After years of meddling in her friends' love lives, Rebekah Weatherspoon turned to writing romance to get her fix. Many award-winning novels later, she still believes in love, the fluffier the better. Weatherspoon was raised in southern New Hampshire and now lives in southern California with her dog Lizzie. Her first romance for young adults, Her Good Side, is available now from Razorbill.
Born and raised in California, Danielle Parker has a BA in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MA in education from UCLA. She has over 10 years of experience as a high school English teacher, during which her greatest pleasure was helping reluctant readers find a novel they absolutely loved. Parker now lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family. You Bet Your Heart (Joy Revolution) is her debut novel.
Weatherspoon and Parker spoke before their shared publication date of May 30, and were excited to discuss the happy similarities in their stories: self-discovery, kind romantic partners, and happily ever afters.
Danielle Parker: Rebekah, I loved Her Good Side so much that I was squealing with every page. I feel like you really got it all so right, from the dialogue to the teenage pressure to the love antics. I'm curious about your process and what you feel your responsibility is to teens when you write YA romance. Fill me in!
Rebekah Weatherspoon: Danielle! Finally, we meet (through the power of the Internet). Honestly, that's tricky. I think my responsibility as a human is just to spread good vibes. I know how corny that sounds, but I think it's true. I wanted to make sure Her Good Side was fun and romantic, but I also wanted to model healthy friends and healthy romantic relationships. I wanted to show examples of young people who were afraid and brave all at the same time, and that taking risks is worth it, even if the risk is just telling your parents about your dreams. I drew on some experiences I've had throughout my life and then beefed up the romance with the power of imagination.
Parker: A word. And I don't think that's corny at all! It's absolutely lovely in my opinion. I think I tapped into my experiences as a teacher and as an awkward, overachieving high schooler. When writing from those places with those experiences in mind, I tried to remain hopeful and optimistic but as true to real life as possible, which means being a little messy. Because being a teen is hard and life is messy! Especially being a teen and falling in love for the first time--it's scary but also beautiful and transformative. So, I did my best to try and balance everything and make sure that the happily ever afters for my characters were reflective of their growth. Maybe it's not what the characters think they wanted, but their endings are what they needed to grow and evolve into their best selves. I always try my best to balance a happy romance with real world growth and growth pains.
Danielle Parker (photo: Life N Light) |
Weatherspoon: That totally came through on the page. It was so interesting to me when reading You Bet Your Heart that we both came to the conclusion that these Black girls needed to feel seen. What made the love story click was "oh this person sees me."
Parker: Yes, I loved that similarity in our books! Another similarity that I enjoyed seeing was that both of our characters got their happily ever afters, but they had a rich discovery of self along the way. Both have these great partners that help them learn about themselves and help them grow. I think that's what I love about romance stories--we can help one another be more fully human.
Weatherspoon: Agreed. I had fun showing Bethany and Jacob falling for each other. They are both so different, but they learned through somewhat awkward communication that they worked really well together. And even though Ezra and Sasha have an established relationship, they both have a lot of incorrect thoughts about each. We both had a bit of a "don't judge a book by its cover" moment if you will, and what more could you want from a romance?
Parker: Yes, that part! So, you're a prolific adult author. How has it been writing young adult?
Rebekah Weatherspoon (photo: Bria Celest) |
Weatherspoon: It's been great. I've learned a lot about myself in the process. It's been interesting writing for young people--I think I'm more nervous. I used to be a teacher and everyone in my family is in high school and middle school education as well, so I care about kids a lot. I want the book to be good for them. I want kids to pick this up and enjoy it. I'm an adult, so with my adult stuff I'm like "this is fine. I got this under control." I just tried to remember what it was like to be 16 and write the lightest fluffiest happiest story for my 16-year-old self. I tried to write what I would have wanted, and I hope I got there.
Parker: I think you did.
Weatherspoon: I wanted to ask you: this is your debut, correct?
Parker: Yes. And I'm very happy to share a release day with you!
Weatherspoon: How are you feeling?
Parker: It's an insane, wild roller coaster, thanks for asking. Sometimes I'm like "this so great, I made it! It's finally happening, after years of writing and edits, the book will be out in the world!" And other times I think, "Oh no, I put too much of my personal self in this story and now it will be out in the world." I'm terrified to be seen in this way, to share so much of this story--which is pretty personal--with the world. But at the same time, I'm excited. I hope the book resonates with someone and does what good stories can do: make another person feel seen, feel heard, feel something.
Parker: And as we approach release day, how are you feeling?
Weatherspoon: So very sleepy, but happy and grateful. I think about what it was like a million years ago when we were teens and how few books there were featuring Black girls falling in love. Now look at us! Two books coming out on the same day.
Parker: Yes! My younger self and current self are ecstatic! Happy release! And know that I am so excited for what comes next for you.