November 27, 2024 • 34 mins
Thanks to young adult author Kort Combe for joining me to talk about Calm Before the Score. We cover all things Ryan and Violet, her plans for the series as a whole, what she's reading, and more!
Stay in touch with Kort:
- Purchase Calm Before the Score (available on KU).
- Follow Kort on Instagram.
A special thanks to our sponsor, Aliah Wright, the author of Now You Owe Me.
- Purchase Now You Owe Me.
- Follow Aliah on Instagram.
- Follow Aliah on TikTok.
For links to the books discussed in this episode, click the link here to take you to the Google Doc to view the list.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Today's episode of when I Left Off is brought to
you by the new novel Now you OweMe, Written by debut author
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Now you Owe Me is the tale oftwin serial killers, Ben and
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Read why Library Journalrecommends this riveting debut
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for fans of Tana French, GillianFlynn and Karen Slaughter.
Pick up your copy whereverbooks are sold and, if you love
(00:54):
it, I Left Off a bookish podcast, and today I'm joined by young
adult author of Calm Before theScore, Court Combe.
Thank you so much for joiningme today, Court.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Thank you so much.
I'm so excited to be here withyou.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Me too.
So the first thing that Ialways ask everyone that comes
on is what are you currentlyreading right now?
If you're reading becauseyou're not writing, I'm always
reading, I'm always reading.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
I'm a really fast reader and I like to like power
through stories.
So I just finished the SeattleScorpion series by Ruth Stilling
.
I'm absolutely obsessed.
Anything sports romance Iusually love.
I haven't heard of it.
What sport is it?
Oh my gosh, it's amazing.
I like it because the maincharacters are in their like mid
(01:43):
to late thirties, so it's alittle different.
So it's a professional hockeybook series and her writing is
really good.
I love Insta love and about allof her male main characters are
like boy obsessed Insta love.
So I'm just eating it up andshe has a new book coming out
soon, so I'm really excitedabout that too oh, I'm adding
(02:06):
that to my tbr.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
That sounds really good.
I like older main characters.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
That's really nice me too because I don't see a lot
of books that have that true.
So that's why I was reallyexcited when I saw it, and I
like that.
They always.
They're always telling eachother you're so immature, and
blah, blah, blah.
I love it.
I think her writing is reallygood too Nice.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
I was going to say, yeah, especially in sports
romance, you really see a lot ofyounger trends over older for
sure.
But yay, that's cool, I'lldefinitely add those to my TBR.
Have you always been a readeror did you come on to it later
in life?
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yeah, so I've always been a reader.
I started when I was reallyyoung, but my most like prolific
memory is Twilight, yep, andlike fantasy was where I lived.
The dystopian books, hungerGames, divergent I love those
and me and my mom would likeread them together and we'd go
to the midnight releases of themovies.
(03:00):
But then when I got to collegeI kind of stopped.
And then when I graduated fromcollege and I spent of stopped,
and then when I graduated fromcollege and I spent some years,
you know, in my career, I waslike I really want to get back
into reading.
It was relaxing to me, and sothat's when I started reading
sports romances.
And the book that really got meback into reading was the deal
by Elle Kennedy, obsessed withher, obsessed with that series,
(03:23):
and when I read it I'm like, ohmy gosh, I need more, more, more
.
So that kind of started myobsession with romance nice.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
The maze runner is also a really good dystopian
series.
If you haven't read those, ohmy gosh those were so fun.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
I have not.
I've seen the movie, I believe,but I have not.
But I kind of shifted, shiftedfrom fantasy, fantasy and now
I'm kind of in just romancecontemporary romance, and I was
going to say with sports romance.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
It still has kind of some of the action that fantasy
has, but it has romance, ofcourse, at its center, which is
kind of a nice like marriage ofthe two.
Yes, absolutely.
So what can you tell us aboutyour current work in progress?
And if we read the first bookthen we may be familiar with
these characters?
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Right.
Okay, I'm so excited about mywork in progress.
This story, if you read CalmBefore the Score, the second
book follows Hartley and Lizaand Hartley's dynamic is kind of
interesting with Violet frombook one.
I mean I did that on purpose,but I'm really excited to dive
into their story with readers.
(04:28):
I'm in the editing phase rightnow but their story is
completely different than what Iever imagined, like I had this
idea for them, but it's okay.
I've seen like Jessa Hastingstalk about this and like all
kinds of other authors, but Ididn't really know what they
meant until I started writing.
But when you get on that Googledocs, it's like your characters
(04:50):
just take over and they make itwhat they want it to be, which
is insane, because I had thisidea for them and I wanted their
story to be super chaotic,maybe a little toxic back and
forth, and that's really notwhat it is at all, but it's
perfectly them.
So I'm really excited abouttheir story.
I think that it's a littledifferent than Calm Before the
(05:12):
Score.
It's a little lighter.
There's not as much heavytopics discussed, but it's a
lighter read and I think it'sit's a little fun.
So I think the readers willlike it.
I hope yay.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
I'm excited for it and especially kind of going
more on what the characters aretaking you on that journey.
I think it makes it just morerepresentative of them.
So that'll be really awesome tohear their story.
I like how it's a little bitdifferent.
So that way, if you liked CalmBefore the Score, you know that
you're not going to get the samething, but you'll get something
else, and then maybe somepeople will even like Liza and
(05:43):
Hartley's book better.
I don't know.
I really liked Liza and Hartleyand the first one, so I think
that I'm very interested intheir story and I think that it
may end up being my new favorite.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
I'm obsessed with them and when I I didn't even,
honestly, I went into calmbefore the score with zero plan,
zero expectation.
Like I just started writing it.
I don't draw.
Like I don't put out, I don'teven know what it's called.
Like planning, I don't do any,I just get on my computer and
start writing.
It's so chaotic, I don't planit out, I just let it be what it
(06:18):
is.
But I became really obsessedwith them while writing the
first book and I felt like theircharacters really came to life
on their own.
So I'm excited about how theirstory's turning out and they're.
They're both a little differentthan what you would think from
the outside.
So I'm excited about them and Ican't wait for you to read it
and everyone else to read.
(06:38):
Do you have a pub date set?
I do not.
I do not.
I get very overeager andoverexcited and a lot of my
author friends who beta, readfor me and critique for me, they
know this is like my toxictrait.
I get super excited andovereager and I just want to go,
go, go, put it out, let me putit out, and I have to be reined
(07:00):
in a little bit.
So I don't have a date yet, butI'm hoping to have one out soon
.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Okay, awesome, and I'm sure with editing it's hard,
because it's like if you getinto it and you realize you want
to rework things, obviouslysome things could take more time
than others, so it seems likeit'd just be impossible.
I don't know how authors setlike pub days so far in advance,
just because I feel likeanything just happens when you
least expect it.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
It's really hard to do that, and then you also have
to account for like art, greedsand putting your graphics out
there, which that's one of myfavorite parts of it is like
creating content for my book andpicking out the quotes that I
think readers would like.
I think the hardest part aboutthis book that I didn't have the
struggle with in the first bookwas weaving the timelines
(07:46):
together, because my work inprogress flame after the fumble.
It starts before Violet andRyan story.
Oh, wow, okay, yeah, it does,but there's, there's might.
There may or may not be a timehop.
I'm working through that, butit's hard for me to weave their
stories in and make sure itmakes sense and does justice to
(08:09):
call before the score but alsonot just retelling their story.
You do get snippets of thembefore and you get snippets of
them during, from differentperspectives, and then after.
So I think that was the thathas been the most difficult part
is like making it make sensebut also giving them their story
from a different perspective.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Yeah, I can see that being really difficult to try to
weave both of those andremember I mean you can reread,
but still trying to like rightfrom that point of this is
exactly where they were in thispoint, and then trying to time
hop it and now make itcompletely different where
they're grown to a totallydifferent spot.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
And at one point I had both of my documents up and
I'm like, okay, this is whereLiza and Hartley are at this
time, this is where Ryan andViolet are at this time.
Let's make it make sense.
But I think it's going to bereally fun to see it and to see
more of Ryan's kind ofgrumpiness come out before he
meets Violet with Hartley andhis playfulness.
So that's been kind of fun towriting him before all of it
(09:12):
happens.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
And in the like, once they switch to more like after
the time hop into the currenttimeline, do we still get a lot
of Ryan and Violet becausethey're so close with Liza and
Hartley?
Speaker 2 (09:25):
yeah, okay yeah, yeah , you do.
And um, there's gonna be.
There's two more characters.
Mason was introduced in bookone quarterback, but he has a
bigger role in this book, andthen we have another female
character introduced, emberly,so that the friend group is
built a little bit more in book.
Two is what I'm hoping, andthen I'm kind of setting up book
(09:48):
three, hopefully, yay.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Do you know how many books you want to be in the
series?
I want it to be three.
Nice, a perfect trilogy.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
But who knows, like my characters may tell me
there's another story and I willwrite it if it is.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Awesome.
I can't wait to see it whenit's all out.
But obviously take your time.
I know that editing and allthat stuff is really difficult
and writing it is just like thefirst little piece of the puzzle
, for sure.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
I'm having fun.
Yay, a little bit more aboutCalm Before the Score.
So what inspired the overallstoryline and did you always
kind of see it as being a series, or did that evolve as you
started writing the first book?
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Yeah.
So I just had this idea forCalm Before the Score.
I always love, love to write,write down, journaling and just
throughout high school and as Ibecame an adult, got into
journaling and I always justwanted to create a story and
I've had different kind ofstories come to me over the
years that this one seemed verypowerful and impactful with the
(10:53):
themes that I kind of imaginedit to be in my head and I just
decided one day, you know, I'mgoing to do it, I'm not going to
let fear stop me, because it'sscary putting your work out into
the world and opening up tojudgment and opinions and you
know everyone has their ownopinion but it is scary putting
your, like your baby, out intothe world.
But it came to me and I just Iwrote it down and it has been a
(11:17):
self taught process For me.
I've had a lot of help fromauthor friends that I've met
along the way.
They have been so amazing to meand so helpful and like I found
friends for life through them.
But just self-taught and withthe help of a lot of really good
friends, I did it and the idea,just it honestly just came to
me.
Violet has a lot of me in herRyan.
(11:41):
I just really wanted to createthis broken character that had
this redemption story.
So that's where the idea camefrom him and I, I love him.
Like I, I love him.
He is the best.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Well, he's the worst sometimes, but he's the best to
say he figures it out over thecourse of the story eventually,
right.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Right, and he and I wanted to make sure that I
stayed true to the ages of thecharacters, so getting in the
mindset of like an 18 or 19,even 20, 21 year old and the
decisions that they make, not meas a 28 year old, but bringing
myself back years prior, to howI was thinking in college or how
(12:24):
I was thinking when I was ayoung adult, and making those
rash decisions.
Sometimes that could cost you.
So that's how I.
I wanted Ryan to be more so aslike impulsive, or just making
decisions that weren't the best,but he could redeem himself.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
It just looked a little bit different when he had
to learn what the consequencesof his actions were.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
not to spoil anything Well, yeah, and that's the
biggest thing that my readershave told me is that they
spoiler alert.
I'm not going to give theending, but they said that they
liked that he had to face theconsequences.
Um, it seemed more realistic tothem and I did want to be um,
open and honest with that, likemaking him have to face
consequences.
It seemed more realistic tothem and I did want to be open
and honest with that, likemaking him have to face
(13:08):
consequences.
I wanted it to be veryrealistic for the reader and not
just this world where he didn'thave any consequences for his
actions.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Yeah, cause I didn't even think.
I guess, technically, you know,something could have happened
where I don't know.
They said you're fine, don'tworry about it, and definitely
did.
Did not happen.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Yes, yes, and that was a big thing for me, like I
really wanted to follow throughwith.
This was your decision, this iswhat you're going to, and I
wanted him to kind of have todig himself out of that and
figure out what am I going to dowith my life now?
How am I going to puteverything back together?
And that's actually one of myfavorite parts of the book.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
And of course he has his friend group and Violet to
kind of help him pick up thepieces.
So did the main characters, didRyan or Violet, surprise you as
you were writing, and did theytake the story in any unexpected
directions?
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Yeah, I think I had just this loose idea for what I
wanted them to be and I wasn'treally.
The only thing I was really setin stone with Violet on was I
wanted her to have some mentalhealth representation, because
that's really important to meand I knew I wanted Ryan to be
this broken character with aredemption story.
But as far as them taking me indifferent directions, I don't
(14:25):
think I had really a setdirection for them, besides
knowing that he had to face hisconsequences.
So I kind of just let the storygo as it pleased.
And of course, the first draftis nothing like the draft that's
out now.
It's completely different, butit did pleasantly surprise me
where they brought me.
(14:46):
Um, how many drafts did the bookgo through?
Yeah, so I wrote the firstdraft and then me not really
knowing anything about anythingat this point, a lot of my
author friends read it for me,beta read it.
I had to have a lot of changeson plot holes and things that I
had to go back and redo chaptersupon chapters that didn't make
(15:08):
sense or there wasn't enoughfeeling and emotion.
So I had quite a few betareaders read the story before I
sent it off to editing.
Just after a beta reads it, Ikind of reevaluate and go back
from the top and make sure, thensend it off to the next one and
everyone has a really goodperspective, like I.
Like getting authorperspectives, reader
(15:29):
perspectives, people that don'tread the genre, people that do,
just to see where it takes theediting, and that's what I'm
looking to improve on on thisbook.
I'm looking to get more, moreeyes on it beforehand and more
different perspectives, and it'sbeen really good so far.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Nice, I was going to say, yeah, I'm sure that it
really helps to have thatfeedback and, of course,
everything is harder than youthink it is Like as a reader,
you're like oh.
I'll just read the story and Ican pick things that I don't
like, but then when you'reactually writing it, it's like
oh, that's not as easy as youwould think it is.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Yeah, and some.
I guess my biggest weakness too, I find, is that I think I'm
writing something that's in myhead and then when I, when a
friend reads it, or when a betareader reads it, they're like I
don't know what you're trying tosay.
I said oh well, it was in myhead, I just didn't put it down
on the paper.
So sometimes we think we'retyping it out exactly how it
appears in our head, and that'sjust not the case.
(16:25):
So having another set of eyesand many sets of eyes definitely
helps me go back and edit, orhow did you find some of your
beta readers?
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Was it kind of all through Instagram?
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Yeah, most of it's through Instagram.
I do have one author friendthat I met her through reading
her books and we just becamefriends and you know we text
every day and she was the mainperson that was really helping
me through this process and mymain beta reader.
And then I kind of met somereaders through her and through
Instagram.
But I have really loved thiscommunity, this bookstagram
(16:57):
community, like everyone hasjust been so helpful and so
loving and welcoming and I justfeel like it's a great community
to be a part of.
Every but honestly, everybodyI've met on this community has
just been really really helpfuland sweet.
So that's good.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
I agree it's nice that you can find kind of a
common thread, like books, toconnect people that you probably
never would have met everyoneany other way and now you just
get your people.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Right, and we don't live anywhere near each other.
We meet people from around theworld, around the country, so
it's been really fun.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
So with Violet and Ryan, how did the characters
college lives kind of shapetheir challenges and their
journey throughout the story?
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Yeah.
So I wrote Violet, primarilycoming in and really needing the
support of Hartley, her bestfriend, and I wanted her to be
kind of unsure, not reallyhaving a certain direction, but
just wicked smart, has so muchability but doesn't really see
it in herself.
So I wanted that to be kind ofher story like finding herself
(18:03):
and having this person that'sthere to protect her and show
her, because she doesn't reallyhave many role models in her
life from where she has comefrom.
So I kind of wanted that to beher journey like more
self-discovery of who she is andwhat she wants out of life.
And then Ryan coming in withall these responsibilities.
He has the weight of the worldon his shoulders but not really
(18:27):
trusting or wanting to put hislife in other people's hands.
So kind of the polar opposite,like Violet really needing a lot
of support, ryan needingsupport but not seeking out help
or support from others, and Ido know which.
I didn't plan that this was.
This is kind of an insta lovestory.
I didn't plan it that way but Ifelt that with them they needed
(18:52):
an insta-love because theyneeded to grow their
relationship and then it has tojust tumble down seismically and
I needed time for that.
So that's why they kind of fallinto each other immediately.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
That makes sense, and I think it also was kind of
indicative of their ages,because Violet's a little bit
younger and she's just gettinginto college, versus Ryan's been
here a second and he kind ofhas his responsibilities and his
structure kind of laid out alittle bit better.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Yes, and I wanted to stay true to their ages, like I
said, and that's kind of a hardmindset to get into because, you
know, late twenties is what I'mright now and going back to
like what, what would an 18 yearold do, what would a 19 year
old do?
And that was a little tricky,but hopefully I did them justice
with their age.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
I think you did.
What is your favorite momentbetween Violet and Ryan in the
book?
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Oh my goodness, there's so many, but I think my
favorite is their first kiss atthe party.
My favorite is their first kissat the party.
The party scene is so college,so chaotic, so ridiculous, that
I love it so much.
Like, I love the angst fromacross the room, like is he
looking at me?
What you know?
I like that whole dynamic, um,and then layers right Like
(20:09):
Hartley's there and he's notwanting her to be with Ryan, and
just the whole truth or darething.
I love like I ate it up as Iwas writing it.
That was like my favorite partto write and just so not Ryan's
character, so I wanted him tojump out of his comfort zone in
the moment and then kind of goback and say like who was I?
(20:29):
And like what made me do that.
So I think that was my favoritepart because he did something
he wasn't accustomed to, Like hedoesn't put himself out there.
And then Violet's kind of likeI'm not used to being the center
of attention, what is happening.
So I really liked that part.
But I also like Christmas whenthey went back home and we meet
(20:50):
Ryan's mom, who is just the best.
I love her, Just kind of givesboth of them some comfort and I
think she's kind of an integralpart in the story in a small way
, but she's very powerful.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Yeah, especially for Violet, who needs a little bit
of that too, not just Ryan.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah, and I wanted Ryan's mom to be more pushing
him to be his own person, likedon't worry about me, don't?
And that's hard for a child tonot want to worry about their
parent.
But I wanted her to to reallynot be dependent on him, to
really want to push him to havehis own life, and Violet was
this perfect opportunity for himto do just that.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
And why did you decide that Ryan would be a
football player instead of adifferent sport?
What kind of drew you tofootball?
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Yeah, so my favorite type of romance to read is
hockey, and I literally knownothing about hockey like not a
thing.
I'm from Louisiana.
My husband actually brought meto my first hockey game this
past year because, you know, Iwas reading all these hockey
books and it was just fun.
But I know a lot about football.
Um, it's something that my dadand I watched my whole life.
(22:00):
I love national football league, like college football, so it's
something that I had a lot ofexperience with and ideas to you
know, really know about thegame and to write some of those
play parts, and I didn't want tocome across as she doesn't know
what she's talking about.
So I thought football would beperfect because I know a lot
(22:21):
about football.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Yeah, thank you for putting some football in the
sports romance, cause you knowwe've all read those that, like
they, they might be holding abasketball on the cover but
they're never actually playingbasketball and it's, yeah, like
I'm'm a basketball player.
But there was no basketball.
There was one I was justreading, where he was like I
just came back from practice andthe whole thing like to place
in a library.
(22:43):
I love it.
I love it.
He's always just coming backfrom practice.
He never.
We never get to see it, it'sjust we go love it.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
And the thing about me, too, is like I am so easy to
please when I read a book, likeI'm a chronic five-star reader.
I, I love it, like I literallylove everything I read, and I
think it's because I read forjust relaxation and enjoyment.
Yeah, so any book I read, I'mlike it's the best book ever so
my friends are kind of likeCourtney, is it really the best
(23:11):
book ever, or do you just likereading?
But yeah, so I'm a chronicfive-star girl because I just
love reading and anything and Iknow how much work goes into it.
Yeah, you know what, girl, I'mgiving you five stars because I
know how hard this was.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
I know.
If you could make me enjoy thebook throughout, then why am I
finding reasons to not give you?
Exactly, that's me, that's howI am.
So who is your favoritesecondary character in the book?
It's probably impossible topick one.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Oh my goodness.
Um, I think I have to sayHartley, because he is so
protective over Violet and Iknow some people really like
that and some people don't.
Um, it's a preference, but Iwanted to make it super clear
that he wasn't the love interestthat Violet and him had, just a
platonic relationship.
(24:03):
I wanted him to be more like afather figure or like an older
brother type character and Ireally love his character in the
book because, as you'll see inbook two he's battling some
things behind the scenes but hestill shows up for her and he
knows exactly what she needs.
And I kind of like the gradualrelease of like Ryan's got this,
(24:25):
like I don't have to be so overthe top with her, like I don't
have to worry.
And I feel like in book two Ishowed that a little bit more
with so far I showed a littlebit more with um, hartley's
internal thoughts about how hestarts to see that Ryan's got it
.
You know he sees how Ryanresponds to certain situations
with Violet and I I like hischaracter being so rough around
(24:49):
the edges but justtender-hearted inside.
So I think he's probably myfavorite.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
But again, so hard, yeah, and I mean I'm sure we all
wish that we could have afriend like Hartley that cares
so much I mean, ultimately he'sso overprotective because he
just really cares for Violet andthey've been through a lot and
to have someone that you know isalways going to look out for
you and have your back is just,I think, a really nice, really
(25:16):
nice quality to having a friend,even if sometimes they're a
little bit too overprotective.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Oh, he's over, he is so over the top.
So yeah, and at some points I'mlike, okay, he is so and and he
is he's a lot.
And he looked to he even sayslike I'm a lot, I'm a lot for
people, and he is he's over thetop, he's crazy.
But I think his intentions arereally good and really pure and
that's why I really I like himas a character.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Me too.
What was your approach to kindof developing a story that
really resonates with both theyoung adult readers and fans of
romance?
Because I feel like that wouldalmost be more difficult to
write a young adult romanceversus contemporary adult, where
you can just anything kind ofgoes.
It seems like Right yeah it wasdifficult.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
I knew in the beginning I wanted to have a
clean book with no cursing, nospice.
Just to stay true to myself, Iread spicy books all the time,
but as a writer I just wanted itto be my thing clean, no spice,
just a wholesome story.
But then it is difficult whenyou have these themes of mental
health, representation, underagedrinking, parent with illness.
(26:31):
So there are these really darkat times and hard topics to
address, but I still feel areimportant for all age levels.
It's young adult, but I wouldsay, like high school age could
read this book and I always justrefer my readers to check the
trigger warnings and make surethat it's something that they
(26:53):
would really be open to reading,because it's not a bubble gum
story.
It's not, you know, happyrainbows and butterflies.
It.
There's a lot of dark themesand there's a lot of things that
are addressed that could behard for some people to read and
I totally understand that.
Um, but I wanted to stay trueto what I was really passionate
(27:13):
about and still keep itwholesome and keep the integrity
of who I am as a person and awriter.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Yeah, and I will say that.
Um, so I do both open and closeddoor romance recommendations
and a lot of the readers thatread specifically closed door
are younger and they tell me,you know, I'm just not super
comfortable with reading spice,and so then they have a lot of
problems trying to findsomething where the characters
(27:42):
are older and it's kind of moreof a like young adult slash, new
adult situation, but then it'snot like super spicy, because
they just want to read all thegood books too, but they
sometimes just don't want all ofthat spice, especially at their
age.
This is not really what theywant to read.
I mean, of course, it dependson the reader, but I think that
that makes it perfect for a lotof readers, especially listeners
(28:05):
that I have, that can come tothis book and not have to worry
about the spice but still getcharacters that are in college
and you still get the partiesthat are going on and the
football aspect of it and all ofthose other things.
Yeah, it doesn't feel like it'sa closed door book in any way.
It just doesn't have the spice.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yeah, yeah, and I really appreciate that because
that's really what I was goingfor A more adult romance that
has these, have these themesthat are, you know, difficult to
approach but very important,but also keep the angst and the
the back and forth and thethings that I love about books
(28:47):
like Magnolia Parks, my favoritebook ever, favorite series ever
um, boys of Tommen series Ireally like.
So keeping things that I, buttoning it down with spice was
important to me and you know,magnolia Park's series is like
my favorite series ever.
I literally have a tattoo on myback with the Magnolia, yeah so,
(29:10):
and that that series is notspicy at all.
But you feel the angst and thetension and the relationship.
So I always like to tell my, myfollowers and my readers, like,
just because a book doesn'thave spice doesn't mean it.
It doesn't have those, thosemoments that you really live for
between the characters.
And that's what I was hoping toget across with my characters.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Yeah, and especially without spice.
Like the relationship is thecentral focus.
You can't, when you can't addany spice in, you have to really
focus on the relationship.
So I do like that.
About closed door books as well, yes.
So last question how do youbalance creating a
self-contained story in book onewhile kind of trying to set the
(29:52):
stage for book two and three?
Speaker 2 (29:56):
Like I said, I went to book one with zero idea of
what I was doing, to be honestwith you, and my biggest I guess
my biggest point of, or like,really important to me in book
one was the mental healthrepresentation and as a person
myself with anxiety and OCD, Iwanted to show this side of
Violet where you didn't get justthe typical anxious character,
(30:20):
the typical OCD character.
I wanted to show the layers ofit could look different with
different people.
So that's what I really hope toshow in Violet's character and
I really focused on that, likeOCD can look different in a lot
of different people.
It doesn't have to be this setthing that we think it is and,
um, that's kind of how I moldedViolet, but I knew I want, as
(30:42):
soon as I had Hartley and Lizacome onto the scene, I knew they
had to be love interestsbecause they were so similar but
different, and so I tried.
I honestly didn't think too muchabout setting up their story.
I just let them have theirmoment, um.
But as I was writing andwriting book two, I'm trying to
be more intentional aboutsetting up Mason story, which is
(31:03):
going to be book three, andreally building those little
points where we can see thestart of a relationship or like
maybe there's a backstory there,but one I wasn't intentional at
all with it.
But book two, I'm trying to bemore strategic and intentional.
What I, yeah, what I'm doing tohelp make book three a little
(31:23):
bit easier, um, building theirstory.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
That makes sense because, yeah, whatever you put
in book two about him, you'regonna have to feel in book right
three.
And yeah, I'm sure that's hardto try to complete them as
character arcs, even thesecondary characters, but then
know that you're going to haveto take them in the next book
and make them the central focus.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Yeah, because I had to go back in book one.
I'm like, wait, what did I sayabout Liza and Hartley?
Like how is the?
How am I going to move that?
Because they changed a lot fromwhat I originally wrote and I'm
giving myself grace to changethem.
I'm like you know what I canchange them.
People change, characters canchange.
But I do want to go back tosome things that I put in book
(32:06):
one.
So it does make sense to thereaders who fell in love with
them in book one or reallyenjoyed their personality, but
it is very difficult to see.
Okay, this happened in thismoment.
Now, how would she feel it's?
It's a tricky puzzle to puttogether, but it's fun at the
same time, trying to trying toput them where they need to be
and where I want them to go.
(32:27):
It's, it's a fun time.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
I was going to say, especially with writing
characters that are in college,I'm sure it's a little bit
easier to have them changebecause of course you know who
you are.
Freshman year of college is notwho you are senior year of
college at all.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Yes, and this book expands such a big timeline and
that's tricky too, but I want toshow a lot of growth from where
they started to where they'regoing to be at the end, because
we know, as you said, 19 yearold college student is different
than a 21 year old.
A lot of growth happens.
So I'm hoping to represent thatin their book and I'm I'm
(33:03):
really, really excited for whereit's going.
He's definitely a boy obsessed.
I love boy obsessed and there'ssome funny moments in there too
where we shake our head at himbecause he is who, he is Right,
and so I'm excited to see wherethe editing takes me and where
the final product is, and hopingto do justice to them, to
(33:24):
people that really love them inbook one.
Well, yay, I can't wait to readit.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Thank you, I appreciate that.
Yeah, and that's it for today.
Thanks for listening to where Ileft off a bookish podcast.
You can sign it for today.
Thanks for listening to when ILeft Off a bookish podcast.
You can sign up for Court'snewsletter, purchase her novels
through the links in the shownotes and also they are always
available on Kindle Unlimited.
Today's episode of when I Left Off is brought to
you by the new novel Now you OweMe, Written by debut author
Aaliyah Wright.
Now you Owe Me is the tale oftwin serial killers, Ben and
Carinthia, who spend yearsabducting college co-eds.
Racked with guilt, they vow totake their last victim till one
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Read why Library Journalrecommends this riveting debut
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for fans of Tana French, GillianFlynn and Karen Slaughter.
Pick up your copy whereverbooks are sold and, if you love
(00:54):
it, I Left Off a bookish podcast, and today I'm joined by young
adult author of Calm Before theScore, Court Combe.
Thank you so much for joiningme today, Court.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Thank you so much.
I'm so excited to be here withyou.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Me too.
So the first thing that Ialways ask everyone that comes
on is what are you currentlyreading right now?
If you're reading becauseyou're not writing, I'm always
reading, I'm always reading.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
I'm a really fast reader and I like to like power
through stories.
So I just finished the SeattleScorpion series by Ruth Stilling
.
I'm absolutely obsessed.
Anything sports romance Iusually love.
I haven't heard of it.
What sport is it?
Oh my gosh, it's amazing.
I like it because the maincharacters are in their like mid
(01:43):
to late thirties, so it's alittle different.
So it's a professional hockeybook series and her writing is
really good.
I love Insta love and about allof her male main characters are
like boy obsessed Insta love.
So I'm just eating it up andshe has a new book coming out
soon, so I'm really excitedabout that too oh, I'm adding
(02:06):
that to my tbr.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
That sounds really good.
I like older main characters.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
That's really nice me too because I don't see a lot
of books that have that true.
So that's why I was reallyexcited when I saw it, and I
like that.
They always.
They're always telling eachother you're so immature, and
blah, blah, blah.
I love it.
I think her writing is reallygood too Nice.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
I was going to say, yeah, especially in sports
romance, you really see a lot ofyounger trends over older for
sure.
But yay, that's cool, I'lldefinitely add those to my TBR.
Have you always been a readeror did you come on to it later
in life?
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Yeah, so I've always been a reader.
I started when I was reallyyoung, but my most like prolific
memory is Twilight, yep, andlike fantasy was where I lived.
The dystopian books, hungerGames, divergent I love those
and me and my mom would likeread them together and we'd go
to the midnight releases of themovies.
(03:00):
But then when I got to collegeI kind of stopped.
And then when I graduated fromcollege and I spent of stopped,
and then when I graduated fromcollege and I spent some years,
you know, in my career, I waslike I really want to get back
into reading.
It was relaxing to me, and sothat's when I started reading
sports romances.
And the book that really got meback into reading was the deal
by Elle Kennedy, obsessed withher, obsessed with that series,
(03:23):
and when I read it I'm like, ohmy gosh, I need more, more, more
.
So that kind of started myobsession with romance nice.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
The maze runner is also a really good dystopian
series.
If you haven't read those, ohmy gosh those were so fun.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
I have not.
I've seen the movie, I believe,but I have not.
But I kind of shifted, shiftedfrom fantasy, fantasy and now
I'm kind of in just romancecontemporary romance, and I was
going to say with sports romance.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
It still has kind of some of the action that fantasy
has, but it has romance, ofcourse, at its center, which is
kind of a nice like marriage ofthe two.
Yes, absolutely.
So what can you tell us aboutyour current work in progress?
And if we read the first bookthen we may be familiar with
these characters?
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Right.
Okay, I'm so excited about mywork in progress.
This story, if you read CalmBefore the Score, the second
book follows Hartley and Lizaand Hartley's dynamic is kind of
interesting with Violet frombook one.
I mean I did that on purpose,but I'm really excited to dive
into their story with readers.
(04:28):
I'm in the editing phase rightnow but their story is
completely different than what Iever imagined, like I had this
idea for them, but it's okay.
I've seen like Jessa Hastingstalk about this and like all
kinds of other authors, but Ididn't really know what they
meant until I started writing.
But when you get on that Googledocs, it's like your characters
(04:50):
just take over and they make itwhat they want it to be, which
is insane, because I had thisidea for them and I wanted their
story to be super chaotic,maybe a little toxic back and
forth, and that's really notwhat it is at all, but it's
perfectly them.
So I'm really excited abouttheir story.
I think that it's a littledifferent than Calm Before the
(05:12):
Score.
It's a little lighter.
There's not as much heavytopics discussed, but it's a
lighter read and I think it'sit's a little fun.
So I think the readers willlike it.
I hope yay.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
I'm excited for it and especially kind of going
more on what the characters aretaking you on that journey.
I think it makes it just morerepresentative of them.
So that'll be really awesome tohear their story.
I like how it's a little bitdifferent.
So that way, if you liked CalmBefore the Score, you know that
you're not going to get the samething, but you'll get something
else, and then maybe somepeople will even like Liza and
(05:43):
Hartley's book better.
I don't know.
I really liked Liza and Hartleyand the first one, so I think
that I'm very interested intheir story and I think that it
may end up being my new favorite.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
I'm obsessed with them and when I I didn't even,
honestly, I went into calmbefore the score with zero plan,
zero expectation.
Like I just started writing it.
I don't draw.
Like I don't put out, I don'teven know what it's called.
Like planning, I don't do any,I just get on my computer and
start writing.
It's so chaotic, I don't planit out, I just let it be what it
(06:18):
is.
But I became really obsessedwith them while writing the
first book and I felt like theircharacters really came to life
on their own.
So I'm excited about how theirstory's turning out and they're.
They're both a little differentthan what you would think from
the outside.
So I'm excited about them and Ican't wait for you to read it
and everyone else to read.
(06:38):
Do you have a pub date set?
I do not.
I do not.
I get very overeager andoverexcited and a lot of my
author friends who beta, readfor me and critique for me, they
know this is like my toxictrait.
I get super excited andovereager and I just want to go,
go, go, put it out, let me putit out, and I have to be reined
(07:00):
in a little bit.
So I don't have a date yet, butI'm hoping to have one out soon
.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Okay, awesome, and I'm sure with editing it's hard,
because it's like if you getinto it and you realize you want
to rework things, obviouslysome things could take more time
than others, so it seems likeit'd just be impossible.
I don't know how authors setlike pub days so far in advance,
just because I feel likeanything just happens when you
least expect it.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
It's really hard to do that, and then you also have
to account for like art, greedsand putting your graphics out
there, which that's one of myfavorite parts of it is like
creating content for my book andpicking out the quotes that I
think readers would like.
I think the hardest part aboutthis book that I didn't have the
struggle with in the first bookwas weaving the timelines
(07:46):
together, because my work inprogress flame after the fumble.
It starts before Violet andRyan story.
Oh, wow, okay, yeah, it does,but there's, there's might.
There may or may not be a timehop.
I'm working through that, butit's hard for me to weave their
stories in and make sure itmakes sense and does justice to
(08:09):
call before the score but alsonot just retelling their story.
You do get snippets of thembefore and you get snippets of
them during, from differentperspectives, and then after.
So I think that was the thathas been the most difficult part
is like making it make sensebut also giving them their story
from a different perspective.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Yeah, I can see that being really difficult to try to
weave both of those andremember I mean you can reread,
but still trying to like rightfrom that point of this is
exactly where they were in thispoint, and then trying to time
hop it and now make itcompletely different where
they're grown to a totallydifferent spot.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
And at one point I had both of my documents up and
I'm like, okay, this is whereLiza and Hartley are at this
time, this is where Ryan andViolet are at this time.
Let's make it make sense.
But I think it's going to bereally fun to see it and to see
more of Ryan's kind ofgrumpiness come out before he
meets Violet with Hartley andhis playfulness.
So that's been kind of fun towriting him before all of it
(09:12):
happens.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
And in the like, once they switch to more like after
the time hop into the currenttimeline, do we still get a lot
of Ryan and Violet becausethey're so close with Liza and
Hartley?
Speaker 2 (09:25):
yeah, okay yeah, yeah , you do.
And um, there's gonna be.
There's two more characters.
Mason was introduced in bookone quarterback, but he has a
bigger role in this book, andthen we have another female
character introduced, emberly,so that the friend group is
built a little bit more in book.
Two is what I'm hoping, andthen I'm kind of setting up book
(09:48):
three, hopefully, yay.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Do you know how many books you want to be in the
series?
I want it to be three.
Nice, a perfect trilogy.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
But who knows, like my characters may tell me
there's another story and I willwrite it if it is.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Awesome.
I can't wait to see it whenit's all out.
But obviously take your time.
I know that editing and allthat stuff is really difficult
and writing it is just like thefirst little piece of the puzzle
, for sure.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
I'm having fun.
Yay, a little bit more aboutCalm Before the Score.
So what inspired the overallstoryline and did you always
kind of see it as being a series, or did that evolve as you
started writing the first book?
Speaker 2 (10:30):
Yeah.
So I just had this idea forCalm Before the Score.
I always love, love to write,write down, journaling and just
throughout high school and as Ibecame an adult, got into
journaling and I always justwanted to create a story and
I've had different kind ofstories come to me over the
years that this one seemed verypowerful and impactful with the
(10:53):
themes that I kind of imaginedit to be in my head and I just
decided one day, you know, I'mgoing to do it, I'm not going to
let fear stop me, because it'sscary putting your work out into
the world and opening up tojudgment and opinions and you
know everyone has their ownopinion but it is scary putting
your, like your baby, out intothe world.
But it came to me and I just Iwrote it down and it has been a
(11:17):
self taught process For me.
I've had a lot of help fromauthor friends that I've met
along the way.
They have been so amazing to meand so helpful and like I found
friends for life through them.
But just self-taught and withthe help of a lot of really good
friends, I did it and the idea,just it honestly just came to
me.
Violet has a lot of me in herRyan.
(11:41):
I just really wanted to createthis broken character that had
this redemption story.
So that's where the idea camefrom him and I, I love him.
Like I, I love him.
He is the best.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
Well, he's the worst sometimes, but he's the best to
say he figures it out over thecourse of the story eventually,
right.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Right, and he and I wanted to make sure that I
stayed true to the ages of thecharacters, so getting in the
mindset of like an 18 or 19,even 20, 21 year old and the
decisions that they make, not meas a 28 year old, but bringing
myself back years prior, to howI was thinking in college or how
(12:24):
I was thinking when I was ayoung adult, and making those
rash decisions.
Sometimes that could cost you.
So that's how I.
I wanted Ryan to be more so aslike impulsive, or just making
decisions that weren't the best,but he could redeem himself.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
It just looked a little bit different when he had
to learn what the consequencesof his actions were.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
not to spoil anything Well, yeah, and that's the
biggest thing that my readershave told me is that they
spoiler alert.
I'm not going to give theending, but they said that they
liked that he had to face theconsequences.
Um, it seemed more realistic tothem and I did want to be um,
open and honest with that, likemaking him have to face
consequences.
It seemed more realistic tothem and I did want to be open
and honest with that, likemaking him have to face
(13:08):
consequences.
I wanted it to be veryrealistic for the reader and not
just this world where he didn'thave any consequences for his
actions.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Yeah, cause I didn't even think.
I guess, technically, you know,something could have happened
where I don't know.
They said you're fine, don'tworry about it, and definitely
did.
Did not happen.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Yes, yes, and that was a big thing for me, like I
really wanted to follow throughwith.
This was your decision, this iswhat you're going to, and I
wanted him to kind of have todig himself out of that and
figure out what am I going to dowith my life now?
How am I going to puteverything back together?
And that's actually one of myfavorite parts of the book.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
And of course he has his friend group and Violet to
kind of help him pick up thepieces.
So did the main characters, didRyan or Violet, surprise you as
you were writing, and did theytake the story in any unexpected
directions?
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Yeah, I think I had just this loose idea for what I
wanted them to be and I wasn'treally.
The only thing I was really setin stone with Violet on was I
wanted her to have some mentalhealth representation, because
that's really important to meand I knew I wanted Ryan to be
this broken character with aredemption story.
But as far as them taking me indifferent directions, I don't
(14:25):
think I had really a setdirection for them, besides
knowing that he had to face hisconsequences.
So I kind of just let the storygo as it pleased.
And of course, the first draftis nothing like the draft that's
out now.
It's completely different, butit did pleasantly surprise me
where they brought me.
(14:46):
Um, how many drafts did the bookgo through?
Yeah, so I wrote the firstdraft and then me not really
knowing anything about anythingat this point, a lot of my
author friends read it for me,beta read it.
I had to have a lot of changeson plot holes and things that I
had to go back and redo chaptersupon chapters that didn't make
(15:08):
sense or there wasn't enoughfeeling and emotion.
So I had quite a few betareaders read the story before I
sent it off to editing.
Just after a beta reads it, Ikind of reevaluate and go back
from the top and make sure, thensend it off to the next one and
everyone has a really goodperspective, like I.
Like getting authorperspectives, reader
(15:29):
perspectives, people that don'tread the genre, people that do,
just to see where it takes theediting, and that's what I'm
looking to improve on on thisbook.
I'm looking to get more, moreeyes on it beforehand and more
different perspectives, and it'sbeen really good so far.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Nice, I was going to say, yeah, I'm sure that it
really helps to have thatfeedback and, of course,
everything is harder than youthink it is Like as a reader,
you're like oh.
I'll just read the story and Ican pick things that I don't
like, but then when you'reactually writing it, it's like
oh, that's not as easy as youwould think it is.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Yeah, and some.
I guess my biggest weakness too, I find, is that I think I'm
writing something that's in myhead and then when I, when a
friend reads it, or when a betareader reads it, they're like I
don't know what you're trying tosay.
I said oh well, it was in myhead, I just didn't put it down
on the paper.
So sometimes we think we'retyping it out exactly how it
appears in our head, and that'sjust not the case.
(16:25):
So having another set of eyesand many sets of eyes definitely
helps me go back and edit, orhow did you find some of your
beta readers?
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Was it kind of all through Instagram?
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Yeah, most of it's through Instagram.
I do have one author friendthat I met her through reading
her books and we just becamefriends and you know we text
every day and she was the mainperson that was really helping
me through this process and mymain beta reader.
And then I kind of met somereaders through her and through
Instagram.
But I have really loved thiscommunity, this bookstagram
(16:57):
community, like everyone hasjust been so helpful and so
loving and welcoming and I justfeel like it's a great community
to be a part of.
Every but honestly, everybodyI've met on this community has
just been really really helpfuland sweet.
So that's good.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
I agree it's nice that you can find kind of a
common thread, like books, toconnect people that you probably
never would have met everyoneany other way and now you just
get your people.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Right, and we don't live anywhere near each other.
We meet people from around theworld, around the country, so
it's been really fun.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
So with Violet and Ryan, how did the characters
college lives kind of shapetheir challenges and their
journey throughout the story?
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Yeah.
So I wrote Violet, primarilycoming in and really needing the
support of Hartley, her bestfriend, and I wanted her to be
kind of unsure, not reallyhaving a certain direction, but
just wicked smart, has so muchability but doesn't really see
it in herself.
So I wanted that to be kind ofher story like finding herself
(18:03):
and having this person that'sthere to protect her and show
her, because she doesn't reallyhave many role models in her
life from where she has comefrom.
So I kind of wanted that to beher journey like more
self-discovery of who she is andwhat she wants out of life.
And then Ryan coming in withall these responsibilities.
He has the weight of the worldon his shoulders but not really
(18:27):
trusting or wanting to put hislife in other people's hands.
So kind of the polar opposite,like Violet really needing a lot
of support, ryan needingsupport but not seeking out help
or support from others, and Ido know which.
I didn't plan that this was.
This is kind of an insta lovestory.
I didn't plan it that way but Ifelt that with them they needed
(18:52):
an insta-love because theyneeded to grow their
relationship and then it has tojust tumble down seismically and
I needed time for that.
So that's why they kind of fallinto each other immediately.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
That makes sense, and I think it also was kind of
indicative of their ages,because Violet's a little bit
younger and she's just gettinginto college, versus Ryan's been
here a second and he kind ofhas his responsibilities and his
structure kind of laid out alittle bit better.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Yes, and I wanted to stay true to their ages, like I
said, and that's kind of a hardmindset to get into because, you
know, late twenties is what I'mright now and going back to
like what, what would an 18 yearold do, what would a 19 year
old do?
And that was a little tricky,but hopefully I did them justice
with their age.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
I think you did.
What is your favorite momentbetween Violet and Ryan in the
book?
Speaker 2 (19:46):
Oh my goodness, there's so many, but I think my
favorite is their first kiss atthe party.
My favorite is their first kissat the party.
The party scene is so college,so chaotic, so ridiculous, that
I love it so much.
Like, I love the angst fromacross the room, like is he
looking at me?
What you know?
I like that whole dynamic, um,and then layers right Like
(20:09):
Hartley's there and he's notwanting her to be with Ryan, and
just the whole truth or darething.
I love like I ate it up as Iwas writing it.
That was like my favorite partto write and just so not Ryan's
character, so I wanted him tojump out of his comfort zone in
the moment and then kind of goback and say like who was I?
(20:29):
And like what made me do that.
So I think that was my favoritepart because he did something
he wasn't accustomed to, Like hedoesn't put himself out there.
And then Violet's kind of likeI'm not used to being the center
of attention, what is happening.
So I really liked that part.
But I also like Christmas whenthey went back home and we meet
(20:50):
Ryan's mom, who is just the best.
I love her, Just kind of givesboth of them some comfort and I
think she's kind of an integralpart in the story in a small way
, but she's very powerful.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Yeah, especially for Violet, who needs a little bit
of that too, not just Ryan.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah, and I wanted Ryan's mom to be more pushing
him to be his own person, likedon't worry about me, don't?
And that's hard for a child tonot want to worry about their
parent.
But I wanted her to to reallynot be dependent on him, to
really want to push him to havehis own life, and Violet was
this perfect opportunity for himto do just that.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
And why did you decide that Ryan would be a
football player instead of adifferent sport?
What kind of drew you tofootball?
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Yeah, so my favorite type of romance to read is
hockey, and I literally knownothing about hockey like not a
thing.
I'm from Louisiana.
My husband actually brought meto my first hockey game this
past year because, you know, Iwas reading all these hockey
books and it was just fun.
But I know a lot about football.
Um, it's something that my dadand I watched my whole life.
(22:00):
I love national football league, like college football, so it's
something that I had a lot ofexperience with and ideas to you
know, really know about thegame and to write some of those
play parts, and I didn't want tocome across as she doesn't know
what she's talking about.
So I thought football would beperfect because I know a lot
(22:21):
about football.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Yeah, thank you for putting some football in the
sports romance, cause you knowwe've all read those that, like
they, they might be holding abasketball on the cover but
they're never actually playingbasketball and it's, yeah, like
I'm'm a basketball player.
But there was no basketball.
There was one I was justreading, where he was like I
just came back from practice andthe whole thing like to place
in a library.
(22:43):
I love it.
I love it.
He's always just coming backfrom practice.
He never.
We never get to see it, it'sjust we go love it.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
And the thing about me, too, is like I am so easy to
please when I read a book, likeI'm a chronic five-star reader.
I, I love it, like I literallylove everything I read, and I
think it's because I read forjust relaxation and enjoyment.
Yeah, so any book I read, I'mlike it's the best book ever so
my friends are kind of likeCourtney, is it really the best
(23:11):
book ever, or do you just likereading?
But yeah, so I'm a chronicfive-star girl because I just
love reading and anything and Iknow how much work goes into it.
Yeah, you know what, girl, I'mgiving you five stars because I
know how hard this was.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
I know.
If you could make me enjoy thebook throughout, then why am I
finding reasons to not give you?
Exactly, that's me, that's howI am.
So who is your favoritesecondary character in the book?
It's probably impossible topick one.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Oh my goodness.
Um, I think I have to sayHartley, because he is so
protective over Violet and Iknow some people really like
that and some people don't.
Um, it's a preference, but Iwanted to make it super clear
that he wasn't the love interestthat Violet and him had, just a
platonic relationship.
(24:03):
I wanted him to be more like afather figure or like an older
brother type character and Ireally love his character in the
book because, as you'll see inbook two he's battling some
things behind the scenes but hestill shows up for her and he
knows exactly what she needs.
And I kind of like the gradualrelease of like Ryan's got this,
(24:25):
like I don't have to be so overthe top with her, like I don't
have to worry.
And I feel like in book two Ishowed that a little bit more
with so far I showed a littlebit more with um, hartley's
internal thoughts about how hestarts to see that Ryan's got it
.
You know he sees how Ryanresponds to certain situations
with Violet and I I like hischaracter being so rough around
(24:49):
the edges but justtender-hearted inside.
So I think he's probably myfavorite.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
But again, so hard, yeah, and I mean I'm sure we all
wish that we could have afriend like Hartley that cares
so much I mean, ultimately he'sso overprotective because he
just really cares for Violet andthey've been through a lot and
to have someone that you know isalways going to look out for
you and have your back is just,I think, a really nice, really
(25:16):
nice quality to having a friend,even if sometimes they're a
little bit too overprotective.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Oh, he's over, he is so over the top.
So yeah, and at some points I'mlike, okay, he is so and and he
is he's a lot.
And he looked to he even sayslike I'm a lot, I'm a lot for
people, and he is he's over thetop, he's crazy.
But I think his intentions arereally good and really pure and
that's why I really I like himas a character.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Me too.
What was your approach to kindof developing a story that
really resonates with both theyoung adult readers and fans of
romance?
Because I feel like that wouldalmost be more difficult to
write a young adult romanceversus contemporary adult, where
you can just anything kind ofgoes.
It seems like Right yeah it wasdifficult.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
I knew in the beginning I wanted to have a
clean book with no cursing, nospice.
Just to stay true to myself, Iread spicy books all the time,
but as a writer I just wanted itto be my thing clean, no spice,
just a wholesome story.
But then it is difficult whenyou have these themes of mental
health, representation, underagedrinking, parent with illness.
(26:31):
So there are these really darkat times and hard topics to
address, but I still feel areimportant for all age levels.
It's young adult, but I wouldsay, like high school age could
read this book and I always justrefer my readers to check the
trigger warnings and make surethat it's something that they
(26:53):
would really be open to reading,because it's not a bubble gum
story.
It's not, you know, happyrainbows and butterflies.
It.
There's a lot of dark themesand there's a lot of things that
are addressed that could behard for some people to read and
I totally understand that.
Um, but I wanted to stay trueto what I was really passionate
(27:13):
about and still keep itwholesome and keep the integrity
of who I am as a person and awriter.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
Yeah, and I will say that.
Um, so I do both open and closeddoor romance recommendations
and a lot of the readers thatread specifically closed door
are younger and they tell me,you know, I'm just not super
comfortable with reading spice,and so then they have a lot of
problems trying to findsomething where the characters
(27:42):
are older and it's kind of moreof a like young adult slash, new
adult situation, but then it'snot like super spicy, because
they just want to read all thegood books too, but they
sometimes just don't want all ofthat spice, especially at their
age.
This is not really what theywant to read.
I mean, of course, it dependson the reader, but I think that
that makes it perfect for a lotof readers, especially listeners
(28:05):
that I have, that can come tothis book and not have to worry
about the spice but still getcharacters that are in college
and you still get the partiesthat are going on and the
football aspect of it and all ofthose other things.
Yeah, it doesn't feel like it'sa closed door book in any way.
It just doesn't have the spice.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yeah, yeah, and I really appreciate that because
that's really what I was goingfor A more adult romance that
has these, have these themesthat are, you know, difficult to
approach but very important,but also keep the angst and the
the back and forth and thethings that I love about books
(28:47):
like Magnolia Parks, my favoritebook ever, favorite series ever
um, boys of Tommen series Ireally like.
So keeping things that I, buttoning it down with spice was
important to me and you know,magnolia Park's series is like
my favorite series ever.
I literally have a tattoo on myback with the Magnolia, yeah so,
(29:10):
and that that series is notspicy at all.
But you feel the angst and thetension and the relationship.
So I always like to tell my, myfollowers and my readers, like,
just because a book doesn'thave spice doesn't mean it.
It doesn't have those, thosemoments that you really live for
between the characters.
And that's what I was hoping toget across with my characters.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
Yeah, and especially without spice.
Like the relationship is thecentral focus.
You can't, when you can't addany spice in, you have to really
focus on the relationship.
So I do like that.
About closed door books as well, yes.
So last question how do youbalance creating a
self-contained story in book onewhile kind of trying to set the
(29:52):
stage for book two and three?
Speaker 2 (29:56):
Like I said, I went to book one with zero idea of
what I was doing, to be honestwith you, and my biggest I guess
my biggest point of, or like,really important to me in book
one was the mental healthrepresentation and as a person
myself with anxiety and OCD, Iwanted to show this side of
Violet where you didn't get justthe typical anxious character,
(30:20):
the typical OCD character.
I wanted to show the layers ofit could look different with
different people.
So that's what I really hope toshow in Violet's character and
I really focused on that, likeOCD can look different in a lot
of different people.
It doesn't have to be this setthing that we think it is and,
um, that's kind of how I moldedViolet, but I knew I want, as
(30:42):
soon as I had Hartley and Lizacome onto the scene, I knew they
had to be love interestsbecause they were so similar but
different, and so I tried.
I honestly didn't think too muchabout setting up their story.
I just let them have theirmoment, um.
But as I was writing andwriting book two, I'm trying to
be more intentional aboutsetting up Mason story, which is
(31:03):
going to be book three, andreally building those little
points where we can see thestart of a relationship or like
maybe there's a backstory there,but one I wasn't intentional at
all with it.
But book two, I'm trying to bemore strategic and intentional.
What I, yeah, what I'm doing tohelp make book three a little
(31:23):
bit easier, um, building theirstory.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
That makes sense because, yeah, whatever you put
in book two about him, you'regonna have to feel in book right
three.
And yeah, I'm sure that's hardto try to complete them as
character arcs, even thesecondary characters, but then
know that you're going to haveto take them in the next book
and make them the central focus.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
Yeah, because I had to go back in book one.
I'm like, wait, what did I sayabout Liza and Hartley?
Like how is the?
How am I going to move that?
Because they changed a lot fromwhat I originally wrote and I'm
giving myself grace to changethem.
I'm like you know what I canchange them.
People change, characters canchange.
But I do want to go back tosome things that I put in book
(32:06):
one.
So it does make sense to thereaders who fell in love with
them in book one or reallyenjoyed their personality, but
it is very difficult to see.
Okay, this happened in thismoment.
Now, how would she feel it's?
It's a tricky puzzle to puttogether, but it's fun at the
same time, trying to trying toput them where they need to be
and where I want them to go.
(32:27):
It's, it's a fun time.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
I was going to say, especially with writing
characters that are in college,I'm sure it's a little bit
easier to have them changebecause of course you know who
you are.
Freshman year of college is notwho you are senior year of
college at all.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Yes, and this book expands such a big timeline and
that's tricky too, but I want toshow a lot of growth from where
they started to where they'regoing to be at the end, because
we know, as you said, 19 yearold college student is different
than a 21 year old.
A lot of growth happens.
So I'm hoping to represent thatin their book and I'm I'm
(33:03):
really, really excited for whereit's going.
He's definitely a boy obsessed.
I love boy obsessed and there'ssome funny moments in there too
where we shake our head at himbecause he is who, he is Right,
and so I'm excited to see wherethe editing takes me and where
the final product is, and hopingto do justice to them, to
(33:24):
people that really love them inbook one.
Well, yay, I can't wait to readit.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Thank you, I appreciate that.
Yeah, and that's it for today.
Thanks for listening to where Ileft off a bookish podcast.
You can sign it for today.
Thanks for listening to when ILeft Off a bookish podcast.
You can sign up for Court'snewsletter, purchase her novels
through the links in the shownotes and also they are always
available on Kindle Unlimited.
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