"I truly never know what genre I'm writing until the book is done and someone tells me"

Author Layne Fargo on bestseller lists, "unhinged" mash-ups, and her genre-bending new novel, THE FAVORITES

Check out the collection of past Words With (Author) Friends, wherein I g-chat with an author and you get to read over my shoulder, and order Layne’s epic new novel, available now.

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Me: Layne, hi!

Layne: Hello!

How are you? Huge congrats on THE FAVORITES! It's been so so exciting to see all the buzz!

Thank you! It's been a fun few weeks - but WILD! I'm a hardcore introvert and I think I've done more socializing during the launch than I usually would all year

It's definitely a particular kind of exhaustion. You're so grateful people want to talk about the book but...whew!

I was actually just listening to your interview on the readswithjul podcast, cause I'm recording with her later today

What is it like be an extroverted writer??

Oh ha! I feel like we're a rare breed

I love meeting people and chatting and even public speaking (I know, I'm a weirdo), but even I get overwhelmed and exhausted with the book promo. So I can't even imagine what it's like for the introverts

You definitely are, most of us prefer the locked in a room alone in crumb-covered sweatpants part of the process

Ha, meanwhile I MISS going to an office and attending meetings! (Not enough to go back to an office, obviously.)

Ugh not MEETINGS!! They could always be an email IMO

But brainstorming meetings! Are so fun!

How are you protecting your energy?

So this is my first book launch on antidepressants

Which, super helpful turns out!

Also my mom traveled with me during launch week, which was nice

Antidepressants + mom! That's a great support system

Okay, before we get too deep, can you share a little about The Favorites for the uninitiated?

Sure! The Favorites is a retelling of Wuthering Heights set in the scandalous, dramatic world of Olympic ice dance. I've seen some people calling it "Gossip Girl on ice" and that's pretty apt.

(they might not have meant that as a compliment but I certainly take it as one!)

Oh, the biggest compliment! And the structure/storytelling is unique, right?

It's told in first-person POV by the main character, Katarina Shaw, and also there are interstitials with transcripts from an unauthorized sports documentary about Kat and her partner Heath's skating career

They did a full-cast audiobook and it's amazing!

So fun. And a bit of a departure from your earlier dark, feminist thrillers (which I love too)! Where'd the idea come from?

This one's still feminist af but definitely more fun! It came from two failed thrillers actually - a modern Gothic and a dark murder-y novel about rival ice dance teams.

I kept trying to write these two books and they were just NOT working

Then I re-read Wuthering Heights and had the possibly-unhinged idea to mash the two books together and make it a loose retelling

What an origin story! I've never done a retelling—is it easier to plot because you already have a roadmap? (Not that anything about writing a book is ever easy, ever)