On the Cusp is going to be a regular series I do on this blog, comprising an interview with another writer who’s about to become a debut novelist. I send them the standard list of ten questions and ask them to please pick five, and to also answer the bonus question, since it usually leads to unexpectedly interesting answers.
This week we have my very first blog “guest”, Talia Tucker, who I was Twitter mutuals with before we both signed with the same agent. Her debut young adult road-trip romance Rules for Rule Breaking will be out this March. Pre-order it here.
Why this genre? Why this age group? Why these characters?
To be quite honest, I never aspired to write romance—YA or otherwise. When I first started out, the aspects of my writing that received the best feedback were the romance subplots. And the decision to write YA wasn’t necessarily a conscious one; YA is just where I have the most reading experience since my taste in books hasn’t changed much, if at all, since high school. Consequently, I decided to write my first YA romance, which turned out to be what is now my debut, Rules for Rule Breaking.
Winter Park and Bobby Bae are the romantic leads of Rules for Rule Breaking. They’re characters that came together extremely organically, and I have a deep love and admiration for them. While I don’t believe they’re based on me or my life, I do consider them to be reflections of myself.
Winter’s humour, sarcasm, and confidence represent my outer self, whereas Bobby’s perfectionism, anxiety, and people-pleasing tendencies reflect my inner self. Although I’m not in the same life stage as them—I graduated high school years ago—I do feel that even at this point in my life, I am in this liminal space where I’m still unsure of how to get myself exactly where I want to be personally, professionally, and otherwise.
In that sense, I do identify with Winter and Bobby, so I approached their romance by casting them as friends first who could be there to help each other through this weird, strange transitory moment in their lives because it’s very easy to feel lonely during these junctures. These are the themes I wanted to explore, so Winter and Bobby’s personalities and relationship dynamics came naturally after that. I can’t envision anyone else being in this story other than those two cutie pies.
What do you wish you’d understood better beforehand, about the business?
Literally, everything. I’ve been in publishing for a considerable amount of time now, and I still feel like I don’t know much at all. I wish there was a huge manual explaining everything from things as small as what pen I should use to sign my books, to things as big as contract negotiation.
How nervous are you, on a scale of 1-10 (I’m currently sitting at 7) and how are you dealing with that?
Well, there are aspects I’m more nervous about than others. My actual book releasing? I’d say maybe somewhere between 0-2. However, I’m at like a 10+ for these readings, conversations, appearances, and other things I’ll be doing. I’m an extreme introvert, so we’ll see how it goes!
Any plans yet, for publication day?
I actually have my entire day planned out. I want to wake up bright and early, have a nice breakfast, then go on a bookstore crawl so I can see my book in a bunch of different stores. Then I plan to get a tattoo commemorating my debut, and after that, I have to get ready for my launch party! If I have any energy left after the launch party, maybe I’ll grab some drinks or something. I also anticipate nervously refreshing social media all day.
What’s next?
Book two! I have a two-book deal with Kokila, so I’ll be working on that for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, I’ll be able to share more details about it soon! I also have a few other works in progress that I hope to share with everyone as well.
Bonus question: Is there anything else you wanted a chance to talk about?
I just wanted to say that I really appreciate everyone who has shown support for Rules for Rule Breaking. I have no idea how this is going to go, but I have met so many incredible people in the last few years through this process. Thank you! And I’ll be waiting for my invitation to Australia 😊
(Aww, I’d love to see you IRL Talia! Thanks for sharing! L)
For more information, visit Talia’s website!
Lisa Tirreno 
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