Today’s interview is a very exciting one! Meryl Wilsner’s debut novel releases in just a few days (still time to preorder!) and promises an excellent slowburn sapphic romance featuring fake dating and everything that entails.
We spoke with them about their inspirations, how they work, and more! And you can listen to the character playlists they prepared for their book.
You can also follow them on twitter.
Let’s start at the beginning. How did you first get into writing?
That’s like asking how I got into breathing. I’ve written for as long as I remember. In third grade, my parents taught me to type so I could use a computer for my short stories instead of writing them all by hand. I’ve never looked back.
While I’ve always written, I only recently realized that romance is the genre for me. Society tends to look down on romance novels, and I grew up that way, too. I’m proud to have learned better. Queer romance is especially important, because there are too few stories in our media where queer folks get happy endings. But they always will in my books.
What are your favourite genres to read and write?
Romance, romance, and romance. I’m a sucker for a good love story. My favorite subgenre is contemporary, but I’m open to any.
And are there any genres or tropes you wouldn’t write?
Anything I’m writing is going to be romance. Within that, I wouldn’t rule any subgenre out completely, but the worldbuilding in SF/F and the research involved in historical fiction both intimidate me.
How do you get inspiration for your books?
I used to be afraid of running out of story ideas, but I’ve gotten to the point where if you give me two female characters, I can tell you how they fall in love. Sometimes it doesn’t feel so much like inspiration as just a habit of daydreaming about love stories. For one of my WIPs, I came up with the characters one morning and within three hours I was crying about how one proposed to the other.
Do you have a writing playlist? And if you do, does it focus more on the lyrics or melodies, vibe of the songs?
Lately I’ve been making playlists for individual projects. I even made character specific playlists for my debut (Jo and Emma). In general, the lyrics are more important to me, but if the vibe isn’t right, it doesn’t matter how right the lyrics are. For instance, I listen to country music sometimes, and there are a lot of country songs that could fit my WIPs, but my characters would never listen to them, so I don’t include them on the playlists.
What’s your writing process? At what point do you let other people read your drafts and who are they?
My writing process is different for each project. For my debut, I wrote it almost completely in order, and I worked hard to edit as I went so my “first draft” ended up very strong. With other projects, I’ve tended to jump around and write whatever moment I’m thinking of. I write a lot of dialogue and go back to put in action beats later.
I have a few people who I will let read my stuff whenever they want – even when I think it’s total crap. Tash McAdam boosts me up when I’m feeling low about my work, and Rosie Danan and Ruby Barrett treat my characters almost like their own.
Summarise your most recent/next book in up to 5 words and a meme.
mistaken for dating Hollywood slowburn
Which three authors would you say influenced your writing the most?
Malinda Lo, whose books made me realize I could write queer stories.
And honestly, the other two are fanfiction writers who I yelled at until we became friends.
If (when!) your book(s) were to be made into movies, who would you like to direct them?
Alice Wu was my answer for this long before The Half Of It came to Netflix, but after watching it, I’m even more sure of my answer. She also wrote and directed Saving Face, a pivotal f/f movie from 2004. Another dream come true would be Katie Silberman – who was a screenwriter for Booksmart and Set It Up – working on the script.
And for something that is also very important to us & what we put a lot of emphasis on when blogging. What does ownvoices LGBT representation mean to you?
Supporting queer authors is incredibly important to me, and the best representation comes from people writing experiences they’re familiar with. I’m also incredibly aware that queer authors who came before me are a large part of the reason I’m here–authors who fought to make space in publishing for queer stories. I’m going to do everything I can to extend the ladder to other queer writers, too.
That said, I don’t generally refer to my book as ownvoices. I have a Jewish bisexual female character and a Chinese American lesbian female character. I’m white, gentile, bisexual, and nonbinary. Only one aspect of my identity matches either of my main characters, and I don’t want to seem to be claiming otherwise. I may specify ownvoices queer or ownvoices bisexual rep, but I don’t just say ownvoices in general.
Rec us some great LGBT books you’ve read recently! One can never have enough recommendations!
My eternal queer book rec: Not Otherwise Specified by Hannah Moskowitz. It’s a YA book that I wish I’d read when I was younger. More recently, I read The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake and fell head over heels. And one of my top reads of 2020 is Late to the Party by Kelly Quindlen. I cannot say enough about that book.
What’s one piece of advice you would like to give your younger self?
You don’t have to be what the world tells you you are, or even what you think you’re supposed to be. You’re allowed to question, and you’re allowed to not know.
If you could have dinner with one member of the LGBT community, dead or alive, who would it be?
I’m sure I’m supposed to say someone important and well-known, but to be honest, I’d love to have dinner with Tash McAdam. Tash is one of my best friends, and their support has been indispensable, both to my writing career and to my life in general. But they live too far away! So I’d use this wish to have dinner with them.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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