January 1, 2025 • 34 mins
Ready to turn up the heat on your date nights? In this episode of We Read Smut, Alesia sits down with author Anna P. to discuss the art of crafting the perfect date night in romance novels. They explore why dates are crucial for character development and building intimacy, delve into the elements that make a date truly swoon-worthy, and share some hilarious and cringeworthy date-night disaster stories.
Anna studied journalism and has a Masters in Creative Writing, and a love for music and writing got her jobs with Rolling Stone India and Sony Music, and after a couple of years of selling her soul to advertising, she’s finally following her childhood dream of writing books. She’s currently working as a freelance copy consultant and book editor, while sipping on copious amounts of black tea and white wine.
In this episode, we're discussing:
- The Importance of Dates in Romance: Discover why Anna believes dates are essential for creating believable relationships and building tension, especially in strangers-to-lovers stories.
- Elements of a Perfect Date: Learn about the key ingredients that make a date truly special, including understanding your partner's interests, keeping things casual and pressure-free, and incorporating meaningful conversations.
- Date Night Disasters: Alesia and Anna share their own dating horror stories and discuss red flags to watch out for, emphasizing the importance of mutual respect and genuine interest.
- A Sneak Peek at Anna's Cricket Romance: Get excited about Anna's upcoming sports romance featuring a cricketer and learn why she chose this unique setting.
Don’t forget to check out Anna’s new novel, Stumped.
CONNECT WITH ANNA P:
THINGS MENTIONED:
Love In Wildes Series by Anna P (Amazon*)
Thank you for listening to the We Read Smut Podcast! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot of the episode to post in your stories and tag @WeReadSmut. Don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the podcast.
Connect with Alesia:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Alesia Galati (00:00):
Get ready for a steamy and insightful
conversation about date nightdone right and oh so wrong in
the world of romance. We'rejoined by Anna P who knows a
thing or two about creatingreally memorable dates with
their diverse characters. Wow.
(00:25):
Anna, I am so excited to haveyou on the podcast, our very
first author interview, and Iwas trying to go back and
remember when I started readingyour books. We read smut. Had
done a challenge in the firstquarter of 2023, which eons ago,
had done a challenge and it wasnew to you, authors encouraging
(00:48):
us to get outside of our comfortzones and read new authors to
us. And I had spotted your bookspecifically because Amanda from
talk about swoon, had mentionedyou and your book as one that
actually had dates in it. And Iwas like, oh, wait a minute. I
(01:09):
don't think I have ever read abook other than the billionaire
romances, where he takes her outon dinner and it's this
extravagant over the top butlike everyday people, there's no
dates, it's just Insta, bang,typically. So I was so excited
to read your book, andabsolutely fell in love with
(01:30):
your characters and your seriesand just the world that you
created. If you could start bytelling everyone a bit about
your series. First of all, I'm
Anna P (01:37):
really excited to be here. Thank you for having me.
Yeah, the love and loyal seriesCurrently has five books, with
the sixth on its way very soon.
It just follows a bunch offriends in a small town, and I
picked the state of Delaware.
Don't ask me why. I just pickedit on a map, and then it just
stuck. It's about women of allkinds of sizes and from
different backgrounds, and justit's about telling real stories
(02:00):
about women like me. So we'vegot I've written about fat
women, I've written about queerwomen, I've written about nerdy
characters and those who lovefood, which is why there's so
many dates. Because I think thateating food is like a love
language, eating and makingfood, and I think dates are a
good way to do that. And I'vediscovered this term called
issues writer, where authorstackle sometimes really
(02:24):
difficult subjects and put itinto their books to sort of show
that it doesn't have to be a badthing to talk about it, and
that's something that I've beentrying to do with my books. So
yeah, so five books out, andthey're a mix of sweet and
swoony and sexy, and they'refun. I think they're fun. I hope
they're fun.
Alesia Galati (02:40):
I think they are and they love books that tackle
big issues here the author who'sbeing interviewed after you. In
that one, we're talking abouttrauma and reframing trauma in
romance and like why it's soimportant to create characters,
because you can relate to theseissues and these problems. Now,
(03:03):
getting back to the dates in thefirst book, it's like date after
date. How did you come up withwhat all of those dates? But why
do you think that was important,specifically for those two
characters?
Anna P (03:14):
Why I came up with the idea for all the dates is these
are two complete strangers. AndI think that when you divide the
strangers to lovers. Romance,you need to have them get to
know each other. And for mepersonally, if I am put in a
room with someone, that's thebest way for me to get to know
somebody, whether it's over foodor just sitting at a table
together. It's fine, becauseit's conversation. You get to
(03:35):
know someone. And so I thoughtthat was really important for
aleander and Jackson to havethat kind of moment to bond, and
then coming up with all thesedates was just simply because
Jackson's such an ego, he'seager to please, and he's so
obsessed with aleander that hewants to find all the time that
he can with her. So he plans allof these dates, and he takes
them so seriously. And I waslike, oh, nobody's ever done
(03:59):
that for me, but if someone did,I would totally say, Yes, I will
be with you forever. I was justlike, why? Not only I never
thought we did the exact samething, yes,
Alesia Galati (04:09):
and I, like, knew that he incorporated a lot of
the friends where it wasn'tlike, I'm gonna whisk you away
and hoard all of your time. Itwas very practical. And like, I
know that your friends make youcomfortable, and how can I
incorporate that into our datein a way that feels like I'm
being really intentional, andnot just like I like this thing,
(04:32):
and so let's go on this datelike I've dated guys like that
word, yeah, I like this kind offood. I am not someone who likes
seafood. So to have someone belike, Oh, we're going to a
seafood restaurant. I'm like,what great. I hope they have
chicken. But yeah, I love thatyou had those elements of
bringing the friends in. Why doyou think that authors maybe
(04:55):
don't add in those days? I knowit's maybe a little extra work,
but like, Why do you think thatwe. Don't tend to see this in
romance books.
Anna P (05:03):
I think, like you said, maybe it is a lot of work
because it's setting the scene,and sometimes that takes a lot
of time and effort. Like thestory that we're creating is
these two people meet, they fallin love, they have a conflict,
and then they get back together.
That's the formula that wefollow, right? The falling in
love. Part is we sometimes justit happens really quickly, which
is fine, because Insta Love is athing, and I completely believe
(05:26):
in it, because I think thatcrushes are a form of Insta love
in a way. So I completelybelieve in and I know why people
don't do the dates, because onceyou've met, you have your meet
cute, and then it's the wholewooing process, but then
everyone does it verydifferently. If I was to say,
why don't authors do it, I Ithink I would probably need to
ask people. And now I'm going toask people the question, because
(05:48):
I think it's really interesting,like, why don't more authors do
it? And I recently, I've beenseeing it happen a lot more. I
mean seeing authors put theircharacters through dates and
these sort of these awkwardsituations where they don't know
what to do with themselves andhow to behave with each other,
because it's so real. That's thewhole thing about dating, right?
It is awkward and isuncomfortable, but it's also
fun. Like you said, someone willtake you to seafood restaurant
(06:09):
when you don't like seafood, andyou're just like, why would you
do this to me? It's an awkwardfumble. And then they can be
like, Oh, I'm so sorry. And thenthey can backtrack and they can
fix it, and I feel like that'sthe whole fun of it, but I think
in some way, it probably is,like you said, more work, and
also it may probably cuts downthe amount of time that you have
(06:30):
to get them to fall in love.
Personally, I think dates arewhen the characters do fall in
love, but it's also, I guess,depending on what the characters
are like the story that you'retrying to tell I think it all
falls into place depending onthe plot that you're following.
I just make sure that all mybooks have dates. It's so
strange to me now that if Iwrite a book without dates in,
(06:51):
it just be bizarre.
Alesia Galati (06:54):
I love that, though, and I like thinking
about the books that arespecifically strangers to
lovers, some type of catalystthat kind of puts them together
in some way, whether they'reneighbors or their work together
or something like that. And Ifeel like the date aspect really
(07:16):
can help if they're maybe not inthose type of combined elements,
or maybe they're in the samecity, but they don't see each
other often. And so I think thatyou do that in a really good way
to create something differentthat we don't see a lot in
romances. And so I love that somuch. You create some really
incredible dates in your books.
What do you think are theelements that are needed to
(07:37):
create a perfect date night. Soif someone's listening and
they're like, I want to makebetter dates, or I want in my
own personal life, like, whatmakes these romance dates in
your books, specifically, reallyswoony? And what are some of
those ingredients that youalways want to make sure that
you have in those dates? Ooh,
Anna P (07:55):
this is one of the situations where it probably
works better in fiction than itdoes in real life. But I think
if I'm going to talk about interms of writing them, and I
think you can maybe replicatethem in real life, it's just
like you said, understandingwhat the other person wants
dating someone, I think it hasto start with getting to know
them in a very casual sort ofsetting. I feel like the word
date has so much pressure on it,like it's the time when you have
(08:18):
to dress up and you have to beperfect, and you have to be all
of these things, and you have topresent yourself in certain way.
But I think getting to know eachother over, say, coffee, just a
drink, cup of coffee, I thinkthat's a good way to build that
relationship, and then fromthere, so you get to know the
person, and then you starthaving these dates. And if I can
use almost, maybe it's my debutas an example, the first time
(08:42):
that they actually talk to eachother, he's having a cup of
coffee, and she's having hotchocolate. Then he takes her out
to a food truck festival, andthen he starts all of these
dates that he plans, and I thinkgetting to know her through that
first cup of coffee, hotchocolate, and then the food
truck festival, and then he wasable to create all of those
special dates made such adifference because he was still
(09:04):
winging it. Because I know thiswoman, but I don't know her well
enough, but let me try and theone thing that he did know about
it was that she enjoys food, andhe implements food into all of
the dates. And I think that is agood way to plan dates, whether
it's with your best friend orwith your partner. I think
knowing what they would like todo is really important. So if
(09:24):
there's someone who just wantsto go to a rec room, I mean,
take them, let them trashthings, let them throw axes at
things, whatever it is, we needto stop making dates such a
pressured thing. Let it be funand let it be relaxed. The idea
is, find something that the bothof you will enjoy less pressure.
I think less pressure is themost important thing. Keep it so
(09:46):
casual that it feels like it'sjust two friends hanging out,
but actually like learning aboutthe other person so that you can
figure out what to do next. So Iguess that would be my only
advice. This comes from a personwho is not dating right now.
They. That how you would?
Alesia Galati (10:02):
I like it though, I think that there's such great
ideas I'm thinking back to now.
I've been with my husband for 11years now. Yes, wow, it's just
yay, easy. But how we met wasmutual friends in college, and
he will say that the first timehe saw me, we started chatting
(10:22):
it up, and he knew right away hewanted to bang me. And I'm like,
love that you do know that timewhen our friends reintroduced us
because we had met before that,but you were high as a kite and
you don't remember we ended upgetting kicked out of the
library because we were laughingso loud. We went up to the other
(10:42):
kind of study room where nobodyelse was in there, and he had me
cheesing, and then we weretalking from there, I gave him
my phone number. I was datingsomebody else at the time. Let
me Ooh, look at you scandalous.
But then I think about like thefriends part before we actually
hooked up. And then I owned upto my boyfriend, and then
(11:04):
started, you know, hanging outwith him. We did a lot of
sitting in the library togetheror texting or even, hey, I'm
hungry. Do you want to drivewith me to Burger King, get
breakfast and things like that,where it's like, those were the
getting to know you moments. Andthen three months later, we
moved in together. It's fine,
Anna P (11:22):
if it makes sense, you just have to follow it. I think
that's the key.
Alesia Galati (11:26):
But like that first part, right? I think is so
important in getting to knowsomebody or dating someone like
get the pressure off. It's okay.
They don't have to be your lifepartner forever, and you also
don't have to do anything overlyextravagant. I don't need 50
gifts. Honestly, just going todinner and like, shutting the
place down like that is a lotmore fun to me, which, like,
(11:46):
that's what my husband and I didfor our 10 year anniversary. We
went to a restaurant and theywere like, Hey, we're closing 20
minutes. You gotta go. And wewere like, Oh, wait, everyone is
gone our bed. That's what I wantpersonally in my relationships,
and that's even what I like inmy friendships. Is like, Hey, we
are supposed to only have anhour on here. It's three hours
(12:09):
later. I know you gotta go. Igotta go. I got more to say,
though, those are the reallylike kinds of conversations that
really create that intimacy. Andso I love that you add these
dates in, because I think itdoes add in that intimacy that a
lot of Insta love or Insta lustbooks tend to miss. And even the
slow burn books, I feel likethey miss. A lot of readers
(12:32):
lately have been saying thisthing, and I'm like, Oh, yes, I
see what you're saying. And thatis, I didn't feel like these
characters were meant to betogether, or I didn't really
feel like I was cheering them onin their relationship, because
you don't really know them well.
And I feel like when you createthese dates, you as a reader,
(12:55):
get to know them so well thatyou're like, Yes, I get it. You
guys are great together. I canunderstand why he did the dates
this way, or I can understandwhy she's hesitant, but also a
little intrigued. I can see allof that. I love it, and I think
that it's so great. You know, alot of your not all of them, but
some of your books are that slowburn. Do you find that the dates
(13:18):
make that slow burn a betterpayoff? Oh,
Anna P (13:21):
I don't know. I've never thought of it that way. That's a
really interesting way to lookat it. I think the biggest slow
burn that I've written so far isalmost home, and a lot of their
dates are at home because hecooks. And I think that in a
way, maybe because you'rebuilding all this tension, and
that's the whole thing aboutthese dates as well, right?
Like, even you said, like youwhen you met your husband and
(13:42):
you guys were talking and youwere spending all of this time
together, and you build thisrelationship, and that
relationship is still buildingsome tension, because there's
all this attraction, you don'tknow, oh my God, what do I do
with this? How do I react? Howdo I behave? And, oh my God,
I've got this other person thatI'm seeing, but what do I do?
What do I do? There's just somuch going on. So I think dates
do help with building that sortof tension in a slow one,
(14:04):
because then it sets the scenefor where these characters are
going. And you get to see themin different situations where
one of them is just flusteredabout being with the other
person, the other person, justlike with Everly and Laughlin
from almost home, he's alwaysflustered around and she's so
oblivious, because she's just sounaware that she has an effect
on him. And that tension wasreally fun to write, because
(14:26):
he's just like, why does she notget it? And she's just like,
what's going on with this, man?
I don't get it at all. So yeah,maybe you're right. I never
thought of it that way, but Ithink that dates can definitely
the payoff for that slow one,because the whole reason people
like slow bonds because of thetension that you're building
within these guys, will they,won't they? Oh, my God, an
almost kiss or brushing ofhands, it's like this, oh,
(14:47):
you're building it. And all thatcan happen on dates. So yeah,
let's go with Yes, because now Ilove that idea.
Alesia Galati (14:55):
And I have to say, almost home in Blackland,
my absolute favorite. Characterthat you have ever written. I
love him so much. And also thefact that she's demisexual, I
think also ties in really wellto that slower burn and her
obliviousness and him beinglike, No, I'm in love with you.
It's official. It doesn't evenmatter. Yeah, it's just exactly
(15:18):
so good, so good. How do youapproach writing these date
nights? So are some fromexperience or stories that
you've heard? I mean, I justgave you my whole dating history
story, but what are some ofthose things that you use as
inspiration?
Anna P (15:33):
I don't have a lot of dating experience. A lot of my
dating experience was meetingeligible bachelors, but when I
was getting getting married off,which is one of the things that
I put into aleia and his bookwhere she meets with an eligible
bachelor found by hergrandmother, and that date was
as uncomfortable in real life asit was on the page. I thought it
was important that everybody seejust how cringy it can be. But I
(15:56):
think most of my days just comefrom my imagination. It's
something that my mom has alwayssaid, that I have always had the
most vivid imagination. I lovepeople watching. So I will put
two random strangers who havenever looked at each other
before in a situation, and bythe end of the the hour that I'm
sitting and watching them,they're married with a bajillion
kids. This is just the way mybrain works. And I think with
(16:18):
creating these dates, it was thesame thing. It was just, what
would I want to do when I meetsomeone? And as I said, all of
my dates involve food. I hatethe word foodie. It's something
that I've always tried not touse. It's a weird thing. I'm not
even going to explain explainingwhy, but it's just this weird
dislike I have for the word, butthat's what I am. I grew up not
(16:40):
having a good relationship withfood, and as an adult, I've just
built this amazing relationshipwith it that I want. So food is
a positive thing in my books.
It's something that we love andwe cherish and we appreciate. So
if I was to go on a date withsomeone, what would I want to
eat? And then so the first onehad milkshakes, the second one
had pies, and then the third onejust had everything. And then I
(17:00):
think it just goes from there.
So it's just my imagination.
One, two, what would I want todo on date with this person that
I've never met, and then buildit from there? It is really
hard, though, like, I completelyunderstand a lot of people don't
do it because coming up withunique data ideas in every work.
And I've written six books now,and all six books, I had to make
(17:21):
sure that I do not overlap anyof the dates, because I was
sometimes I'm writing two booksat a time, and I will find so
many similarities, and I'm like,oh my god, this is annoying. So
the same thing with dates. And Ithink if you are someone who has
a partner and you go on dates,it's probably easier to come up
with ideas, because you've gotthis real life experience. I
don't have that, so I'm justlike imagination. Let's open up
(17:43):
my mind and see what I can getout of it. So yeah, it's just
things that I would like to doand things I would probably do
with my friends. So what
Alesia Galati (17:53):
do you consider as the date night disasters, or
maybe that you mentioned the onein your book? If you could tell
us a little bit more about thatone for anyone who hasn't ready
yet. And then, what are somethings that you think really can
ruin a date?
Anna P (18:08):
Ooh. Think Bollywood has done a good job of it. But like
Indian families, when the girlsare 2122 they start sending us
out to meet these eligible boyswho are like perfect husband
material. We're not perfect wifematerials, but they're perfect
husband material. And then youhave these really uncomfortable
dates with these men who talkabout themselves and don't ask
you questions. I think any dateis a disaster when the partner,
(18:32):
when the person sitting acrossfrom you, pretends to be
interested in you, but isactually only interested in you
if you care about what they haveto say. And I think that is like
the nightmare of all datesbetween the ages of 22 and 24 I
met a whole bunch of guys, butby the end of it, I was just
like, oh my god, I can't do thisanymore. It's just It hurts,
(18:53):
because there's only so manythings that you can talk about
on a date. So disaster dates arejust people who are sort of
seeing you to feel good aboutthemselves, or because they're
forced into it. Sometimes blinddates can be really
uncomfortable, and I think thatI've heard lots of horror
stories about blind dates, andI'm just like, Oh no,
technically, that's what thesearranged marriage meetings are.
(19:14):
They're all blind dates becauseyou just see a picture of them.
Sometimes you don't even seethat. You're just going off of
what someone else's stolesomeone else and told someone
else. Because my grandmotherwould get all this information
from her friends, and she'llsay, Oh yeah, he's perfect for
you, because he does this. AndI'm like, what he does what?
Which is exactly what I did inBucha. Oh, yeah. And his
(19:34):
grandmother says, Oh, he worksat NASA. You like space. And she
was like, when I was a child,not now. So she still meets this
guy. And then, of course, thereis the other thing, where they
belittle you because your job isnot as as fancy as theirs. I
think disasters are justbasically when the partner
doesn't matter who it is, but ifthe partner sitting across from
(19:55):
you just does not give two hootsabout you or your life. All the
things that you've experienced,and they think that all of the
choices that you make in lifeare less than theirs. We don't
have time for that. Just notthey're not important at all.
No,
Alesia Galati (20:11):
oh, my goodness.
So I have had, I'm thinkingabout, like, my own dating
experiences. I remember I wentto go see a movie, and it was a
horror movie. I don't likehorror movies, I can't that was
a miserable date, good. And thiswas somebody that like, Okay,
this is 2010 online meeting,like appdating. Oh, poor app
dating was even like a thing.
(20:34):
This was the hookup appdating,because that's all you're there
worth. I was like, in New YorkCity, and I was meeting some
guys, and I was having a goodtime, and I'm like, my mom's
like, Alesia, you're meetingpeople on the internet, you're
gonna end up in a suitcasesomewhere. And I'm like,
whatever, Mom, you don't knowanything like so I went to this
(20:54):
movie, and it was terrible date,but then he took me to this
Cuban restaurant afterwards, andthat was a lot of fun. But even
thinking about like,conversation that I've had, I
don't get out a lot now, becauseI like to be home. I already got
the husband and the kids werefine, like I don't need to go
out and meet people. But as apodcaster, which I do for my day
job, I meet a lot of peoplevirtually, and I have had
(21:18):
conversations, and I'm thinkingabout one person that was on my
podcast where it's video, I cansee her, she can see me. And
every time I started talking,she looked down at her phone,
and I was like, Oh, no. Oh, thisis really uncomfortable. But
like doing that at a date, thatwould be terrible.
Anna P (21:39):
Yeah, that's what I'd like, right there? Just no,
don't even No, and then
Alesia Galati (21:45):
thinking about this other guy, like, I mean, I
have some ADHD tendencies. Itend to look around as I'm
talking. I do all that, but ifsomeone's talking, I'm hyper
fixated and focused on you andwhat you're saying. And yes, my
brain's running a million milesan hour, but I want to make sure
that I'm visibly staying focusedon you. And I was on a podcast,
(22:07):
so I'm the guest, and this guy,as he's talking, or as I'm
talking, he's going like this,you can't see me if you're
listening, but I'm swinging backand forth in my chair, and I'm
looking up at the ceiling, and Iwas like, bro,
Anna P (22:24):
oh my goodness,
Alesia Galati (22:26):
that is not like, it's literally just a 30 to 45
minute conversation. But if youcan't even give me that,
Anna P (22:37):
come on, that's terrible. Oh god, yeah.
Alesia Galati (22:40):
And I could tell that he was at the point where
he did not want to keep doinghis podcast. He was having a lot
of conversations that were justnot really fulfilling. I'm like,
at that point, pause, reassessyour life decisions before you
move on. And maybe that'ssomething that we need to do if
we're finding ourselves gettingreally bored with dates. Then
maybe pause, reassess
Unknown (23:03):
what is working,
Alesia Galati (23:05):
what's not. Then does this need to continue? So
yes, those are my personalexperiences for terrible
situations. Those
Anna P (23:15):
are those are definitely disasters, nightmares, things
that could happen on dates, andI'm sorry that happened to you
even though they weren't dates.
I'm still sorry that it happenedto you at all. Happened to you
at
Alesia Galati (23:24):
all. Thank you.
Have you written any that weremaybe less than spectacular
dates where the characters stillend up together? So it wasn't
any like side character drama,but there was one a date where
maybe that it didn't go to plan,or didn't go the way that the
people wanted to, but it stillactually moved the relationship
forward because they were morereal or more personal.
Anna P (23:50):
Oh, wow, I don't know. I think with in almost yours,
Ginny and Gavin, that book isjust full of rage. They love
each other, but they hate eachother. It's just chaos. And I
think all of the dates, all ofthe things that they do
together, there's always thisunderlying sort of tension of,
oh my god, one of them is goingto snap. And I think I tried
very hard not to put it, but atthe same time, I think thought
(24:12):
it was kind of important fortheir relationship. Because if
so much of this history, I don'tthink so now that I'm thinking
about it, but I feel like Ishould do that with my next
couple books, because it'd be sofun, right? Imagine putting
those characters in thatsituation where it seems really
perfect on the surface, but onit's actually just, it's almost
a disaster, and they end thenight and you're just like,
(24:32):
Nope, they're never going to seeeach other again. Oh, my God,
that would be so fun to write.
Thank you. I'm gonna, I'm gonnaput that into the next book.
Looking
Alesia Galati (24:41):
forward to your new cricket romance, which is
going to be coming out very soonfrom when this airs, why
cricket? First of all, I thinkabout cricket, and I immediately
go to, I don't do sports teamsin general, like sometimes I'll
watch NASCAR, but that's aboutas good as it gets. My husband
and my kids. They love watchingfootball. They love watching
(25:04):
soccer. We've watched a littlebit of hockey, any animal teams.
They get the Hura right, likeand so we introduced them to
these things. But cricket is onethat I don't think I've ever
seen on TV. And only time I waslike, oh, Cricket is a sport was
from a blue episode, which isvery apparent of me. I think I
said to the episode, because Iwas like, Oh my God. And it's
(25:27):
such a great episode. Go watchit. We'll have it in the show
notes. If you're like, wait,cricket and Bluey, what is this?
Go watch the episode. It's socute. But that was my first
introduction to, like, othersports out there that are not
American, that people love andpeople enjoy, and cricket is one
of those first like, what iscricket? For anyone who's like,
wait a minute, I don't thinkI've ever heard of a cricket
(25:49):
romance. And then why cricket?
Anna P (25:51):
Now, I think a lot of people would say that cricket,
if you the minute you think ofcricket, to think the Indian
cricket team, because my countryhas just made it into this. I
don't know what we've done withthe sport, but we've made it
huge. But it was started by theBritish, and then they brought
it to all of the sort of the thecolonized nations, and they
introduced it to the people. Butcricket is it's like baseball.
That is probably because there'sa bat, there's a ball, there's a
(26:14):
batter. In baseball, there's apitcher, but in cricket, there's
a bowler. You've got to do runsto get points. In baseball, you
have a home run. In cricket, youhave boundary shots. There's a
six which is like the home run,because it flies. There's a four
which is on which sort of runsacross the whole field and hits
the boundary line. It's a reallyinteresting sport, once you sort
(26:34):
of wrap your mind around it. Andnow, just so you're aware,
there's a US cricket team. Theyparticipated in the World Cup
this year. The US was actuallyone of the hosts for the World
Cup. They had it in New York. Ithink it was in New York. Yeah,
they didn't do very well. Ithink they have potential the US
team, but they just really didnot deliver what they should
have considered the number ofincredible players they had. As
(26:55):
for why I decided to write acricket romance. Why not? No,
I'm kidding. I wanted to write asports romance. Obviously,
that's something that it'salways been in my mind. But I
don't know American football, Idon't know hockey, I don't know
baseball. The only sport that Ido know is basketball, because
when I grew up, I used to playit, and I used to watch. I was a
(27:17):
huge NBA watcher, like Isupported the Lakers, the
Chicago Bulls. These were, like,my teams, and I was obsessed,
like, obsessively NBA. But itdidn't seem right, as an Indian,
to write about American sports,because I'm just like, What do I
know besides what I'm seeing,other people write what I'm
watching. And fun fact, for thelast, say, 15 years, I have
(27:37):
hated cricket. It's so strangeto say, but I think all of us in
India grow up watching cricket.
It's not even a national sport,by the way, but people treat it
that way because it's just theathletes are so good. And it
used to be called a gentlemansport, because when the British
were doing it, till maybe 15years ago, when I stopped
watching it, I still thought ofit as a gentleman spot, because
(27:58):
it's just pure athleticism. AndI thought these guys were
incredible. And then I feel likeit switched, where all the
athletes started becomingcelebrities, and they started
getting brand endorsements, andthey became, I don't know, it
just it took away the essence ofwhat Cricket was, which is why I
stopped watching it. But there'ssomething called the IPL, which
is the Indian Premier League,which happens every year. I
think there are 12 or 13 teams.
(28:21):
I may be getting that wrong,because my stats are just so
bad. But teams named aftercities in India, which has
players from India, I think SriLanka, from England, from
Australia, so from all of thebig cricket teams, all these
players come together indifferent city teams, and they
play against each other over theperiod of one month to become
the champion of the IPL. So thisyear, during the IPL, I was with
(28:44):
my dad, and he's, he watches itevery year, and I sat down to
watch one match, one match, andit completely changed my life.
And I was just like, oh, this iswhy I don't watch the sport
anymore. It is just there wasthis one young player on the
some of the team that Isupported the Chennai super
kings, because Chennai is a citythat I'm from, and there's this
(29:06):
one player on the Chennai superkings just watching him. Was
like, he blew my mind. I waslike, oh, okay, so we're gonna
write this romance now. And thenI actually wrote that first
draft in the period of when theIPL was happening, and by the
time I finished it, I was justlike, holy smokes, I'm actually
going to publish this. And thenso, yeah, here we are. First
(29:27):
cricket romance of my life.
Unknown (29:30):
I love that. Yeah,
Anna P (29:31):
there we go.
Alesia Galati (29:32):
I think it's so great. I like that one. You're
you're taking one that you thesport, that you understand, that
you enjoy. I watch, or I readsome of the sports books, and
I'm just like, what ishappening? Go sports team.
That's literally how I feelevery time something's on. I'm
just like, Yay, waving my numberone little finger gun thing.
(29:57):
Like, yeah, it's everything'sfine. But when I think about
like sports in other countries,like the number one that I think
of like, oh, this is a goodromance. Is rugby? Because, God,
those Oh yes, please, thoseplayers, good lord. I mean eye
muscles, I know. And then everytime I see soccer like me and my
(30:20):
husband are always making fun oflike, soccer players because
they the slightest bump, andthey're like, so dramatic, so
dramatic. NBA. Yes, I grew uplike watching that. That's fine.
Hockey. Never grew up watchingit, and all I imagine was like,
hockey players. And it alwaysmakes me laugh when I see these
hockey romances, and I'm like,how many teeth does this dude
(30:42):
have? Because every hockeyplayer I've seen has had a lot
of work done or has no teeth.
What is happening? It feelsalmost like out of the realm of
possibility to me, sometimes,especially with some of these,
like college level ones. I'mjust like, this getting out of
hand. And so I love that you'retaking a different sport, a
(31:03):
different approach, from what wetypically see right now. And
let's just say you're startingto trend, because I know there
are a few ones coming out nextyear, are in the next two or
year, two years or so, that aregoing to be based around this,
with that in mind and yourcricket specifically romance.
(31:23):
Are there any dates that we canlook forward to in that book
specifically so the
Anna P (31:32):
because he's a professional athlete and he's
been the spotlight, a lot oftheir dates are like, quiet and
private and under the radar. Sothere's I do have a couple of
things in my first draft. I had,I think one date, which is so
sad now that I think about it,but I plotted out a couple of
dates for the second draft,which is what I'm working on
(31:54):
right now. I don't want to giveanything away just yet, but
there's some sneaking aroundmidnight meals, because that's
the only way they can probablyescape the paparazzi. So yeah, I
think that's what that was. Oneof the things that I really
enjoyed about the second draftwas sort of finding ways around
the celebrity sort of thing. AndI think what a lot of
(32:14):
billionaire romances have isthat the billionaire is always
really famous, so he has tosneak her away on his private
jet or whatever to go, but thatI don't do any of that here,
because even though he's eventhough he's famous, she's richer
than he is, but she doesn't flyhim anywhere, because she's just
like, I can't be bothered. Butso, yeah, I think there are some
(32:36):
cute dates. I think one of thethings I've started doing now is
a lot of domestic dates. I likeseeing the characters in the
kitchen moving around eachother, bumping hands and bumping
hips and cooking together.
There's something that, which iswhy we did a lot with in almost
love, which is the fifth book,it had them moving around the
kitchen a lot, spending a lot oftime together in in close
spaces, like her home or hishome. And which is what I'm
(32:57):
trying to do with this one aswell, because there's something.
Those are still dates, butthey're just, they're slightly
more intense because it's justthe two of them, and it builds
that sort of the tension that wewere talking about earlier as
well. But this is not a slowone. It starts with the one
night stand, and it just goesfrom it, oh, I love those
Alesia Galati (33:18):
two. Some of my favorites where it's those are
always really fun, Anna, thishas been so much fun. Where can
people find you? Buy your books,get to know you all of that fun
stuff. You can
Anna P (33:30):
find me on Instagram.
Unfortunately, that's the onlyplace that I am on right now at
Anna writes here, and my websiteis annaiteo.com all of my books
are in Kindle Unlimited, exceptfor Love Song take two, which is
a holiday romance that isavailable wide. So if you use
Kobo or acro books, you can getthe book there. But yeah, so my
love and wild series finishesearlier this year, and then on
(33:53):
to the next, now on to the next.
So look forward to the Greekromance.
Alesia Galati (33:58):
Yes, I am so excited. I think it's going to
be wonderful, and I cannot waitto read it. It's to read it.
You.
Get ready for a steamy and insightful
conversation about date nightdone right and oh so wrong in
the world of romance. We'rejoined by Anna P who knows a
thing or two about creatingreally memorable dates with
their diverse characters. Wow.
(00:25):
Anna, I am so excited to haveyou on the podcast, our very
first author interview, and Iwas trying to go back and
remember when I started readingyour books. We read smut. Had
done a challenge in the firstquarter of 2023, which eons ago,
had done a challenge and it wasnew to you, authors encouraging
(00:48):
us to get outside of our comfortzones and read new authors to
us. And I had spotted your bookspecifically because Amanda from
talk about swoon, had mentionedyou and your book as one that
actually had dates in it. And Iwas like, oh, wait a minute. I
(01:09):
don't think I have ever read abook other than the billionaire
romances, where he takes her outon dinner and it's this
extravagant over the top butlike everyday people, there's no
dates, it's just Insta, bang,typically. So I was so excited
to read your book, andabsolutely fell in love with
(01:30):
your characters and your seriesand just the world that you
created. If you could start bytelling everyone a bit about
your series. First of all, I'm
Anna P (01:37):
really excited to be here. Thank you for having me.
Yeah, the love and loyal seriesCurrently has five books, with
the sixth on its way very soon.
It just follows a bunch offriends in a small town, and I
picked the state of Delaware.
Don't ask me why. I just pickedit on a map, and then it just
stuck. It's about women of allkinds of sizes and from
different backgrounds, and justit's about telling real stories
(02:00):
about women like me. So we'vegot I've written about fat
women, I've written about queerwomen, I've written about nerdy
characters and those who lovefood, which is why there's so
many dates. Because I think thateating food is like a love
language, eating and makingfood, and I think dates are a
good way to do that. And I'vediscovered this term called
issues writer, where authorstackle sometimes really
(02:24):
difficult subjects and put itinto their books to sort of show
that it doesn't have to be a badthing to talk about it, and
that's something that I've beentrying to do with my books. So
yeah, so five books out, andthey're a mix of sweet and
swoony and sexy, and they'refun. I think they're fun. I hope
they're fun.
Alesia Galati (02:40):
I think they are and they love books that tackle
big issues here the author who'sbeing interviewed after you. In
that one, we're talking abouttrauma and reframing trauma in
romance and like why it's soimportant to create characters,
because you can relate to theseissues and these problems. Now,
(03:03):
getting back to the dates in thefirst book, it's like date after
date. How did you come up withwhat all of those dates? But why
do you think that was important,specifically for those two
characters?
Anna P (03:14):
Why I came up with the idea for all the dates is these
are two complete strangers. AndI think that when you divide the
strangers to lovers. Romance,you need to have them get to
know each other. And for mepersonally, if I am put in a
room with someone, that's thebest way for me to get to know
somebody, whether it's over foodor just sitting at a table
together. It's fine, becauseit's conversation. You get to
(03:35):
know someone. And so I thoughtthat was really important for
aleander and Jackson to havethat kind of moment to bond, and
then coming up with all thesedates was just simply because
Jackson's such an ego, he'seager to please, and he's so
obsessed with aleander that hewants to find all the time that
he can with her. So he plans allof these dates, and he takes
them so seriously. And I waslike, oh, nobody's ever done
(03:59):
that for me, but if someone did,I would totally say, Yes, I will
be with you forever. I was justlike, why? Not only I never
thought we did the exact samething, yes,
Alesia Galati (04:09):
and I, like, knew that he incorporated a lot of
the friends where it wasn'tlike, I'm gonna whisk you away
and hoard all of your time. Itwas very practical. And like, I
know that your friends make youcomfortable, and how can I
incorporate that into our datein a way that feels like I'm
being really intentional, andnot just like I like this thing,
(04:32):
and so let's go on this datelike I've dated guys like that
word, yeah, I like this kind offood. I am not someone who likes
seafood. So to have someone belike, Oh, we're going to a
seafood restaurant. I'm like,what great. I hope they have
chicken. But yeah, I love thatyou had those elements of
bringing the friends in. Why doyou think that authors maybe
(04:55):
don't add in those days? I knowit's maybe a little extra work,
but like, Why do you think thatwe. Don't tend to see this in
romance books.
Anna P (05:03):
I think, like you said, maybe it is a lot of work
because it's setting the scene,and sometimes that takes a lot
of time and effort. Like thestory that we're creating is
these two people meet, they fallin love, they have a conflict,
and then they get back together.
That's the formula that wefollow, right? The falling in
love. Part is we sometimes justit happens really quickly, which
is fine, because Insta Love is athing, and I completely believe
(05:26):
in it, because I think thatcrushes are a form of Insta love
in a way. So I completelybelieve in and I know why people
don't do the dates, because onceyou've met, you have your meet
cute, and then it's the wholewooing process, but then
everyone does it verydifferently. If I was to say,
why don't authors do it, I Ithink I would probably need to
ask people. And now I'm going toask people the question, because
(05:48):
I think it's really interesting,like, why don't more authors do
it? And I recently, I've beenseeing it happen a lot more. I
mean seeing authors put theircharacters through dates and
these sort of these awkwardsituations where they don't know
what to do with themselves andhow to behave with each other,
because it's so real. That's thewhole thing about dating, right?
It is awkward and isuncomfortable, but it's also
fun. Like you said, someone willtake you to seafood restaurant
(06:09):
when you don't like seafood, andyou're just like, why would you
do this to me? It's an awkwardfumble. And then they can be
like, Oh, I'm so sorry. And thenthey can backtrack and they can
fix it, and I feel like that'sthe whole fun of it, but I think
in some way, it probably is,like you said, more work, and
also it may probably cuts downthe amount of time that you have
(06:30):
to get them to fall in love.
Personally, I think dates arewhen the characters do fall in
love, but it's also, I guess,depending on what the characters
are like the story that you'retrying to tell I think it all
falls into place depending onthe plot that you're following.
I just make sure that all mybooks have dates. It's so
strange to me now that if Iwrite a book without dates in,
(06:51):
it just be bizarre.
Alesia Galati (06:54):
I love that, though, and I like thinking
about the books that arespecifically strangers to
lovers, some type of catalystthat kind of puts them together
in some way, whether they'reneighbors or their work together
or something like that. And Ifeel like the date aspect really
(07:16):
can help if they're maybe not inthose type of combined elements,
or maybe they're in the samecity, but they don't see each
other often. And so I think thatyou do that in a really good way
to create something differentthat we don't see a lot in
romances. And so I love that somuch. You create some really
incredible dates in your books.
What do you think are theelements that are needed to
(07:37):
create a perfect date night. Soif someone's listening and
they're like, I want to makebetter dates, or I want in my
own personal life, like, whatmakes these romance dates in
your books, specifically, reallyswoony? And what are some of
those ingredients that youalways want to make sure that
you have in those dates? Ooh,
Anna P (07:55):
this is one of the situations where it probably
works better in fiction than itdoes in real life. But I think
if I'm going to talk about interms of writing them, and I
think you can maybe replicatethem in real life, it's just
like you said, understandingwhat the other person wants
dating someone, I think it hasto start with getting to know
them in a very casual sort ofsetting. I feel like the word
date has so much pressure on it,like it's the time when you have
(08:18):
to dress up and you have to beperfect, and you have to be all
of these things, and you have topresent yourself in certain way.
But I think getting to know eachother over, say, coffee, just a
drink, cup of coffee, I thinkthat's a good way to build that
relationship, and then fromthere, so you get to know the
person, and then you starthaving these dates. And if I can
use almost, maybe it's my debutas an example, the first time
(08:42):
that they actually talk to eachother, he's having a cup of
coffee, and she's having hotchocolate. Then he takes her out
to a food truck festival, andthen he starts all of these
dates that he plans, and I thinkgetting to know her through that
first cup of coffee, hotchocolate, and then the food
truck festival, and then he wasable to create all of those
special dates made such adifference because he was still
(09:04):
winging it. Because I know thiswoman, but I don't know her well
enough, but let me try and theone thing that he did know about
it was that she enjoys food, andhe implements food into all of
the dates. And I think that is agood way to plan dates, whether
it's with your best friend orwith your partner. I think
knowing what they would like todo is really important. So if
(09:24):
there's someone who just wantsto go to a rec room, I mean,
take them, let them trashthings, let them throw axes at
things, whatever it is, we needto stop making dates such a
pressured thing. Let it be funand let it be relaxed. The idea
is, find something that the bothof you will enjoy less pressure.
I think less pressure is themost important thing. Keep it so
(09:46):
casual that it feels like it'sjust two friends hanging out,
but actually like learning aboutthe other person so that you can
figure out what to do next. So Iguess that would be my only
advice. This comes from a personwho is not dating right now.
They. That how you would?
Alesia Galati (10:02):
I like it though, I think that there's such great
ideas I'm thinking back to now.
I've been with my husband for 11years now. Yes, wow, it's just
yay, easy. But how we met wasmutual friends in college, and
he will say that the first timehe saw me, we started chatting
(10:22):
it up, and he knew right away hewanted to bang me. And I'm like,
love that you do know that timewhen our friends reintroduced us
because we had met before that,but you were high as a kite and
you don't remember we ended upgetting kicked out of the
library because we were laughingso loud. We went up to the other
(10:42):
kind of study room where nobodyelse was in there, and he had me
cheesing, and then we weretalking from there, I gave him
my phone number. I was datingsomebody else at the time. Let
me Ooh, look at you scandalous.
But then I think about like thefriends part before we actually
hooked up. And then I owned upto my boyfriend, and then
(11:04):
started, you know, hanging outwith him. We did a lot of
sitting in the library togetheror texting or even, hey, I'm
hungry. Do you want to drivewith me to Burger King, get
breakfast and things like that,where it's like, those were the
getting to know you moments. Andthen three months later, we
moved in together. It's fine,
Anna P (11:22):
if it makes sense, you just have to follow it. I think
that's the key.
Alesia Galati (11:26):
But like that first part, right? I think is so
important in getting to knowsomebody or dating someone like
get the pressure off. It's okay.
They don't have to be your lifepartner forever, and you also
don't have to do anything overlyextravagant. I don't need 50
gifts. Honestly, just going todinner and like, shutting the
place down like that is a lotmore fun to me, which, like,
(11:46):
that's what my husband and I didfor our 10 year anniversary. We
went to a restaurant and theywere like, Hey, we're closing 20
minutes. You gotta go. And wewere like, Oh, wait, everyone is
gone our bed. That's what I wantpersonally in my relationships,
and that's even what I like inmy friendships. Is like, Hey, we
are supposed to only have anhour on here. It's three hours
(12:09):
later. I know you gotta go. Igotta go. I got more to say,
though, those are the reallylike kinds of conversations that
really create that intimacy. Andso I love that you add these
dates in, because I think itdoes add in that intimacy that a
lot of Insta love or Insta lustbooks tend to miss. And even the
slow burn books, I feel likethey miss. A lot of readers
(12:32):
lately have been saying thisthing, and I'm like, Oh, yes, I
see what you're saying. And thatis, I didn't feel like these
characters were meant to betogether, or I didn't really
feel like I was cheering them onin their relationship, because
you don't really know them well.
And I feel like when you createthese dates, you as a reader,
(12:55):
get to know them so well thatyou're like, Yes, I get it. You
guys are great together. I canunderstand why he did the dates
this way, or I can understandwhy she's hesitant, but also a
little intrigued. I can see allof that. I love it, and I think
that it's so great. You know, alot of your not all of them, but
some of your books are that slowburn. Do you find that the dates
(13:18):
make that slow burn a betterpayoff? Oh,
Anna P (13:21):
I don't know. I've never thought of it that way. That's a
really interesting way to lookat it. I think the biggest slow
burn that I've written so far isalmost home, and a lot of their
dates are at home because hecooks. And I think that in a
way, maybe because you'rebuilding all this tension, and
that's the whole thing aboutthese dates as well, right?
Like, even you said, like youwhen you met your husband and
(13:42):
you guys were talking and youwere spending all of this time
together, and you build thisrelationship, and that
relationship is still buildingsome tension, because there's
all this attraction, you don'tknow, oh my God, what do I do
with this? How do I react? Howdo I behave? And, oh my God,
I've got this other person thatI'm seeing, but what do I do?
What do I do? There's just somuch going on. So I think dates
do help with building that sortof tension in a slow one,
(14:04):
because then it sets the scenefor where these characters are
going. And you get to see themin different situations where
one of them is just flusteredabout being with the other
person, the other person, justlike with Everly and Laughlin
from almost home, he's alwaysflustered around and she's so
oblivious, because she's just sounaware that she has an effect
on him. And that tension wasreally fun to write, because
(14:26):
he's just like, why does she notget it? And she's just like,
what's going on with this, man?
I don't get it at all. So yeah,maybe you're right. I never
thought of it that way, but Ithink that dates can definitely
the payoff for that slow one,because the whole reason people
like slow bonds because of thetension that you're building
within these guys, will they,won't they? Oh, my God, an
almost kiss or brushing ofhands, it's like this, oh,
(14:47):
you're building it. And all thatcan happen on dates. So yeah,
let's go with Yes, because now Ilove that idea.
Alesia Galati (14:55):
And I have to say, almost home in Blackland,
my absolute favorite. Characterthat you have ever written. I
love him so much. And also thefact that she's demisexual, I
think also ties in really wellto that slower burn and her
obliviousness and him beinglike, No, I'm in love with you.
It's official. It doesn't evenmatter. Yeah, it's just exactly
(15:18):
so good, so good. How do youapproach writing these date
nights? So are some fromexperience or stories that
you've heard? I mean, I justgave you my whole dating history
story, but what are some ofthose things that you use as
inspiration?
Anna P (15:33):
I don't have a lot of dating experience. A lot of my
dating experience was meetingeligible bachelors, but when I
was getting getting married off,which is one of the things that
I put into aleia and his bookwhere she meets with an eligible
bachelor found by hergrandmother, and that date was
as uncomfortable in real life asit was on the page. I thought it
was important that everybody seejust how cringy it can be. But I
(15:56):
think most of my days just comefrom my imagination. It's
something that my mom has alwayssaid, that I have always had the
most vivid imagination. I lovepeople watching. So I will put
two random strangers who havenever looked at each other
before in a situation, and bythe end of the the hour that I'm
sitting and watching them,they're married with a bajillion
kids. This is just the way mybrain works. And I think with
(16:18):
creating these dates, it was thesame thing. It was just, what
would I want to do when I meetsomeone? And as I said, all of
my dates involve food. I hatethe word foodie. It's something
that I've always tried not touse. It's a weird thing. I'm not
even going to explain explainingwhy, but it's just this weird
dislike I have for the word, butthat's what I am. I grew up not
(16:40):
having a good relationship withfood, and as an adult, I've just
built this amazing relationshipwith it that I want. So food is
a positive thing in my books.
It's something that we love andwe cherish and we appreciate. So
if I was to go on a date withsomeone, what would I want to
eat? And then so the first onehad milkshakes, the second one
had pies, and then the third onejust had everything. And then I
(17:00):
think it just goes from there.
So it's just my imagination.
One, two, what would I want todo on date with this person that
I've never met, and then buildit from there? It is really
hard, though, like, I completelyunderstand a lot of people don't
do it because coming up withunique data ideas in every work.
And I've written six books now,and all six books, I had to make
(17:21):
sure that I do not overlap anyof the dates, because I was
sometimes I'm writing two booksat a time, and I will find so
many similarities, and I'm like,oh my god, this is annoying. So
the same thing with dates. And Ithink if you are someone who has
a partner and you go on dates,it's probably easier to come up
with ideas, because you've gotthis real life experience. I
don't have that, so I'm justlike imagination. Let's open up
(17:43):
my mind and see what I can getout of it. So yeah, it's just
things that I would like to doand things I would probably do
with my friends. So what
Alesia Galati (17:53):
do you consider as the date night disasters, or
maybe that you mentioned the onein your book? If you could tell
us a little bit more about thatone for anyone who hasn't ready
yet. And then, what are somethings that you think really can
ruin a date?
Anna P (18:08):
Ooh. Think Bollywood has done a good job of it. But like
Indian families, when the girlsare 2122 they start sending us
out to meet these eligible boyswho are like perfect husband
material. We're not perfect wifematerials, but they're perfect
husband material. And then youhave these really uncomfortable
dates with these men who talkabout themselves and don't ask
you questions. I think any dateis a disaster when the partner,
(18:32):
when the person sitting acrossfrom you, pretends to be
interested in you, but isactually only interested in you
if you care about what they haveto say. And I think that is like
the nightmare of all datesbetween the ages of 22 and 24 I
met a whole bunch of guys, butby the end of it, I was just
like, oh my god, I can't do thisanymore. It's just It hurts,
(18:53):
because there's only so manythings that you can talk about
on a date. So disaster dates arejust people who are sort of
seeing you to feel good aboutthemselves, or because they're
forced into it. Sometimes blinddates can be really
uncomfortable, and I think thatI've heard lots of horror
stories about blind dates, andI'm just like, Oh no,
technically, that's what thesearranged marriage meetings are.
(19:14):
They're all blind dates becauseyou just see a picture of them.
Sometimes you don't even seethat. You're just going off of
what someone else's stolesomeone else and told someone
else. Because my grandmotherwould get all this information
from her friends, and she'llsay, Oh yeah, he's perfect for
you, because he does this. AndI'm like, what he does what?
Which is exactly what I did inBucha. Oh, yeah. And his
(19:34):
grandmother says, Oh, he worksat NASA. You like space. And she
was like, when I was a child,not now. So she still meets this
guy. And then, of course, thereis the other thing, where they
belittle you because your job isnot as as fancy as theirs. I
think disasters are justbasically when the partner
doesn't matter who it is, but ifthe partner sitting across from
(19:55):
you just does not give two hootsabout you or your life. All the
things that you've experienced,and they think that all of the
choices that you make in lifeare less than theirs. We don't
have time for that. Just notthey're not important at all.
No,
Alesia Galati (20:11):
oh, my goodness.
So I have had, I'm thinkingabout, like, my own dating
experiences. I remember I wentto go see a movie, and it was a
horror movie. I don't likehorror movies, I can't that was
a miserable date, good. And thiswas somebody that like, Okay,
this is 2010 online meeting,like appdating. Oh, poor app
dating was even like a thing.
(20:34):
This was the hookup appdating,because that's all you're there
worth. I was like, in New YorkCity, and I was meeting some
guys, and I was having a goodtime, and I'm like, my mom's
like, Alesia, you're meetingpeople on the internet, you're
gonna end up in a suitcasesomewhere. And I'm like,
whatever, Mom, you don't knowanything like so I went to this
(20:54):
movie, and it was terrible date,but then he took me to this
Cuban restaurant afterwards, andthat was a lot of fun. But even
thinking about like,conversation that I've had, I
don't get out a lot now, becauseI like to be home. I already got
the husband and the kids werefine, like I don't need to go
out and meet people. But as apodcaster, which I do for my day
job, I meet a lot of peoplevirtually, and I have had
(21:18):
conversations, and I'm thinkingabout one person that was on my
podcast where it's video, I cansee her, she can see me. And
every time I started talking,she looked down at her phone,
and I was like, Oh, no. Oh, thisis really uncomfortable. But
like doing that at a date, thatwould be terrible.
Anna P (21:39):
Yeah, that's what I'd like, right there? Just no,
don't even No, and then
Alesia Galati (21:45):
thinking about this other guy, like, I mean, I
have some ADHD tendencies. Itend to look around as I'm
talking. I do all that, but ifsomeone's talking, I'm hyper
fixated and focused on you andwhat you're saying. And yes, my
brain's running a million milesan hour, but I want to make sure
that I'm visibly staying focusedon you. And I was on a podcast,
(22:07):
so I'm the guest, and this guy,as he's talking, or as I'm
talking, he's going like this,you can't see me if you're
listening, but I'm swinging backand forth in my chair, and I'm
looking up at the ceiling, and Iwas like, bro,
Anna P (22:24):
oh my goodness,
Alesia Galati (22:26):
that is not like, it's literally just a 30 to 45
minute conversation. But if youcan't even give me that,
Anna P (22:37):
come on, that's terrible. Oh god, yeah.
Alesia Galati (22:40):
And I could tell that he was at the point where
he did not want to keep doinghis podcast. He was having a lot
of conversations that were justnot really fulfilling. I'm like,
at that point, pause, reassessyour life decisions before you
move on. And maybe that'ssomething that we need to do if
we're finding ourselves gettingreally bored with dates. Then
maybe pause, reassess
Unknown (23:03):
what is working,
Alesia Galati (23:05):
what's not. Then does this need to continue? So
yes, those are my personalexperiences for terrible
situations. Those
Anna P (23:15):
are those are definitely disasters, nightmares, things
that could happen on dates, andI'm sorry that happened to you
even though they weren't dates.
I'm still sorry that it happenedto you at all. Happened to you
at
Alesia Galati (23:24):
all. Thank you.
Have you written any that weremaybe less than spectacular
dates where the characters stillend up together? So it wasn't
any like side character drama,but there was one a date where
maybe that it didn't go to plan,or didn't go the way that the
people wanted to, but it stillactually moved the relationship
forward because they were morereal or more personal.
Anna P (23:50):
Oh, wow, I don't know. I think with in almost yours,
Ginny and Gavin, that book isjust full of rage. They love
each other, but they hate eachother. It's just chaos. And I
think all of the dates, all ofthe things that they do
together, there's always thisunderlying sort of tension of,
oh my god, one of them is goingto snap. And I think I tried
very hard not to put it, but atthe same time, I think thought
(24:12):
it was kind of important fortheir relationship. Because if
so much of this history, I don'tthink so now that I'm thinking
about it, but I feel like Ishould do that with my next
couple books, because it'd be sofun, right? Imagine putting
those characters in thatsituation where it seems really
perfect on the surface, but onit's actually just, it's almost
a disaster, and they end thenight and you're just like,
(24:32):
Nope, they're never going to seeeach other again. Oh, my God,
that would be so fun to write.
Thank you. I'm gonna, I'm gonnaput that into the next book.
Looking
Alesia Galati (24:41):
forward to your new cricket romance, which is
going to be coming out very soonfrom when this airs, why
cricket? First of all, I thinkabout cricket, and I immediately
go to, I don't do sports teamsin general, like sometimes I'll
watch NASCAR, but that's aboutas good as it gets. My husband
and my kids. They love watchingfootball. They love watching
(25:04):
soccer. We've watched a littlebit of hockey, any animal teams.
They get the Hura right, likeand so we introduced them to
these things. But cricket is onethat I don't think I've ever
seen on TV. And only time I waslike, oh, Cricket is a sport was
from a blue episode, which isvery apparent of me. I think I
said to the episode, because Iwas like, Oh my God. And it's
(25:27):
such a great episode. Go watchit. We'll have it in the show
notes. If you're like, wait,cricket and Bluey, what is this?
Go watch the episode. It's socute. But that was my first
introduction to, like, othersports out there that are not
American, that people love andpeople enjoy, and cricket is one
of those first like, what iscricket? For anyone who's like,
wait a minute, I don't thinkI've ever heard of a cricket
(25:49):
romance. And then why cricket?
Anna P (25:51):
Now, I think a lot of people would say that cricket,
if you the minute you think ofcricket, to think the Indian
cricket team, because my countryhas just made it into this. I
don't know what we've done withthe sport, but we've made it
huge. But it was started by theBritish, and then they brought
it to all of the sort of the thecolonized nations, and they
introduced it to the people. Butcricket is it's like baseball.
That is probably because there'sa bat, there's a ball, there's a
(26:14):
batter. In baseball, there's apitcher, but in cricket, there's
a bowler. You've got to do runsto get points. In baseball, you
have a home run. In cricket, youhave boundary shots. There's a
six which is like the home run,because it flies. There's a four
which is on which sort of runsacross the whole field and hits
the boundary line. It's a reallyinteresting sport, once you sort
(26:34):
of wrap your mind around it. Andnow, just so you're aware,
there's a US cricket team. Theyparticipated in the World Cup
this year. The US was actuallyone of the hosts for the World
Cup. They had it in New York. Ithink it was in New York. Yeah,
they didn't do very well. Ithink they have potential the US
team, but they just really didnot deliver what they should
have considered the number ofincredible players they had. As
(26:55):
for why I decided to write acricket romance. Why not? No,
I'm kidding. I wanted to write asports romance. Obviously,
that's something that it'salways been in my mind. But I
don't know American football, Idon't know hockey, I don't know
baseball. The only sport that Ido know is basketball, because
when I grew up, I used to playit, and I used to watch. I was a
(27:17):
huge NBA watcher, like Isupported the Lakers, the
Chicago Bulls. These were, like,my teams, and I was obsessed,
like, obsessively NBA. But itdidn't seem right, as an Indian,
to write about American sports,because I'm just like, What do I
know besides what I'm seeing,other people write what I'm
watching. And fun fact, for thelast, say, 15 years, I have
(27:37):
hated cricket. It's so strangeto say, but I think all of us in
India grow up watching cricket.
It's not even a national sport,by the way, but people treat it
that way because it's just theathletes are so good. And it
used to be called a gentlemansport, because when the British
were doing it, till maybe 15years ago, when I stopped
watching it, I still thought ofit as a gentleman spot, because
(27:58):
it's just pure athleticism. AndI thought these guys were
incredible. And then I feel likeit switched, where all the
athletes started becomingcelebrities, and they started
getting brand endorsements, andthey became, I don't know, it
just it took away the essence ofwhat Cricket was, which is why I
stopped watching it. But there'ssomething called the IPL, which
is the Indian Premier League,which happens every year. I
think there are 12 or 13 teams.
(28:21):
I may be getting that wrong,because my stats are just so
bad. But teams named aftercities in India, which has
players from India, I think SriLanka, from England, from
Australia, so from all of thebig cricket teams, all these
players come together indifferent city teams, and they
play against each other over theperiod of one month to become
the champion of the IPL. So thisyear, during the IPL, I was with
(28:44):
my dad, and he's, he watches itevery year, and I sat down to
watch one match, one match, andit completely changed my life.
And I was just like, oh, this iswhy I don't watch the sport
anymore. It is just there wasthis one young player on the
some of the team that Isupported the Chennai super
kings, because Chennai is a citythat I'm from, and there's this
(29:06):
one player on the Chennai superkings just watching him. Was
like, he blew my mind. I waslike, oh, okay, so we're gonna
write this romance now. And thenI actually wrote that first
draft in the period of when theIPL was happening, and by the
time I finished it, I was justlike, holy smokes, I'm actually
going to publish this. And thenso, yeah, here we are. First
(29:27):
cricket romance of my life.
Unknown (29:30):
I love that. Yeah,
Anna P (29:31):
there we go.
Alesia Galati (29:32):
I think it's so great. I like that one. You're
you're taking one that you thesport, that you understand, that
you enjoy. I watch, or I readsome of the sports books, and
I'm just like, what ishappening? Go sports team.
That's literally how I feelevery time something's on. I'm
just like, Yay, waving my numberone little finger gun thing.
(29:57):
Like, yeah, it's everything'sfine. But when I think about
like sports in other countries,like the number one that I think
of like, oh, this is a goodromance. Is rugby? Because, God,
those Oh yes, please, thoseplayers, good lord. I mean eye
muscles, I know. And then everytime I see soccer like me and my
(30:20):
husband are always making fun oflike, soccer players because
they the slightest bump, andthey're like, so dramatic, so
dramatic. NBA. Yes, I grew uplike watching that. That's fine.
Hockey. Never grew up watchingit, and all I imagine was like,
hockey players. And it alwaysmakes me laugh when I see these
hockey romances, and I'm like,how many teeth does this dude
(30:42):
have? Because every hockeyplayer I've seen has had a lot
of work done or has no teeth.
What is happening? It feelsalmost like out of the realm of
possibility to me, sometimes,especially with some of these,
like college level ones. I'mjust like, this getting out of
hand. And so I love that you'retaking a different sport, a
(31:03):
different approach, from what wetypically see right now. And
let's just say you're startingto trend, because I know there
are a few ones coming out nextyear, are in the next two or
year, two years or so, that aregoing to be based around this,
with that in mind and yourcricket specifically romance.
(31:23):
Are there any dates that we canlook forward to in that book
specifically so the
Anna P (31:32):
because he's a professional athlete and he's
been the spotlight, a lot oftheir dates are like, quiet and
private and under the radar. Sothere's I do have a couple of
things in my first draft. I had,I think one date, which is so
sad now that I think about it,but I plotted out a couple of
dates for the second draft,which is what I'm working on
(31:54):
right now. I don't want to giveanything away just yet, but
there's some sneaking aroundmidnight meals, because that's
the only way they can probablyescape the paparazzi. So yeah, I
think that's what that was. Oneof the things that I really
enjoyed about the second draftwas sort of finding ways around
the celebrity sort of thing. AndI think what a lot of
(32:14):
billionaire romances have isthat the billionaire is always
really famous, so he has tosneak her away on his private
jet or whatever to go, but thatI don't do any of that here,
because even though he's eventhough he's famous, she's richer
than he is, but she doesn't flyhim anywhere, because she's just
like, I can't be bothered. Butso, yeah, I think there are some
(32:36):
cute dates. I think one of thethings I've started doing now is
a lot of domestic dates. I likeseeing the characters in the
kitchen moving around eachother, bumping hands and bumping
hips and cooking together.
There's something that, which iswhy we did a lot with in almost
love, which is the fifth book,it had them moving around the
kitchen a lot, spending a lot oftime together in in close
spaces, like her home or hishome. And which is what I'm
(32:57):
trying to do with this one aswell, because there's something.
Those are still dates, butthey're just, they're slightly
more intense because it's justthe two of them, and it builds
that sort of the tension that wewere talking about earlier as
well. But this is not a slowone. It starts with the one
night stand, and it just goesfrom it, oh, I love those
Alesia Galati (33:18):
two. Some of my favorites where it's those are
always really fun, Anna, thishas been so much fun. Where can
people find you? Buy your books,get to know you all of that fun
stuff. You can
Anna P (33:30):
find me on Instagram.
Unfortunately, that's the onlyplace that I am on right now at
Anna writes here, and my websiteis annaiteo.com all of my books
are in Kindle Unlimited, exceptfor Love Song take two, which is
a holiday romance that isavailable wide. So if you use
Kobo or acro books, you can getthe book there. But yeah, so my
love and wild series finishesearlier this year, and then on
(33:53):
to the next, now on to the next.
So look forward to the Greekromance.
Alesia Galati (33:58):
Yes, I am so excited. I think it's going to
be wonderful, and I cannot waitto read it. It's to read it.
You.
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