Q&A: Elise Wayland, Author of ‘Rivals to Lovers’

We chat with author Elise Wayland about Rivals to Lovers, which is a steamy rivals-to-lovers romance set in Manhattan features two writers fighting to write the adaptation of their favourite classic novel. PLUS we have an excerpt for you to read at the end of the interview!

Hi, Elise! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

I’m a Midwestern girl, born and raised, with a big love of puns and happy endings. I’ve written humor pieces for places like McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and Rivals to Lovers is my debut romance novel.

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

I wrote my first “book” in fourth grade in a MEAD notebook. It was a hundred pages of a girl’s camp counselor and a boy’s camp counselor playing tricks on each other, and this was before I even knew what tropes were. I always loved reading, especially fantasy and the Dear America series.

Quick lightning round! Tell us:

• The first book you ever remember reading: Well, for picture books, Green Eggs and Ham. I woke my parents up early in the morning to prove I could read it to them.
• The one that made you want to become an author: Love this question. Probably Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones. I couldn’t believe how much that book made my head explode. I still love it.
• The one that you can’t stop thinking about: I reread The Secret History every fall. Some people turn to Gilmore Girls (and I do, too), but I also need a little dark academia.

Your debut novel, Rivals to Lovers, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Two authors competing = literary friction

What can readers expect?

Rivals to Lovers is an open-door, dual-third person novel about two writers competing to adapt the same classic book. It obviously has a rivals to lovers trope, with lots of banter and jokes and an emotional pace like Emily Henry. Maureen Denton is an Iowa girl who moved to New York with big dreams and has the chance to meet the daughter of her literary idol at her estate. Her competition for the book deal is Wes Spencer, a media nepo baby and literary agent. The book they both love is a classic (think Gatsby meets Edith Wharton) and as they hear more of each other’s adaptations, the attraction to more than just a good story is evident, but only one book deal can move forward.

Where did the inspiration for Rivals to Lovers come from?

I had a phone call with my agent, and she mentioned offhand an author’s estate that she represented and the fact that someone had tried to publish an adaptation of the author’s book without permission. She was sighing over the legal steps that had to come next, and I was immediately thinking about the wild world of literary adaptions of classic books. The idea of adapting a book, then adapting to a person (or not) in a relationship, lined up naturally in my head, and the characters and plot just flowed.

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

Small thing: I love a character that barely appears on the page, the sister’s fiancée named Kyle. I asked Twitter (RIP) years ago what the most “basic” guy name was, and the name Kyle won far and away. (For the record, this Kyle ends up being a great guy).

Bigger thing: My favorite scene in the book is Wes and Mo touring the house of the famous author together, how their competition and bantering somehow turns private and quiet and charged when they’re alone together. It’s the first time you really feel the sparks fly, and I loved writing it. When getting preorder art made, Riley Quinn latched onto that scene, too, and I’m obsessed with how she rendered it!

Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?

I started this book as a pandemic depression project (and I actually thank Zoloft in the acknowledgements). The last few years have been rough on all of us, and the current times aren’t better. Being patient with myself when I didn’t feel like writing was hard sometimes, but I grew so much as a writer while working on this book.

Also, titles! This book went through a lot of them before settling on Rivals to Lovers, which I adore. The first title was The Adapation.

This is your debut novel! What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?

While this is my first published romance novel, it’s not my first completed one. I have two romance novels that I’ve completed but which haven’t sold. Rivals to Lovers talks a lot about the publishing industry from a behind-the-scenes perspective, including one character’s book getting agented, but not selling to a publishing house (we call that ‘dying on submission’, which sounds incredibly dramatic, but feels that way at the time). Unfortunately, that was inspired by real life! I’m so glad I found the right place for Rivals and everything up to this point has just been fodder publishing woe in the book.

What’s next for you?

I haven’t actually talked about this yet, but I’ve got Mackenzie’s story (Mo’s friend) written. She’s a children’s librarian who loves romantasy finding a second chance at love with her high school sweetheart. More soon, hopefully!

Lastly, what books have you enjoyed reading this year? Are there any you’re looking forward to picking up?

I adored Love is a War Song by Danica Nava, and Kiss Me Maybe by Gabriella Gamez got me right in the feels. Both stories have this aspect of going viral in this day and age, not just in a positive way, and I love that. I can’t wait for Chloe Angyal’s newest book that releases later this year. She writes ballet romances, and this one, Barre Fight, is sure to be top-tier swooning.

You can find Elise at her website and on Instagram and Facebook.