Swept Up In You
by Rian Birch
Released: Mar 14, 2025
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Why this book and why now?
Sam and Taylor’s story just made sense at the time. I knew for the most part what I wanted to write, and well, the character’s helped fill in the rest!
Did any real-life events or personal experiences influence the story?
I had the story idea after I was woken up one morning with blasting music from a passing van. It’s amazing how one small moment can spark an entire book idea!
What’s one fun fact about your book that most people wouldn’t know?
One of my first beta readers was a friend who had just gone through a divorce and was feeling low. She’s not a fiction reader usually, but she demolished my book in a few days. Now she’s truly on the sapphic romance bandwagon, and has already read some other amazing authors in our community.
It was a very proud moment to see how much of a difference my book could make to someone else’s life and the flow on effects.
One of your main characters is planning a romantic night. Tell us about it.
Taylor and her dog Belle come as a bit of a pair, so Sam would take them on a dog-friendly date together. It’d be an open-air cinema night with extra snug blankets and plenty of snacks!
Were there any scenes or characters that surprised you as you wrote?
So many! My favourite – I totally didn’t expect Sam’s immediate reaction after their first kiss!
What song does your character put on to start your book launch party?
Sam would 100% be wanting to blast Like You Like That by L Devine, and she’d be grabbing Taylor for a dance while she was at it.
If your book had a scent, what would it smell like?
Like salty air, straight off the ocean. Fresh and clean, the kind you want to breath in as much as you can.
Do you outline your books in detail, or do you prefer to discover the story as you write?
I make a super simple outline, with brief dot points for each chapter and timing etc to keep me on track enough, but let the characters sort out everything in between.
Do you have any writing rituals or habits?
Haha, yeah. I tricked myself by setting up my Google doc for my writing to look like I was reading a book on my phone. Then, I replaced my reading in bed with writing in bed. Worked like a charm! My one promise to myself was to write at least one word a day.
What are you currently reading?
Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous – Mae Marvel
