it, and you know Cruel Summer<\/em> well enough, you might catch some little eggs here and there in Five Summers.<\/em> I\u2019ll leave it at that, y\u2019all don\u2019t need hints. Readers, I want a report!<\/p>\nBefore writing in the anthology, you wrote the bestselling novels Everything We Never Said <\/em>and All We Lost Was Everything<\/em>. Can you share your writing process for a full-length novel compared to an anthology?<\/h4>\nWriting a short story feels like planning a weekend getaway, while writing a novel feels like unfurling a huge map of Middle-earth and being like, \u201cCool, so I need to figure out how to get from The Shire to Mount Doom\u2026\u201d Both are intimidating in their own way! (Take a wild guess as to which one I find more daunting.)<\/p>\n
With a short story, you\u2019ve only got a certain amount of words allotted to tell your tale. I\u2019m wordy. My drafts are way too long, so that was one of my challenges. My editor and I are just constantly shaving off the excess. With a short story, you have the luxury (and agony) of really zooming in, polishing words and punctuation.<\/p>\n
Are you an outliner or do you forge ahead and write, then go back and edit?<\/h4>\n
I have such a deep admiration for the writers who can say, \u201cI\u2019m just winging it, we\u2019ll see where this story takes me.\u201d That takes a lot of trust in the process, a lot of trust in yourself<\/em>. I\u2019d love to get there someday.<\/p>\nAs of right now, I do need a general outline before starting a story: I want to know where I\u2019m going before I start my journey. Here\u2019s the thing: nine times out of ten, that outline\u2019s gonna change \u2013 it\u2019ll evolve in ways it needs to, in ways that are impossible to see when you\u2019re at the very beginning, looking from a bird\u2019s eye view of the story. To go back to the \u201croad map\u201d metaphor, it\u2019s just like any trip: you show up to a stream that\u2019s on the map but dried up in real life. You were counting on it for a water source, now you have to figure out something new. Fallen trees block a path. Things you thought would work just can\u2019t<\/em> now that you\u2019ve arrived at the chapter, are seeing it from the ground.<\/p>\nSome of my favorite creators know that and embrace it. They\u2019re comfortable writing and pitching their story without any idea of how it might end. They just know that whatever corner they write themselves into, they can write themselves out. That\u2019s sort of terrifying for me, which is no good because fear is like my creative pesticide. Creativecide?<\/p>\n
Did you always want to be an author?<\/h4>\n
Oh, definitely: I was interested in writing from a very young age. Did I ever think it could be anything more than a joyous hobby? No way. No way did I ever think I\u2019d get that lucky.<\/p>\n
How was the process of finding an agent? Can you share a bit about your writing journey to becoming a bestselling author for writers who want to publish traditionally?<\/h4>\n
My path is not a traditional one. I\u2019ll be the first to admit that I got super lucky and am grateful for it every day. I came to this through connections I\u2019d made doing other writing work. If I were to give any advice, it would be: above all, be kind. It takes a big team of very talented people to make any book successful. This is just my inexpert opinion, so take this with that ole grain o\u2019 salt, but I think sometimes being a good teammate and collaborator takes you further than being the most talented person in the room.<\/p>\n
I really loved having Alex and Will\u2019s story span their college years. College was such an intense emotional experience for me; it\u2019s like, all of a sudden, you\u2019re sharing every moment of your life with these strangers, you\u2019re all homesick and scrambling for familiarity, you become each other\u2019s lifelines. That immediate intimacy was a little overwhelming for me, but also kind of irresistible? I enjoyed revisiting that emotional experience through Five Summers all these years later. It\u2019s a story that\u2019s very close to my heart, and I\u2019ll be the first to admit, totally self-indulgent.<\/p>\n
How did you go about crafting your story? Did you instantly know which song you had in mind to inspire your story?<\/h4>\n
So, I had a therapist who once told me, \u201cIn a relationship, there is always a chaser, and there is a runner. You\u2019re a chaser.\u201d Which, I didn\u2019t need her to tell me that: of course, I knew I was a chaser. I was usually the one falling first and hardest, and man, I hated it. I hated being a chaser. It\u2019s painful, vulnerable, and humiliating. Now, I look back on it, and I feel a kind of admiration for my younger self. I feel an admiration for all chasers, honestly: it takes a lot of bravery to open yourself up to love despite the risk of all that pain and rejection. Shout out to all my fellow chasers!<\/p>\n
I think that\u2019s why I\u2019ve always loved the song Cruel Summer.<\/em> It\u2019s a chaser\u2019s anthem. It captures that feeling of being at the mercy of your feelings for someone else, against all your better judgment. The song\u2019s also a little reassuring. Like, hey, even Taylor Herself has been there too, you know?\u00a0<\/p>\n Because of all that, pretty quickly, I knew I wanted to use Cruel Summer as the inspiration for my story. Five Summers is, of course, total fiction, but I definitely drew a lot of inspiration for Alex\u2019s emotional experience from things I\u2019d personally experienced.<\/p>\n I did! I had both the regular and instrumental version of Cruel Summer<\/em> on repeat \u2013 that\u2019s pretty on par for how I listen to music in general, though. I\u2019ll find a song I love and listen to only that one song for weeks.<\/p>\n I also made a playlist of the songs I had on heavy rotation during my freshman year of college. My college roommate used to play the album Talkie Walkie by Air all the time, and it inadvertently became the soundtrack of that era of my life. I hadn\u2019t listened to it in all these years, so playing certain songs from that album really brought me back. Have you ever done that? It\u2019s like an emotional time machine.<\/p>\n I love a good \u201cromantic tension breaking point.\u201d I love reading it, I love writing it, and I had a lot of fun writing the cathartic \u201call hell breaks loose\u201d romance moment in Five Summers.<\/em> I don\u2019t want to give away too much \u2013 a woman must have her secrets<\/em> \u2013 so I might leave it at that.<\/p>\n The experience of writing for this anthology was more solitary than folks might expect \u2013 but I think it\u2019s sort of beautiful. As I said above, I\u2019m in awe of every other author in this anthology. Each one is an absolute legend \u2013 a magician! They\u2019re off in their individual corners, weaving their magic into their personal stories. It\u2019s been so cool to see the stories come together. I\u2019ve been blown away to see how, while we were all listening to Taylor as inspiration, everyone went in thirteen brilliant, unique directions.<\/p>\n That said, if any of them ever wanted to start a group chat, I would join with absolutely zero chill.<\/p>\n Oooh, if you go looking for it, and you know Cruel Summer<\/em> well enough, you might catch some little eggs here and there in Five Summers.<\/em> I\u2019ll leave it at that, y\u2019all don\u2019t need hints. Readers, I want a report!<\/p>\n Writing a short story feels like planning a weekend getaway, while writing a novel feels like unfurling a huge map of Middle-earth and being like, \u201cCool, so I need to figure out how to get from The Shire to Mount Doom\u2026\u201d Both are intimidating in their own way! (Take a wild guess as to which one I find more daunting.)<\/p>\n With a short story, you\u2019ve only got a certain amount of words allotted to tell your tale. I\u2019m wordy. My drafts are way too long, so that was one of my challenges. My editor and I are just constantly shaving off the excess. With a short story, you have the luxury (and agony) of really zooming in, polishing words and punctuation.<\/p>\n I have such a deep admiration for the writers who can say, \u201cI\u2019m just winging it, we\u2019ll see where this story takes me.\u201d That takes a lot of trust in the process, a lot of trust in yourself<\/em>. I\u2019d love to get there someday.<\/p>\n As of right now, I do need a general outline before starting a story: I want to know where I\u2019m going before I start my journey. Here\u2019s the thing: nine times out of ten, that outline\u2019s gonna change \u2013 it\u2019ll evolve in ways it needs to, in ways that are impossible to see when you\u2019re at the very beginning, looking from a bird\u2019s eye view of the story. To go back to the \u201croad map\u201d metaphor, it\u2019s just like any trip: you show up to a stream that\u2019s on the map but dried up in real life. You were counting on it for a water source, now you have to figure out something new. Fallen trees block a path. Things you thought would work just can\u2019t<\/em> now that you\u2019ve arrived at the chapter, are seeing it from the ground.<\/p>\n Some of my favorite creators know that and embrace it. They\u2019re comfortable writing and pitching their story without any idea of how it might end. They just know that whatever corner they write themselves into, they can write themselves out. That\u2019s sort of terrifying for me, which is no good because fear is like my creative pesticide. Creativecide?<\/p>\n Oh, definitely: I was interested in writing from a very young age. Did I ever think it could be anything more than a joyous hobby? No way. No way did I ever think I\u2019d get that lucky.<\/p>\n My path is not a traditional one. I\u2019ll be the first to admit that I got super lucky and am grateful for it every day. I came to this through connections I\u2019d made doing other writing work. If I were to give any advice, it would be: above all, be kind. It takes a big team of very talented people to make any book successful. This is just my inexpert opinion, so take this with that ole grain o\u2019 salt, but I think sometimes being a good teammate and collaborator takes you further than being the most talented person in the room.<\/p>\nTalk us through the writing process! Did you listen to the Swiftie song on repeat while writing your story for 13 Little Love Stories?<\/em><\/h4>\n
What is your favorite part of your story in 13 Little Love Stories?<\/em><\/h4>\n
What was it like writing a story for an anthology with 13 different authors? Did you have a group chat? Writing meetings?<\/h4>\n
The biggest question I have is: will there be a Taylor Swift Easter egg in your story?<\/h4>\n
Before writing in the anthology, you wrote the bestselling novels Everything We Never Said <\/em>and All We Lost Was Everything<\/em>. Can you share your writing process for a full-length novel compared to an anthology?<\/h4>\n
Are you an outliner or do you forge ahead and write, then go back and edit?<\/h4>\n
Did you always want to be an author?<\/h4>\n
How was the process of finding an agent? Can you share a bit about your writing journey to becoming a bestselling author for writers who want to publish traditionally?<\/h4>\n
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