Q&A with Julie Hamilton

I am SO excited about today’s post! My friend Julie had her debut Just For Show come out at the end of December, and she has graciously agreed to answer some questions!

But first, a little about Just For Show:

#TwitterBae forever…

They’ll fake a relationship for the social media exposure, but can they be more than a hashtag?

Here’s how things are going so far for me in Chicago:

1) Messed up my attempt at asking out the gorgeous woman next to me on the plane.

2) Couldn’t catch up to her at O’Hare.

3) I’m hoping she finds me on Twitter.

4) Maybe if she sees this, we can split another cheese plate sometime.

It doesn’t take long for Luke Murphy’s tweet to go viral. So it also doesn’t take long to reconnect with Audrey. Nailed it. But at what cost? His network has put his whole career as a TV home renovations carpenter on the line. A midair meet cute is exactly what they want.

After recovering from the shock, Audrey Whitaker can see the benefits of faking a relationship for social media exposure. She’ll get the publicity to launch her photography business—her lifelong dream—and she’ll get to spend time with a man who can, as his fans say, “really fill out a plaid shirt.”

Luke and Audrey agree to spend the summer together to get what they each need, then say goodbye. And to keep it professional, they’ll follow all the rules…except the “no kissing” one. And maybe the “no sex” one, too! But with so much on the line, they definitely can’t fall in love.

1. How did you come up with the idea for Just For Show? 

My inspiration came from a tweet I saw from an athlete who hit it off with a woman on a plane but didn’t get a chance to ask her out before they lost track of each other in the airport. I thought, “That would be a great romance novel.” My first (and, at the time, only) manuscript I’d written had two athlete main characters, a hockey player and a figure skater. After a couple years of working on that book, I was burned out on writing athlete characters. I knew I needed a famous character for the idea to work, though. I brainstormed with a friend and decided I didn’t want to write a musician or an actor. Then they said, “You love HGTV. What about an HGTV guy?” It was one of those lightning-in-a-bottle moments. After that, I started to flesh out the other details of the story: that the female main character would be a photographer starting her own business, and the characters would fake date to boost their careers.
I’ve also been fascinated by the meet-cutes that have gone viral in recent years. I wanted to explore what it was like for people who got caught up in that sort of viral fame—both the pros and cons of it.

2. Tell us a little bit about Audrey and Luke. 

Audrey is a photographer, but at the beginning of the book she’s working a toxic job as an event planner. Photography has been her lifelong dream. When she and Luke go viral—and he approaches her with the idea that they fake date after his producers ask him to keep posting about the woman from the plane—she sees an opportunity for herself. If she fake dates him, it’ll give her the visibility she needs to get her business off the ground and leave her day job behind. She’s ambitious, determined, and creative. Her ambition is my favorite thing about her.

Luke is stoic, sensitive, and cares deeply about his family. After his father’s death, he took over the family’s remodeling business to help keep himself, his mom, and sister afloat, giving up his dream of playing professional baseball in the process. When a home renovation channel found him and asked him to be on one of their shows, he did it not out of a burning desire to be on TV but to pay for his sister’s college education. During the course of the story, he learns the importance of prioritizing his own well-being and what he wants. Also, his butt is famous.

3. Was there a scene that was your favorite to write? 

My favorite scene to write was their first “real date” where Luke takes Audrey to a photography-themed bar in Chicago. It’s the night when they decide to give in to the chemistry between them, and writing the build-up to that moment was a lot of fun.

4. Would you fake date someone to advance your career?

Ha! I think I would. If romance novels have taught me anything, it’s that if you decide to fake date someone, they’ll be super hot and you’ll end up falling in love for real. So why not?

5. What are some of your favorite tropes? 

Fake dating is my favorite to read and write. I also love marriage of convenience, forced proximity, only one bed (which JUST FOR SHOW has), snowed in, and rivals-to-lovers. Basically, I love all the tropes. There are some tropes I think I don’t like—such as secret baby or second chance—but in the right author’s hands, I’ll love them.

6. Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I’m a semi-reformed pantser. I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself a plotter, so I’m a plantser. I pantsed my way through my first manuscript, which was the hockey player/figure skater romance I mentioned earlier. It took me forever to write. I was so frustrated while I was working on it, and I knew I needed to change my process going forward. I started reading a lot of craft books. Two that helped me were Story Genius by Lisa Cron and Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes. I can’t make myself do the index card outline from Story Genius because my brain doesn’t work that way, but that book helped me find a process that does work for me.

7. Can you tell us a little bit about your writing process?

First, I’ll think of a “what if” situation—for example, “What if two people have their airplane meet-cute go viral and decide to fake date?” Then I’ll start to come up with characters using the Story Genius method. I get to know my characters as well as I can before I start writing. I think about their backstories, their goals, motivations, and conflicts. I’ll also figure out the themes and most of the overarching plot. I do a lot of daydreaming, thinking about my characters, and listening to a playlist for the story before I start writing and while I draft. When it comes to plotting, I only plan about three or four scenes at a time. I get overwhelmed if I try to do more than that. I’ve found that as I write, the rest of the scenes usually work themselves out. If I get really stuck, I text my writer friends for brainstorming help. When one of us needs help, we all jump into action to work out plot problems and figure out what happens next. I’m especially grateful for my CPs, Kelly Farmer and Shannyn Schroeder, who have helped me figure things out when I’ve written myself into a corner more times than I can count.
When I’m drafting, I’m not a fast drafter. I’m not as slow of a writer as I used to be now that I do a lot of pre-writing work, but it still takes me several months to draft a novel.

8. When do you write – mornings, nights, weekends? 

I have a full-time day job, so most of my writing happens on the weekends. Sometimes I’ll write in the evenings, but that depends on my energy level after my work day. I used to feel bad about myself because I couldn’t write every day, but I think writing every day isn’t a sustainable practice for a lot of people. What matters is writing as often as is best for you. It takes some trial and error, but you’ll figure it out. Don’t try to force yourself to adopt a practice that doesn’t work for your life, schedule, and mental health.

9. Why do you love romance? 

I love romance because it’s fun, joyful, and hopeful. I also just love love stories. I like the comfort of a happy ending and knowing that no matter what, the characters are going to find love, happiness, and often fulfillment outside of the romance, too. In JUST FOR SHOW, Luke and Audrey not only find their HEA with each other, they make changes in their personal and professional lives that bring them happiness. So often characters in romance novels start the story thinking they don’t deserve love, or that love isn’t compatible with their vision of what they want out of life. I like seeing characters I can root for be proven wrong. I like seeing them come to the realization they do deserve love and happiness, and they can have it all with this person or people they’ve fallen in love with. It actually makes me a little emotional typing that out!

Thanks so much to Julie for answering my questions!

Make sure to get your copy of Just For Show, check out her website & follow Julie on Twitter (@jhamiltonauthor), Instagram (@juliehamiltonauthor), and sign up for her newsletter!