71. RACHEL LYNN SOLOMON: Seeing life as romcoms and suspending reality in fiction

Rachel Lynn Solomon is an author in both the young adult and adult romance spaces. Her 2025 spring release is "What Happens in Amsterdam", which follows an American woman named Dani as she moves to Amsterdam for work... and crashes into the exchange student who broke her heart 10 years ago. 

In this podcast, Rachel and I are talking all about travel, how to behave when in another country, and of course, lots of romance. Rachel sees the potential romcom in everything and it's so fun! But, that also means learning to balance plot with reality.

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Transcript

00;00;06;10 - 00;00;28;19
Speaker 1
Hi and welcome to Literary Hype. I am Stephanie, your literary hype woman. And today's author conversation is from overseas. So it took a little bit of finagling to get this to happen. And this author is an American who is now living in Amsterdam, which happens to be the setting of her next book. Rachel Lynn Solomon is the author of What Happens and Amsterdam, which is a really fun marriage of convenience story.

00;00;29;00 - 00;00;46;14
Speaker 1
We're talking all about living in another country and respect when traveling to other countries. And if you've been around then, you know, I've had some critiques of her books in the past. And so we are talking about suspending reality. I was trying to avoid it because I didn't want to come off as like, I don't like your books but it did come up.

00;00;46;14 - 00;01;11;03
Speaker 1
And so we did address it and it was a really good conversation about creativity and fiction and what needs to be real to anchor your stories. So without any further ado, here's my conversation with Rachel Lynn Solomon welcome to Literary Hype. It's so exciting to talk to you about your brand new book, What Happens to Amsterdam, but also other books.

00;01;11;03 - 00;01;12;20
Speaker 1
You've got a few. Got one or two.

00;01;13;13 - 00;01;15;24
Speaker 2
Yeah, just a couple, though. Thank you so much for having me.

00;01;16;02 - 00;01;21;25
Speaker 1
So for anybody who hasn't already seen what happens in Amsterdam on social media, what is this book about?

00;01;22;01 - 00;01;52;23
Speaker 2
Yes. So this book is a romantic comedy about a woman who escapes sort of her messy life in the US, moves to Amsterdam and ends up renting a room from the man who was her first love. He was a Dutch foreign exchange student who lived with her family when they were teenagers. And now, ten years later, she her job falls apart and she needs a way to stay in the country and he needs to be married to inherit his family's beautiful canal home.

00;01;53;07 - 00;02;14;12
Speaker 2
So they decide on a marriage of convenience and they are living together dealing with all of the you know, feelings coming to the surface as a result of the, you know, the Second Chance romance and then all those emotions from their past while navigating this newness and being forced together in their fake marriage.

00;02;14;20 - 00;02;25;01
Speaker 1
And there's a lot of easy comparisons to you and your expat journey because you do live in Amsterdam. So how does this story compare with your reality yes.

00;02;25;01 - 00;03;01;20
Speaker 2
So I did not come here and get married just to stay in the country. I was already married, so sadly I could not have my meet. Q With a tall, handsome Dutch man but just in terms of the like the awkwardness, the sort of culture clash, although the culture clash definitely wasn't as dramatic as I thought it might be, because I think the Netherlands is probably one of the definitely on the near the top of the list in Europe of places that are like fluency of English, and it's Amsterdam in particular, so international.

00;03;02;15 - 00;03;25;28
Speaker 2
But I also just I kind of went to Amsterdam thinking like, maybe this will change my life, this will change my personality, and I will be someone totally new. And while some of that has been true, that's also what Danny went into it thinking that you know, this is just exactly the like do whatever that she needs, but she realizes that it's a bit more complicated than that.

00;03;27;09 - 00;03;35;10
Speaker 1
So there are so many different little things that she discovers along the way. What has been the most surprising thing for you as an American moving to Amsterdam?

00;03;35;19 - 00;04;03;11
Speaker 2
Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, Dutch is just such a unique and difficult language, but while you hear it on the streets, I would say it's honestly like maybe half and half Dutch in English, maybe like sixty forty. So I really just I think I expected to be just completely immersed in something foreign. But there is there's definitely a lot of familiarity in that.

00;04;04;21 - 00;04;21;25
Speaker 2
But there's also just so many like quirks and funny, you know, misunderstandings. Like one thing that I used in the book was something that happened to me. I went to a bit didn't happen to me, but someone mentioned it. I went to a knitting group, which is how, you know, I'm really cool.

00;04;23;14 - 00;04;26;27
Speaker 1
I am also a knitter we are the same person.

00;04;27;04 - 00;04;51;24
Speaker 2
OK, amazing. And it was a mix of internationals and Dutch people. And we were talking about Dutch and someone mentioned that the word for types in Dutch is pansy and how that could lead to some confusion. So I thought that was pretty funny. Just sort of like tuck that away and put that in the book.

00;04;51;28 - 00;05;09;28
Speaker 1
That was a great moment in the book of like what was going on in that language barrier that can sometimes pop up. You do have a lot of Dutch words in this book. So was that more of a practice for you or how did you go about learning to help with your living in Amsterdam?

00;05;10;08 - 00;05;34;06
Speaker 2
Yeah, honestly, both. So I've taken at this point, I've taken a class with a university, and I'm also doing private tutoring with my husband because, well, first of all, it feels wrong to live in the country long term. And not speak the language that, you know, native Dutch people grow up speaking, even though I think a lot of times the excuse is, well, everyone here speaks English yes.

00;05;34;06 - 00;06;15;07
Speaker 2
But it also feels like we're we're guests in this country, really. And I you know, if you're the only like native English speaker in a group of all Dutch people, it doesn't feel fair that they should all speak English just for you. So we've we've been doing that. But I did also like I did a lot of research for this book so I feel like I kind of learned I learned some Dutch that was probably not in the like basic, you know, a one level class like you know, certain body parts where there's like very sexually massage and sexually charged massage scene where he the water the hero is a physiotherapist and he's giving the

00;06;15;07 - 00;06;22;15
Speaker 2
main character a massage and she asks him to teach her some words in Dutch. So actually he starts naming parts of the body.

00;06;22;22 - 00;06;40;11
Speaker 1
Of that scene and so like you. But it's definitely a great point of speaking the language of the country you're in. And I've seen that in my own travels are there any other, like important lessons from traveling that you have learned that you feel like other people should know when they travel to other countries?

00;06;40;19 - 00;07;09;20
Speaker 2
I think just learning that like very basics, just like, good morning, please. Thank you. One thing we noticed when we were like, well, you know, if you go to Spain or Mexico, I think it's pretty common that pretty much everyone is, you know, speaking those words in Spanish. But my husband is from former Yugoslavia and when we went to Croatia a couple of years ago, we noticed that so many tourists were not, you know, saying thank you in Croatian.

00;07;10;21 - 00;07;24;24
Speaker 2
It's like slightly harder and, you know, not as common of a word as, you know, Croatia's, obviously, but it's like just that little bit of effort that I think means a lot to the people that you're you're interacting with.

00;07;25;02 - 00;07;40;19
Speaker 1
Yeah, I've had similar experiences. Like I was with a group at a restaurant in Germany, and they one of the guys was trying to get the waiter's attention and they kept saying, excuse me in English. And I was like, say, ensure the gong. And he so he did and immediately got the waiter and it was like, oh, what did you just tell me to say?

00;07;40;19 - 00;07;45;29
Speaker 1
I was like, excuse me, in German? And he was like, well, that's magic. And like, it's called being polite.

00;07;46;06 - 00;07;58;27
Speaker 2
I know. I think it's really just a sign of respect. And like, you're they're not just to sort of take away all of the touristy bits of the country, but that you genuinely are interested in the culture and the people there.

00;07;59;08 - 00;08;06;07
Speaker 1
And since we're talking about travel, we'll just go here anyway. You husband, do you travel a lot? What's your favorite place that you guys have visited together?

00;08;06;26 - 00;08;31;14
Speaker 2
I would say Iceland is definitely up there it's just so magical, peaceful, like just have not never felt as calm as I did when when we were there. I do. I did also really love Croatia. It's just gorgeous. It's so funny, though, even being asked this question because we've been here for four years and before that, I had never been to Europe.

00;08;31;14 - 00;08;40;17
Speaker 2
So like the idea of being someone who travels a lot still feels very new to me, despite having moved here specifically for this reason. Like to have those opportunities.

00;08;40;25 - 00;08;46;14
Speaker 1
I love it. I love it so much. Traveling is so much fun and I want to get to Europe again, so love it. Yeah.

00;08;46;14 - 00;08;49;15
Speaker 2
What did the what what's like the top of your list in terms of favorite places?

00;08;49;28 - 00;09;03;26
Speaker 1
Well, Germany, I spent three weeks in Germany and that was really great. And I have a cousin who lives in London, so getting to hang out with him and have him take us around was a good time. Malta was really fun too. We did a game.

00;09;03;26 - 00;09;04;09
Speaker 2
That's on my.

00;09;04;09 - 00;09;06;00
Speaker 1
List, dude. The Game of Thrones tour.

00;09;06;17 - 00;09;16;02
Speaker 2
Oh yeah. So it's funny we did that. We did a Game of Thrones tour in Croatia that was given by a guy who has the exact same first and last name as my husband. So we got a free tour.

00;09;16;10 - 00;09;17;21
Speaker 1
That's amazing.

00;09;17;24 - 00;09;18;09
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00;09;18;21 - 00;09;30;19
Speaker 1
I've done them in Ireland and Malta, and both times were by people who were involved in the show and had very detailed knowledge. So there's so much fun.

00;09;30;26 - 00;09;36;10
Speaker 2
That's awesome. Yeah, I love that kind of thing. I did also the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg.

00;09;36;13 - 00;09;39;25
Speaker 1
My husband wants to do one in New Zealand. I like The.

00;09;39;25 - 00;09;42;25
Speaker 2
Lord of the Rings. Yeah, yeah. That seems amazing.

00;09;43;13 - 00;09;56;19
Speaker 1
Yeah. I don't know, like our first video date, because we lived in separate states, was he was like, Oh, let's watch Lord of the Rings. I'm like, Not until you marry me, unless we're watching it on the way to New Zealand to do a film tour. And he was like, And we'll get married in New Zealand. And he's like, That sounds great.

00;09;56;19 - 00;09;56;29
Speaker 1
Yes.

00;09;58;01 - 00;10;04;29
Speaker 2
Did we? I can't imagine that like three hour video date. Just watching Lord of the Rings, though.

00;10;05;10 - 00;10;10;24
Speaker 1
I mean, we did. It was still a lot. We watched, but we watched a couple episodes of Supernatural instead.

00;10;11;06 - 00;10;13;18
Speaker 2
Oh, OK, OK. Less of a commitment less.

00;10;13;18 - 00;10;23;22
Speaker 1
Little less. But I was like, I'm not. I'm just here because you keep asking and I'm going to prove to you that you don't want anything to do with me. And that did not work. It's been now.

00;10;24;05 - 00;10;26;23
Speaker 2
That feels like such a classic romance heroine.

00;10;27;16 - 00;10;31;22
Speaker 1
But he's like around so redheads. We get away with a lot.

00;10;32;13 - 00;10;33;21
Speaker 2
I know. Sounds like a good one.

00;10;34;00 - 00;10;48;21
Speaker 1
Anyway, back to the romance of this story. These two have some pasts and they have a really fun re meet. Cute. So talk a little bit about crafting this run in for Danny.

00;10;49;15 - 00;11;30;05
Speaker 2
Yeah. So I feel like in romantic comedies there is the cliche of, you know, they haven't seen each other in years until she literally crashes into him where, you know, it's the clumsy main characters feeling coffee or just like bumping into the love interest. And because this is Amsterdam for some reason the their meet cute or you know meet awkward just came into my head very cinematically as a bike crash, especially because she is new to biking, is not super confident like me she is very short she's four eleven and Netherlands is the tallest country in the world.

00;11;30;27 - 00;11;51;11
Speaker 2
So it's really hard to find a bike here as a short person. So she has a bike that is not the right size and it's pouring rain she doesn't stop at the right where she's supposed to stop and she crashes into someone and they're like toppling to the pavement. It's, you know, it's raining it's wet, he's swearing and then he's like, wait, Danica?

00;11;53;01 - 00;11;57;01
Speaker 2
And she's like, oh my God, this is the guy that I haven't seen in ten years.

00;11;57;06 - 00;12;21;21
Speaker 1
Danica's got a lot going on mentally, both with dealing with this guy that she was in love with as a child, coming back into her life. But also like the anxiety and the stress and the pressure of being a new baby that survived. So talk a little bit about crafting her mental city and mental health representation, which is very frequently portrayed in your books.

00;12;22;19 - 00;12;47;10
Speaker 2
Thank you. Yeah. I mean, it's something that is hugely important to me. I think because it took me a long time to figure out not only what was going on in my own head, but just to be comfortable talking about it with other people and to be able to give it a name. And also because I never wanted to be I think I was so opposed to having any kind of diagnosis for a long time because I didn't want to be solely defined by any of those things.

00;12;47;10 - 00;13;13;10
Speaker 2
So it's really important to me to write characters who feel fully rounded and like depression is not their sole personality trait, even though when you're depressed, sometimes it really feels that way. But with regard to Danny, I have some cousins who were making babies, and I have, you know, it was really just a miracle that they were born incredibly premature.

00;13;13;10 - 00;13;38;16
Speaker 2
I believe it was like four or five months and, you know, survived and are now in college and just kind of being able to see them grow up. I've just been very fascinated by what, you know, what that was like. And a lot of times the things that I want to write come from a place of I wonder what it would be to experience that or something that I'm just curious to learn more about.

00;13;39;29 - 00;14;05;10
Speaker 2
And with Danny giving her this back story where she was born very premature and her parents kind of bubble wrapped her as she was growing up, and she felt like every small thing she did was applauded and she was never given the space to fail or make mistakes. So now she's thirty and just doesn't really know what her place is in the world.

00;14;05;11 - 00;14;31;02
Speaker 2
She doesn't really have a passion, obviously isn't like one hundred percent tied to her parents and her background. But like she has to undo a lot of harmful thinking because she grew up, you know, being told that she was this miracle baby and thinking I need to accomplish something great because I was given this gift by the universe like I was maybe not supposed to survive and I need to prove that I'm here for a quote unquote reason.

00;14;33;03 - 00;14;47;14
Speaker 2
You know, eventually finds out that it was kind of a harmful way of thinking and just really does not give her any space to yeah, like I said, fail or make mistakes. So that is is a huge part of her character arc.

00;14;47;27 - 00;15;04;06
Speaker 1
And that plays into the social media. She touches on it a little bit of the how we compare ourselves through social media. So how do you keep your head on straight when social media is trying to make us compare ourselves to others and get in our heads about where we are in life?

00;15;04;15 - 00;15;26;14
Speaker 2
It's such a work in progress. Honestly, I feel like I'm constantly telling myself, you know, I need to be on my phone. Laughs as I'm scrolling through my phone and being fully aware of it and yet unable to put it down. So it's like logically, we all know what's healthy for us. We just cannot do it. I mean, I think that's part of the addiction, right?

00;15;26;14 - 00;15;49;12
Speaker 2
And part of the kind of insidious nature of the use of devices and social media. But yeah, I mean, it's interesting, like my only social media is Instagram and it's only my author page. I don't have a private page and I really feel like it is their work. Like if I didn't use it for work, I don't think I would be using it at all.

00;15;49;26 - 00;15;59;26
Speaker 1
There's so many tech talks that come up of like, Hey, why are you on TikTok? You should be reading. And I'm like, Why do you have to attack me like that? Because I'm over here saying, I have no time to read all these books.

00;16;00;11 - 00;16;14;06
Speaker 2
I know yeah. I'm like also really trying to fight against the like, having no time because just the. Yeah, the scrolling and then just sitting and ten minutes past twenty minutes past like it's so bad.

00;16;14;24 - 00;16;27;03
Speaker 1
What are these really special moments where Danny and Victor is at the Van Gogh Museum? So what is your favorite part of Van Gogh and that you got to work into this story?

00;16;27;14 - 00;16;54;03
Speaker 2
This was really fun because, you know, bingo is obviously probably one of the most well known artists in the world. And yet, despite how ubiquitous the art is, I feel like everyone feels like they have a lot of people feel like they have this really personal connection. Maybe it's because a lot of people like learn about his art when you're really young and like just kind of learning about art, you know, maybe in school, maybe in like an art class, you're doing some kind of like recreation, right?

00;16;54;03 - 00;16;58;25
Speaker 2
Like, you know, Starry Night just imprints on us when we're babies.

00;16;59;17 - 00;17;00;19
Speaker 1
It's kind of everywhere.

00;17;00;29 - 00;17;23;08
Speaker 2
Yeah. Yeah. So I was like, how can I make this feel like a unique experience while also acknowledging that it is not necessarily a unique experience, but that doesn't mean it's any less powerful. So I just made it kind of a joke that Danny really loves, sort of like basic art. Like, she loves it. She loves Van Gogh, she loves Monet.

00;17;23;08 - 00;17;42;08
Speaker 2
Like, I mean, me, too. Like, literally, my mousepad is the water lilies. I mean, speaking of travel. The first place we went when we after we moved here was we went to Paris, and I went to see the water lilies. It was there for hours and it was so emotional, even though, like, it's one of the most recognizable pieces of art in the world.

00;17;42;08 - 00;18;08;29
Speaker 2
But like, I like there's just something about seeing it in person that is really really special. So, yeah, with with Van Gogh, I picked the Sunflowers as being the most impactful piece of art for Danny. I mean. Well, he painted sunflowers a number of times, but the one that's in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is probably the most famous one.

00;18;08;29 - 00;18;12;18
Speaker 2
And I also gave her a tattoo there was inspired by that.

00;18;12;28 - 00;18;17;07
Speaker 1
Did you get to go to any of the immersive Van Gogh experiences before you left America?

00;18;18;10 - 00;18;32;09
Speaker 2
Did I? No, I don't think so. But they had that when it came to Amsterdam, which is funny because like we have the Van Gogh Museum, too, but I went to a different one for Dali, I believe.

00;18;32;12 - 00;18;37;23
Speaker 1
It's so cool. So I'm sure it was even the lights and just move around.

00;18;37;28 - 00;18;39;09
Speaker 2
You are Starry Night.

00;18;40;01 - 00;18;55;25
Speaker 1
Yes. So there's a line from Danny about cold weather being cold weather, clothing being superior. So I feel like that has a personal connection to you as you are wearing a sweater. So what a great article of cold weather clothing.

00;18;56;06 - 00;19;14;14
Speaker 2
And I just love like, yeah, a cable knit sweater or like a peacoat. Like a wool peacoat. But I mean, that said, I you know, I grew up in Seattle, which obviously has a reputation of being very rainy. And for most of my life, I define myself as someone who loves the rain and the gloom and the gray.

00;19;15;07 - 00;19;35;26
Speaker 2
And then I moved here and when you have to be out in the elements the whole time because you're not driving, you don't really like rain as much anymore. And so it was like sorry, I've totally converted to Celsius. This is this is going to sound so obnoxious. I was like it was a high of sixteen degrees this weekend and it was beautiful.

00;19;36;21 - 00;19;39;26
Speaker 2
It was it was like high fifties.

00;19;40;14 - 00;19;57;02
Speaker 1
I think that like working in media also ruins you for weather because like it starts raining and you're like, everyone's going to be driving stupid. Or it snows. And like I still have like the trauma of, Oh crap, it's snowing. I'm going to get trapped in a hotel and like, be worked to death because it's snowing.

00;19;57;19 - 00;20;15;09
Speaker 2
Maybe you can be trapped in a hotel with like that huge rival meteorologist though. Maybe I'm sorry, everything is a romance novel. It's such a problem. Like even when I go out with friends here, you know, when we're we're hanging out with friends and like they mentioned the smallest thing and I'm like, ooh, that would be a great romance novel.

00;20;15;09 - 00;20;17;16
Speaker 2
And I'm like, I'm sorry to be such a cliche.

00;20;17;25 - 00;20;48;24
Speaker 1
I mean, it happens. And also, like, I've already got some romance ideas percolating, you know, that it could happen one of these times, which is actually like partially because of Weather Girl, because as a morning news producer, I was like, these people would never see each other. I can't handle this. I you tell so like Christmas party, we don't get Christmas parties, but we're just friends.

00;20;48;28 - 00;21;10;29
Speaker 2
I mean, it's it's fiction, right? There was someone who commented on my I think it was a maybe the cover reveal for what happens in Amsterdam. And, you know, part of the plot hinges on the hero needing to be married to inherit his building. And someone commented that being like inheritance law doesn't work like that in the Netherlands.

00;21;11;08 - 00;21;29;20
Speaker 2
Like, does it work like that anywhere? I don't know. But it's a romance. It's romance law that that supersedes everything. And like, no, like no, to that person. It just I think that the majority of romance plots don't actually make logical or legal sense.

00;21;29;26 - 00;21;39;03
Speaker 1
And yet so what's it like for you to balance the reality versus the what I need to happen for the plot?

00;21;39;17 - 00;21;58;19
Speaker 2
I tend to ignore the reality until the second draft. So I'm working on a book right now where one of the characters is a professor. I am sixty thousand words end, and I don't know what he's a professor of yet, and he's like a main character. He's like the like the hero.

00;22;00;19 - 00;22;07;15
Speaker 1
So how important is suspending convincing your reader to suspend belief to buy into this story for you?

00;22;07;24 - 00;22;14;18
Speaker 2
Hopefully by the time that that book is published, and published, he will teach something specific.

00;22;16;29 - 00;22;34;21
Speaker 1
I mean, in general, like because business or pleasure, like I have very niche knowledge. And so that one was hard for me. Like I loved the Zork, but then I was like business or pleasure was so hard for me because I am someone who has press passes at Comic-Con. And then I was like, that's not how any of this works.

00;22;36;00 - 00;22;45;03
Speaker 1
It's like, but there's, there's so many people who, no matter what your job is or what you make a character's job, there's always going to be people who are like, That's not how that works.

00;22;45;13 - 00;23;06;05
Speaker 2
Oh, totally. And if you do feel the buy in, I think it's just that accepting that some of it is going to be slightly incorrect. But you any of the the tweaks that you are making for the sake of the plot, I think first of all, have to be inoffensive. I mean, I don't know if maybe you were like you were very offended I apologize.

00;23;06;24 - 00;23;26;19
Speaker 1
It's fine. I just wrote like these are all the things that are incorrect. So if you if you care, this is how this works. Not in a way like I still love you and your books. I just really struggled with that one. And so that was when I told one of my friends that I was doing this. She's like, but you were like very angry at business or pleasure.

00;23;26;19 - 00;23;29;01
Speaker 1
And I was like, this other one's fine. We're good.

00;23;29;12 - 00;23;58;12
Speaker 2
Oh, my God. Well, I'm very relieved. No, I mean, I think as long as I mean, I definitely still see stuff like that, like, it's it's impossible to avoid. Yeah. I think it's, you know, making sure it's not incorrect to the point of being, like, harmful, but, like, I mean, who you even after my first book came out, I got an email from someone who it was, I think it was a typo.

00;23;58;12 - 00;24;22;02
Speaker 2
I had mentioned going north on I-5 instead of South and they were like, you clearly don't know anything about Seattle. And at that point, I just sort of accepted that one. Like typos and mistakes are going to happen. Into You cannot please everyone and everyone's areas of Expertize are going to influence something.

00;24;22;24 - 00;24;40;28
Speaker 1
Oh, for sure. And I don't want it to come across as like, I'm mad at you for this. I understand how it works. It's just sometimes and it's like nurses, I see a lot of this with nurses or like one of my friends works for the government and was like really upset it like a Kennedy Ryan book. I was like, this is not how this works.

00;24;40;28 - 00;24;45;24
Speaker 1
So it's just it's something that happens all across because so many people have so many different experiences.

00;24;46;00 - 00;25;09;18
Speaker 2
I think what really sets it apart, though, is you have to do some research. Like if it's clear that you did nothing, then that's I feel like that's, you know, unforgivable. But that's really not the best look like there's this show actually that came out recently. I haven't seen it yet. I don't even think we have access to it here.

00;25;09;29 - 00;25;33;02
Speaker 2
But like it's called going Dutch and it takes place in the Netherlands, like it's like about an American American military person at a base in the Netherlands. And I was reading about it because a Dutch newspaper did a story on it and it is not filmed in the Netherlands. They have no Dutch people on the on in the cast.

00;25;33;13 - 00;25;50;16
Speaker 2
And they named the Army Base a name that is that would make sense in German, but not in Dutch. So it's like these little things that could have like if you just did one, spent like two minutes of research, it could have been more accurate.

00;25;50;25 - 00;25;59;26
Speaker 1
Have you come across any really fine details in your research that you were like, I have to use this or something that you want to use that you haven't been able to use yet?

00;26;00;04 - 00;26;19;18
Speaker 2
Well, I remember for a while there was something I wanted to use. I don't know if like a metaphor or something, but like, you know, how otters fall asleep holding hands so that they don't get, you know, get separated in the ocean? I wanted to use that in some way, but I don't know. I don't know how. I just thought it was adorable.

00;26;19;28 - 00;26;27;11
Speaker 1
So you do right way in adult romances, does your process change depending on the genre you're writing in?

00;26;27;15 - 00;26;50;03
Speaker 2
The process is pretty similar. It's more just adjusting the kind of the character's wants and desires. You know, they're obviously going to be a bit more global for an adult book because the characters are thinking, you know, is this someone I want to be with long term? Could I see myself getting married to them? Do I want kids they're thinking about their job.

00;26;50;03 - 00;27;12;19
Speaker 2
They're thinking about financial security in a different way from the teenage characters. And I think why it tends to be just a bit more introspective it's a lot about identity and kind of finding your place in the world and finding your footing and not that adult books don't deal with that. But I really to me, why it feels very internal and adult feels kind of external.

00;27;14;01 - 00;27;40;22
Speaker 2
Not, you know, not strictly, but but that's that's a big difference for me. But I also think my way tends to fall on the more mature side of the spectrum. I don't think I've written a book set in high school since our Year of Maybe, which is my second book and that came out in twenty nineteen and very actually it is my least very few people have read it everything else has been set.

00;27;41;00 - 00;27;54;13
Speaker 2
Well I mean with today set tomorrow is literally the last day of school. Everything else has been summer college. I'm working on one that's going to be spring break. It's yeah, nothing really takes place inside a high school.

00;27;54;21 - 00;27;59;27
Speaker 1
So since you have hinted at some future projects, what can you tell us about what's next for you?

00;28;00;04 - 00;28;21;02
Speaker 2
Let's see. I mean, nothing has been officially announced yet. And I'm also nervous because I've had some stuff move around. So I'm nervous. I'm going to jinx it. I will say my next book after what happens in Amsterdam is going to be adult as well. So it'll be too it all looks back to back if everything goes the way it should.

00;28;21;02 - 00;28;43;00
Speaker 2
Meaning if I write words that I am happy with, there should be two books out next year, both an adult and a way in the adult is going to be. I mean, none of these things are tell you anything about what it's about, but it's dual p.o.v and it's my first book and third person which is then it's just like kind of a fun change.

00;28;43;00 - 00;28;46;07
Speaker 2
And then my next way takes place in Europe.

00;28;46;10 - 00;28;52;25
Speaker 1
So. So little hints here. Yes. We take little hints. I like scoops, but we'll take sprinkles of hints, too.

00;28;53;01 - 00;29;00;14
Speaker 2
Yes. And I did mention that, I guess that the hero in my next adult book is a professor of what who knows TBD.

00;29;00;26 - 00;29;05;28
Speaker 1
Yes. The last question we always ask, since this is literary hype, what books are you hyped about?

00;29;06;07 - 00;29;19;22
Speaker 2
Well, I am currently reading something that that just came out you between the lines by Katie Neiman. It's fantastic. Just such contention, gorgeous writing. I'm really loving it all so well.

00;29;19;22 - 00;29;25;17
Speaker 1
Thanks so much for taking time. You talked to literary hype about what happens in Amsterdam. Thank you for fun.

00;29;28;21 - 00;29;49;25
Speaker 1
Is it Rachel? So fun after you. The filling of this interview. We were talking some more and we were comparing ourselves. And really, there are so many similarities between the two of us. And so we decided I'm the extroverted side and she's the introverted side. So like if seven were extrovert versus introvert instead of like worker in real life, that is that is me and Rachel Lake.

00;29;49;26 - 00;30;06;05
Speaker 1
There are so many similarities between us. So it's super fun. Thanks again to Rachel for hanging out with me to talk all about your brand new book. What happens in Amsterdam? This is such a fun story and you need to get your hands on it. So the links to do that are down in the show notes for you, as well as Where to Find Rachel on social media.

00;30;06;07 - 00;30;16;02
Speaker 1
If you enjoy this conversation, don't forget to subscribe to the Literary Hype podcast. Give us some stars and share it with a friend. Thanks so much for listening to the Literary Hype podcast.