Get ready to learn more about the book Falls From Grace in this discussion with sapphic author Ruby Landers.
Join us for an exclusive peek behind the scenes as we quiz Ruby Landers about Falls From Grace, writing, reading, and more.
This book is part of the Single Parent Romance category in the 2024 IHS Reading Challenge.
Why did you write Falls From Grace?
I was miserable during a hot Australian summer and I wanted to escape somewhere snowy and romantic! Writing an escapist celebrity romance set in wintery Vermont was the perfect anecdote and this was very much aimed to be a comfort read, for both myself and for readers.
I didn’t initially set out to write a single parent romance, but somehow that part just snuck on in there. Some of my favourite sapphic romance stories involve single parents, but when you are living the reality they can feel tricky to navigate sometimes. Living it means that even though I wrote an extremely well-resourced single mama, I could still relate to a lot of what Savannah was experiencing.
Who is your favorite character in the book?
Savannah and I share the challenge and joy of parenting a super cute small boy and I’ve spent so much time in her world over the course of three novels (and two novellas!) I feel really close to her. I think though, that secretly, Lane is my favourite character. They’re irreverent and funny and a great friend, and as they grow up over the course of the trilogy readers get to see their softer side.
What was the biggest challenge writing this book?
I think the biggest challenge for me was writing something that on one level is absurd and escapist (celebrities! glamour! super talents! fake relationships!) and on the other hand felt real and truthful on a human level. I love a ridiculous set-up for a romance novel but I feel very thrown by characters acting in ways that don’t feel true to life. I wanted the emotional elements to feel believable, for readers to be immersed in the experiences of falling in love and falling apart in a way that felt genuine.
Also, lyric writing? I hate reading fake lyrics in books; they always make me cringe on a completely inexplicable level. Totally figures that I’d paint myself into a corner where I absolutely had no choice but to write them. Thanks brain.
What part of Falls From Grace was the most fun to write?
I love both reading and writing a good slow burn. Nothing like a thousand pages of stolen glances and aching hearts; I can write that for days!
If you’re planning a sequel, can you share a tiny bit about your plans for it?
Falls From Grace is the first book in a trilogy and the second book, Graceless, is out June 6th. Each book follows a different sapphic pairing, but they also continue Savannah’s story. Graceless features Savannah’s nanny, Lane, and an unexpected member of Savannah’s family who shows up to disrupt their lives and I’m excited for people to get to know all these characters on a deeper level.
What is your writing process like?
I’m a plantser?! I like a rough outline but if I sketch it out too thoroughly I feel like I’ve already read the story and I lack the curiosity to really delve in and figure it out on a line-by-line basis. I love being surprised by the characters that pop up or the unexpected story arc that I can only ever develop by being fully absorbed in the evolving story. I very much live for the moments when I have a eureka moment, that resolves a plotline or conflict that my brain has thrown into the mix! It’s usually while I’m driving or in the shower or other moments when writing it down is impossible.
Weirdly enough I usually start with the setting and from there I gain inspiration from wondering what intriguing characters might live in that location. I love tropes and figuring out the myriad of ways they can be reworked and made new, so I’ll think through a friends-to-lovers or ice queen dynamic and grow a story that way.
Where do you usually write, and what do you need in your writing space to help you stay focused?
I’ve been trying to be disciplined and sit at an actual desk, but I mostly write wherever feels the most cosy that day. Laptop on the couch or in bed on a rainy day is absolutely my idea of a perfect moment.
I’m either focussed or I’m not; my external environment doesn’t have much to do with it. On a focussed day I’m very much one of those flow state weirdos who will sit down to write and look up to realise six hours have passed in what felt like twenty minutes, so comfy spots are key. Oh god, can I still feel my legs?! When did I last eat?
Do you have a pet who helps/hinders your typing?
I have a big fluffy tuxedo cat called Mimi who takes his role as writing supervisor extremely seriously. Anytime I’m at my desk he’s there. He gets in the way so thoroughly that I had to install a platform for him directly above my screen so he can be heavily involved at all times without getting in the way of my keyboard.
What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing, and by whom?
I think every single writer who has reminded me that there’s no such thing as perfection and that aiming to please everyone will ruin you! I’ve always struggled with the idea of being seen to try and then fail, so accepting from the outset that I absolutely will fall short in some people’s eyes is extremely comforting.
Writing in the romance genre in particular means that you’ll hit notes for some people and not for others, because what human beings find romantic or sexy is so deeply unique and personal. What I find attractive in a dynamic or encounter is not going to be the same for everyone, so accepting from the outset that what I write will absolutely not connect for every reader is at least reassuring enough to get me to hit that ‘publish’ button!
When you’re writing an emotional or difficult scene, how do you set the mood?
I don’t know what it says about me, but I love writing these scenes! I generally experience them as pretty satisfying, if I feel like I managed to hit the right notes. I definitely save them for moments that I won’t be distracted or disturbed, when I can sit down and fully absorb myself in the story because they’re not scenes you can dip in and out of without losing the sense of emotion.
Have you ever fallen in love with one of your characters?
I have a standalone novel, Ribbonwood, scheduled for release in November and one of the romantic leads, Lara, is still wedged strongly in my heart. I’m a big fan of the misunderstood outcast, the spiky defenses surrounding a secretly soft heart, the ferociously independent or reserved woman who struggles to realise she can ask for more from the world or believe that she really could have her needs met if she did ask. Lara’s fierce, smart and strong; who wouldn’t love that?
What books have you read more than once in your life?
‘When You Least Expect It’ by Haley Cass is my solid comfort read. I love the way she writes the increasing emotional connection between her characters, how satisfying the full experience of being immersed in all that longing and then the pay-off? Delicious. Weirdly enough, that and Jane Eyre which I’ve easily read twelve times: so cold and cosy!
Describe your favorite reading spot.
I’ll read anywhere! Stretched full out on the couch with a cat, reading in bed way too many hours after I should be asleep, in a sunbeam in my backyard. If I could quit my job and divide my time between reading and writing I’d live that life in a heartbeat.
Do you only read books in one genre or do you genre hop?
I was a very Serious Literature reader for much of my life and absolutely turned my nose up at romance as a genre. I think that stems very much from living in a misogynist world that devalues basically everything women create or enjoy! I had a solid period of loving crime fiction as my ‘guilty’ pleasure but during the pandemic, I started to crave something with a bit more warmth. I read some M/F romantic fiction then fell deeply into a sapphic romance puddle that I’ve very happily never left!
